Lightning-speed deliveries and autonomous cars could accelerate the current big-box implosion. Thanks largely to the rise of e-commerce, chains like Macy’s, Toys “R” US, and Best Buy are shuttering faster than analysts predicted even a year ago, with at least 24 major retailers planning store closures in 2018. According to some forecasters, there’s an even larger retail apocalypse on the horizon. As overbuilt malls, corporate mergers, and autonomous vehicles converge, “the in

The idea translates easily into any language: Charge drivers for using congested streets and watch them change their habits. It has become an increasingly attractive tool for major metropolises overwhelmed by the traffic strangling their streets. But actually carrying out congestion pricing has been anything but easy — at least in three cities that are often cited as international models. In London, Singapore and Stockholm the fees were met with skepticism and outrage by comm

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Jan. 29 will begin a series of 10 public hearings on its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed bullet train project in Texas. The first public hearing will be held in Dallas County. Others will be held in locations along the proposed route, which would extend from North Texas to Houston. The FRA is accepting comments on the DEIS until Feb. 20. The report analyzed six end-to-end build alternatives as well

It launched to a fanfare two weeks ago: the first privately funded US express passenger railway in decades, a new start for long delayed plans, and a “green” alternative to Florida’s increasingly congested highways. Yet for executives of Brightline, an ambitious $3bn venture that will eventually ferry travellers from the theme parks of Orlando to the beaches of Miami in just three hours, the champagne moment soon lost its fizz. Even before passengers left the station at Fort

When big-city mayors met in Washington last week, one of their primary messages regarding infrastructure was that the federal government should send new money directly to cities, rather than through states. The Trump administration seems open to the idea. “The folks in this room turn dirt faster than anybody in America,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said at a meeting on infrastructure at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ meeting last week. “We think that cities are the place

A pair of Republican state lawmakers have effectively derailed — at least for now — plans for so-called “high-speed” passenger train service between the Twin Cities and Chicago. All they needed to do was object. “It’s in effect like a one-person veto,” said Sen. Scott Newman, one of the two lawmakers who put the brakes on a vision that has been in the works since the 1990s and has, over the years, received bipartisan support. The Minnesota Department of Transportation suspend

About 100 miles north of Houston, the landscape is dotted with sprawling farms and remote ranches. But critics say parts of the region could change if the Federal Railroad Administration approves a $12 billion infrastructure project. Texas Central, a privately run railroad company, is hoping to build a high-speed bullet train similar to the bullet train system already in operation between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. The train would connect Dallas and Houston in less than 90 min

With the release of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Texas Central Partner’s high speed rail project, residents and agencies are pouring over the extensive document before scheduled public meetings are held during the 60-day comment period. “The process is specifically designed for public involvement,” said Texas Central on their website description of the DEIS. “The 60-day public comment period that began with the Dec. 22 notice i

The Dallas-to-Houston bullet train rolled a few inches closer to the starting line Friday with the release of a long-awaited federal study that narrows down several possible routes to a single path through powerline easements. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement, released by the U.S. Department of Transportation, doesn't necessarily endorse the so-called Utility Corridor. The feds still have 60 days to hear from the public before a final decision is made at a date undete

Dive Brief: Costs for the 119-mile stretch of a high-speed rail line planned through California's Central Valley are $1.7 billion higher than expected, so far, at $8 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing a June report that was recently made public. The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) said the overruns are due to the increasing cost of land acquisition, the need to move underground utilities and discussions with freight rail companies around logistic