Infrastructure

At the annual Curbivore conference in Los Angeles, city transit and tech leaders discussed how to keep moving forward in a new environment of shifting political priorities coming from Washington.

The Pennsylvania city has recently launched two new interactive devices, a dashboard and a free Wi-Fi locator. They’re intended to help expand awareness of the free Internet service available to residents.

The $11 billion data center campus going up outside of Northwest Indiana will have a 2,250-megawatt capacity. It will be able to use as much electricity as 1.5 million households, or up to half the households in the state.

A transit network in Seattle has introduced technology to reduce “bus bunching” and space vehicles evenly on a route. And a suburban bus company in Chicago is taking steps to transition its fleet to zero-emission vehicles.

The proposed legislation, a bipartisan proposal, would create a certification system offering tax incentives to entities that build data centers. Critics worry about lost revenue and power demands.

In a first, the California Department of Transportation is using two remote-controlled excavators to clear a landslide that closed a portion of Highway 1 in 2024. The equipment enables work in challenging areas.

Markets around the world have been reactive to recent U.S. tariff announcements and rollbacks. State officials are concerned trade friction with other nations could lead to equipment shortages and contract turbulence.

Well over half of the electricity that powers activities at the Michigan city comes from renewable energy sources. The city has also made progress toward electrifying its vehicle fleet, including electric refuse trucks.

Officials shuttered the system on the Maine Turnpike for half a day in March to avoid a potential cybersecurity incident. Accounts and their private data were never at risk of being compromised.

Construction has commenced on a high-speed Internet network that will connect 34 city facilities including City Hall. Kingman, Ariz.-based Wecom Fiber will build 1.1 million feet of fiber to nearly all of the city.

Officials have expanded the service to seven parks and a four-mile stretch of business corridor, in a bid to improve digital literacy and quality of life. An additional rollout is planned later this year.

As data centers are built to underpin the use of artificial intelligence, energy analysts have raised concerns that their power draw will outpace electricity generation. This could necessitate using a variety of energy sources.

County commissioners approved a contract giving the Highway Department access to artificial intelligence that will help the local government do a quicker, more efficient assessment of roadway conditions.

Public safety agencies are using drones to provide up-to-the-minute overhead coverage for officers on the ground. Police in Dunwoody, Ga., have used them to track suspects and find incident locations.

A new study from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association predicts a significant rise in electricity demand, driven by the growth of data centers and increased electric vehicle adoption.

A shuttered power plant east of Pittsburgh is slated to be rebuilt to generate electricity for artificial intelligence. The state Senate majority leader called the move “historic,” but observers raised concerns about strain on the grid.

Nearly 250 electric vehicle chargers will be deployed citywide this year in a push to expand charging opportunities at work and for residents living in apartment buildings. They’re the result of a three-way partnership.

The county Public Utility District will set limits on the amount of electrical power data centers can seek. Work on additional transmission capacity is underway, but it is a lengthy process, an official said.