Patrick Phillips on Senate’s Step Forward with MAP-21

Since the law authorizing federal surface transportation spending and setting policy expired in September 2009, ULI has discussed policy options, featured surface transportation in the annual infrastructure report, and tracked extension after extension of the existing law.

Now, the U.S. Senate has taken a significant step forward with new legislation, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP-21. ULI chief executive officer Patrick Phillips recognized this accomplishment in a recent commentary, writing, “Many of these changes, if enacted, point to a future where the transportation system reflects disciplined investment, mitigates the impact of volatile oil prices, and addresses environmental sustainability, while providing improved accessibility for the nation’s citizens.”

Read the full commentary.

Infrastructure 2012: Spotlight on Leadership

Infrastructure 2012: Spotlight on Leadership explores how federal, state, and local leaders are making infrastructure projects happen in a constrained funding environment.

Highlights of the report:

• A special section exploring the growing use of ballot measures to fund roads, transit and open-space projects, including case studies from Los Angeles, North Carolina’s Research Triangle, and Oklahoma City.
• A look at how cities and regions are using new technology, partnerships, and other strategies to move infrastructure forward, with case studies from San Francisco, Northeastern Illinois, and the Connecticut/Massachusetts “Knowledge Corridor”.
• A review of infrastructure trends and issues in the United States, the U.K., Canada, China, India, Brazil, the Middle East, and Europe.
• Analysis of emerging approaches to infrastructure funding and financing, including public/private partnerships.

Infrastructure 2012: Spotlight on Leadership will be released at ULI’s Spring Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina in May. For more information on the Infrastructure 2012 report and speaker series, contact [email protected] or (202) 624-7120.

Financial Times/Citi Ingenuity Award

The Financial Times and Citi are seeking to recognize individuals who are contributing solutions to urban problems including mobility, pollution, and provision of infrastructure. Submit applications for the FT/Citi Ingenuity Award by March 31, 2012.

Infrastructure in Urban Land

“Ready About,” Howard Kozloff, March 9, 2012. U.S. East Coast and Gulf ports are upgrading facilities in anticipation of supersized ships transiting the Panama Canal in 2014.

“NoMa: The Neighborhood That Transit Built,” Rachel MacCleery, February 29, 2012. An infill transit station, built with significant private sector funding, helped transform a desolate swath of Washington, D.C., into a vibrant, vital, mixed-use neighborhood.

“Bicycles Belong,” Edward T. McMahon, February 22, 2012. Walking and bicycling provide many benefits—reduced air pollution, improved public health, decreased dependence on foreign oil—but federal funding for nonmotorized transportation may be in jeopardy.