The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on local funding sources for the New Starts program, which provides federal support for transit expansion projects.  GAO found that local and state sources account for the majority of funding for New Starts projects (48.1 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively), with federal aid accounting for 45 percent of the... Read More

On November 7, 2012, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) issued a report considering the recent U.S. elections' ramifications for the water sector. AWWA notes that the federal government continues to wrestle with the problem of maintaining the nation’s water infrastructure. Similar to transportation, diminishing federal resources have contributed to the shifting of water... Read More

In October 2012, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) released its updated Land Acquisition Plan , which was developed with the input of a number of organizations, including CMAP. Earlier this summer, the FPDCC issued new bonds to provide approximately $25 million for land acquisition that will be guided by the new plan. According to the plan, the “funds will be used to make... Read More

On November 15, 2012, Crain’s Chicago Business  brought together hundreds of firms from across metropolitan Chicago to discuss how the region’s manufacturing cluster can stay competitive in an increasingly global economy. As discussed at the conference, manufacturing has long been a mainstay of metropolitan Chicago’s economy and helped transform the region into an international center... Read More

The Federal Highway Administration/Federal Transit Administration Transportation Planning Capacity Building program recently released a report describing the performance-based funding peer exchange hosted by CMAP last summer.  On July 10-11, 2012, officials from six peer agencies, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), the Illinois Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)... Read More