A Decision-Support Framework For Using Value Capture to Fund Public Transit: Lessons From Project-Specific Analyses, Research Report 11-14

Local and state governments provide 75 percent of transit funds in the United States. With all levels of governments under significant fiscal stress, any new transit funding mechanism is welcome. Value capture (VC) is one such mechanism. Based on the “benefits received” principle, VC involves the identification and capture of public infrastructure-led increase in land value. While the literature has extensively demonstrated the property-value impacts of transit investments and has empirically simulated the potential magnitude of VC revenues for financing transit facilities, very little research has examined the suitability of VC mechanisms for specific transit projects. This report aims to fill this research gap by examining five VC mechanisms in depth: tax-increment financing (TIF), special assessment districts (SADs), transit impact fees, joint developments, and air rights. The report is intended to assist practitioners in gauging the legal, financial, and administrative suitability of VC mechanisms for meeting project-specific funding requirements

A Decision-Support Framework For Using Value Capture to Fund Public Transit: Lessons From Project-Specific Analyses

Local and state governments provide 75 percent of transit funds in the United States. With all levels of governments under significant fiscal stress, any new transit funding mechanism is welcome. Value capture (VC) is one such mechanism. Based on the “benefits received” principle, VC involves the identification and capture of public infrastructure-led increase in land value. While the literature has extensively demonstrated the property-value impacts of transit investments and has empirically simulated the potential magnitude of VC revenues for financing transit facilities, very little research has examined the suitability of VC mechanisms for specific transit projects. This report aims to fill this research gap by examining five VC mechanisms in depth: tax-increment financing (TIF), special assessment districts (SADs), transit impact fees, joint developments, and air rights. The report is intended to assist practitioners in gauging the legal, financial, and administrative suitability of VC mechanisms for meeting project-specific funding requirements

Genetic analysis of tolerance to rice tungro bacilliform virus in rice (Oryza sativa L.) through agroinoculation

Balimau Putih [an Indonesian cultivar tolerant to rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV)] was crossed with IR64 (RTBV, susceptible variety) to produce the three filial generations F1, F2 and F3. Agroinoculation was used to introduce RTBV into the test plants. RTBV tolerance was based on the RTBV level in plants by analysis of coat protein using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The level of RTBV in cv. Balimau Putih was significantly lower than that of IR64 and the susceptible control, Taichung Native 1. Mean RTBV levels of the F1, F2 and F3 populations were comparable with one another and with the average of the parents. Results indicate that there was no dominance and an additive gene action may control the expression of tolerance to RTBV. Tolerance based on the level of RTBV coat protein was highly heritable (0.67) as estimated using the mean values of F3 lines, suggesting that selection for tolerance to RTBV can be performed in the early selfing generations using the technique employed in this study. The RTBV level had a negative correlation with plant height, but positive relationship with disease index valu

Building Environmentally Sustainable Communities: A Framework for Inclusivity

Reviews literature on past inequitable and unsustainable urban development and visions for linking sustainability, opportunity, and inclusion. Analyzes possible metrics for measuring sustainability and access as well as next steps for policy

Heat in the Heartland: Climate Change and Economic Risk in the Midwest

This report offers a first step toward defining the range of potential economic consequences to the Midwest if we continue on our current greenhouse gas emissions pathway. The research combines state-of-the-art climate science projections through the year 2100 (and beyond in some cases) with empirically-derived estimates of the impact of projected changes in temperature and precipitation on the Midwest economy. The authors analyze not only those outcomes most likely to occur, but also lower-probability, higher-cost climate futures. These are the "tail risks," most often expressed here as the 1-in-20 chance something will occur. Unlike any other study to date, this report looks at climate impacts at a very geographically granular level, in some cases providing county-level results

Structure and evolution of a European Parliament via a network and correlation analysis

We present a study of the network of relationships among elected members of the Finnish parliament, based on a quantitative analysis of initiative co-signatures, and its evolution over 16 years. To understand the structure of the parliament, we constructed a statistically validated network of members, based on the similarity between the patterns of initiatives they signed. We looked for communities within the network and characterized them in terms of members' attributes, such as electoral district and party. To gain insight on the nested structure of communities, we constructed a hierarchical tree of members from the correlation matrix. Afterwards, we studied parliament dynamics yearly, with a focus on correlations within and between parties, by also distinguishing between government and opposition. Finally, we investigated the role played by specific individuals, at a local level. In particular, whether they act as proponents who gather consensus, or as signers. Our results provide a quantitative background to current theories in political science. From a methodological point of view, our network approach has proven able to highlight both local and global features of a complex social system.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure

DOES ECONOMIC VULNERABILITY DEPEND ON PLACE OF RESIDENCE? ASSET POVERTY ACROSS THE RURAL-URBAN CONTINUUM

This paper uses Panel Study of Income Dynamics data for 1989, 1994, and 1999 to examine why some U.S. households are asset poor; that is, why households have insufficient resources to invest in their future or to sustain household members at a basic level during times of economic disruption. The study contributes to an improved understanding of asset poverty's correlates by examining the influence of place of residence; the extant literature has focused on individual-level explanations. We estimate a random-effects logistic model of the probability that an individual is asset poor at a given point in time as a function of household-level (e.g. age, gender, race of the household head and family structure) and place-level (regional and rural-urban continuum) variables. The central finding of the paper is that place of residence is an important determinant of asset poverty, above and beyond the influence of household characteristics. We find that living in a central metropolitan county and in a nonmetropolitan area is associated with a higher risk of being asset poor, all else being equal. Implications for future research are discussed.Food Security and Poverty,