Planners are constantly thinking about infrastructure, especially now that the federal government has passed the Infrastructure Bill. But we are never asked what possibilities in infrastructure we are most excited about. So, here’s what I’m most excited about.
High speed rail will bring us closer
The first thing I’m excited about is high speed rail, mostly for selfish reasons. I work in our St. Louis office, while our main office is in Overland Park, Kansas. I would love to travel between offices within an hour, instead of spending four hours driving or seven on Amtrak.
High speed rail has been in use across Japan since the 1960s, but the United States has been slow to catch up. We are just launching our own version of a high speed rail system, such as Virgin Hyperloop. The company has faced regulatory and financial concerns as they’ve worked on this new form of transportation in the US. They just completed their first staffed trip in November. It will be years until we see a high speed rail route between Kansas City and Saint Louis-but that won’t stop me from thinking about it!
🙌🏽 for public Wi-Fi
The second infrastructure possibility I’m most excited about is the idea of municipal wireless, also known as public Wi-Fi. With municipal wireless, the city or municipality acts as the internet provider, with Wi-Fi networks available all over the community, indoors and out. Cities fund public Wi-Fi projects in multiple ways, with grants, sales taxes, or even property tax dollars. Some communities even have residents pay to access high speed internet connections for their homes, so they can fund internet connections in public places.
Citywide Wi-Fi projects have been especially important during the pandemic. People have had to readjust their work and learning schedules to be at home. Access to municipal Wi-Fi levels the playing field for people who couldn’t access the internet before and allows more people to work and learn from the safety of their home. It also gives internet access to people who are currently under-housed.
EV’s? Yes, please.
The third thing I’m excited about is electric vehicles. Production of them is getting cheaper, batteries are lasting longer, and EVs are able to drive further. Along with electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging stations will be prevalent in the future. Even the small town where I grew up has its first charging station.
Electric vehicles are more sustainable than gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles even when their less- than-perfect manufacturing is taken into account. Their sustainability over traditional vehicles will only increase as more renewable energy sources are used to power the electrical grids that charge our electric vehicles.
There are a lot of exciting innovations in infrastructure every day. These are a few of mine. What are you most excited about when it comes to America’s infrastructure? When thinking about this, consider the Infrastructure Bill, what’s needed in your neighborhood, or something you think could change the world.