Archive for the ‘Competitiveness’ Category


Guest on The Infra Blog: Petra Todorovich, Director, America 2050

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Petra Todorovich is Director of America 2050, a national urban planning initiative to develop an infrastructure and growth strategy for the United States. She has written articles on transportation and infrastructure policy and is a frequent speaker on the topics of transportation policy, megaregions, and national planning. Prior to the launch of America 2050, Ms. Todorovich directed Regional Plan Association’s Region’s Core program and coordinated the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, a network of organizations that came together shortly after 9/11 to promote the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and Lower Manhattan.

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Chicago-St. Louis 220-mph trains would create more than 40,000 jobs, reduce harmful CO2 emissions by nearly 200 million pounds: new study

Monday, March 8th, 2010

MIDWEST HIGH-SPEED RAIL ASSOCIATION
CHICAGO, Ill. – Proposed 220-mph high speed rail to cut the Chicago-St. Louis trip to less than two hours would also provide a major boost to the economy and efforts to reduce harmful emissions

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Scenarios for a National Broadband Policy

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

THE ASPEN INSTITUTE
Already, a burgeoning array of software applications, computing functions and mobile devices are exploiting the high-speed, high-volume “pipes.” Diverse sectors of the economy and society are likely to become highly dependent on broadband services…Congress has appropriated more than $7 billion in the federal economic stimulus program for broadband development, leading many people to wonder how exactly this money will be spent.

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The Case for an Infrastructure-Led Jobs and Growth Strategy

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION
Rather than go from one negligible jobs bill to the next, the administration and Congress should, as the governors suggest, map out a multi-year plan of infrastructure investment and make it the centerpiece of an ongoing economic recovery program.

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Bob Herbert’s Infra Columns

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

We call your attention to two recent columns by Bob Herbert in the New York Times:

Falling Further Behind

What’s Wrong with Us?

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The Route to Reform: Blueprint for a 21st Century Federal Transportation Program

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

…America stands in desperate need of a new vision for our national transportation system. Just as the Interstate highway bill answered some of the most pressing mobility needs of the rapidly growing nation in the mid-20th century, a new federal surface transportation bill must answer the vastly different needs of America in the 21st century. The next transportation program must set about the urgent task of repairing and maintaining our existing transportation assets, building a more well-rounded transportation network, and making our current system work more efficiently and safely to create complete and healthy communities…

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The Public Works

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

URBAN OMNIBUS
Yes indeed, today in America we know that something is wrong, and we would like things to be better. Certainly the design disciplines have been energetic in engaging the converging crises of energy, housing, infrastructure, environment, climate change…

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Andrés Duany, Architect, Author of “The Smart Growth Manual”

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Andrés Duany, F.A.I.A., is a founding principal at the architecture and planning firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ). DPZ is widely recognized as a leader of the New Urbanism, which seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. Duany has authored several books, including “The Smart Growth Manual” (most recently) and “Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream.”

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AWEA YEAR END 2009 MARKET REPORT

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

The U.S. wind industry broke all previous records by installing close to 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity in 2009 thanks to Recovery Act incentives. The total installed capacity in the U.S. is now over 35,000 MW. In 2009, 38 manufacturing facilities were brought online, announced or expanded…

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FUTURE MOBILITY IN CALIFORNIA: The Condition, Use and Funding of California’s Roads, Bridges and Transit System

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

California faces an estimated annual transportation funding shortfall of $10.9 billion to improve the state’s roads, bridges and public transportation systems. The state’s residents incur a significant cost as a result of roads and highways being congested, deteriorated or lacking some desirable safety features. A failure to eliminate or reduce the state’s transportation funding shortfall will likely increase these costs incurred by Californians…

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