The Surdna Foundation is developing a Sustainable Environments Storybank, the focus of which is to feature innovative ways to update infrastructure and foster healthy, sustainable and just communities. In this vein, Surdna has asked Reconnecting America and other Surdna grantees to contribute real-life stories about the green economy and sustainable infrastructure.

In January, Transportation for America released Making the Most of MAP-21, a 109-page handbook that explains the many changes in federal transportation policy — positive and negative — and outlines how local officials and advocates can help get involved and urge states to make sure that MAP-21 — Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century — money is used for the priorities of local communities. On Feb. 27, Transportation for America held a webinar focused on helping rural communities to take advantage of the MAP-21 changes. Among the speakers was Reconnecting America's President and CEO John Robert Smith.

The National Association of Regional Councils' review of literature about livability has been added to the Research Center's best practices database.

Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith will be a participant Oct. 13 in a panel discussion following the screening of “The Blood in This Town,” a film chronicling how Rutland, VT., an ailing rust-belt town, was rebuilt from the grassroots up. The screening will be at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Congressional Auditorium, at 6pm.

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has this new resource guide on Healthy & Livable Communities. It’s a good compendium of links, research studies, case studies, etc.

The first of two webinars designed to help rural communities take advantage of the Department of Transportation's TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants will take place Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. EDT.

Norman Garrick, CNU Board Member and professor at the University of Connecticut, has been looking at street networks for a number of years now.  When living in Davis California, he noticed it was a bit safer even though there were many more pedestrians and cyclists.  After more research, it became apparent that denser more connected street networks were safer.  In this discussion we had at CNU 19, he discusses how street networks affect safety.

The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Accessible Public Transportation is currently conducting a global survey of usability problems on public transit buses.   The survey is open until April 1, 2011. The study investigates getting on and off public buses, circulating inside of buses, understanding the communication and information systems of public buses, as well as issues concerning rider safety.  The information collected from this study should help identify the aspects of using public buses that merit further detailed experimental research in controlled settings.  The survey targets a broad demographic including manufacturers, designers, engineers, researchers and riders (of all abilities). Not only are we interested in learning about the problems faced on public buses, but also in acquiring feedback on participants’ (1) “best practice” experiences with public transportation in cities they have visited and (2) what they envision for the bus of the future.  …