Archive for the ‘Rail’ 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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2010 Infrastructure Conference hosted by Iona College

Friday, February 26th, 2010

On April 8th, Iona College in New Rochelle, New York will host an surface transportation infrastructure conference that will bring together top-level business and political leaders. The conference, titled “Confronting the Crisis:Solving Our Regional Transportation Infrastructure Issues” will focus on regional needs as well as practical solutions going forward.
Anyone who is interested in finding more [...]

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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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Fast forward on Infra? High-Speed Rail Announcement

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Here is what the White House announced on January 28th:

“… the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is awarding $8 billion to states across the country to develop America’s first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), these dollars represent an historic investment in the country’s transportation infrastructure, which will help create jobs and transform travel in America.”

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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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Excerpts from The Brian Lehrer Show, with Gov. Rendell and Steve Anderson

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Wednesday, Jan. 13th

Steve Anderson, Managing Director, InfrastructureUSA.org, & Governor Edward G. Rendell, Building America’s Future, discussed infrastructure with WNYC radio host Brian Lehrer. Excerpts are available below, and you can listen to the entire program under “Infrastructure Matters” on WNYC.org.

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Written Comments from Brian Lehrer’s Radio Show on WNYC, with PA Governor Rendell and Steve Anderson, Managing Director, InfrastructureUSA

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Steve from Brooklyn
“I travel back and forth to Baltimore and Boston for work, and I prefer trains to planes. What’s going on with the high speed trains in the Northeast? When can I take a high speed train to Maine?”

Lorraine from Westchester
“Lots of talk about money for schools, but not so much about the buildings themselves. My school had has heating problems since October. Teachers and students are wearing their coats indoors and we are told to “send memos” to various administrators! It’s been a very cold winter.”

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Busiest Rail Corridor in the Country Excluded from Largest Grants of Rail Stimulus Money

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

REGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION
Competition is heating up over the federal government’s $8 billion high-speed rail program, with grants due to be announced in early 2010. Leading contenders for the largest category of funding - “Track 2-Programs” for rail corridors, as opposed to site-specific projects - include corridors in California, Florida, North Carolina and the Midwest, among other smaller routes in the Northeast like the Philadelphia-Harrisburg, New York-Albany, and New Haven-Springfield.

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