Reinvesting in America

Over $1 trillion in infrastructure spending is set to enter the U.S. economy over the next five years. Will these investments be transformative? How can governments and companies harness the opportunity to advance sustainable and inclusive growth?

The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents one of the largest federal infrastructure investments in the U.S. economy. The legislation is wide ranging – it attempts to invest in refurbishing aging roads, bridges, railways, and ports, expanding internet access, enhancing water quality by replacing lead pipes, upgrading the nation’s power grid, building a nationwide EV charging infrastructure, and more.

If these investments are to be truly transformative, it will take the work of government and business leaders alike.

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Article

The US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Breaking it down

– What’s in it? What does it aim to do?
Roads, Highways, Bridges | Power | Passenger & Freight Rail | Broadband | Water | Infrastructure Safety & Resiliency | Airports, Ports, and Waterways | Transit, Ferries, and Zero Emissions School Buses | Environmental Remediation | Electric Vehicle Infrastructure | Climate and sustainability | Capital Excellence

Roads, Highways, Bridges

Built to last: Making sustainability a priority in transport infrastructure
– Every year, trillions of dollars are invested in the infrastructure that helps us—and our goods—get around. What will... it take to move the transport infrastructure industry toward carbon zero?

Delivering sustainable infrastructure: Insights from industry leaders
– Sustainable infrastructure is critical in reducing carbon emissions. More efficient design approaches, new technologies, and better... benchmarking can help.

Accelerating sustainable infrastructure: An investor’s perspective
– Sadek Wahba, chairman and managing partner of I Squared Capital, explains how to overcome challenges for funding sustainable infrastructure... and why equitable access is so important.

Finding the right (of) way to efficient road operation and maintenance
– Comparing operation and maintenance performance of different roads is complex, but it can help improve efficiency for roadway... owners and operators and unlock much-needed capital.

Road work ahead: The emerging revolution in the road construction industry
– Four technology trends could help improve road functionality, construction, and maintenance, creating opportunities for greater... safety, efficiency, and economic success.

Reimagining infrastructure in the United States: How to build better
– Infrastructure agencies need to prepare for two very different scenarios—a sharp rise in funding or a precipitous drop.

Power

How to increase grid resilience through targeted investments
– Extreme weather events are taking a toll on electric grids. Modeling climate-change resilience can provide valuable insights when... and where they’re needed most.

Power and people: How utilities can adapt to the next normal
– With economies and energy demand hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, European and North American utilities need to rethink their... operations to put themselves into position for long-term success.

Getting a grip on bad debt: Practical steps to help utilities boost their resilience
– Utilities that reshape their credit and collections processes could position themselves well in advance of a downturn—and see... other benefits, such as improving customer experience and loyalty.

Why, and how, utilities should start to manage climate-change risk
– Extreme weather events are exacting a high—and rising—price. Utilities need to devise and implement strategies to... adapt.

How utilities can speed up their digital transformations
– Three critical steps can help utilities overcome challenges that are impeding the shift to digital.

Accelerating digital transformations: A playbook for utilities
– Utilities trying to reinvent themselves as digital enterprises have found it hard to scale up from digital pilots. Adopting digital... ways of working, adding talent, and modernizing IT will hasten transformation.

Passenger & Freight Rail

Safe, smart, and green: Boosting European passenger rail’s modal share
– Despite pandemic-related decline in demand, European passenger rail has potential for sustainable, long-term growth–companies... and governments can take action to make investments that will help improve modal share.

How will you be getting around in 2030? It depends on where you live.
– There won’t be much of a shift away from private vehicles in North America over the coming decade—largely because... there aren’t many incentives for drivers to change their behavior.

Broadband

How does the digital divide impact residents in your state?
Explore the adoption and access of broadband internet across underserved communities in the United States.

Connected world: An evolution in connectivity beyond the 5G revolution
– Connectivity is undergoing evolutionary change in most parts of the world—and, in select areas, a genuine leap into the frontier.

Water

Article

US water infrastructure: Making funding count
– A much-anticipated wave of funding for US water infrastructure could be unlocked in the coming months and years. Are utilities... and investors ready?
Blog Post

How to use analytics to improve water asset management
– Following a three-step approach, water utilities can harness analytics to enable predictive maintenance of assets and significantly... reduce costs.
Article

Optimizing water treatment with online sensing and advanced analytics
– Overlaying real-time advanced analytics on data from online sensing can help to stabilize operations and increase capacity in... water-treatment facilities.

Infrastructure Safety & Resiliency

Protecting people from a changing climate: The case for resilience
– Our new study lays bare the potential impact of climate risks for people across the globe—and underscores the need to protect... the most vulnerable and build resilience.

