July - 2017

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U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Proposed Rule to Streamline Private Sector Involvement i

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced a proposal to facilitate public-private partnerships in public transportation. The newly proposed Private Investment Project Procedures (PIPP) for public transportation capital projects will help the federal government develop more effective approaches to spurring private participation and investment in areas such as project planning, development, finance, desi

Hit the gas: Fewer using public transportation

President Donald Trump’s controversial pledge to exit from the Paris Climate Accord has no shortage of detractors, particularly among groups seeking steep reductions in U.S. carbon emissions. Those critics might also have a bone to pick with the nation’s millions of price-sensitive commuters. An American City Business Journals analysis of federal data indicates that usage of public transportation — a cornerstone to most proposals to reduce carbon emissions — has been on the d

Texas House votes again to move forward on tree bill Abbott vetoed

Texas House members voted Thursday to advance a bill that would lower the fees that cities require for tree removal — a measure similar to one Gov. Greg Abbott already vetoed, while a bill the governor requested for the special session remains stalled in committee. House Bill 7 would require cities charging tree removal fees to allow the planting of replacement trees as an option to offset fees. The House gave the measure preliminary approval on a 132-11 vote. Two Democrats o

Nonprofit group sues Trump over infrastructure council

A nonprofit group is challenging President Trump over his infrastructure council, claiming that the panel has been operating in secrecy and that its co-chairs have potential conflicts of interest. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Food & Water Watch claims that the administration violated federal public access requirements in establishing and running the new panel. In addition to Trump, the lawsuit also lists the Transpor

House approves spending bill with funds for Trump's border wall

The House approved a national security-themed spending package on Thursday that includes $1.6 billion to start building President Trump’s proposed border wall. The $827 billion package passed largely along party lines, with a vote of 235-192. Five Republicans voted no, while five Democrats voted yes. The five Republicans to vote against the package were Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), John Duncan Jr. (Tenn.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Mark Sanford (S.C.). Five

Senate panel rejects Trump’s effort to slash transportation funding

A Senate panel has rejected President Trump’s effort to eliminate Obama-era transportation grants, instead opting to provide a funding boost for the program. By voice vote, the Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, housing and urban development approved a fiscal 2018 spending bill that includes $550 million for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The program was set up by the Obama administration’s 2009 economic stimulu

Kansas City, Mo.: Home of the '51 Smartest Blocks' in the Country

(TNS) -- Standing at the corner of 12th Street and Main, Bob Bennett points across the street, then beyond his left shoulder, over his right. The place is lousy with sensors — on traffic lights, atop light poles, buried in the pavement. By his reckoning, Kansas City’s chief innovation officer figures this is the center of the “51 smartest blocks” in the country. All around lie gizmos that never stop collecting bits of information. Those bits become bytes piling into mountains

Map of the Month: Vision Zero Boston

The Vision Zero initiative began in Sweden in 1997 with the goal of eliminating fatal traffic and pedestrian accidents, and has since spread around the world. The City of Boston and Mayor Marty Walsh joined the initiative in 2015 and a year later launched a story map that gives citizens the power to directly influence the process of making Boston’s streets safer – and fatal crash-free by the city’s target date of 2030. The Boston Vision Zero story map unites a visual collecti

A list as threat part of a toxic political culture

Votes for and against bills in the Legislature are a matter of public record. And statements expressing support for or unmovable opposition to various measures are generally made, well, out in the public square. Such stances are no mystery for those interested in the issues. Gov. Greg Abbott, however, wants to help you out in this matter of transparency. He has promised a daily “list” of those opposed to measures he wants approved in the special session, which began last week

The Rivers of the U.S., Collected Into a Nifty Subway Map

If any modern-day Huckleberry Finns and Jims wanted to navigate the mighty rivers of America, they’d do well to take along this delightfully crafted guide to waterways that looks like a subway map. Theo Rindos, a 27-year-old graphic designer and illustrator who lives in greater New York—right along the Hudson River, no less—created the map as an ode to his lifelong love of the water. “I grew up on the Yellowstone River in southwestern Montana. It’s the longest undammed river

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