Archive for the 'Press Releases' Category
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
State Jobs Data Show Growing Advantage from Stimulus Investments in Public Transportation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Through the end of 2009, investments by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in public transportation have created almost twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways – and the advantage is growing. The most recent data from states shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 19,299 job-months, compared to 10,493 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure. Public transportation projects create more jobs than road projects because they spend less money on land and more on labor, and because projects are often more complex, whether laying track or manufacturing vehicles.
The data were released by the US House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on February 9, 2010 and analyzed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Smart Growth America, and U.S. PIRG. The new data from the states add two months and several billion dollars to previously released data. The new data show public transportation’s job-production performance advantage widening.
“States have put more than $22.6 billion of transportation stimulus funds under contract,” said Geoff Anderson, President of Smart Growth America. “We’ve gotten a lot of vital projects for that money—and we’ve also learned a lot. Treasury Secretary Geithner just told Congress: “Our basic test should be: what’s going to add jobs?” At the stimulus’s one-year mark, we’ve learned that the answer is ‘more public transportation.’”
New data show public transportation’s job-production performance advantage widening
The number of jobs created or saved per billion stimulus dollars spent on transportation is rising over time for both public transportation and highways. The data shows public transportation creating, on average, 2,880 more job months per billion dollars than it had two months ago. Highway spending created 1,712 more job months per billion than two months ago. Thus, a billion dollars invested in public transportation produces 8,806 more job months than a billion dollars spent on highways. The difference is an increase from two months ago when the extra employment impact from investing in public transit was 7,638 more job months. The states are reporting updated job-creation numbers as they bring more projects under contract, and as the states correct earlier reports.
“Not only do public transportation investments create more jobs, more quickly than highways. We now see the advantage growing over time as the stimulus advances,” said Phineas Baxandall, Senior Analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “If job creation was an Olympic event, public transportation would be laps ahead and gaining. At the one-year mark, it isn’t even close.”
Other recent data also confirm that ARRA investments in public transportation are superior job creators. Last month’s President’s Council of Economic Advisers Second Quarterly ARRA Economic Impact Report showed that public transportation was the top job generator among ARRA clean energy programs (http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/100113-economic-impact-arra-second-quarterly-report.pdf, page 47, Table 13).
“The new data shows that the job productivity of transit is no fluke – transit not only maintained its job productivity advantage over highway investing over a longer period of time, in the fourth quarter it was the top job supporter of all clean energy investments in ARRA, according to the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors,” said Scott Bernstein, President of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “Shifting as much of our transportation spending to the most job-creating investments as we can is essential. The Senate should pass companion legislation to the House’s Jobs for Main Street bill, and make it effective by giving transit spending parity with highways.”
The numbers
CNT, SGA, and US PIRG analyzed the data reported by states and posted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee here: http://transportation.house.gov/singlepages/singlepages.aspx?NewsID=852
The results of the analysis (click on for larger version):
(The report by CNT, SGA, and US PIRG on the earlier data, “What We learned from the Stimulus, and how to use what we learned to speed job creation in the 2010 jobs bill”, is available at: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/stimulus2009.html.)
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Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Lessons Learned from Recovery Act Show Superior Job Creation from Spending on Public Transportation
WASHINGTON, D.C.— A new analysis by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Smart Growth America, and U.S. PIRG shows that in the first ten months of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), investments in public transportation have created twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways. The new report shows that by mimicking funding levels for transportation set out in ARRA, the Jobs for Main Street Act (H.R. 2847), passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December, missed an opportunity to create additional jobs where they are needed most.
The report, “What we learned from the Stimulus, and how to use what we learned to speed job creation in the 2010 jobs bill”, is available here: www.smartgrowthamerica.org/stimulus2009.html
The Jobs for Main Street Act provides $27.1 billion for the Surface Transportation Program (STP) versus just $8.4 billion for Public Transportation even though public transportation investments under ARRA created twice as many jobs per dollar of investment. The Senate plans to take up its version of the jobs bill early in 2010, and the report shows that if the Senate version ensures funds are invested equally in public transportation and highways, the same level of overall investment would produce 71,415 additional job-months, equivalent to year-round employment for 5,951 more workers than from the House bill.
