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.

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.

The Sonoran Institute has released a new report on Tucson's role in the Arizona Sun Corridor Megaregion. Tucson's New Prosperity:Capitalizing on the Sun Corridor makes the case that the economic health of Tucson is closely tied to the much larger Sun Corridor economy that is focused in Phoenix, 100 miles to the north. But the report makes clear that Tucson's best strategy is not to compete with Phoenix, but to treat Phoenix as an asset that can be utilized to advance its own economy. In terms of growth and sprawl, Phoenix has won the race. Tucson should compete by establishing its own niche in the economic environment of the Sun Corridor. As a city that is embraced on all sides by national, state, and county parks forests, conservation areas, and monuments, and undeveloped state trust lands, Tucson's great advantages are its spectacular natural environment, opportunities for outdoor recreation and a relaxed desert lifestyle.

Last month, eleven northeastern states and Amtrak submitted a planning proposal to the Federal Railroad Administration.  The proposal seeks federal funding for an $18.8 million four-phased planning study.

The study will explore investments needed to meet travel demand in the Northeast Corridor, including both incremental improvements and investments in dedicated tracks for true high-speed service. This proposal, the result of collaboration among 11 states and Amtrak to plan for the future of the  nation's most congested intercity and commuter rail corridor, represents an historic collaboration and a necessary step to bring the Northeast's rail infrastructure into the 21st century.

The proposal strikes a needed balance between short term necessity and ambitious long term planning, and is worthy of support by anyone who cares about rail service in the Northeast. A decision by the FRA about whether to fund this three-year planning process is expect by the middle of July.

The complete proposal can be found here: www.njtransit.com/highspeedNEC

America 2050 will join the U.S. High Speed Rail Association at its conference June 17-18 at Hilton Universal City, in Los Angeles, California.

Click here for more information on speakers and the agenda and here to register.  

The Business Alliance for Northeast Mobility, a coalition of business and civic groups from Maine to Virginia, has been advocating for funding to increase the capacity, speed, and reliability of intercity and commuter rail service on the Northeast Corridor since 2006.

Amtrak and the Northeastern states are about to embark on a new round of ambitious planning for upgraded rail service in the corridor.  This PowerPoint presentation prepared by Regional Plan Association provides context for this process with a brief history of planning efforts on the corridor over the past four decades and a snapshot of where the corridor is today.

It can be downloaded and used a resource by Business Alliance members or other interested parties.

A University of Pennsylvania graduate planning studio released their final report this week, proposing investment in two new dedicated high-speed tracks connecting Boston to Washington. Traveling a new right-of-way in the north end of the Corridor, and involving station relocations and strategic improvements in the south end, the plan would cut travel times in half, achieving 90-minute service from New York to Washington, D.C. and 105 minute service from New York to Boston. The Executive Summary is now available for download. You can download the full report in chapters on the Penn students' website, or the full report as one file here (100MB).

The report was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 9.