Category Archives: roads

Study: Fixing Roads Improves Air Quality. 2 Points to Know Now.

What group issued this report?  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

What roadway maintenance and building options help with air quality?

  • standardized pavement & construction

National Center for Sustainable Transportation | The Role of Life Cycle Assessment in Reducing GHG Emissions from Road Construc on and Maintenance 

 

Sacremento Bee | AM Alert: Could fixing California roads be environmental benefit?

 

Midwest Trend: Republican House Leaders Propose $500 Million in Funding for Roads. Key Points from the Plan.

Republican House Members in Indiana have a plan, a transportation funding plan to:

  • Raise fuel taxes by 4 cents a gallon to 22 cents
  • Raise cigarette taxes by $1
  • Raise sales tax on fuel by 4 cents a gallon (about $24 per year per motorist)
  • Charge electric car owners a $100 yearly registration fee
  • Allow cities to charge a “wheel tax,” which is a charge of up to $25 on car registrations to help fund local projects.
  • Study turning freeways into tollways

Republican leaders say:

  • this…

INTERIM. 3 Bills that Require Interim Studies due in 2016.

Texas Legislative Council reminds us that the 2015 Legislature passed a bunch of bills with a bunch of interim study requirements. 

The transportation related interim studies from 2015 bills:

Plains State Proposal: Transportation Infrastructure Bank. 3 Points to Get You Ahead of the Game.

Governor Ricketts of Nebraska has a new transportation funding plan. It’s all centered around a new transportation infrastructure bank that will:

  • Be solely funded with cash reserves
  • Only fund pay as you go projects
  • Will have the power to:
    • accelerate road construction projects
    • help counties with funding for expedited bridge repair
    • fund transportation projects that support industry expansion
    • fund transportation projects that attract businesses to Nebraska 

WOWT | Governor…

New Transportation Reinvestment Zone in South Texas. 3 Points to Know.

  • New county-wide transportation reinvestment zone approved unanymously in Cameron County
  • Can raise $1.6 billion for future transportation projects over the next 50 years
  • Allows Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority to pledge its funding for transportation bonds

Valley Morning Star | Economic development: Court approves new transportation reinvestment zone

The Pitch From Business Leaders to Fund Transportation In a Mountain State

What’s the pitch? Colorado Business leaders are calling for a $3.5 billion bond measure.

What’s the organization backing the bond? Fix Colorado Roads

What happened to Colorado’s legislative proposal on transportation bonds in 2015? The bonds hit road blocks when Colorado Department of Transportation raised issues.

How did the agency kill bonds? CO DoT raised concerns that bond maintenance would take money away from road maintenance. 

The Durango Herald | Colorado business…

Lege Trend: Moving Forward with Road Usage Fees. 3 Takeaways from 1 State.

How the Fees are moving through Special Commission to Legislature:

  • A Commission in Washington State is moving forward with pilot programs and statewide recommendations for Road Usage Fees.
  • Usage Fees are referred to as a “potential long-term sustainable funding source for transportation infrastructure”
  • A full report to the Washington Legislature is due January 2016.

The road usage fee proposal:

  • 1.9 cents per mile
  • Average truck/suv = $6 per month
  • Average Car = $10.23 per month
  • Average…

Name that Billionaire Funding Traffic Congestion Studies

…Paul Allen.

Who teamed up with Paul Allen? Department of Transportation

What’s the project?Smart City Challenge

What’s the goal of the Smart City Challenge for traffic solutions?

​incentivize forward-thinking, high-tech solutions to the gridlock and inefficiencies that come part and parcel with urban living. T

What kind of traffic solutions are being grant funded?  

  • smarter cars
  • street lights
  • public transit
  • anything that makes transportation quicker, easier, and safer.

 

East Texas Mayor vs. Toll Road. 6 Opposition Groups & Issues.

Who? Vidor Mayor Robert Viator Jr. has “trust issues” with the Texas Turnpike Authority proposed 10 mile toll road from Vidor to Beaumont

Why does the mayor have trust issues? The company altered its projections to add 25 years to reach $9 billion in profits.  The company projects that it will take a total of 75 years for the private toll company to reach $9 billion in profits.

What opposition groups and issues are emerging? 

Those challenging the project include:

  • Vidor Mayor…