Opinion: Page 2

The latest opinion pieces by industry thought leaders

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  • Green motor coach making a turn at an intersection among tall city buildings.
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    Courtesy of Flix North America
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    Maximizing ROI in transportation: The case for intercity buses

    Privately operated intercity buses offer one of the highest returns on investment for federal transportation funding. The Trump administration could help expand this transportation mode.

    Kai Boysan • April 22, 2025
  • Closely spaced single-family homes with telephone poles, wires and palm trees lining the street.
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    3 concerns about California’s neighborhood decarbonization pilot program

    Decarbonization is essential to achieve carbon neutrality, but tenants and low-income homeowners might pay a steep price due to factors they can’t control.

    Teresa Linares • March 20, 2025
  • People on a subway platform hold up cell phones to photograph a new subway train arriving in the station with a sign announcing its inaugural ride
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    New approaches to procurement can drive innovation in public transit

    The lengthy process from RFP to equipment delivery can result in trains that are already obsolete when they go into service. New technologies and procurement approaches could help.

    Gabriel J. Lopez-Bernal • March 13, 2025
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    Energy bills are crushing low-income families. Here’s how state and local policymakers can help.

    Recent research found that a quarter of low-income households in the U.S. spend more than 15% of their income on energy bills, compared to the overall median of just 2.9%.

    Roxana Ayala • Feb. 28, 2025
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    The unseen environmental costs of autonomous cars

    Robotaxis and self-driving cars could be a big step backwards in sustainability, cautions the CEO of an advanced transportation firm.

    Jeral Poskey • Feb. 26, 2025
  • A man looks into a large computer screen displaying an artificial intelligence chatbot application.
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    4 ways local governments are harnessing AI to transform operations

    The technology could improve municipal efficiency, accuracy and service delivery — but implementation must address community and public-sector worker concerns.

    Jeff Green • Feb. 12, 2025
  • An electric bike is locked to a street sign in front of a red fire truck, with caution type surrounding it
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    E-bike fire crisis won’t be tamed without federal support

    Lithium-ion battery fires are causing deadly incidents across the country. Attorney Michael Mezzacappa points to New York as an example of how cities can respond but calls for Congress to take greater action on safety standards.

    Michael Mezzacappa • Feb. 6, 2025
  • an aerial view of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges spanning the East River between Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan in New York City.
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    We need another infrastructure law

    Carlo Scissura has a message for Congress and President-elect Trump: Building a stronger country can’t stop now.

    Carlo Scissura • Jan. 16, 2025
  • A row of electric vehicle chargers in a parking lot.
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    How to keep electric vehicle investments on track in the new political climate

    A clean fuel standard has worked in several states to fund EV infrastructure. It should be tried in more places.

    Laura Sherman • Jan. 10, 2025
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    Don’t blink

    If I were to give a short bit of advice to today’s procurement workforce, it would have to be “don’t blink.” The time spent in a rewarding career will go by faster than you think.

    Darin Matthews, CPPO, CPSM, NIGP-CPP • Dec. 20, 2024
  • A man in a red uniform repairing a heat pump.
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    The key to successfully deploying heat pump water heaters? Funding innovation.

    Small grants allow local organizations to test new technologies and approaches, a vital step in scaling climate solutions. 

    Chris Badger • Dec. 17, 2024
  • Aerial view of wind turbines taken with a drone in Vermont.
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    Stepping up to achieve local climate progress despite federal headwinds

    As a second Trump administration takes office, state and local action will be among the most effective means of continuing the momentum for clean energy deployment and cost reductions.

    Darren Springer • Dec. 11, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Procurement Ponderable: Supporting your entity’s sustainability goals through procurement

    One noteworthy shortcut is using existing cooperative contracts for sustainable products created by entities that have the capacity to award such contracts.

    Stephen B. Gordon, PhD, FNIGP, CPPO-Ret. • Dec. 9, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Virginia Beach City Public Schools earns an A+ in employee benefits

    By focusing on a culture of wellness, integrating services to empower participants to change unhealthy behaviors and encouraging engagement through a highly personalized approach, school systems can create a winning benefits package that attracts and retains top talent.

    Tim Church, MD, MPH, PhD • Dec. 5, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    The hidden costs of property tax escrow delays

    Delays in property tax payments—whether due to inefficiency, operational shortcomings, or misaligned priorities—can create financial headaches for homeowners and disrupt the revenue flow for municipalities that depend on these funds to provide essential services.

    Niko Spyridonos • Nov. 22, 2024
  • A close up shot of glasses filled with liquid held close together for a toast.
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    Loosening alcohol laws to revitalize your city’s economy is a mistake

    Cities must keep our public spaces alcohol-free to preserve health and safety, warns a policy consultant at the Institute for Public Strategies, a public health organization.

    Daniel Skiles • Nov. 22, 2024
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    Retrieved from City of New Braunfels.
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    Suburban cities focus on infrastructure expansions, upgrades

    These smaller-but-growing markets are generating a range of public works construction projects, writes consultant Mary Scott Nabers.

    Mary Scott Nabers • Nov. 19, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Community trust is a firefighter’s greatest asset

    Firefighters are society’s first line of defense against natural disasters. When catastrophes like wildfires, floods or earthquakes ensue, these professionals aren’t just tasked with preventing the disaster from spreading; they’re also responsible for keeping community members safe from harm and maintaining order under high-stress situations.

    Robbi King • Nov. 5, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Is the public safety department model the future of municipal emergency service?

    The undeniable fiscal constraints associated with local governance has challenged contemporary public administrators to achieve more with less. Budgets are stretched thin, and local government managers face increasingly complex service delivery demands from an electorate that loathes the idea of paying higher taxes.

    Dr. Randall Bauer • Oct. 30, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Traverse City’s broadband project is a cautionary tale for other communities

    As a former telecommunications executive who created business plans for fiber networks, I’ve watched Traverse City, Mich.’s efforts to build a fiber municipal broadband network with both interest and concern.

    Gerald DeGrazia • Oct. 29, 2024
  • A person in a suit stands at a podium with a microphone. Behind him are flags and three people wearing face masks.
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    Alex Wong via Getty Images
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    Communities could lose unspent ARPA funds in December if they don’t do this

    Governments generally must “obligate” the funds, which requires more than passing a budget or earmarking them for use.

    Tom Kaleko and Lucas Peterson • Oct. 21, 2024
  • An eviction notice posted on the front door of a home.
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    Eviction data is lacking. Here’s how local governments can help.

    Local leaders need to understand the magnitude of the housing crisis in their area to act on it, a Princeton Eviction Lab representative says.

    Camila Vallejo • Oct. 14, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    How to build awareness of flood risk and gain buy-in for flood control measures

    Floods are one of the most devastating events to strike a community—costly in terms of lives lost, damaged or destroyed homes, economic disruption, and damage to critical infrastructure. However, improvements in technology are helping local governments provide accurate assessments of flood risk, so steps can be taken to provide early and accurate warning of flood events, minimize potential losses, and improve outcomes and overall resilience after a flood occurs.

    Katherine Osborne • Sept. 13, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Cleveland’s new strategic plan focuses on making city government work better

    As Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb stepped onto the Music Hall stage in the city’s Public Auditorium on March 5, 2024, it was hard not to lose your place on the continuum of past, present and future.

    Andrew Kleine • Sept. 11, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Justice40: Getting federal funds to communities that need it most

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.President Bide...

    Laurie Mazur • Aug. 19, 2024