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Monthly archive for May, 2011
Will the Future of the Northeast Corridor Include Amtrak?
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
It’s safe to say John Mica does not think highly of Amtrak. In late January the House Transportation Committee chair brought up the idea of private-public rail partnerships in the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak’s most traveled route. In March he seconded Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Germany to Phase Out Nuclear by 2022
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
• Spurred on by voter concerns about safety, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Monday that Germany plans to close all its nuclear power plants by the year 2022. So what will replace them? Merkel hopes to shift to renewable energy Read more ›
What’s the Headline for Infrastructure 2012? A Contest
Friday, May 27th, 2011
On May 18, the Urban Land Institute released its much-anticipated annual Infrastructure publication — Infrastructure 2011: A Strategic Priority. Dedicated Infrastructurists will have by now noticed the increasing urgency of tone in the publication’s subtitles. In 2007 infrastructure was simply Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Memorial Day Travel Rush Begins
Friday, May 27th, 2011
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy • Americans are hitting the roads, the rails and the skies in large numbers for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. IBM analyzed reams of online content and found Read more ›
10 Incredible Infrastructure Images [Gallery]
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
A few weeks ago, Pictory, an online photography magazine, published an incredible collection of infrastructure images curated from photographers around the country. The kind editors at Pictory have agreed to let us choose our favorites for our readers. To set Read more ›
Report: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to Spend up to $2 Billion on New Roads
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker does not like wasteful spending. He made that much clear upon his election last fall by returning more than $800 million in federal funding for a high-speed rail line through the state (some of which he Read more ›
The Morning Dig: How to Fix American Transportation Policy
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
• Robert Puentes, a senior fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, lays out his ideas for how to improve transportation in the U.S. (WSJ) • Senators from both parties unveiled a transportation budget plan which would Read more ›
Does Climate Change Have Anything to Do With All the Recent Tornadoes?
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Just a few days after a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri, officials report another round of destructive storms in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The flurry of devastation has many people asking the obvious question: what role has climate change played? Read more ›
No One Likes New Taxes (But How Else Will We Pay for Roads?)
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Infrastructurist ed-in-chief Melissa Lafsky went on CNBC a few days ago to discuss the proposed vehicle mileage tax. If you’re a regular reader of this site, you already know that the federal gas tax (which still hasn’t been raised since Read more ›
The Morning Dig: More Deadly Tornadoes Hit Oklahoma, Kansas
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
• Compelling photos show the unimaginable toll Sunday’s tornado inflicted on Joplin, Missouri. The photo to the left shows the view from a NASA satellite just before the tornado hit. (Atlantic) (Boston.com) (Atlantic) • Rescuers in Joplin are continuing their Read more ›
The Top 5 Ways to Save on Gas This Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Memorial Day weekend is fast approaching, and gas prices are still well over $4 per gallon in some states. So if you’re planning on driving, here are 5 surefire tips for saving on gas, courtesy of Ronald M. Weiers, author Read more ›
Bob Dylan’s 10 Best Infrastructure Songs
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Today is Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday, an occasion that has inspired a variety of Dylan-related lists. Since Dylan often rasps about matters covered regularly by this site — namely, roads, trains, floods, and cities — and since, as those of Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Tornado-Hit Joplin, Missouri Struggles to Recover
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy • The devastated city of Joplin is searching for survivors and assessing the full extent of the damage wrought by Sunday’s killer tornado. (NYT) (AP) (Reuters) (AP) • Read more ›
Should California Put Its High-Speed Rail Project on Hold?
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
California’s fast train recently got a $300 million boost from its federal friends, but the high didn’t last long. Soon the state’s high-speed rail authority drew criticism by announcing it would reconsider the agreed-upon route of the planned line from Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Missouri Hit Hard by Devastating Tornado
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy • At least 89 people were killed in the city of Joplin, Missouri, as a tornado Sunday ripped apart much of the town. (AP) (Reuters) (NYT) • Louisiana Read more ›
Police Remove Loud Amtrak Passenger from Quiet Car
Friday, May 20th, 2011
The story of Lakeysha Beard being removed from an Amtrak train for talking too loud in the Quiet Car is not-so-quietly making the internet rounds. Police escorted Beard — or, as Anderson Cooper has dubbed her, “cell phone lady” — Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Marking This Year’s National Bike-to-Work Day
Friday, May 20th, 2011
• The League of American Bicyclists is the sponsor of National Bike Month this May and today is National Bike to Work Day. (HuffPost) (BikeLeague.org) • On Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood marked National Transportation Week by traveling to California Read more ›
How Many ‘U.S. Infrastructure Ailing’ Reports Will It Take to Fix U.S. Infrastructure?
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
When I think of the 60s, I think of strong infrastructure-as-shares-of-GDP levels. The ballad of America’s poor infrastructure just received another verse, and it sounds a lot like the first. The latest comes courtesy of the Urban Land Institute and Read more ›
The Morning Dig: The Mystery of Air France Flight 447
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
• A magazine cover story takes an in-depth look into the plane that vanished in the Atlantic after leaving Brazil. (NYT) • Because one passenger in the Quiet Car on an Amtrak train would not stop talking loudly on her Read more ›
Rush Hour Read: Serendipity and the City
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
On the heels of Peter Kageyama’s thought-provoking guest post about building emotional ties to a city, it seemed relevant to link to an equally thought-provoking post by Ethan Zuckerman about why people move to cities at all: But there’s a Read more ›
