New Mexico
Already California, Indiana, Montana, South Carolina (overriding a governor's veto), Tennessee, and Utah* have raised gas taxes this year, while last year was a drought—only New Jersey increased its gas tax.
The Council of State Governments
The Democratic-controlled New Mexico legislature passed a 5-cents per gallon fuel tax increase and the Republican-controlled Assembly in Wisconsin backed a plan to apply sales tax to fuel, but their Republican governors oppose any tax hikes.
Wisconsin State Journal
After a slow 2016, four states this year have already passed state gas tax increases. South Carolina may be next if they override the governor's veto. A new analysis should help legislators do just that.
Governing
Feature
The city of Albuquerque is focused on bringing consistency and coherence to an unwieldy collection of planning and land use regulations. An interview with Albuquerque Planning Director Suzanne Lubar explores the city's approach to the challenge.
A planner reflects on one of New Mexico's great planning successes, the Santa Fe Railyard.
Santa Fe New Mexican
The idea behind the "Racial Equity Here" initiative: dismantle systematic racial inequality.
Next City
A well organized opposition to a planned Bus Rapid Transit line in Albuquerque, New Mexico has stalled the beginning of construction on the new transit line with lawsuits.
Albuquerque Journal
Five U.S. cities will examine how their government operations impact people of color, and come up with solutions to advance racial equity.
Living Cities
El Paso is moving forward with a number of transit projects, toward ambitious goals in mobility, quality of life, and air quality.
The Urban Edge
A new report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration documents the increasing frequency of nuisance floods and "clear-sky flooding."
USA Today
New Mexico had the nation's highest pedestrian fatality rate in 2014. Alcohol was a factor in over half the pedestrian fatalities in New Mexico, while nationally it's a third. According to the Albuquerque PD, drunk pedestrians are primarily to blame.
Albuquerque Journal
Now that the Albuquerque City Council has approved a plan to create bus-only lanes on Central Avenue, the city will seek federal funding for the project.
Albuquerque Journal
Expect EPA to be radically downsized and stripped of much of its authority should a Republican become the next president. Democrats haven't stepped up to their defense as one might expect after the mishandling of the Flint water crisis.
The New York Times
A streak of landmark years for public transit in Sun Belt cities from the West Coast to the Florida Panhandle will continue in 2016.
The Urban Edge
Cities as far-flung as Trinidad, Dodge City, and Lamy joined their efforts in recent years to keep the iconic Southwest Chief Amtrak route running.
The Denver Post
The heightened intensity of wildfires in the Western United States, along with other human factors, are short-circuiting the natural processes of rebirth.
The New York Times
Eric Jaffe of CityLab looks at what went wrong with what should have been a clear way to employ technology to reduce crashes and save lives, and what can be done to stem the tide of cities removing red light cameras.
CityLab
The Environmental Protection Agency finds itself in a peculiar place. Normally it investigates spills caused by the private sector. Now it's cleaning up a massive spill it caused while investigating a leak at an abandoned mine in southwest Colorado.
The New York Times - U.S.
Partly absorbed by 1-10 and party given over the ravages of time—the Old Spanish Trail was the first to highway to connect the East Coast to the West Coast through the southern states.
Atlas Obscura
Albuquerque is working on a multi-modal reconfiguration of the old Route 66.
Albuquerque Journal