“This is a no-brainer. The Senate can ensure that more jobs are created across the country building the transportation system we need for the 21st century,” said Geoff Anderson, President of Smart Growth America. “If we are serious about creating jobs and bringing about the economic recovery our nation desperately needs, members of the Senate will insist on investing a greater percentage of the transportation funds in public transportation. Who is against more jobs?”
The data compiled by the states shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 16,419 job-months, compared to 8,781 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure. Public transportation projects create more jobs than road projects because they spend less money on land and more on labor, and because projects are often more complex, whether laying rack or manufacturing vehicles.
The report also uses the data from ARRA to refute the idea that public transportation projects are not as “shovel-ready” or able to be launched as quickly as highway projects. Nationally, public transportation and highway infrastructure projects are spending money at about the same rate. But because public transportation projects spend more of those dollars on more labor, equivalent spend rates produce more and faster jobs from public transportation.
“As the Senate prepares to take up a jobs bill, lawmakers should learn the lessons of the Recovery Act,” said Phineas Baxandall, Senior Analyst for U.S. PIRG. “We cannot afford to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results. The fact is investments in public transportation will produce more jobs quicker and will address billions of dollars of unmet needs.”
“Public transportation is a lifeline for communities big and small across the country” said Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “Too many people could not get to their jobs without public transit. But even as demand for service is up, systems everywhere face budget shortfalls forcing layoffs, reduced service and fare hikes. Increased local reinvestment is essential to preventing these cuts that will cripple our workforce and increase expenses for working Americans. In passing the Jobs for Main Street bill to tackle the continuing crisis, Congress can learn from the ARRA experience, putting the money where it will do the most good, and leaving no job, no family and no community-in-need behind.”
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Advocates, elected officials and residents gathered today to demand safer streets and legislation that protects pedestrians in Chicagoland.
Representatives from the Active Transportation Alliance, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the 25th Ward, the 10th Police District and Rep. Luis Arroyo came together at 18th and Halsted streets in Chicago—the site of one of three recent pedestrian fatalities—to call on our leaders to act now.
“This is a time for our leaders to commit to prioritizing people and ensuring their safety when they choose to walk and bike,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director at the Active Transportation Alliance. “It is not acceptable that we fear for our lives when we walk or bike in our neighborhoods.”
The event comes a day after Transportation for America, a national campaign for balanced transportation options, released Dangerous by Design, which outlines pedestrian crash rates in major metropolitan areas, the causes of those crashes and how they can be prevented.
Chicagoland, according the report, ranks 41st on a list of the 50 most dangerous metropolitan areas. Within Illinois, it ranks eighth among Illinois’ major metropolitan areas, with a pedestrian danger index of 39.3 and 235 pedestrian fatalities from 2007-2008.
The report found that last year alone, 312 pedestrians were killed in Illinois. That translates into other striking realities: On average, about 11.8 percent of all fatal crashes involved pedestrians in the United States. Illinois’ percentage is 13.6 percent. The report also details pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people. The U.S. average is 1.53 and the Illinois’ is 1.21.
The Illinois Department of Transportation reports that 6,000 pedestrians are hit every year in Illinois. In Chicago, that translates to one death per week.
At 18th and Halsted streets in Chicago, advocates called on leaders to improve road design, increase funding and support legislation like the Complete Streets bill and House Bill 43 that ensure safer roads and clarify drivers’ responsibilities.
“Passing the Complete Streets bill was a victory for everyone in Illinois. But it was only one landmark on a long path. The challenge now is getting the Illinois Department of Transportation to follow that law and make every street in the state safe for walkers, bikers and drivers alike. In doing so, IDOT can provide the leadership for county and municipalities to implement Complete Streets as well,” said Jacky Grimshaw, vice president for policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology.
House Bill 43, which would clarify state law and require drivers to stop—instead of yield—would remarkably improve pedestrian safety.
“We have the data and we have the tools,” Sadowsky said. “Now is the time to make pedestrian safety a priority on our streets.”
