May 6, 2009
Reuters noted that SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little spoke at the Reuters Infrastructure Summit about a possible national infrastructure bond fund. Little's idea for such a fund seemed odd to officials in Washington a year ago, he said. Now they are giving it a second look, in light of the trillions of dollars in infrastructure work the U.S. may require in coming decades, Little added. "Why not create a vehicle where the federal government could issue infrastructure bonds?"
April 15, 2009
Appearing on a panel at the Financial Times' Asia Infrastructure Summit, Richard Little addressed the question of whether private investment in infrastructure could be Asia's highway to economic growth. Little is a senior fellow at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
March 24, 2009
As the Obama administration prepares to disperse economic stimulus money for infrastructure, a timely new book sheds light on special districts -- the "shadow governments" that will be responsible for spending a large portion of these funds. In her book, Paying the Toll, Louise Nelson Dyble, associate director for research at the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, documented how the bridge district grew from well-intentioned public corporation with bipartisan support to notorious organization rife with corruption.
March 18, 2009
With cargo flow down about one-third since last year, port stakeholders packed the 10th METRANS Town Hall meeting on March 11 in Long Beach. More than 1,000 people, including longshore workers, terminal operators, logistics providers and elected officials, attended the event. The topic was how to make the San Pedro Bay ports competitive and protect high-paying local jobs.
March 13, 2009
The Ventura County Star quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which authorized $787 billion in federal stimulus spending. While the package was touted as an investment in infrastructure, some officials and analysts are disappointed with the amount that ended up being set aside for such projects, according to the story. The stimulus act is "a great bait-and-switch," Little said. "The whole thing was that this was all about infrastructure, and $50 billion isn't chump change, but it's not what the country needs," Little said. "I find that troubling. I think people were expecting maybe $200 billion or $300 billion for infrastructure." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
March 6, 2009
National Public Radio interviewed SPPD Senior fellow Richard Little about President Obama's infrastructure stimulus plan, which designates tens of billions of dollars for so-called "shovel-ready projects." Little, director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, discussed the impact of those projects on the nation's economic crisis and decaying infrastructure. "Essentially, it's projects that can be gotten underway within 120 days, meaning they are out to bid and ready to proceed," Little said. "The emphasis is on getting people to work and spending money," he added.
February 9, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the World Bank signed an agreement designed to merge scholarly research and specific program initiatives to address sustainable development in the East Asia and Pacific Region. The signing ceremony took place during a conference in Washington, D.C., focusing on challenges facing megacities in the developing world.
January 26, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development marked its 80th anniversary by hosting a special colloquium Jan. 16 at the Davidson Conference Center. During the conference, Dean Jack H. Knott noted that SPPD remains dedicated to advancing academic theory and making a vital impact in the world.
January 14, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Richard Little about plans for federal infrastructure spending. After the initial round of funding, more thought and evaluation should come into play in determining worthy projects, Little said. "But first thing, you need to get the money flowing, get your contractors working," he noted. "You need to prime the pump." Little is director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at USC, the story noted.
January 10, 2009
The Ventura County Star quoted Richard Little about how President-elect Obama's proposed stimulus funds may be channeled into "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. "The goal of the stimulus is just to get people working, get projects going and buying materials, which will trickle down through the economy," he said. "Whether infrastructure is always the best bang for the buck, there's some debate, but there are going to be some short-term benefits." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
January 6, 2009
Reuters quoted Richard Little about how President-elect Obama's proposed stimulus funds may be channeled into "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. "We must save the patient first, then think about long-term strategy," Little said. "If the objective is to create jobs, we should focus on projects that are ready to go." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
December 21, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Genevieve Giuliano about the expected departure of L.A.'s Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Roger Snoble. "The next person is going to have to be hardheaded about the market for some of these capital investments," Giuliano said. If not, the cost of running and building rail could drain agency coffers, she noted. Guiliano is senior associate dean for research and technology at SPPD and director of the METRANS Transportation Center.
December 16, 2008
The New York Times published a statement on infrastructure stimulus spending, signed by SPPD's Richard Little and Mark Pisano and 24 other infrastructure experts. "A new approach is needed that establishes a new level of accountability, transparency, and economic and environmental performance for how this country invests in infrastructure projects," the experts wrote. "We should only invest in projects that achieve job creation in the short run while creating the foundation for long-term economic success and energy independence." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, and Pisano is a senior fellow at SPPD.
December 12, 2008
Eight USC students conducting research on transportation projects ranging from toll roads to airport runway incursions have been recognized with scholarships from two Southern California chapters of the Women's Transportation Seminar. Two of those students are from the School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
December 2, 2008
The Associated Press quoted Richard Little, director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, about the role of public works spending in economic stimulus plans. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan, which involves increased infrastructure spending, won't solve the state's underlying imbalance between annual spending and revenue, critics have said. "It's not about capital expenditures," Little said. "It'll have some benefits, but it's not the solution. We need to align revenue and expenditures ... That's the fundamental thing the governor and Legislature need to wrestle with."
