ASC's Intersections Newsletter — Week of November 1, 2021
Nora's Note
Take your meeting for a walk. Stanford University research says creative thinking improves—by almost 60 percent—when people walk versus sit. At a Walkshop in downtown NYC last week, participants generated more than 60 in- and out-of-the-box comments and questions about the North/West Battery Park City Resiliency Project, increasing the dialogue among project planners and community members. Scientists say increased brain flow during walking helps people express themselves more fluently—and from what we have observed, the informality of walking certainly seems to get everyone talking. A Walkshop where attendees and project teams tour and discuss a project's environment is a complex activity that requires planning for many unique considerations—weather, accessibility, amplifying sound, late arrivals and more—but walking a talk can turn a traditional setting, with its us/them overtones, into a shared experience that connects communities and project teams; an outcome well worth the time.
Transportation
EPA Chief Michael Regan Touts SmartWay Program's Collaborative Approach. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program has played a central role in cutting emissions in the transportation sector—preventing the use of 336 million barrels of oil since the program's creation in 2004. EPA Administrator Michael Regan recently credited SmartWay’s success to its collaborative approach that incorporates input from freight companies, industry leaders and transportation agencies. Read more to learn about SmartWay’s impact in reducing the transportation sector's carbon footprint.
Poughkeepsie Journal: Which is more expensive—Charging an electric vehicle or fueling a car with gas?
CityLab: To Boost Ridership, Chicago Plans to Slash Transit Fares
CBS New York: MTA Says It’s Prepared To Deal With Subway Flooding, Commuters Encouraged To Use Mass Transit
Transportation Today: FMCSA’s Joshi convenes trucking, supply chain meetings
Washington Post: D.C. to offer free Capital Bikeshare rides as reduced Metro service continues
Mass Transit: NJ Transit Board pushes zero-emission fleet forward with approvals
Venture Beat: Utilizing AI to Improve Mass Transit
AmNY: Mayor celebrates six blocks of ‘Broadway Vision’ designed to limit car traffic
Energy/Environment
How technology is helping cities tackle climate disasters. Cities around the world have been increasingly investing resources into smart technologies such as flood warning systems and pollution meters to mitigate the impacts of climate change. While smart technology can help measure the scale of environmental threats, officials warn that they are not a catch-all solution. To minimize the impact of climate change in urban spaces, the data collected by these technologies still need to be analyzed, interpreted and communicated to the appropriate city agencies. Learn more about smart climate technology systems.
Reuters: Turning infrastructure green offers huge savings on top of climate benefits
OUPblog: What policy and industry changes are needed to avert climate catastrophe?
Pew Stateline: Natural Disasters Can Set the Stage for Cyberattacks
Clean Technica: National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium Hits Full Stride
AP News: Billions in environmental justice funds hang in the balance
Inside Climate News: Unchecked Oil and Gas Wastewater Threatens California Groundwater
Energy News Network: Amid debate over natural gas, Connecticut ratepayers are subsidizing new connections
NPR: Nations are making new pledges to cut climate pollution. They aren't enough
Economic Development
Cities' Answer to Sprawl? Go Wild. As urban populations continue to grow, many cities are looking for ways to mitigate the loss of open space and biodiversity that comes along with expansion. One such method is rewilding—a process that aims to make cities more sustainable by reintroducing nature into urban spaces. Rewilding has been shown to improve human health while generating environmental benefits such as increased biodiversity, reduced heat island effect and more climate resilient spaces. Learn more about the important role rewilding plays in bringing nature back to cities.
Gothamist: Tap Water Taste Funny In NYC? There’s Nothing To Fear, But Blame Aging Infrastructure
Smart Cities Dive: Flexibility, flight to suburbs emerge as pandemic real estate trends
NY Times: Missing Foreign Workers Add to Hiring Challenges
AmNY: New program helps NYC women in the Orthodox Jewish community pursue software development and technology jobs
Bay Journal: Maryland grants aim to reduce flooding, improve climate resilience
Business Insider: Small businesses say their revenues are plummeting as they're forced to turn down business because of the labor shortage
NBC News: Amazon workers in Staten Island, N.Y., file for union election
Route Fifty: What Stays and Goes as Democrats Trim Biden’s Domestic Spending Bill
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