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
WHAT: The Active Transportation Alliance, alongside the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Representative Luis Arroyo, the 10th Police District, and members of the 25th Ward will gather at the site of one of three recent deadly pedestrian crashes to demand better protection for the most vulnerable road users. Three pedestrians – Martha Gonzalez, Rachel Gilliam and Kim Brown – have been killed by drivers in Chicago in a span of less than a month. Advocates will call on our leaders to design safer streets and support legislation that protects pedestrians. They will also discuss a report issued by Transportation for America, which ranks the safety of metropolitan areas, including Chicagoland. Representatives from the Chicago Department of Transportation have also been invited.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009
WHERE: Halsted and 18th streets in Chicago
ABOUT THE ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE
The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.
ABOUT CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY
Since 1978, the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) has been a leader in promoting urban sustainability – the more effective use of existing resources and community assets to improve the health of natural systems and the wealth of people, today and in the future. CNT is a creative think-and-do tank that combines rigorous research with effective solutions. We have tackled a wide range of issues, always with an eye toward simultaneously improving the environment, strengthening the economy, and advancing equity. We work across disciplines and issues, including transportation and community development, energy, natural resources, and climate change. CNT is one of eight nonprofits selected from around the world to be recognized by a 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. More information is available at www.cnt.org.
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Monday, October 26th, 2009
New Study Shows Not All Green Buildings Are Alike
Not all green building projects are alike when it comes to energy efficiency, according to research conducted by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). CNT examined 25 Illinois commercial projects that received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and found that some are more energy efficient than others.
Anne Evens, director of CNT Energy, says that increasing energy efficiency in buildings is an important goal for the Chicago region. “Buildings account for 61 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Chicago region,” says Evens. “In order to reduce those emissions, we need to build for greater efficiency, and we need to save energy in existing buildings. The first step in making a building more efficient is to understand how it uses energy today. That baseline gives owners and operators the information to set and meet goals and to identify areas for improvement.”
CNT’s research and findings are part of the recently released Year 1 Final Report of the Regional Green Building Case Study Project: a Post-Occupancy Study of LEED Projects in Illinois, published by the USGBC – Chicago Chapter in collaboration with CNT and other regional partners. The U.S. Green Building Council rates green building projects for the voluntary LEED certification based on actions taken to address several areas including energy efficiency, indoor air quality, water use, location, and building materials.
CNT analyzed how projects performed over multiple years in areas including energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions, operating costs, commute transportation and occupant comfort. CNT’s research concluded that the Illinois projects that prioritize energy efficiency as a key LEED strategy are more likely to have better energy performance than projects that prioritized other LEED categories.
The research also shows the importance of looking beyond the planning and construction phases of green building projects to implement regular tracking of the use and cost of energy, water and other resources, and to establish operation and maintenance practices that improve performance.
“CNT is a leader in analyzing energy use in buildings and in providing useful feedback to building owners and operators,” said Doug Widener, executive director of the USGBC – Chicago Chapter. “Their research supports the USGBC’s efforts to ensure that LEED certified projects achieve energy savings throughout the life cycle of the building.” The study also concludes that is important to continue to collect and analyze energy use data on an ongoing basis in order to understand the impact of changes over time. Performance evaluations must take into account changes in building occupancy, use, operations, and maintenance, as well as systems improvements.
The USGBC took a step in this direction in August when it launched its Building Performance Initiative. The initiative aims to create a system for collecting and analyzing energy and other resource use data from LEED certified buildings and providing feedback to owners.
This research is funded by Grand Victoria Foundation. The second phase of this research will kick off later this fall and will include up to 50 new and returning projects.
Report Links:
Full Report
Summary Report
About Center for Neighborhood Technology Founded in 1978, CNT (www.cnt.org) is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that works nationally in advancing urban sustainability by researching, inventing and testing strategies that use resources more efficiently and equitably. Its programs focus on climate, energy, natural resources, transportation, and community development. CNT Energy is the energy services and planning division of CNT that focuses on energy efficiency in buildings, including performance measurement. CNT is one of eight nonprofits selected from around the world to be recognized by a 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
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Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
WHAT: The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and students from the Mercy Home After School Center will install a native plant garden in the courtyard of an affordable multi-family apartment building in Austin, to utilize rainwater and bring green infrastructure to a space where concrete used to dominate and contribute to pollution and flooding problems.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 @ 3:00 – 6:00
WHERE: Mercy Housing Lakefront
4943 Quincy Street (Please use the courtyard entrance)
Chicago, IL 60644
WHY: The garden will serve as an important green infrastructure installation which will cool the otherwise paved over courtyard, replenish the groundwater supply and help keep stormwater from overloading the local sewer system and causing basement backup flooding. Native prairie plants help absorb and conserve water because their deep roots are adapted to our climate and rainfall, so can survive cycles of wet and dry weather more effectively than non-native plants. The rain garden will also be a valuable learning tool for the students.
