Pursuing statewide or agency climate and equity goals isn’t just preferable for state DOTs, it can also be a matter of risk management. Several lawsuits targeting major transportation infrastructure projects, most recently in Wisconsin and Oregon, have taken aim at alleged failures to consider alternatives to capacity expansion that would reduce harm to the environment or inequitable project outcomes.
Wisconsin
States must step up efforts to reduce harmful carbon emissions
As of last September, 16 states and Puerto Rico approved legislation requiring reductions in greenhouse emissions. The White House also set ambitious goals of cutting emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels in 2030. They aim to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050. Contributing to 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., the transportation sector is now the top producer and accounts for a growing portion each year. More than half of these emissions (57%) come from personal vehicles such as cars, SUVs, and light-duty trucks. Progress in cutting those emissions has been slow, let alone efforts to measure and track them.
Wisconsin’s millennial-recruiting pitch falls flat
Wisconsin’s efforts to attract young workers from Chicago seems to be falling flat. One reason may be that the target audience prefers transit to driving, and other decisions by the state have undercut transportation options that Millenials find appealing.
Politico examines Wisconsin’s “Love Affair with Overpasses”
The transportation record of a prominent presidential candidate is the jumping off point for a lengthy, critical report on American transportation policy in Politico last week. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recently proposed to dramatically increase borrowing in order to support several highway megaprojects in southern Wisconsin. But the Politico article points out that the size of the budget is not the only, or even the most important, issue—both in Wisconsin and in Washington.
Research shows the indirect economic benefit of public transportation
A study done by Cambridge Systematics for NCHRP Project 20-65 examined the indirect economic benefits to society of state investment in public transportation. The study found there are substantial cost savings to other government programs due to increased access to jobs, health care, and education. In many economic impact analyses, these indirect benefits are less well-documented than job creation through capital and operational spending, effects on local development patterns, and direct benefits to riders such as cost or time savings leading to increased productivity.