November 30, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Assistant Professor Lisa Schweitzer about the light rail extension set to join Union Station with East Los Angeles. Rail lines mean access, which is valuable, Schweitzer said. Rail means a bump in property values, with land around the line becoming "perpetually valuable," she added.
November 20, 2008
The impact of Hurricane Katrina continues to be felt in the New Orleans region and beyond as researchers and policymakers examine what went wrong and how to deal with the effects of a similar disaster in the future. The latest contribution comes from a team of professors at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, who edited and wrote chapters for Natural Disaster Analysis After Hurricane Katrina: Risk Assessment, Economic Impacts and Social Implications.
November 6, 2008
Dr. Louise Nelson Dyble, associate director for research at the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, recently received the American Public Works Association (APWA) Michael Robinson Award for her article, "Revolt Against Sprawl: Transportation and the Origins of the Marin County Growth-Control Regime."
October 29, 2008
During an Oct. 21 panel hosted by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry said that the goal of downtown's revitalization effort is to restore "the excitement of an earlier time." The changing downtown landscape was the focus of the panel discussion, which took place inside City Hall. The event was part of the SPPD Dean's Speaker Series.
October 22, 2008
METRANS celebrates 10 years of research and education on metropolitan transportation. For the past decade, the center has aimed at "generating the highest quality basic and applied research," according to METRANS Director Genevieve Giuliano, professor and senior associate dean at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
August 14, 2008
Professors Peter Gordon and James, along with consultant Thomas Rubin, wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Daily News about rail lines in L.A. County. "[T]here is no way the Los Angeles rail system can ever be cost-effective," they wrote. "Adding new rail lines is going to make a bad deal even worse, and paying for more rails with regressive sales taxes ensures that the poor will carry the largest share of this burden."
August 12, 2008
SPPD Assistant Professor Lisa Schweitzer was quoted in the Los Angeles Times about transportation policy and the presidential election. "I think both sides of the political spectrum agree that Americans' consumption patterns have to change," Schweitzer said in a story on USC's Election 2008 Web site, cited by the Times. "For example, we had President Bush's 'addicted to oil' comments in his State of the Union address a few years ago. Barack Obama has transit in his platform, and John McCain's platform includes advanced transportation technologies to deal with both energy and climate change. Everybody sees the writing on the wall clearly enough; the devil is in the implementation."
July 29, 2008
In a Los Angeles Times story, Prof. Gary Painter was quoted about the penalty for delays with Los Angeles' Grand Avenue project. The board overseeing the project approved a measure stipulating that if the project is delayed beyond February, the developer will be fined $250,000 a month. Financial penalties like this can sometimes help get projects moving, Painter said. He added that $250,000 per month seemed not a large sum of money relative to the scale of the project.
June 11, 2008
A study by Genevieve Giuliano was cited in a Los Angeles Times story on traffic congestion in southern California. "People say they want less traffic, but they don't want to be forced to alter their habits," the story stated. The mandatory changes required for the 1984 Olympics worked because the changes required were temporary, according to Giuliano's study.
May 1, 2008
Prof. Peter Gordon wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times about city planning and traffic congestion in Los Angeles. "Lifestyle choices and the demographic composition of our population are ever-changing," Gordon wrote. "It is the job of builders to figure out how to respond, and those who get it right make sales and money. Those who get it wrong suffer losses and end up in another line of work. The only thing that stands in the way is politics. When politicians get involved, as they increasingly want to do, the process favors large and well-connected developers."
April 30, 2008
Prof. Peter Gordon wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times in favor of congestion pricing to alleviate Los Angeles traffic problems. The congestion pricing wouldn't be like that of London, Gordon wrote. "Compared with London, our jobs and our traffic are dispersed. A pricing scheme for L.A. should be 'dynamic,' meaning that it has to be sensitive to time-of-day traffic conditions. We already know about matinee prices and early-bird specials: Prices adjust to demand specific to the time of day. There are predictable cycles of daily demand for almost all freeways, so prices must adjust. (And we must stop using the term 'freeways.')"
April 28, 2008
Prof. Peter Gordon wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times supporting the conversion of some carpool lanes on Los Angeles freeways into toll lanes. "[N]ot pricing road access is demonstrably unfair," Gordon wrote. "[W]e know that if price does not ration, something else will. When we refuse to price highway access, rationing of available road space is done by overcrowding, and everyone complains about the resulting congestion," he added. "Forgoing the pricing option leads to trouble, but some always believe they can resort to something 'fairer' instead. They never have."
April 29, 2008
Prof. Peter Gordon wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times stating that building more subways in Los Angeles won't decrease traffic congestion. Some predict that higher gas prices will lead to more people riding transit, Gordon wrote. "I disagree because I remember the oil shocks of the 1970s. If you look at only the annual transit data over those years, you cannot find the shocks. People coped by demanding (and getting) smaller and more fuel-efficient cars. This is beginning to happen again."
