Infrastructure

Rebuilding and Renewing America

America 2050 has launched a "Rebuilding and Renewing America" campaign in response to the serious challenges of repairing the nation's deteriorating, inadequate infrastructure systems and building capacity for sustainable population and economic growth in the future.
We are calling on the federal government to develop a National Infrastructure Investment Plan that identifies investments in integrated systems of roads, rails, and ports, electricity transmission and the "smart grid," broadband communications, and water infrastructure to help America compete in the global economy and transition our fossil-fuel dependent economy to a low-carbon future.

In the absence of federal action, America 2050's national committee of civic, business, and community leaders are beginning to develop the components of the National Infrastructure Investment Plan and recommendations to reform outdated and ineffective federal transportation, energy and water policies.

From 2008-2009, America 2050 is hosting a series of megaregion forums around the country to build support for a national infrastructure investment plan and indentify key infrastructure priorities in the 11 megaregions around the country.

Our goal for shaping the infrastructure investment plan is to promote a "triple bottom line" strategy for infrastructure development in the United States. This concept refers to using environmental sustainability and social equity measures as the other important "bottom lines" to consider in weighing investment decisions in addition to financial return on investment. This is a cross-cutting theme for all our discussions and activities.

Coupled with the articulation of guiding principles and criteria for federal investment, such as the triple bottom line, the national infrastructure investment plan will shape the different pieces of legislation, providing the bold and compelling vision that is currently needed to catalyze change. 

Recent Entries

Building an Atlas of Landscape Initiatives in the Northeast Megaregion

By Petra on August 20, 2010
Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for 834 data model.png Efforts to protect water, habitat and other natural resources are often divorced from regional and local land use decision making and infrastructure investment.   Planners and conservation advocates are meeting this challenge by working across political jurisdictions to establish landscape conservation initiatives that protect watersheds, ecosystems and other landscape-scale processes by identifying and responding to the broader threats of regional land use and infrastructure investment decisions.
Continue reading Building an Atlas of Landscape Initiatives in the Northeast Megaregion.

HSR New York-Northeast Corridor Conference: November 14-16

By Petra on August 19, 2010
US HSR

America 2050 is pleased to co-sponsor the U.S. High Speed Rail Association's conference in New York City on November 14-16, 2010 at the New Yorker Hotel. General registration is now open.

The conference will include two days of keynote speakers and panels focusing on the policy, planning, engineering, governance and financing of true high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor and on the Empire Corridor in New York State. Speakers will include members of the Obama Administration, Amtrak, Northeast State DOTs, private engineering firms, members of Congress, Mayors, and economic development officials from throughout the Northeast. The conference will also include tours of major rail projects underway in the New York Metropolitan region and showcase successful examples of transit-oriented development. 

Register Here.

Could the U.S. Have a Federal Policy on Freight?

By Yoav on July 28, 2010
CSX_Train.JPG The United States could soon have, for the first time, an official federal policy on freight if a bill introduced this week in the Senate becomes law. Three Senators, lead by Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, introduced a bill that would make it the policy of the United States "to improve the efficiency, operation, and security of the national transportation system to move freight." The bill, titled Focusing Resources, Economic Investment and Guidance to Help Transportation (FREIGHT) Act of 2010, enumerates five primary objectives to achieve this policy goal:

•    Reduce delays at international points of entry
•    Increase travel time reliability on major freight corridors
•    Reduce by 10 percent the number of freight related fatalities by 2015
•    Reduce national freight related CO2 levels by 40 percent by 2030
•    Reduce freight related air, water, and noise pollution

The bill establishes within the Department of Transportation an Office of Freight Planning and Development, and gives the DOT two years to develop a National Freight Transportation Strategic Plan that would guide federal investment to achieve these goals.

The bill also establishes a competitive grant program to provide funding for capital investments for freight projects. These grants could go towards projects such as port or intermodal facility improvement, freight rail improvement or capacity expansion, and Intelligent Transportation Systems to reduce congestion.  It also mandates that the DOT develop new tools "to support an outcome-oriented, performance-based approach to evaluate proposed freight-related" projects.

Click here read the complete text of the bill. 

Connecting Cascadia: A High-Speed Rail Vision for the Pacific Northwest

By Ben on July 16, 2010  | 0 Comments
Cascadia Megaregion

Earlier this month America 2050 sponsored a two-day planning charrette in Portland, Oregon with stakeholders along the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor - stretching from Vancouver, British Columbia to Eugene, Oregon to develop a vision for an integrated Cascadia megaregion enabled by high-speed rail.

Building on America 2050's research on Where High-Speed Rail Works Best the workshop sought to explore the economic, land use, urban design, and transportation strategies and investments necessary to fully leverage federal, state, provincial, and local investments in high-speed rail in this binational corridor. The workshop was an opportunity to broaden the focus of regional leaders on how high-speed rail can help advance larger goals for Cascadia as a more interconnected, sustainable, and prosperous megaregion.

To learn more, you can download the detailed briefing book of background information prepared for workshop participants. You can also access America 2050's original map of the Cascadia megaregion prepared for the workshop, which synthesizes transportation, land use, and the regional planning strategies of the entire megaregion on the America 2050 Maps Page (scroll to the bottom of the page.) A summary of workshop proceedings and next steps will be posted here soon.


Petra Todorovich on High-Speed Rail and Regional Economies

By Petra on July 12, 2010  | 0 Comments

Petra Todorovich - America 2050 from Steven Skemp on Vimeo.

View America 2050 Director Petra Todorovich's recent presentation on the benefits of high-speed rail to regional economies and where high-speed rail works best. The presentation was given at the conference of the U.S. High-Speed Rail Association in Hollywood, California on June 17, 2010.

Factors Contributing to High-Speed Rail Ridership

By Petra on June 27, 2010  | 0 Comments
America 2050 staff recently participated in the FRA's outreach sessions on the Preliminary National Rail Plan in five locations across the United States, from May 19- June 4. Petra Todorovich and Yoav Hagler participated in panel discussions on investment criteria for high-speed rail, presenting a version of this PowerPoint, which discusses factors such as population size and density, employment concentrations, transit connections, industry mix of regional economies, and short-haul air markets.

Download the presentation delivered in Portland on June 4 (pdf).

A Call for Ideas by Rail L.A.

By Petra on June 22, 2010  | 0 Comments

 

When we were in L.A. last week at the U.S. High Speed Rail Association Conference, we met Ashley and Gunnar Hand and Gerhard Mayer of Rail L.A. Rail L.A. was recently founded by members of the L.A. chapters of the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association. These design professionals are concerned about how high-speed rail could be a catalyst for better urban design and transit-oriented development in Los Angeles. They've issued a call for ideas for high-speed rail stations, videos, and design to populate a traveling design exhibit about high-speed rail in the coming year. Check out their website and submit your idea.

America 2050's Comments on National Rail Plan

By Yoav on June 18, 2010  | 0 Comments
Eurostar.jpg The Federal Railroad Administration is currently preparing a long term national rail plan due to congress this October. As part of this process they are accepting comments in the Preliminary Rail Plan published last year.


Such a plan is needed to establish U.S. policy for passenger and freight rail investment and provide clarity to states and regions about the federal government's role in passenger and freight rail investment.

Read America 2050's comments on the preliminary rail plan and recommendations on the long range national rail plan. Download the data appendix.

Archives