Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative
Several important factors are driving a widespread demand for systemic reform of our nation’s infrastructure and transportation policies. These factors range from genuine concern about the condition and quality of our existing infrastructure, to difficulties and lack of choices in moving people and goods, to major national problems like climate change, foreign energy dependence, and strained household budgets. There is growing recognition that, if left unchecked, these challenges threaten not only the quality of life in our metropolitan areas but also the competitiveness of our nation. At the same time, these debates are taking place in a fiscally constrained environment that should be the motivating factor for real reform.
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In this Series
2009
October 08, 2009
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer assess metropolitan air travel trends over the past two decades. They find that most travel is consolidated within a select group of 26 metropolitan areas, which contribute to the country’s highest volume corridors and produce the worst on-time performance. Their findings reveal serious implications for the country’s aviation infrastructure as passenger volumes are predicted to grow in the coming years.
April 16, 2009
To help improve the energy efficiency and overall environmental sustainability of the U.S. transportation system, we will need to adopt policies that foster changes in the way Americans travel. In a new report Brookings researchers find that Germany may offer valuable lessons. Like the United States, Germany is a federal republic but it has taken impressive steps to improve transportation options, link transportation planning to land use, and advance other reforms – all while empowering metropolitan action.
2008
December 16, 2008
Nevada, Idaho and Colorado lead the way in ending car dependence, according to a first-ever ranking, as do the metro areas around Austin, Indianapolis and Atlanta. A new Brookings report by Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer shows that other modes of transit grow in popularity, even as gas prices drop, suggesting a need for dramatic shifts in the way we fund transportation, build our communities and address greenhouse gas emissions.
June 12, 2008
Robert Puentes calls on the federal government to empower major metropolitan areas by giving them direct transportation funding and the flexibility to make unbiased decisions between different modes of transportation. The federal government can then maximize performance by committing itself (and the recipients of federal funds) to an evidence-based, outcome driven, and benchmarked way of doing business.
2006
June 2006
Metropolitan planning organizations are often the conduit through which billions of federal and state transportation dollars flow for regional transportation investments.
January 2006
Martin Robins and Anne Strauss-Wieder argue that, rather than the Balkanized approach of the past, a systems-based and multimodal agenda for America's freight needs involving regional coordination, public-private partnership, and federal funding reco