Archive for the 'Green Living' Category
Aug
31
Going green a smart real estate strategy that adds value
August 31, 2018 | Leave a Comment
(BPT) – Are you thinking of selling your house and want to know some of the best ways to boost your home’s value, demand top dollar and potentially inspire a bidding war? Whether you’re selling in a few months or a few years, there is one strategy that…
Aug
16
Knowledge is power: Tips to help children better understand our connected world
August 16, 2018 | Leave a Comment
(BPT) – Technology has rapidly changed the way we live over the past 30 years. Where people once turned strictly to their televisions to watch their favorite shows or play video games, people can now access their favorite entertainment, anytime and any…
Aug
16
Knowledge is power: Tips to help children better understand our connected world
August 16, 2018 | Leave a Comment
(BPT) – Technology has rapidly changed the way we live over the past 30 years. Where people once turned strictly to their televisions to watch their favorite shows or play video games, people can now access their favorite entertainment, anytime and any…
Aug
16
Why public transit is a key economic issue for growing cities
August 16, 2018 | Leave a Comment
(BPT) – We’d love to take our daily commute for granted. Except, we can’t. It is essential that we continue to make public transportation as efficient as possible for commuters.
Over the decades, as a nation we have put investing in our transportation infrastructure, particularly our bus and rail systems, on the back burner. The result: Today’s public transit backlog sits at $90 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. This is a missed opportunity to make our public transportation systems more efficient and our cities more productive, and it has serious economic implications.
For instance, a lack of investment in our public transportation infrastructure costs the U.S. economy $340 billion in revenue over a six-year period, according to the study, “The Economic Cost of Failing to Modernize Public Transportation.” The study was conducted by the Economic Development Research Group Inc. for APTA.
“Our failure as a nation to address America’s public transit modernization needs has wide-ranging negative effects,” says APTA president and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas, “because lost time in travel makes a region’s economy less productive.”
Failing to meet growing public transit needs
As the number of U.S. workers continues to rise, so do the pressures on all areas of our infrastructure.
Since 1995, the U.S. has seen a 42 percent rise in public transit miles traveled. Despite that, needed improvements to our bus and rail assets have not kept pace with growth, the study concludes. Furthermore, the study shows how, as the U.S. fails to invest in the upkeep and maintenance in the nation’s public transit assets, it leads to service interruptions and lost time, which leads to lost wages.
Dorval R. Carter Jr., president of the Chicago Transit Authority, oversees a legacy rail system that’s more than 100 years old, and faces the challenge of fixing or replacing aging infrastructure.
“Parts of our rail system date back to the late 1800s,” Carter says, “we are facing an unmet — and growing — capital need of nearly $13 billion and meeting it has become even more challenging given funding constraints not only at the federal level, but especially at the state and local levels.”
The impact of public transit on local economies
Service interruptions and delays because America has not kept up with transit investments have a direct and immediate effect on the economy. If workers can’t get to work on time, it affects their productivity.
When an aging road and rail system adds time and delays to commutes, that puts the brakes on economic output.
“Based on recent surveys of our riders in Central Ohio, we know 70 percent of our customers rely on our service to reach work,” says Joanna Pinkerton, president and CEO of the Central Ohio Transit Authority. “This is just one example of why it is vital to continue investment in public transportation infrastructure to support residents and the economy.”
Pinkerton adds that over the next 30 years, Central Ohio’s public transit system will have to evolve to prepare for 1 million additional residents and 600,000 jobs.
The quality of a city’s public transportation system is an important factor for companies that are looking to expand or relocate. For example, in 2014, Atlanta’s public transportation system played a role in State Farm Insurance’s bid to locate 8,000 new jobs there. One year ago, when Amazon asked cities to create proposals for its second headquarters, the online retailer indicated that it wanted to hear from cities with access to public transit.
The good news is, Congress has allocated a spending increase for the 2018 fiscal year budget for public transit.
“While this is a positive step forward in helping to address the nation’s aging public transit infrastructure,” Skoutelas says, “this momentum must be maintained by providing similar funding levels for 2019.”
Aug
16
Why public transit is a key economic issue for growing cities
August 16, 2018 | Leave a Comment
(BPT) – We’d love to take our daily commute for granted. Except, we can’t. It is essential that we continue to make public transportation as efficient as possible for commuters.
Over the decades, as a nation we have put investing in our transportation infrastructure, particularly our bus and rail systems, on the back burner. The result: Today’s public transit backlog sits at $90 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. This is a missed opportunity to make our public transportation systems more efficient and our cities more productive, and it has serious economic implications.
For instance, a lack of investment in our public transportation infrastructure costs the U.S. economy $340 billion in revenue over a six-year period, according to the study, “The Economic Cost of Failing to Modernize Public Transportation.” The study was conducted by the Economic Development Research Group Inc. for APTA.
