Roads

Act 178, approved by Vermont in 2006, required that all ancient roads be catalogued by July 1, 2015 to be included in the state map. The exploration of old roads leading up to that deadline makes a compelling story.

July 3, 2015 - The New Yorker

In the next few decades, U.S. governments and businesses are predicted to spend trillions of dollars on infrastructure. This is the reality. The question is: how do we get smart about these investments?

November 15, 2014 - Infrastructure Crisis Sustainable Solutions

A comparison of road conditions in Rwanda and Mali—the former an autocracy with sterling roads, the latter a democracy where poor road conditions reveal a deep divide in the country.

September 1, 2014 - Foreign Policy

A new study published in the journal Nature maps out a plan for the development of roads around the world—where roads should be avoided due to their environmental costs, and where they can be built to maximize their potential benefit to humanity.

August 30, 2014 - Science Daily

Might a recent agreement to fund water projects pave the way for more transportation spending? That's what positive signals out of Washington seem to indicate. Just one small obstacle stands in the way: how to finance road and bridge projects.

October 30, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Extreme temperatures aren’t just a public health concern: they also affect how we get around.

July 22, 2013 - Better Institutions

A multifaceted £100 billion infrastructure modernization plan for the UK was announced this week by Treasury Minister Danny Alexander. The opposition Labour party is objecting to the timeline for the investments, which aren't due to start until 2015.

June 27, 2013 - BBC News

Evan Soltas pens a contrarian take on the state of America's infrastructure, equating those who repeatedly warn of crumbling roads and bridges to a bunch of "Chicken Littles."

April 10, 2013 - Bloomberg View

With the federal government unable to agree on much of anything, state and local taxpayers are bearing the burden for repairing and replacing America's aging infrastructure says a new report from Standard & Poor’s Rating Services.

October 29, 2012 - The Washington Post

SPUR, the San Francisco-based planing think tank, looks at the potential benefits to the public sector of using dynamic, demand-based pricing to manage limited public resources - from parking to electricity.

October 15, 2012 - SPUR

Finally, something Red and Blue America can agree on! A new poll published this week by the NRDC shows support for local investment in transit to reduce traffic crosses the country's wide political and geographic divides.

September 14, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

In the early 1990s, transportation politics at both the state and federal levels was often fairly simple: an all-powerful Road Gang (made up of real estate developers and road contractors) typically got whatever it wanted, rolling over a much weaker pro-transit coalition of environmentalists and urban politicians.

August 7, 2012 - Michael Lewyn

Arguments over transportation policy often run as follows: HIGHWAY SUPPORTER: Highways pay for themselves! Buses/trains don't! So highways good and everything else bad bad bad! TRANSIT SUPPORTER: But highways create bad externalities like pollution and climate change! So if highways were taxed at their true cost gas would cost a zillion billion cajillion dollars per gallon! (followed by numerous counterarguments and counter-counterarguments that I won't bore you with, except as written below...) It seems to me that these arguments miss one point: even if the highway system as a whole pays for itself, the system is so chock full of cross-subsidies that each individual road doesn't (except for toll roads).

June 26, 2012 - Michael Lewyn

Mayor Villaraigosa plans to borrow against future Measure R money to fund one massive, two-year road improvement project before he leaves office.

November 11, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

In Modesto CA, a portion of sales tax is used to support the Local Transportation Fund (LTF) which is used for dial-a-ride, trains, and other transit services. Instead, the county wants to use this money for road fixtures.

October 10, 2011 - American Planning Association

While the photos of the flooded towns in New England captivated our attention, it is the devastation to the roads and bridges that has become the priority in the rebuilding effort - as they must be repaired or replaced to allow relief and rebuilding.

September 5, 2011 - The New York Times - U.S.

Infrastructure costs are towering in the U.S., but much of that could be because of old habits in road building. This column looks at how cities and states can reduce their infrastructure costs.

August 23, 2011 - Citiwire

A new study of federal data on fatalities per 100,000 people and per 100 million miles driven finds significant differences in urban and rural roads.

January 27, 2011 - USA Today

The Governor's Highway Safety Association released a report citing an uptick in pedestrian fatalities in the first half of 2010 and speculates on all sorts of reasons for this except poor road design.

January 21, 2011 - Greater Greater Washington

Could sand be the next great paving material? Thomas Kosbau and Andrew Wetzler recently won a design competition in Korea with their idea to combine sand with a bacteria that turns sand to stone.

November 29, 2010 - Next100