ASC's Intersections Newsletter — Week of August 24, 2020
Nora's Note
Can you count $675 billion? That’s how much money in federal grants will be distributed to states based on Census counts, so you may want to rethink sitting this one out. Even a 1% population undercount can cost millions in lost revenue. Census workers have re-started door-to-door outreach to count populations that are often undercounted. And it’s a good thing they are on the streets, because only 6 in 10 Americans have completed the 2020 Census. The deadline ahead is September 30, and now more than ever, a complete count is needed to support post-pandemic recovery.
Transportation
Every City Needs to Learn the Three As of Equitable Pedestrian Planning. A recent study uses 3 criteria to build a framework evaluating equity in 15 pedestrian master plans across major American cities. Transportation experts who are taking a new look at current systems and regulations, are viewing change through the lens of equity to make sure necessary resources are allocated to all communities, including underserved communities. Still wondering about those three criteria? One is “Accountability”—find the other two here and learn more about intentional equity in transportation planning.
FHWA Public Roads: CARMA℠: Enabling Collaboration and Ensuring Safety in Freight Operations
NBC NY 4: $2 Billion Plan for LaGuardia Airport Rail Link Gets Initial Approval From FAA
Railroad Age: MTA Is A-OK on PTC
Transport Topics: FMCSA Awards $80 Million to States’ Motor Vehicle Safety Efforts
Intelligent Transport: Self-driving shuttle deployed in Detroit to transport senior citizens
Route Fifty: The Urban Future is Carless
Transportation Today: University of North Dakota selected for FAA training initiative
Government Technology: It’s Not Too Early for Cities to Craft AV Regulation
Energy/Environment
Poor Planning Left California Short of Electricity in a Heat Wave. The Golden State leads the nation in the integration of solar energy into its electric system, so its grid activity is closely scrutinized for the pros and cons of utility-scale reliance on power that stops production when the sun goes down. At the same time, California utilities have been under siege as climate change continues to worsen, with rampant fires consuming more square miles of forest each year. California roared last week when the state’s Independent System Operator ordered rolling blackouts because 15 percent of the grid’s resources were unavailable as temperatures soared. See how Governor Gavin Newsom is demanding answers from regulators and the utilities on what went wrong—and how future outages can be mitigated.
Utilities Dive: 5 technologies propelling the energy transition
Yale Climate Connections: Climate TRACE to track real-time global carbon emissions
AP: Louisiana governor’s goal: net zero greenhouse gases by 2050
CNN: Meet the 'SlothBot,' the robot taking its sweet time to monitor our climate
PV Magazine: Sunrun and GRID fight California blackouts with free batteries for low-income households
Reasons to be Cheerful: The New Solar Farm Is a Real Farm, Too
Undark: America’s Homes Need to Go on an Energy Diet
Grist: Solar panels are starting to die. What will we do with the megatons of toxic trash?
Economic Development
Resilient cities are being redefined by the coronavirus. With our cities’ pain points exposed during COVID-19, the past few months have shown us what resilience in cities really looks like. Urban dwellers are already learning to live, work and play in vastly different ways than before. Just how will city officials and residents build meaningful resilience to account plan for future system shocks? This article explores adaptation, from our economy to resident services.
Axios: Small businesses expect longer, milder impact from pandemic
Gotham Gazette: Providers, Participants Scramble for Scaled Down Summer Youth Employment Program
Times-Union: Capital Region slowly regaining jobs lost to pandemic
Smart Cities Dive: The business case for sustainable urban transport
Commercial Observer: City Planning Commission Greenlights Industry City Rezoning
Journal News: Wind power – Cortlandt site eyed for facility to construct turbine components
Governing: America’s Moral Obligation for Universal Broadband
Forbes: Women Who Tech Launches Challenge To Help Fund Startups Affected By Covid-19
NNY 360: North country to receive two grants for economic development, infrastructure development from border commission
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