Connecting Capital to Communities

Course Details

Communities need modern infrastructure to thrive. A shortage of reliable transportation infrastructure often results in safety concerns and economic disadvantages. For that reason, communities develop lists of transportation projects to improve safety and mobility. However, because they lack funding, most of those projects barely move past the design concept phase. According to a 2021 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, this decade's estimated infrastructure investment gap is nearly $2.6 trillion.

This course introduces methods and approaches for planners and local authorities to develop transportation projects that acquire funding support. Presenters discuss project identification, development, evaluation, and implementation, using case studies from Houston's Shepherd-Durham corridor improvements project supervised by the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority. This project received a $25 million grant from the Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development transportation discretionary grants program.

Presenters from the Midtown Redevelopment Authority share methods and successes in securing and using federal investment for mobility improvements in their district.

Learning Outcomes

• Consider the processes used to secure federal support.
• Identify the steps involved — from concept development through implementation — in a transportation-infrastructure improvement project to enhance safety and mobility.
• Discover how to identify and prioritize projects based on performance metrics and societal benefits, including results from needs-based and benefit-cost analyses.