Newsroom

Dec 21, 2010

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made the advancement of high-speed rail in the U.S. a top priority of his and has shown his commitment to the effort by revoking funding after Governors-elect in Wisconsin and Minnesota (correction: Ohio) made it clear they would redirect the funding to other transportation projects (translation: more money for roads). The Secretary’s commitment is highly laudable but true high-speed rail still has a ways to go before it becomes a reality in the Uni​

Dec 20, 2010

ocal governments are the players most capable of helping meet the RF targets that every local government in the metro Washington region has agreed to work towards. Indeed state and federal government are important partners as well but the real details get hashed out at the local level. With that in mind The Morning Measure pays a lot of attention to news related to local government.

Dec 17, 2010

The New York Times had a piece recently on the threat that many within the United States feel as a result of China’s continued growth in the clean energy market. China recently decided to invest $1.5 trillion in seven key sectors many of which deal with alternative and sustainable energy. President Obama has repeatedly stated that he wants the U.S. to be the leader in clean energy not China. Yet it’s the Chinese who are making the jaw-dropping investment and grabbing market share at a​

Dec 16, 2010

Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney recently spoke at “One Region Moving Forward” COG’s 2010 Annual Membership Luncheon on his vision for the region. McCartney touched on a number of issues including traffic energy jobs the regional divide Metro and government corruption before challenging the region’s leaders to reject defeatist attitudes and work to build an exceptional inclusive metro Washington region to serve as a model to the country and the world. He notes that RF should be th​

Dec 16, 2010

How can we meet RF’s goals and targets to reduce VMT while maximizing accessibility and affordability ? There are a number of creative approaches to making communities more livable and accessible and according to a new US Census analysis done by The Washington Post more people are choosing to ditch their cars and live more accessible lifestyles that liberate them from automobile ownership and provide them more transportation choices.

Dec 15, 2010

Over at Switchboard the NRDC’s exceptional blog on the connections between transportation land-use and the environment Kaid Benfield recently pondered about the future of smart growth. After recognizing past achievements in the field Benfield argues that the current definition of smart growth is not sufficient to meet the challenges that we face in this century.

Dec 15, 2010

Region Forward includes some very ambitious air quality and climate targets such as exceeding federal standards for air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% below 2005 levels by 2020 and reducing them by 80% by 2050. These targets align with the general scientific consensus on the levels of emissions necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Meeting these targets won’t be easy and everyone has to be involved. Here’s a chance for RF followers to do so.

Dec 14, 2010

$58.8 million in grants will create jobs while easing congestion in the region

Dec 14, 2010

Last week in Chicago Brookings hosted a Global Metro Summit: Delivering the Next Economy a program that unveiled a powerful vision for the post-recession economy. This vision is characterized as export-oriented low carbon innovation-fueled opportunity rich and led by metropolitan areas.

Dec 13, 2010

Passenger rail accounts for a very small percentage of travel in the United States though this was not always the case. Passenger rail was the primary mode of intercity travel in the U.S. until the 1950s. Thereafter the car became king for shorter trips and airplanes for longer voyages. Passenger rail’s travel share may start to rise with the administration’s push to begin to bring American trains closer to the high-speed systems found in Europe and Asia. However this push will take time and persistence if it is to have a real impact on travel share and by extension help meet RF targets on reducing auto dependency and greenhouse gas emissions.