How Economic Indicators And Population Demographics Impact Incident Rates “Digging Deeper” is the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure’s (Aii) new blog series focused on using the Common Ground Alliance’s Damage Information Reporting Tool’s (DIRT) inaugural interactive data dashboard to track indicators, trends, and correlations with the goal of zeroing in…
On July 12, we published “Building a Smarter Electric Grid: How Investing in Smarter Electricity Infrastructure Will Energize America,” a white-paper focused on the opportunities presented by a “smarter” electric network and the specific investments that should be made to take full advantage of tomorrow’s energy technologies without sacrificing the…
By Samuel G. Bonasso, PE* The sheer size of the U.S. requires a sophisticated interstate highway system to facilitate commerce, tourism, and more, essentially making the surface transportation system our most important public utility. While most people associate the term “utility” with their electricity, water, or gas services, Webster’s New…
Last summer, we published “Improving Upon Our Dig Laws: How State Legislatures Can Help Us Dig Safer,” where we performed an extensive review of the incident data revealed in the Common Ground Alliance’s (CGA) 2014 DIRT report (released in Fall 2015), offered some recommendations states could incorporate into their Damage…
By Staff On May 25, the U.S. House of Representatives’ (House) Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I Committee) passed The Water Resources Development Act of 2016. The T&I Committee’s bill summary highlights many of the bill’s provisions, including: • Authorizing appropriations for port, channel, lock, dam and other infrastructure projects; •…
A recent Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) report indicates that the United States electric grid is still vulnerable to electromagnetic pulse attacks, despite recommendations made almost 8 years ago to reduce such an occurrence. The susceptibility of the grid to such a phenomenon is an out-of-the-box threat many regulators and policymakers…
By Shane Skelton, Executive Director The U.S. Public Private Partnership (P3) market is beginning to gain steam. As we pointed out in our Policy Brief, “Innovation in the P3 Marketplace,” states and localities across the country are becoming more creative in the types of infrastructure projects P3s are being used…
Written by Shane Skelton, Aii Executive Director Pipeline safety reauthorization legislation cleared another crucial hurdle on its way to the President’s desk on Wednesday when the U.S. House of Representatives (House) Committee on Energy & Commerce (Energy & Commerce) reported their version of the bill out of the full committee….
Written by Shane Skelton, Aii Executive Director Last month, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its most current Highway Trust Fund (HTF) baseline projecting that the fund would suffer a $107 billion cumulative shortfall by 2026. By almost any measure, this is bad news, but compared to other recent estimates,…
Written by Shane Skelton, Aii Executive Director Commercial and private drone use has become a frequent topic of discussion around the country and in Washington, DC these days. New regulations and registration requirements from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), reports of close calls with air traffic, the desire to use…
Energy Union In a first step toward creating an integrated energy grid, the European Commission last week allocated € 200 million ($223 million) for cross-border energy infrastructure projects aimed at increasing the efficiency of energy transportation across European Union members. While these grants signal momentum toward a desired “Energy Union,”…
By Chanil De Silva, Director of Policy at Nouveau Inc. Innovation can be a wonderful thing, especially when it allows you to continue watching your favorite Netflix series while soaring 30,000 feet above the ground. In-flight Wi-Fi initially limited to certain domestic flights is available almost universally, on both domestic…
On March 31, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on a new plan for the Lifeline subsidy, which will help the program’s recipients apply the subsidy to mobile or fixed broadband should they choose to do so. The program originated in 1985 to provide discounted landline phone service to low-income…
Written by Debra Cagan, Senior State Department Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins, SAIS One would think that with plunging oil and gas prices, with suppliers tripping over themselves to desperately gain market share in a flooded market, and more choices than ever in securing gas for the European…
Written by Shane Skelton, Aii Executive Director For the many Americans who still begrudge the major societal shift from cash to credit and debit cards, the future may become even more troublesome as mobile wallets become more common. What’s more, is that while mobile wallets are still catching on, a…
