Jared Brey

This City Is Getting Serious About Sidewalks. Will Others Follow Suit? Denver’s new sidewalk program shifts the responsibility from property owners to the city. It’s a far-reaching plan to improve thousands of miles of infrastructure.

Denver's strangely bold plan for sidewalks: Build them all and keep up with repairs www.governing.com/infrastructu...

Hard to fully side with anyone who's quoted in this great piece by @jblumgart.bsky.social. Clearly Philadelphia has an exquisite built environment worth caring for, but all the sides in this argument are claiming the role of aggrieved underdog.

Feds Slash Millions in Promised Funds for Local Transportation Congress voted this month to claw back funding from some awards made during the Biden administration, particularly those focused on equity. The rescissions will leave dozens of transportation projects...

Cities were awarded $3.2 billion for transportation projects under the Neighborhood Access and Equity program. Congress is rescinding 75 percent of the funds, leaving dozens of awarded projects partly funded or not funded at all. www.governing.com/transportati...

Despite Political Complaints, Congestion Pricing Is Working in NYC New York City’s congestion pricing program was feared dead last year, and is still subject to threats from the Trump administration. But it’s delivering results, with less traffic and more revenue for...

Despite Political Complaints, Congestion Pricing Is Working in NYC www.governing.com/transportati...

The Odd Job of a Four-Month City Council Member Matt Privratsky was appointed to serve as an interim city council member in St. Paul after the previous member resigned. He’ll cast some consequential votes.

A four-month interim city council member in St. Paul will vote this week on rent control and tenant protections www.governing.com/urban/the-od...

Anyone who moved from Austin to San Antonio or vice versa in the last few years wanna talk to me for a story?

"Some research suggests that 75% of people whose licenses get suspended continue to drive anyway"

This law gives "the option to require devices that limit vehicle speeds when doling out punishments for reckless drivers...as an alternative to jail time or license suspension for repeat offenders"

Vehicle Speed-Limiting Technology Gets a Foothold in State Law A new Virginia law will allow judges to require intelligent speed assistance devices for people with repeat reckless driving offenses. Advocates are pushing for similar policies in other states.

Speed-Limiting Technology Gets a Foothold in State Law www.governing.com/transportati...

Hopes for Offshore Wind Are Blowing Away Legal challenges, economic factors and Trump administration policies are all creating problems for commercial wind farms.

Hopes for Offshore Wind Are Blowing Away www.governing.com/magazine/hop...

New Hampshire Republicans’ Crusade Against 'Snob Zoning' The New Hampshire legislature is considering dozens of policies aimed at making housing more affordable, a priority for first-year Gov. Kelly Ayotte. Some policies are gaining bipartisan support, but ...

“A lot of people in very wealthy communities, regardless of party, simply don’t want new neighbors.” www.governing.com/urban/new-ha...

What's Behind the Push to Revive Nuclear Power? Increasing demand for power is leading lawmakers to promote an energy source that's languished for decades.

What's Behind the Push to Revive Nuclear Power? www.governing.com/magazine/wha...

States Look to Rein in Rising Costs for Mobile-Home Owners Residents of mobile-home parks have seen costs rise as investors buy up properties. Lawmakers in several states are looking to add more guardrails.

States Look to Rein in Rising Costs for Mobile-Home Owners www.governing.com/urban/states...

Massachusetts Legislators Want to Discourage Police From Lying to Suspects It’s often legal for officers to deceive suspects — but critics say this can lead to false confessions. Experts have mixed opinions about whether restricting the practice would affect case closure rat...

Six people confessed to the crime, despite eyewitnesses saying there were only four assailants. “They were interviewing people a little too aggressively.”

www.governing.com/policy/massa...

States Consider Capping Home Purchases by Large Investors An upsurge of corporate purchases of single-family homes has sparked legislation in at least half a dozen states this year. Legislators hope to preserve homeownership as a path to building wealth for ...

“An upsurge of corporate purchases of single-family homes has sparked legislation in at least half a dozen states this year. Legislators hope to preserve homeownership as a path to building wealth for middle-class families.” 🏘️ @jaredbrey.bsky.social
www.governing.com/urban/states...

States See Workforce Opportunity in Federal Layoffs The public-sector workforce is plagued with vacancies. Some states are looking to recruit former federal workers who’ve recently lost their jobs.

States See Workforce Opportunity in Federal Layoffs www.governing.com/workforce/st...

States Consider Capping Home Purchases by Large Investors An upsurge of corporate purchases of single-family homes has sparked legislation in at least half a dozen states this year. Legislators hope to preserve homeownership as a path to building wealth for ...