The Mercy Home After School Center garden joins several other green infrastructure improvements completed in this project. Recently, CNT installed a super barrel at a Mercy Housing youth garden across the street. A super barrel is a 330-gallon repurposed industrial container that attaches to a building’s downspout, collecting and storing rain water from the roof for future use, holding six times the volume of a typical home rain barrel in 4 times the space.
Green infrastructure manages stormwater by capturing raindrops where they fall. It also supports urban sustainability and uses limited financial resources more efficiently by harnessing the natural filtering abilities of plants, trees and soil to protect water quality, reduce runoff volumes, and recharge groundwater supplies.
This project is made possible by the Cook County Green Affordable Housing project, funded by the Home Depot Foundation.
WHO: The Center for Neighborhood Technology, a Chicago-based nonprofit focused on urban sustainability, and Mercy Housing Lakefront, which acquires and develops program-enriched housing for low-income populations.
CONTACT: Steve Wise, Natural Resources Program Director, CNT, 773-269-4042, swise@cnt.org
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Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Chicago, IL— Away from the attention of front pages and news channels, conditions in America are quietly coming together for a paradox in public transit. From New York to San Francisco, Seattle to Miami, in every major city in America and many of the smaller ones, public transit funding is at odds with the economic realities of the Great Recession.
According to “Stranded at the Station”, a new report released Tuesday by Transportation for America (T4), transit funding is drying up, fares are rising and services are dwindling for close to 90 percent of American public transit systems. And just as these cuts and fare hikes are coming, more people need better access to affordable public transit. Read more »
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Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Chicago, IL. Today, representatives from the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Metropolitan Planning Council, Illinois PIRG, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Transportation for America issued a media release about U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar’s bill that would reauthorize federal surface transportation funding for roads, bridges, and passenger and freight rail to the tune of $450 billion.
Core News Facts
- U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, introduced a bill on Monday, June 22, 2009, that would reauthorize federal surface transportation funding for roads, bridges, and passenger and freight rail to the tune of $450 billion.
- The current allocation expires at the end of September 2009.
- Authorization of a new transportation bill occurs only once every six years. This bill, and the billions of dollars it will allocate, has the potential to redefine how the American people get around for generations, just as the highway system envisioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower more than 60 years ago still defines us today.
- Rep. Oberstar estimates the bill would cost approximately $450 billion, but the federal Highway Trust Fund is headed toward bankruptcy for the second time in as many years. Most experts believe it will run out of cash by mid-August.
- The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to begin exploring how to finance this bill in July.
- Illinois members of Congress – U.S. Reps. Jerry Costello (D-12th Dist.), Timothy V. Johnson (R-15th Dist.), and Dan Lipinski (D-3rd Dist.) – will play a critical role in these negotiations because of their positions as members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Positive Features of the Bill
- Money Dedicated to Repairing Aging Roads and Bridges. Creates a substantial, dedicated funding stream for maintaining roads and bridges – the Critical Asset Investment Program – and would require transit agencies to show how they are maintaining their systems in a state of good repair.
- Simpler, More Streamlined Programs. Consolidates the current 108 programs, eliminating or combining 75 of them.
- Greater Local Control. More money to the metropolitan areas that have the thorniest transportation problems.
- A Stronger Rural Voice. Rural areas get a bigger say in state-level transportation decision-making.
- Transit New Starts Program. Eliminates the “cost effectiveness” index that makes reduced travel time the overriding criterion, streamlines project delivery.
- Promotes Intermodal Planning. Gives substantial responsibility to a new Office of Intermodalism, which would integrate investments in multiple modes (promoting, for instance, simultaneous investment in a bus rapid transit route along a repaired highway.)
