Ohio recently unveiled a jobs and transportation plan to fund critical highway projects. The Ohio Jobs and Transportation Plan would generate $1.5 billion in new funds for Ohio highways from bonds issued by the Ohio Turnpike Commission and backed by future toll revenues. Up to an additional $1.5 billion could be generated from matching local […]
Category: News
News
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has appointed Charlie Zelle to be the new MnDOT Commissioner, effective January 15, 2013. Zelle is president and CEO of Jefferson Lines, which provides travel services in 13 Midwestern states. His family founded the company in 1919. It serves more that 60 Minnesota cities and specializes in connecting rural areas to destinations […]
Two researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco recently presented a paper at the 2012 NBER Macroeconomics Annual Conference entitled “Roads to Prosperity or Bridges to Nowhere? Theory and Evidence on the Impact of Public Infrastructure Investment.” Here’s the abstract: We examine the dynamic macroeconomic effects of public infrastructure investment both theoretically and […]
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Transportation for America has just released a handbook to help policy makers and transportation stakeholders understand and implement Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), the recently enacted federal surface transportation legislation. Making the Most of MAP-21: A Guide to the 2012 Federal Transportation Law — And How to Use it for Positive […]
Caitlin Hughes Rayman–currently the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy and Freight–has been selected to be the Director of the FHWA Office of Freight Management and Operations. Rayman will replace former Director of the Office of Freight Management and Operations Tony Furst, who now serves as FHWA’s Associate Administrator for Safety. For more […]
The AASHTO Freight Working Group has recently submitted comments to the US Department of Transportation on the MAP-21 Interim Guidance on State Freight Plans and State Freight Advisory Committees, and the related Memorandum on Prioritization of Projects to Improve Freight Movement Guidance. These comments, which speak to the implementation of the freight provisions in MAP-21, […]
Contributed by: C. Bryant Dudley, CFIRE project assistant In 2009 the European Union (EU) ratified the Renewable Energy Directive, which outlined three objectives for member states to meet by 2020: Increase renewable energy consumption to 20 percent of total energy consumption; Reduce total energy consumption by 20 percent; Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 […]
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics recently released North American surface trade numbers for August 2012. Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico, was 2.6 percent higher in August 2012 than in August 2011, totaling $82.5 billion, unadjusted for inflation, according to the […]
Contributed by C. Bryant Dudley, CFIRE Project Assistant The demand for coal in the United States has declined sharply since 2008. Much of this decline is driven by the decreased use of coal for power generation, which has dropped from nearly half to just under a third. This trend is likely to continue: 20 percent […]
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the launch of the Freight Policy Council which will focus on improving the condition and performance of the national freight network to better ensure the ability of the United States to compete in today’s global economy. The council will develop a national, intermodal plan for improving the efficiency […]