A new report found Arizona could save taxpayers $283 million if state and local governments transition their light-duty fleets to electric vehicles over the next decade.

According to the Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, if the state and its local governments replaced the nearly 20,000 light-duty fleet vehicles which are set to retire over the next decade with EVs, taxpayers would save big.

The move would also help mitigate pollution from gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks contributing to poor air quality in the state.

Diane Brown, executive director of the Arizona PIRG and co-author of the report, said buying, fueling and maintaining gas- and diesel-fueled fleet vehicles is a "big expense." She argued state and local leaders need to take action independently and collaboratively.

"To accomplish this the state and local governments should develop bold fleet electrification plans," Brown asserted.

Brown recognizes the transition to electric would require "significant" upfront investment, but added incentives such as the Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit, which offers savings of up to $7,500 per light-duty vehicle or $40,000 per heavy-duty vehicle for purchases of EVs by government or private fleets, can help offset costs.

The findings released today follow a report published last October, which examined how 10 of Arizona's largest cities and towns could save a total of approximately $80 billion by replacing their light-duty vehicles with EVs.

Brown pointed out the transition to electric will also help contribute to better air quality and public health outcomes, and added now is the time to commit to the transition.

"By transitioning to electric vehicles, there will be improvements in our air and also for individuals that suffer from asthma or other respiratory issues," Brown contended.

The report stated there are benefits to cooperation for governments and agencies electrifying their fleets and can achieve cost savings by pooling purchases of vehicles and equipment, and advocating for policies to eliminate barriers.

Wisconsin's largest city has seen recent debate over highway expansion plans amid environmental concerns, and a new study suggested for similar projects, some effects could be limited if narrower traffic lanes are prioritized.

The expansion plan in Milwaukee involves a stretch of Interstate 94. Research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was more focused on urban roadways with speed limits of around 35 miles an hour.

Shima Hamidi, director of the Center for Climate-Smart Transportation and assistant professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University who helped lead the study, said switching from lane widths between 11 and 12 feet, long the norm, down to 9 feet helps reduce traffic collisions. She pointed out it also leaves more room for options not involving vehicles.

"It will help many people to switch from driving to other modes of transportation, such as biking and walking," Hamidi explained. "Which could result in greenhouse gas emission reductions from transportation."

The study contended with narrower lanes, people will not feel compelled to drive as fast and will be more alert. Hamidi acknowledged while the approach might slow traffic, past research shows minimal effects, which means the changes would not cancel out environmental benefits. Other studies have shown expanding the number of lanes, in general, does not reduce congestion.

Hamidi also noted transportation planners and engineers have expressed liability concerns, but she emphasized her team's study is one of the first to give cities and states firm data, on the traffic safety side, showing skinnier lanes are more effective.

"We are getting more and more interest from transportation planners, mostly at the local level," Hamidi observed. "Cities are eager and interested to really see how this could be implemented."

Hamidi added the next steps involve more research to quantify some of the other impacts, including air pollution. The study issued this month analyzed nearly 1,200 streets in seven cities around the
U.S. The findings come amid a gradual increase in pedestrian fatalities over the past decade.


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A Connecticut Department of Transportation study has outlined plans to make Hartford a walkable city.

The Greater Hartford Mobility Study proposes projects to increase safety and reduce highway congestion in Connecticut's capital region.

One proposal in the study calls for burying portions of I-84 and I-91. Moving sections of the highways underground would call for the building of new bridges crossing the Connecticut River for people to use bikes or e-scooters.

Jay Stange, coordinator for Transport Hartford Academy, said despite the benefits of this study, there are some deficiencies.

"This project also continues to route very high volumes of interstate traffic right through the center of the neighborhoods in the north end of Hartford," Stange pointed out. "All of the air-quality impacts are going to continue with this project as it's conceptualized."

Data Haven's 2023 Community Well-Being Index found Hartford residents are almost 2.5 times more likely to go to the emergency room for asthma compared with residents of nearby towns.

Although a timeline for the projects is uncertain, there has been some opposition to the I-84 rerouting. Stange is confident as the project continues in the development phase, it will shift into a project all people can get behind.

As the project gets underway, there have been differences on how to approach it. One recommendation is a bottom-up approach, meaning slower work to remove I-84 on ramps, reconnecting the North End of the city, and implementation of bus rapid transit. Stange described the other approach being considered.

"On the other end, we have a top-down approach; a very large transformative approach that approaches the double-digit billion-dollar price tag," Stange observed.

He noted people are wary of how to proceed given large-scale projects from the 1960s had negative impacts on Hartford. Stange added people are looking to combine both approaches to get the best version of this project for the city.

New York advocates want to see changes made to MTA's 20-year needs assessment.

Along with infrastructure modernization work, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's assessment proposes making most New York City Subway and Long Island Railroad stations handicap accessible by 2045. However, policy experts feel it's missing certain elements.

Rachael Fauss, senior policy advisor for Reinvent Albany, said they need a cost estimate for bringing the entire New York Subway system up to a state of good repair.

"Without having an estimate of the cost, both in the short term, so over a five-year period, and then also a 20-year period, there's nothing to measure the forthcoming capital plan against," she said. "You can't know if the right investments are being made if you don't have a place to start from."

She added that previous needs assessments have included cost estimates, but the repair and service needs were highlighted more.

Along with Reinvent Albany, the Citizens Budget Commission is also calling for transparency in the price of the assessment and upcoming Capital Plan. While the assessment talks about such expansion projects as the Second Avenue Subway and the Interborough Express, Fauss said she feels full system repairs must be a priority.

She's also concerned about spending overruns on long-term projects that can develop even when costs are laid out in detail. The East Side Access project, bringing the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central Terminal, saw billions of dollars in cost overruns in 2018. But, Fauss noted that unforeseen circumstances make developing costs estimates harder.

"I think there is some understanding that inflation and factors the MTA can't control," she said, "supply limitations, vendors to do the job; there are things that are out of their control."

In spite of this, Fauss is insistent on at least having a cost estimate for the first five years of the capital plan and needs assessment. Although MTA has implemented cost estimates on projects that had significant cost overruns, she noted it can serve as a benchmark for progress.


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