Unclear/Needs Improvement
- Livability and Public Health. The bill has strong overarching language on livable communities and health: Building neighborhoods where people have access to affordable living and travel options – you can walk, drive or take transit, you can find homes you can afford near transit stops and job centers.
- However livability can’t just be an office in the federal government; it needs to be part of how localities qualify for money. The Office itself needs more money and authority
- Health needs to be elevated as a goal, performance measure and criterion throughout the legislation
- Public Transportation. The increase from 18 to 22 percent of the total share of funding is moving in the right direction, but there is a potential that the 22 percent is a ceiling rather than a floor.
- There are several flexible pots of funding in the 78% of the non-transit funds, but they don’t have the proper direction and performance criteria to ensure they will be truly multimodal.
- It’s very positive that there is some flexibility to use dollars for operating expenses (the money to help run buses and trains and provide more frequent service) but the flexibility could be broadened as proposed under HR2746.
- Metro Mobility and Access program is a very positive step that supplies more financial resources to metropolitan planning agencies to tackle critical transportation issues. While tackling congestion is important, there needs to be an equal emphasis on smarter approaches to managing travel demand including system operations and efficiency and transit-oriented development and better planning for linking where people live and access to the jobs and other destinations they need to travel to.
- Clean Transportation and a Connection to Climate Change. Bill language gives a nod to having transportation do its part on climate protection, but there are no real teeth or accountability provisions.
- Access for Vulnerable Populations. Programs for low-income, disabled and aging Americans are consolidated within the broader public transportation programs, but it’s unclear yet how high a priority these programs will be and how they will effectively coordinated.
Critical Missing Elements
- Goals, Performance Targets and Accountability. Having individual programs that work better is certainly a step in the right direction, but having programs that work together toward achieving a set of national objectives – as outlined in HR2724 – is critical if we are going to be successful in moving to a truly integrated, intermodal national transportation system.(Illinois transportation advocates are pushing for the state to enact a similar approach to transportation investment by developing selection criteria based on statewide goals.)
- Green Freight and Ports. The requirement of a freight plan inclusive of truck, rail, ports, etc., is positive. However, the actual funding appears to be aimed only at expanding highway capacity and there is no provision for cleaning up the nation’s trucks, trains and ports.
- Smarter Land Use/Stronger Communities. Other than a few mentions of land use, the bill draft contains nothing substantive to provide incentives to coordinate land use, affordable housing and community development with transportation so people have more options to live closer to jobs.
- Equity/Affordability. Overall of the four ‘E’s – economy, environment, energy and equity – equity seems to get the least attention in the bill as drafted. There could be stronger overarching objectives and project level criteria to ensure benefits for low-income communities. The concept of household cost and overall affordability of transportation also gets no mention in the draft bill – transportation is now the second highest household cost for families and the poor spend an exorbitant amount on getting from point A to point B. At the very least this should be an overarching performance objective as suggested in HR2724.
- Blueprint Planning. While the concept paper released June 18 outlined a bold “blueprint planning” provision that would require visionary, scenario-based planning that integrates transportation, housing, land use patterns and builds in specific performance targets, the bill draft falls short of making this promise a reality.
- Workforce Development. There is a placeholder in the draft for a workforce development, but no language yet to address the need to get low-income, women and minority workers into job training and career pathways into the transportation industry.
