The Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) or COVID-19 is in the process of reshaping the order of things at home and abroad. As we all react to the spread of the virus, there are many obvious considerations – groceries, work, event cancelations, hand washing, and apparently toilet paper. But a less obvious…
Aii Asks sometimes tests our audience’s knowledge about a subject, like “What tax does the federal government add to every gallon of gasoline you pump?” Other times, we want to hear what you think. Our latest poll asked what form of tax you would prefer to pay for roads and…
Residential solar systems are becoming an increasingly popular trend in the United States. By the end of 2018, the U.S. had installed enough solar panels to power 12.3 million homes, and the solar industry managed to generate a $17 billion investment in the economy. These statistics indicate that the implementation…
The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) released a new report today highlighting the declining revenue into the Highway Trust Fund and the looming insolvency that has cast a decade-long shadow over the Fund. In the report, the fuel tax is identified as insufficient –even if increased–for supporting our roads…
The Highway Trust Fund is the federal fund for road and bridge maintenance and repair. It once built the Interstate Highway System and helped keep our roads safe and smooth. Now, it is under the shadow of looming insolvency, with revenue failing to keep pace with spending. The…
You are enjoying your day, looking up at the shapes in the clouds when all of a sudden, a pilot far above you releases thousands of gallons of jet fuel. It is jarring, confusing, and seemingly illegal, but it is an accepted practice known as fuel dumping. The relatively uncommon…
As technology improves, law and regulation must improve for the sake of public safety. Excavation damage has been a leading – and in many years the leading – cause of pipeline incidents for decades. More than ten years ago, Congress addressed what was then the leading contributor to these incidents…
Throughout the past century, the public has sought to predict what the ‘car of the future’ would entail. And, with the release of the VISION AVTR, a new concept car from Mercedes-Benz, any past predictions have been completely surpassed. This show vehicle was developed in tandem with the upcoming…
s the immense tragedy in Australia continues apace, helpless onlookers are grappling for emotionally and intellectually satisfying explanations. How could such a conflagration begin, grow, and seemingly thwart all efforts to extinguish? As human lives are threatened, property burns, and animal losses rise to nearly incalculable tolls, pinning all…
Despite years of lobbying from the U.S. to stop the Russian natural gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, it is all but complete as we enter 2020. And with it, Germany and others may have made themselves dependent –to one degree or another– on Russia for their natural gas supply for…
Congress has moved forward with reauthorization of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with the House voting to include language known as the Transit Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act (TIVSA). This language blocks certain foreign powers from access to federal taxpayer dollars in public infrastructure bidding contracts. At issue is the…
To many, the Tesla brand has become synonymous with sustainability, an unprecedented feat considering the automobile industry has often been deemed the antithesis of a ‘green’ enterprise. Even when disregarding Tesla’s SolarCity subsidiary and other sustainable ventures, Tesla has pioneered the production of innovative electric vehicles and has prevented over…
Question: The Interstate Highway System and other roads and bridges in America are supported by the Highway Trust Fund. The main revenue source is a gasoline tax. Answer: 70 percent of our audience correctly picked , while 30 percent picked 7.5 cents. Since 1993, the federal tax for each…
Everyone makes mistakes, but regulators have a higher responsibility to be careful and deliberate. Institutional speed bumps help keep the pace slow, reducing the speed at which bad decisions can be made and forcing more deliberation over good ones. Some of these features like checks and balances or notice and…
hile it may not be the main reason that roads across the country are in disrepair, lack of information is one starting point to find solutions. Simple intuition suggests that officials cannot know about every pothole, collapsed sign, or damaged median. While perfect knowledge is impossible, we have the…
