Subsidies
Time for a Federal Gas Tax Holiday?
Senate Democrats introduced legislation to lower gas prices by suspending the federal gas tax through the end of the year. General funds would be directed to the Highway Trust Fund to replace gas tax revenue.
Watch: The Car-Centric Legal System, Explained
So many subsidies ensure the dominance of the automobile in the daily live of the United States, it's hard to keep track of them all. Law Professor Greg Shill is keeping track, however.
Shared Mobility Subsidies Dry Up, Revealing the Industry’s Economic Realities
Companies are looking to generate profits, but customers have come to expect low-cost, subsidized travel and raising prices will prove challenging.
In the Eyes of the Law, Drivers Aren't Playing Fair
A new paper accounts for all the ways "the legal system puts its thumb on the scale for drivers to the detriment of everyone else: transit users, cyclists and pedestrians."
Revisiting Wisconsin's Foxconn Deal, Now Called a 'Boondoggle'
Wisconsin taxpayer will be paying the bill for the deal to bring Foxconn to Racine "for decades, if not generations, to come."
Apartment Building Pays $100 a Month to Tenants Who Don't Use Parking
Miami developers the Melo Group are paying renters to give up parking spaces, even though they already built the garage.
Attacking Auto-Dependency by Attacking Auto Subsidies
It's not the car but the driving subsidy that is responsible for many of the ills associated with auto dominance. Asking, "How do we get people out of cars?" is the wrong question, argues Joe Cortright, urban economist for City Observatory.
Tech Companies Pulled $9.3 Billion in State and Local Subsidies in Five Years
Good Jobs First put a price tag on the lucrative deals local and state officials throw at flashy tech companies. It's a trend that is only growing with deals like Foxconn in Wisconsin and the expected Amazon HQ2 announcement.
Global Subsidies for Fossil Fuels: $5 Trillion a Year
A new study from researchers at the International Monetary Fund finds the cost of doing fossil fuel business.
Road Funding By Taxes, Tolls, and Fees, Broken Down by State
The Tax Foundation endeavors to provide a simple explanation of road funding.
Subsidized Carpool Rides: There's an App for That
Contra Costa County, California, located in the East Bay Area, is looking for new incentives to get commuters to carpool through the congestion region. If only there were an app for that.
Calgary Ends the 'Sprawl Subsidy'
An op-ed by the mayor of Calgary, Canada celebrates the adoption of a new off-site levy that will change the financing formula for new development and the necessary infrastructure that comes with it.
Conservatives Have a Bad Feeling About Smart Growth
Bloggers, pundits, authors, and researchers, have made the case for conservatives to embrace the effects of smart growth. Yet still, a distinctly partisan divide flavors the debate about how to make room for a growing number of Americans.
Friday Funny: John Oliver's Takedown of Public Money for Professional Sports Stadiums
HBO's John Oliver wants cities to do one thing when professional sports teams come asking for public money to build new stadiums: "Make them pay!"
North Carolina DOT to Consider Fees for Developers, Billboard Companies
One of the arguments against sprawl and its variety of manifestations is the large amount of public subsidies, for private benefit, required to make it work. North Carolina will consider a small step in ending the free ride.
Questioning Hotel Tax Subsidies in Los Angeles
Desperate to build hotel capacity in the neighborhood surrounding the Los Angeles Convention Center, the city has granted hundreds of millions in tax breaks to hotel developers. Some are asking the city to rethink the subsidies.
Why Don’t More Conservatives Support Smart Growth?
A self-identified conservative who supports the “broader vision of smart growth” has identified a reason why more conservatives don’t support smart growth: the political economy of sprawl.
Exposing Sprawl's Hidden Costs
A new report sheds light on the costs of suburban sprawl that aren't well understood by officials and residents. If more knew the true financial costs they might reconsider their policies and priorities, believes author Dave Thompson.
For Amtrak, Short Trips Are Route to Profitability
A new report from the Brookings Institution delves into the ridership and financial winners (and losers) for America's largest intercity rail operator. Last year, Amtrak made money on its 26 routes shorter than 400 miles.
What's Really Keeping Americans off of Transit?
Josh Barro offers his take on the charge, oft resorted to by transit advocates, that subsidies for road maintenance encourage driving. Instead, he argues, we should turn our attention to the mechanisms that make it hard for transit to compete.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