Sources
James Corless, Director, Transportation for America
“Chairman Oberstar and his committee members have done us all a great service in launching the discussion of updating our nation’s transportation program for the 21st Century. This year’s bill represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set America on a new course and it is essential that we get it right.” James.corless@t4america.org
Brian Imus, State Director, Illinois PIRG
“The decisions made by Congress will have a huge impact on the future of public transportation in Illinois. There are expansion projects like the Red Line extension in Chicago and high-speed intercity rail linking Illinois and Midwest cities that will help address our dependence on oil and curb congestion in our cities. Fixing problems like these that commuters face everyday will only happen with a meaningful change in the way lawmakers in Washington, D.C., spend our transportation dollars.” brian@illinoispirg.org, 312-291-0441, ext. 210
Kevin Brubaker, Deputy Director, Environmental Law & Policy Center
“This bill proposes to provide 80 percent of the cost of high-speed rail investments, for the first time putting rail on an equal footing with highways. That’s good news for jobs, transportation, and the environment.” kbrubaker@elpc.org, (312) 673-6500
Jacky Grimshaw, Vice President for Policy, Center for Neighborhood Technology
“For working families, those households earning $20,000 to $50,000 annually, transportation costs can equal or exceed housing costs. This limits their ability to find truly affordable housing in all parts of the region because transportation options are not universally available. The lack of transportation options disproportionately burdens the poor and moderate income families.” jacky@cnt.org, 773-269-4033
Peter Skosey, Vice President, Metropolitan Planning Council
“Momentum is building to revamp outdated policies and entrenched structures that have led to federal mis-investment in communities across metropolitan Chicago and the nation. Rep. Oberstar’s bill is a sign that federal investment policy is moving away from investing in silos via arbitrary funding formulas toward supporting infrastructure that increases the capacity of our entire transportation system, while achieving interconnected goals such as reducing emissions, sparking new economic development opportunities, and connecting jobs, homes and transit.” pskosey@metroplanning.org, 312-863-6004
Additional Local and National Resources
Information on the cost of mis-investment in Illinois transportation infrastructure:
- Getting on Track: Key Public Transportation Projects, Illinois PIRG reports on the value of public transportation in Illinois.
- Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Housing + Transportation Affordability Index: CNT illustrates that truly affordable communities need homes at a range of price points, as well as reliable, accessible transportation options. Their user-customizable maps also show that communities with greater density produce lower CO2 emissions.
- Moving at the Speed of Congestion: Metropolitan Planning Council reports that excess traffic congestion costs Chicago-area businesses, individuals and the environment $7.3 billion annually.
- Benefits of high-speed rail: Environmental Law & Policy Center’s Web site features a webinar briefing on new developments and funding affecting the Midwest High-Speed Rail Network, and includes details on the benefits of high-speed rail.
- Transit State of Good Repair: The Federal Transit Administration assesses the condition of the nation’s transit infrastructure, and begins to outline the steps necessary to bring it to a state of good repair. Chicago is among seven of the nation’s largest transit systems that are underfunded, confirming the Regional Transportation Authority’s concerns.
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Thursday, June 4th, 2009
Community Collaboration Brings Pre-Olympic Environment to Chicago’s West Side
(Chicago,IL). On Friday, June 5, 2009, 6th and 7th grade students from Thomas Chalmers Specialty School in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood will join volunteers from Baxter International, Inc. and the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) staff to plant a rain garden where, up until last week, a slab of asphalt once smothered the ground. CNT and Baxter have partnered to create an 1800-square foot rain garden, which the students will help plant with 500 native plants like Blue Wild Indigo, Black-Eyed Susan and Wild Strawberries. (Event details below).
The rain garden at Chalmers School is a part of the Forward Chicago program, launched to foster greening activities in neighborhoods surrounding the city’s proposed Olympics and Paralympics venues. Chalmers School sits in the West Side Chicago neighborhood of North Lawndale, across from Douglas Park, a proposed cycling venue for the 2016 Olympics.
“These projects will create lasting, real environmental benefits in neighborhoods near to proposed Olympic sites,” said Kathryn Tholin, CNT’s CEO. “We are pleased to be partnering with Baxter and Chalmers School to increase neighborhood open space and contribute to a healthy environment for students and the community.”
In addition to its location in a designated 21st Century Green Center of Chicago’s Olympic bid, Chicago Public Schools had reported that Chalmers’ parking lot and playground were plagued with drainage problems. This rain garden, like a recent CNT project at St. Margaret Mary Church, will improve drainage at the school by replacing impervious asphalt with a native plant rain garden that will help to absorb and filter stormwater runoff.
“This garden demonstrates the tremendous opportunity to capture rain drops where they fall, expanding the City’s and Chicago Public Schools’ commitment to utilizing green infrastructure both for stormwater management and its community and educational benefits”, said Steve Wise, CNT’s Natural Resources Program Director. “Schools around Chicago are unpaving the way to a healthier city. Re-establishing natural planted areas creates a learning landscape for students and, by keeping rain water flowing into the ground on site, takes pressure off of the sewer network to help prevent local flooding and combined sewer overflows.”
