Federal program helping Louisiana expand broadband paused

To resolve road construction communications with frustrated drivers, the New Orleans government developed RoadWork NOLA - an app that showed planned road construction. Unfortunately, no one was using it. Instead of giving up on their idea of a solution, they decided to embark on a plan to make it better through project iteration and human-centered design.

At the vanguard of initiatives to increase diversity among visitors to the National Parks are groups like Oakland-based H.E.A.T. (Hiking Every Available Trail), which uses social media and group expeditions to increase minority groups' awareness, use, trust and enjoyment of the outdoors. Emerging alongside changes in policy, such as the Park Services' creation of a Diversity and Inclusion Office, H.E.A.T. demonstrates how local organizers in minority and, often, urban regions around the United States are moving the needle on diversity within the National Park system.

As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th Anniversary, employees and rangers are turning their attention towards maximizing diversity and increasing a culture of inclusiveness amongst park visitors and employees. From taking a concrete political stance to recruiting a diverse group of celebrity park ambassadors, the national parks hope to bridge the gaps between what America looks like and the story our parks tell of our history.

The City of Louisville launched a multi-agency Critical Infrastructure Task Force and passed a city ordinance that regulates secondary metals recyclers, resulting in a 90% drop in copper wire theft incidents for AT&T Kentucky and an ~80% reduction in fiber line cuts for Spectrum between 2024 and 2025.

Utah legislators passed a bill exempting small-scale balcony solar installations from utility interconnection regulations to replicate Germany's successful approach, but the absence of national electrical standards and safety certifications have so far prevented widespread adoption and impact in the U.S.

The town of Otis, Massachusetts leveraged state and federal grant funding alongside a municipal bond to build out its own fiber-optic network, increasing access to high-speed broadband in a rural area that has historically had little. Since it’s a municipal network, the town has more control over how it’s run, and prices are typically lower than those offered by private internet providers.

Justice40, created through a sweeping executive order during President Joe Biden’s first term, is designed to ensure communities deemed disadvantaged receive at least 40% of the benefits of federal climate change and environmental investments. While no single tally of Justice40 spending or its benefits is available thus far, the White House Environmental Justice Scorecard says more than 500 projects have been funded through its efforts.

In an effort to address a lack of broadband access, Indigenous communities are working together, and with local organizations, to acquire funding to bring internet access to their communities and close the digital divide.

Oslo, Norway saw zero pedestrian and cyclist deaths in 2019. The success comes from infrastructure redesign, increased traffic enforcement, overall policy prioritization of road safety, and collaboration between residents, organizations, and government. In the United States, many cities are working toward “Vision Zero” – zero pedestrian and cycling deaths – and are looking to Oslo as an example.

Unprecedented challenges are frequently popping up with the onset of climate change, so governments too have to adjust their processes and strategies. Some new procurement tools used by several different cities include requests for ideas, competitions, and performance contracts. This article looks at two places using these new and publicly accessible procurement tools—Prince Georges County, MD, and Norfolk, VA—to see how it impacts their success.