Infrastructure

Commentary: Ensuring a Sustainable Future for Hurricane-Vulnerable Rural Communities Is Imperative
As we brace for the second half of the 2024 hurricane season, we need to take serious action to help rural communities recover and build greater resilience against hurricanes.

Reconsidering Travel Behavior in an Era of Decarbonization
It is time to reconsider assumptions about how much and how people want to travel. Per capita vehicle travel has saturated. Many people would prefer to drive less and rely more on non-auto modes, provided they are convenient and affordable.

USDOT Issues $1B in Road Safety Grants
The funding is aimed at helping cities plan and implement safety improvement projects to reduce road deaths and major crashes.

How Effective Street Lighting Improves Women’s Mobility
A lack of effective lighting in streets, parks, and transit stations limits the places where many women and other vulnerable groups feel safe traveling at night.

Envisioning a New Park in East Los Angeles
Los Angeles County is working towards transforming underutilized land into a vibrant pocket park in the City Terrace neighborhood of East LA.

Symposium Highlights the Crucial Role of Trees in Combatting Extreme Heat
Experts emphasize that planting and maintaining trees in urban areas is essential for reducing extreme heat, cooling cities, and preventing heat-related illnesses, especially as heatwaves become more frequent and severe.

Study: Cost of Expanding Roads Outweighs Benefits
New research shows that the economic benefits of roadbuilding projects don’t come close to exceeding most projects’ costs.

Study: Outdated Stormwater Infrastructure Exacerbates Flooding
Infrastructure built to mitigate flooding a century ago no longer serves current needs.

Houston Bus Lanes Downgraded to HOV Lanes
Metro officials say the new plan for the Iner Katy Project addresses more immediate needs by replacing dedicated bus lanes with HOV lanes.

Pedestrians First: Tools for a Walkable City
A comprehensive new website provides information on why and how to improve community walkability and offers practical tools for evaluating walking conditions.

Austin Completes First Round of Vision Zero Projects
Small, localized interventions such as changes to signal timing and crosswalk improvements are saving lives and improving traffic safety.

Biking Outpaces Transit Use in DC
D.C. residents and visitors take as many as 30 million trips on bikes or shared mobility, yet bike lanes cover just one quarter of one percent of the District’s streets.

Philly Speed Camera Program Cuts Fatalities in Half
Excessive speeding along dangerous segments of Roosevelt Boulevard dropped by 90 percent after the city installed automated enforcement cameras.

Southern California Utilities Cut Power, Gas to Hundreds of Households on Shifting Coastal Land
Slow but significant land movement is damaging infrastructure, prompting power shutoffs and calls for evacuation in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Last Dam in Klamath River Removal Project Comes Down
Salmon can now move freely along the river and its tributaries for the first time in over a century.

Texas High-Speed Rail Awarded $63.9M Federal Grant
In August, Amtrak received a $63.9 million grant from the FRA to continue its work to identify a high-speed rail corridor between Dallas and Houston.

FEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant to Fund Marsh Restoration
The grant to fund a marsh restoration project in coastal Louisiana is the first of its kind under FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance program, which is typically used to elevate, acquire, or relocate homes or floodproof businesses.

Army Corps Recommends $77M Floodwall to Protect Baltimore Tunnels
In the face of growing flooding risk and increased traffic following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, federal and state officials say protecting two of Baltimore's major transportation corridors from flooding is vital.

FEMA Extends Deadline for Hazard Mitigation Grant Applications
Tight applications prevented many communities struck by disasters from applying for FEMA resilience grants, so the agency issued a new rule that extended the application window.

California Secures $150 Million for Expanding Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
The Golden State has received almost $150 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build over 9,200 EV charging ports, bolstering the state’s efforts to expand zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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