The Chalmers School rain garden is the most recent in a series of school-based green infrastructure projects for CNT, initiating projects that re-open urban spaces by removing concrete to restoring functioning landscapes and clean water in the city, the region and beyond. See pictures from the recent removal of the asphalt at CNT’s Flickr page.
The Prince Charitable Trusts also provided funding support for this project.
Event Details
Where: Thomas Chalmers Specialty School
2745 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Chicago, IL 60608
When: Planting will take place 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
About Forward Chicago
Launched by The Climate Group to engage Chicago’s leading businesses in public-private partnerships to implement selected climate initiatives. Participating companies work with Forward Chicago partners to sponsor initiatives within the newly-designated 21st Century Green Centers, the areas immediately surrounding the city’s proposed Olympic and Paralympic venues. These activities will help mitigate climate change while providing residents and businesses with tangible adaptation measures. Moving forward, the Green Centers will serve as hubs for low-carbon economic growth and neighborhood development.
About CNT
Since 1978, CNT has been a leader in promoting urban sustainability – the more effective use of existing resources and community assets to improve the health of natural systems and the wealth of people, today and in the future. CNT’s Natural Resources program focuses on Green Infrastructure; a stormwater management approach that saves money, supports sustainability, and more efficiently uses limited financial and natural resources. By capturing raindrops where they fall, Green Infrastructure utilizes the absorbing and filtering abilities of plants, trees and soil to protect water quality, reduce polluted runoff, and recharge groundwater supplies while reconnecting people with their local environment. CNT is one of eight nonprofits selected from around the world to receive a 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
More information at www.cnt.org/natural-resources
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Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Study compares emissions of city, suburban households
[Chicago, IL] At first glance, cities may appear to be a big source of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. But new research by the nonprofit Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), which compares greenhouse gas emissions of city and suburban households, yields some surprising results.
CNT looked at emissions of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the U.S. When measured on a per household basis, it found that the transportation-related emissions of people living in cities and compact neighborhoods can be nearly 70% less than those living in suburbs. See how this compares in your region.
“Cities are more location-efficient – meaning key destinations are closer to where people live and work,” said Scott Bernstein, CNT’s President. “They require less time, money, fuel and greenhouse gas emissions for residents to meet their everyday travel needs. People can walk, bike, car-share, take public transit. So residents of cities and compact communities generate less CO2 per household than people who live in more dispersed communities, like many suburbs and outlying areas.
“If you’re deciding where to live, consider moving to an urban area. You’ll help fight global warming by emitting less CO2. And you’re likely to drive less, so you’ll spend less on transportation, saving up to $5,000 annually.”
CNT’s research shows that average transportation costs vary greatly depending on location, from a low of 14% of area household median income in transit-rich, compact communities, to highs of 28% or more in exurban areas where employment, retail, and other amenities are more dispersed.
CNT focused on vehicle travel as a source of emissions, since research shows that transportation accounts for 28% of all greenhouse gases in the U.S.1 Its work compares the conventional per-acre analysis of greenhouse gas emissions due to vehicle travel with a new per-household view in each metropolitan area it studied. The results suggest that, due to their density and transportation alternatives, cities are a central part of the climate change solution.
The research is an outgrowth of CNT’s Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, which examines several aspects of location efficiency. One is the true cost of housing when household transportation costs are factored in, which vary widely by location. Together, transportation and housing can account for more than 60% of annual household expenses for some working families living in outlying areas – significantly impacting their cost of living and quality of life. The site also illuminates the environmental cost of housing location, which includes impacts like household carbon dioxide emissions.
Since its launch a year ago, the H+TTM Affordability Index has been expanded to show current CO2 maps, as well as the impact of location and gasoline costs on household budgets between the years 2000 and 2008. It has also been redesigned and enhanced for ease of use and data access.
Founded in 1978, CNT (www.cnt.org) is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that works nationally to advance urban sustainability by researching, inventing and testing strategies that use resources more efficiently and equitably. Its programs focus on climate, energy, natural resources, transportation, and community development. CNT is one of eight nonprofits selected from around the world to be recognized by a 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
12007 data per the U.S. EPA National Greenhouse Gas Inventory
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