“Our failure as a nation to address America’s public transit modernization needs has wide-ranging negative effects,” says APTA president and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas, “because lost time in travel makes a region’s economy less productive.”
Failing to meet growing public transit needs
As the number of U.S. workers continues to rise, so do the pressures on all areas of our infrastructure.
Since 1995, the U.S. has seen a 42 percent rise in public transit miles traveled. Despite that, needed improvements to our bus and rail assets have not kept pace with growth, the study concludes. Furthermore, the study shows how, as the U.S. fails to invest in the upkeep and maintenance in the nation’s public transit assets, it leads to service interruptions and lost time, which leads to lost wages.
Dorval R. Carter Jr., president of the Chicago Transit Authority, oversees a legacy rail system that’s more than 100 years old, and faces the challenge of fixing or replacing aging infrastructure.
“Parts of our rail system date back to the late 1800s,” Carter says, “we are facing an unmet — and growing — capital need of nearly $13 billion and meeting it has become even more challenging given funding constraints not only at the federal level, but especially at the state and local levels.”
The impact of public transit on local economies
Service interruptions and delays because America has not kept up with transit investments have a direct and immediate effect on the economy. If workers can’t get to work on time, it affects their productivity.
When an aging road and rail system adds time and delays to commutes, that puts the brakes on economic output.
“Based on recent surveys of our riders in Central Ohio, we know 70 percent of our customers rely on our service to reach work,” says Joanna Pinkerton, president and CEO of the Central Ohio Transit Authority. “This is just one example of why it is vital to continue investment in public transportation infrastructure to support residents and the economy.”
Pinkerton adds that over the next 30 years, Central Ohio’s public transit system will have to evolve to prepare for 1 million additional residents and 600,000 jobs.
The quality of a city’s public transportation system is an important factor for companies that are looking to expand or relocate. For example, in 2014, Atlanta’s public transportation system played a role in State Farm Insurance’s bid to locate 8,000 new jobs there. One year ago, when Amazon asked cities to create proposals for its second headquarters, the online retailer indicated that it wanted to hear from cities with access to public transit.
The good news is, Congress has allocated a spending increase for the 2018 fiscal year budget for public transit.
“While this is a positive step forward in helping to address the nation’s aging public transit infrastructure,” Skoutelas says, “this momentum must be maintained by providing similar funding levels for 2019.”
Aug
9
(BPT) – For a region the size of Connecticut, Puerto Rico packs a big punch when it comes to its contribution to world agriculture.
Many people are unaware, for example, that the 5,335-square-mile commonwealth is the research and development headquarters for up to 85 percent of the commercial corn, soybean and other hybrid seeds grown in the U.S., part of a biotech industry thriving for 35 years. “Puerto Rico is, in many cases, the first and most important location for the development of new crops,” notes Liliana Sánchez Cortés, a site manager for global agrochemical and seed producer Syngenta.
The nation’s importance to the food chain is partly why Syngenta was so quick to help after Hurricane Maria destroyed an estimated 80 percent of the nation’s crop value last September. The storm ruined $780 million worth of agriculture yields, while knocking down structures and landscapes nationwide. The agribusiness firm operates three research farms in the commonwealth and employs 45 people — three of whom lost their homes in the storm.
In response to the crisis, a cross-departmental Syngenta team from Wisconsin organized airlifts of emergency supplies, including generators, satellite phones and 220,000 pounds of food, water and household goods. The company also donated $200,000 to a local food bank and contributed new pollen sources for the region’s bees.
Why is Puerto Rico so important to the future of worldwide agriculture? Consider the following:
Much of the world’s hybrid seed has been grown or processed in some way in Puerto Rico’s nursery systems, which include three Syngenta farms. In fact, Syngenta analysts estimate its new soybean varieties would take two to three more years to develop without Puerto Rico’s facilities. Thanks to its unique climate allowing for 52 weeks of planting and harvesting, the region’s environment is ideal for seed R&D protocols. Because of the nation’s efficient and expedited plant-breeding programs, researchers can use data from fall crops to develop new hybrid and variety combinations that can be planted the following spring. The ag biotech industry there brings in more than $65 million in net benefits for the local economy, and analysts say the inter-industry multiplier effect stretches that amount to nearly $135 million. This year, some 860,000 people there are employed in the ag trade.
Though the hurricane hit at a critical time between growing seasons, Syngenta has since been able to repair flood and structural damage at its facilities, replant seedlings and hire temporary employees to fill in for those seeking sanctuary. To learn more about the support of Syngenta to agriculture around the world, visit SyngentaThrive.com.