Transport & Infrastructure News and Discussions

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The introduction to this article was posted in the Extreme weather news and discussion thread. This extract applies more directly to infrastructure. The total of both citations is four paragraphs.

New York City Is Underwater. There’s More Trouble in the Pipes.
by Henry Carnell
September 29, 2023

Extract:

Rainfall and floods are only expected to worsen due to climate change, and …(New York) city’s wastewater and drainage infrastructure isn’t equipped for the pressure. A FEMA report from this summer concluded that most cities’ drainage systems “were not built to handle the amount of runoff from increasingly intense storms.”

Those infrastructure problems are set to worsen, compounding the impact. Erika Smull, a municipal bonds analyst at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, is a water utilities expert and former environmental engineer. She explained to me earlier this year that US water infrastructure “is reaching or has reached the end of its usable life. It’s been there for longer than it should be. We are entering into a new era.”

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... adams/

Here is a link to the article covering the discussion with Erika Smull that was published earlier this month: https://www.motherjones.com/environmen ... l-crisis/

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Google's Green Light project retimes traffic lights for 30% fewer stops
By Loz Blain
October 11, 2023
https://newatlas.com/transport/google-g ... t-traffic/

Through its Maps app, Google has access to a monster trove of daily traffic data – and it's using it to provide cities with free, AI-optimized traffic signal timing suggestions that could reduce stop/starts by 30% and intersection emissions by 10%.

Project Green Light has partnered thus far with 12 cities worldwide, to provide timing recommendations on 70 different intersections. It gives these recommendations free of charge, for now, via a little web interface, and the company says that rolling the changes out can be a five-minute job that uses the city's existing management systems.

Data is one key here; city traffic engineers simply don't have access to the breadth and quality of information that Google gets simply by virtue of having so many Android devices and in-car navigation systems online and constantly reporting location data.

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One of Europe's most polluted cities wants to ban cars from its centre

Published on 23/10/2023 - 14:42

Levels of pollutants in Milan's air are almost four times the safe amount.

Milan, one of Italy’s busiest cities, has proposed banning cars from its centre.

Mayor Giuseppe Sala wants to reduce pollution in the traffic-heavy metropolis of 1.4 million people and said similar measures would follow.

If it gets the green light, the measure will come into force in 2024.

Authorities will use surveillance cameras to enforce the ban.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/10/ ... its-centre

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Louisiana and Amtrak agree to revive train service between New Orleans, Baton Rouge

Source: ABC News/AP

October 28, 2023, 10:12 AM

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana is a step closer to connecting its capital city to New Orleans via a revived train line. Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed a service development agreement that will advance the return of intercity passenger rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, about an hour-long commute.

The agreement, signed Thursday, is a breakthrough for a project that has been in the works since 2008. “All eight years I’ve been governor, I’ve been working to reestablish rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans,” Edwards told WBRZ-TV. According to the agreement, passenger service could start as early as 2027.

The plan is to start with one round trip a day. More rides will be added as riders increase. Along the route, passengers can expect stops in Gonzales, Laplace, and Jefferson Parish. “An Amtrak line connecting Louisiana’s capital to the largest metropolitan area in the state will have immense economic benefits for both cities and the parishes in between,” Edwards said in a news release.

“Not only will this service potentially reduce the number of vehicles on the roadways which will result in less congestion, but it will also connect communities through employment opportunities and allow for more transportation options for festivals, sporting events, and concerts.” A $20 million settlement from the Road Home Program is helping fund the project, reviving the passenger train service that stopped running in 1969.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireSto ... -104448057

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