Exhaust pipes by Jonathan licensed under Creative Commons.

A coalition of northeastern states and the District released a plan to reduce transportation emissions. Miami-Dade County paid $3 billion for more rail and got three miles. Disney’s master-planned dream town Celebration has turned into a nightmare.

How a group of eastern states plans to cap tailpipe pollution: On Tuesday, a coalition of mid-Atlantic and northeastern states and the District of Columbia released a draft plan for a cap-and-trade program to curb transportation emissions. The program, which could start as early as 2022, would compel fuel companies to buy allowances from the states, either directly or on a secondary market, for every ton of carbon emissions their fuel will produce. It is estimated that about 40% of greenhouse gases in the region come from transportation. (Hiroko Tabuchi | New York Times)

Where did Miami-Dade’s $3 billion go?: Miami-Dade County’s elected leaders and transit advocates are trying to understand how a half-percent sales tax that’s generated $3 billion has failed to deliver more than three miles of additional rail. Mayor Carlos Gimenez says the plan was doomed by overly optimistic predictions on costs, federal aid, and the overall financial health of Miami-Dade’s bus and rail operations. Voters approved the half-cent sales tax in 2002, which now generates about $27.5 million a year. (Douglas Hanks | Miami Herald)

Disney’s suburban dream Is now a nightmare: In 1995, Disney built Celebration, a master-planned town in Florida just a stone’s throw away from Magic Kingdom. In 2004, however, Disney sold the town’s business sector to a private real estate development firm. But, residents sued the firm in 2016, alleging chronic negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. The firm established a corporate nonprofit to deal with residents’ needs. However, while residents have been charged assessment fees, many say there are still leaks, mold, and other issues with their homes. (Tarpley Hitt | Daily Beast)

This super sponge could clean up oil spills: Scientists are hoping a cheap polyurethane foam, found in mattresses, may help soak up oil in bodies of water. The sponge was designed to recover micrometer-sized droplets of crude oil that get dispersed in the ocean after oil spills and leaks. Pavani Cherukupally, a professor of chemical engineering at Imperial College London, authored a study about the foam in Nature Sustainability this week. ( Emily Pontecorvo | Grist )

Transportation planners fail Econ 101: The most basic concept in economics is the idea that when the price of something goes up, people buy less of it. This is the principle behind tolls, gas taxes, and carbon taxes, where road capacity, fuel, and emissions are priced to manage consumption. When the price of gas goes up, for example, people tend to drive less; how much they drive less is known as price elasticity of demand.

Planners at Portland’s Metro, however, fail to consider this metric. Their models operate with a price elasticity of 0.0, meaning that it doesn’t matter if gas is 10 cents or 10 dollars per gallon; they predict drivers will drive just as much either way. Doing so erases gas taxes and other powerful policy tools that can manipulate market forces to manage congestion and emissions. (Joe Cortright | City Observatory)

Quote of the Week

“Advocates use jargon and rely on data instead of telling compelling stories. We need to connect our message to the public’s everyday lived frustrations and show how transportation can improve the everyday lives of individuals and drive economic growth.”

Mae Hanzlik in Streetsblog USA discussing a new report by Smart Growth America on structural racism in transportation.

This week on the podcast Giacomo Lozzi of Polis discusses a report he wrote for the EU on sustainable procurement.