cost savings

Transit projects don’t have to cost this much

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Fires and electrical problems at Penn Station ahead of World Cup matches have contributed to a global spotlight shining on America’s lackluster transit systems this summer. The price tag for an upgrade at Penn Station? Seven billion dollars—larger than Arkansas’s entire annual budget. The United States has some of the highest costs to build transit in the world, but smart reforms and investment in public capacity could bring some of those vertigo-inducing price tags back down to earth.

Lessons from nine states bringing ‘practical solutions’ from policy to practice

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Smart Growth America recently concluded two years of technical assistance with nine state DOTs. The projects focused on “Accelerating Practical Solutions,” and addressed practices that hold back DOTs from consistently building lower-cost and context-sensitive projects. SGA has developed seven white papers based on key changes DOTs are making.

The Colorado Energy Smart Transportation Initiative: A Framework for Considering Energy in Transportation (SSTI and Colorado DOT, 2012)

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The mission of Colorado’s Energy Smart Transportation Initiative was to develop a framework for considering energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in transportation decision-making. With SSTI assistance, a collaborative team composed of federal and state agencies, MPOs, and rural planning partners came together to leverage resources and promote efficiency and effectiveness among agencies by exploring ways to develop “energy smart transportation” strategies. This report includes strategies developed to incorporate energy efficiency and GHG emissions in transportation planning, increase energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions from transportation, advance environmentally friendly alternative vehicle and fuel technologies, and increase efficiency through truck fleet enhancements, improved traveler information, and other methods.