All Publications

This project, funded by SSTI with a matching grant from the Center for Freight Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE),  identifies and evaluates freight transportation demand management (TDM) strategies to improve transportation efficiency by reducing the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas.

Information about various freight transportation demand management strategies was gathered through a review of literature, an online survey, and interviews with implementers. Strategies are compared based on their costs, benefits, and implementation difficulty. Case studies of six US cities using innovative freight TDM strategies are also included.

The table below details the impacts and implementation difficulty of various freight TDM strategies.

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For many decades, transportation planning has assumed continued increases in automobile use. Now, in a major reversal, the average American is driving considerably less. According to the most recent FHWA travel-volume report for July, total vehicle miles traveled showed no increase compared to the previous 12-month period, marking more than five years of no growth. No one can predict the future with certainty, but there are many reasons to think that VMT trends will not revert to the 20th century trend. This paper lists some of those reasons, with references to supporting literature.

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Workforce Central is a strategic effort to address the growing workforce and economic challenges facing the community. Key components of their strategy focuses on developing adaptive leadership skills, shifting attitudes, and engaging leaders to work across boundaries.

This independent, local evaluation of its workforce development efforts is commissioned by Incourage Community Foundation’s Workforce Central initiative. This evaluation uses quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess progress towards achieving Workforce Central’s goals and “Ultimate Outcome.”

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Wisconsin Jobs and Low-Income Working Families looks at the one in four working families in Wisconsin who struggle to get by as well as the tens of thousands of workers whose jobs provide low wages and few benefits. The report was produced by COWS as part of the Working Poor Families Project.

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The mission of Colorado’s Energy Smart Transportation Initiative was to develop a framework for considering energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in transportation decision-making. With SSTI assistance, a collaborative team composed of federal and state agencies, MPOs, and rural planning partners came together to leverage resources and promote efficiency and effectiveness among agencies by exploring ways to develop “energy smart transportation” strategies. This report includes strategies developed to incorporate energy efficiency and GHG emissions in transportation planning, increase energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions from transportation, advance environmentally friendly alternative vehicle and fuel technologies, and increase efficiency through truck fleet enhancements, improved traveler information, and other methods.

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According to a new report by COWS and the Wisconsin Budget Project, the income disparity between Wisconsin’s richest and poorest families continues to widen. This analysis of Wisconsin Department of Revenue data finds that Wisconsin’s richest residents have experienced dramatic increases in inflation-adjusted income since the mid-1990s, while middle- and lower-income Wisconsinites saw their incomes stagnate or decrease.

Between 1996 and 2010, the bottom 40 percent of Wisconsin earners experienced an average decrease of $2,407 in their adjusted gross income, measured in 2012 dollars. The top fifth of income tax filers saw an increase in earnings of more than $17,000 over this period.

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Within cities, residents face stark disparities in their access to fresh, healthy produce, with low-income communities often the most affected by this limited access. Inequitable access to food perpetuates poor health outcomes among low-income populations and undermines efforts to improve public health and promote community. The increase in diet-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers have put us on a path to change modern history: many children born today will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. In addition to nutritional and health impacts, the flow of food dollars out of some regions represents a significant loss for local economies. Our small farmers have been pushed to the limit of their livelihood.

This report by COWS’ Mayors Innovation Project looks at bright spots of innovation, where local policies promote and increase residents’ access to healthy food. While there is no single solution to address the problem of unequal access to affordable, healthy food, there are a range policy strategies that can help develop local food capacities, enhance public health, and improve urban economies.

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With DOT budget shortfalls growing, traditional means of delivering transportation services no longer meet today’s needs, and they are incapable of launching tomorrow’s economy.

While change is daunting, it is both essential and possible—as those who have done it can attest. States and their DOTs are improving services in the short term and planning effectively for the long term. They have adopted innovative yet pragmatic policy reforms, and are reevaluating and retooling traditional practices. Their success offers a path forward for others.

COWS’ State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) has teamed up with Smart Growth America to create a resource to inform senior state-level transportation officials as they make decisions that position their agencies for success. This handbook of transportation policy and practice for the new economy collects the innovative approaches state leaders are already using to make systems more efficient, government more effective, and constituents better satisfied.

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Greener Reality takes stock of the green economy, looking at what works (and doesn’t) in related skill and credentialing initiatives and placing them in a broader context of human capital development, community resilience, and climate change. Defining equity, sustainability, and greater democratization as critical elements of a truly greener future, the paper considers the practical and political challenges to achieving these in the United States. This report builds on our earlier work in Greener Pathways and Greener Skills. Documents include Full Report and Executive Summary.

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The ninth edition of COWS’ biennial report, The State of Working Wisconsin 2012uses the best and most recent data available to refine our understanding of exactly how working people in Wisconsin are doing. This year’s Labor Day report finds too many workers in Wisconsin waiting for an economic recovery strong enough to produce jobs, higher family income, and a growing sense of security.

For the first time this year, COWS is also including an online supplement to the print version. The supplement provides more maps, more data, and interactive graphs on key economic and social indicators at the state and county level. The online supplement will be updated as new data becomes available and will provide access to figures and graphs on the Wisconsin economy as they come out.

Documents include Full Report, Executive Summary and a technical note that compares the CES and QCEW, two key sources of data on employment that have caused some recent controversy.

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