“I understand that property is an investment. I want that to be an investment that families make for themselves.”
www.governing.com/urban/states...

Local Governments Are Helping Laid-Off Federal Workers Find Jobs State and local officials are working to mitigate the impact of cuts to the federal workforce spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency, offering career services and other resources.

“It reminds me of COVID, which was a sudden impact and then you have to respond and pivot." www.governing.com/workforce/lo...

What Trump’s Infrastructure Announcements Mean for States The Trump White House has ordered a pause on infrastructure spending approved during the last administration, and is promoting new spending on digital infrastructure to support artificial intelligence...

“Our members were immediately concerned that this was going to impact all of their highway formula dollars … That appears not to be the intent, based on the conversations we’ve had with the Trump administration.” www.governing.com/politics/wha...

States Spend Billions on Transportation Projects. Are They Meeting Their Goals? A new report from Brookings shows how state departments of transportation have a free hand to spend on highway projects, but don’t keep good track of progress toward specific goals.

State DOTs set big goals for reducing congestion and improving safety, but they typically don't even try to track progress toward them or explain how the projects they invest in would help. New research from @BrookingsMetro www.governing.com/transportati...

Nashville has a new mayor, its fourth one in five years, and may try again for a transit-funding referendum. It's probably going to look much different than the last one, which proposed five separate light rail lines. www.governing.com/transportati...

Infrastructure Funds Are Flowing, but Impact Won’t Be Known for Years Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro, says implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is on track. But it will take years to understand its economic impact.

My Q&A with Adie Tomer at Brookings about the infrastructure law, two years later www.governing.com/infrastructu...

Just a ‘Bump in the Road’ for Offshore Wind? The cancellation of two of the biggest offshore wind projects in the east highlights challenges in the fledgling industry and the obstacles to coastal states’ clean energy goals.

“It’s catastrophic when these big companies leave. They promise you everything and then they just up and leave." - Gary Stevenson, mayor of Paulsboro, NJ. The cancellation of two offshore wind farms leaves a big manufacturing project there in limbo. www.governing.com/infrastructu...

Cincinnatians voted to sell their one-of-a-kind interstate railroad, an outcome nobody was confidently predicting. The sale will set up an infrastructure fund they hope will pay out at least $50m a year in perpetuity. www.governing.com/infrastructu...

Baltimore is using a Safe Streets grant to try out new kinds of community engagement, designing and installing quick-build projects and seeing how well they work rather than leaning on lots of upfront meetings to build consensus www.governing.com/transportati...

Navigating the Fiscal Crisis in Public Transit Two transportation-focused think tanks held back-to-back events last week, bringing transit advocates, scholars and industry leaders together to discuss solutions for the fiscal cliff many agencies ar...

Even with ridership losses, transit service needs to be better, faster, and more frequent than it was before the pandemic if it's going to avoid the doom spiral, say advocates, researchers, and agency leaders www.governing.com/transportati...

Fare-Capping Policies May Increase Transit Ridership New research suggests that transit agencies see ridership gains when they adopt monthly fare-capping policies, which are primarily intended to make fares more equitable.

Transit agencies are increasingly capping monthly fares to make payments more equitable. But it may increase ridership too, according to new research. www.governing.com/transportati...

Microtransit Has Broad Appeal, Despite Clear Drawbacks More public transit agencies are offering low-fare, on-demand shuttle service as a way to connect people to existing transit services and serve far-flung communities. But many transit advocates are wa...

Microtransit holds a lot of appeal for local officials, even though the service is typically inefficient and requires high subsidies per rider www.governing.com/transportati...
@transitcenter.bsky.social @humantransit.bsky.social

Measuring Equity in Federal Infrastructure Spending A new report from the Urban Institute tracks how a year of infrastructure and housing grants align with federal priorities for equitable spending.

In Governing, @jaredbrey.bsky.social covers our new research on the equity of federal infrastructure grant distribution.

"Formula funding programs, which provide the lion’s share of transportation funding to states, are likely to reinforce existing patterns."

Houston Bike-Share Is Struggling. Public Transit Is Stepping In. Faced with a seven-figure gap in its operating budget and unable to find a corporate sponsor, Houston BCycle, the city’s 10-year-old bike-share network, could soon shut down entirely. But the local ...

Houston Metro is joining other public transit agencies with their own bikeshare systems, but it's not clear what will happen to the existing system, which has 150 stations and a big budget gap. www.governing.com/transportati...

As Jose Alvarado struggles to bring his mom and kids to the U.S., he finds support from his brother:... Unable to secure visas for his family from Venezuela, Alvarado savored a visit from his brother, who told him “everyone is so proud of you.”

unbelievable