Solving Infrastructure Problems from the Bottom Up

Source: Flickr; Photo Credit: IMB

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimate that it would take $4.6 trillion to fix all of our nation’s infrastructure problems. Unable to rely on federal funding streams, cities and states are looking for local solutions to issues ranging from under-performing roads to buildings with high-energy profiles. Innovations like Smart Lights, which contain sensors cable of collecting air quality data, electricity usage data, and more, are at the center of the technological revolution happening locally in cities like San Diego. Smart sensors like these could also improve traffic flow, ease the search for parking, and provide important information to first responders. In other cities, local innovators are thinking regionally about interconnected energy and electricity networks. Still other municipalities are exploring alternative funding mechanisms, leveraging private and public funds, to kick start energy efficient programs and retrofits. For more information on this topic, check out Kish Rajan’s article in Governing.