Climate risk and response: Physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts
– How could Earth’s changing climate impact socioeconomic systems across the world in the next three decades? A yearlong, cross-disciplinary... research effort at McKinsey & Company provides some answers.

Three steps to future-proofing infrastructure assets from climate change
– For asset owners, it pays to plan ahead for the risks of extreme weather events

Airports, Ports, and Waterways

Mission Possible Partnership – Path to a net-zero aviation sector

October 2021 - The Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) is an alliance of organizations brought together by World Economic... Forum (WEF), RMI, the Energy Transitions Commission and We Mean Business Coalition that is addressing one of the toughest challenges in climate change: decarbonizing seven of the world’s hardest-to-abate sectors by 2050.
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Built to last: Making sustainability a priority in transport infrastructure
– Every year, trillions of dollars are invested in the infrastructure that helps us—and our goods—get around. What will... it take to move the transport infrastructure industry toward carbon zero?

Right in your backyard: Regional airports are an accessible and underused resource for future air mobility
– As travel begins to rise in the wake of COVID-19, regional airports can help promote green transport and ignite a new wave of... regional air transport.

Transit, Ferries, and Zero Emissions School Buses

Building a transport system that works: Five insights from our 25-city report
– We benchmarked urban-transport systems in 25 cities around the globe to find out what goes into the making of a smooth commute.

Winning ridership for the next normal
– Transit agencies may need to win over former and new riders. Eight ideas can help them better meet rider needs.

The future of urban transit: A conversation with leaders from Uber and Via
– Countless realities—changing customer expectations, the COVID-19 pandemic, technology—are reshaping urban transit.... David Reich and Chris Snyder share their visions for the future.

A more personalized world: An interview with the CEO of Tokyo Metro
– Improved technology with better data, more attractive destinations, and increased harmony with infrastructure show how public... transportation can help riders spend their days doing what they like.

Environmental Remediation

Protecting people from a changing climate: The case for resilience
– Our new study lays bare the potential impact of climate risks for people across the globe—and underscores the need to protect... the most vulnerable and build resilience.

The big choices for oil and gas in navigating the energy transition
– As oil and gas companies respond to the current economic discontinuities, they must choose where and how to compete as the world... transitions to a low-carbon future.

Why investing in nature is key to climate mitigation
– A new consultation paper from McKinsey and the World Economic Forum explores the role that natural climate solutions can play... in helping to address climate change and the destruction of nature.

Valuing nature conservation
– A methodology to evaluate where safeguarding natural capital could have the biggest impact on climate, economies and health.

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

Capturing the battery value-chain opportunity
– Companies and governments must move quickly to gain a foothold in the fast-growing battery market for electric vehicles.

Unlocking growth in battery cell manufacturing for electric vehicles
– Demand for electric vehicles is soon expected to outpace the ramp-up of battery cell production. Accelerating the build-out of... battery cell gigafactories can help the industry stay on course.

The future of EV charging infrastructure: Executive perspectives
– Frank Mühlon and Giovanni Palazzo offer their insights into today’s and tomorrow’s priorities for scaling EV... charging infrastructure to meet demand.

Shaping the future of fast-charging EV infrastructure
– To help electric vehicles reach ubiquity, governments and EV charging companies must ensure the availability of fast-charging... infrastructure doesn’t become a bottleneck for growth.

EV fluids: Say goodbye to the oil change
– With the rise of electric vehicles, the massive combustion engine fluids market will slowly begin to evaporate. Here’s what... will replace it.

Climate and sustainability

The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it could bring
– This McKinsey report offers a detailed look at the economic and societal impact of the transition to net-zero carbon emissions... by 2050.

Meeting the sustainable infrastructure challenge
– Welcome to the September 2021 issue of Voices on Infrastructure, a collection of insights on how infrastructure can help... address the climate-change challenge.

America 2021: Renewing the nation’s commitment to climate action
– To America’s leaders, innovators, and changemakers: here’s how you can help build a low-carbon economy that is resilient,... competitive, prosperous, and fair.

Capital Excellence

Improving project development and delivery
– Welcome to the December edition of Voices on Infrastructure, tackling how we improve project development and delivery... at this critical juncture.

Project delivery hubs: Analytics for better megaproject outcomes
– By providing tailored project-delivery intelligence to decision makers, an analytics hub can reduce risk and increase the odds... of successful completion.

An ecosystem of partners: The foundation of capital project excellence
– To deliver large capital projects in heavy industry more efficiently, project owners can consider forming an ecosystem of partners... and fundamentally rethinking ways of working together.

Capital Projects 5.0: Reimagining capital-project delivery
– What could your business achieve if your large capital projects were 30 to 50 percent faster and cheaper? The opportunity is more... real than you think.

Related insights

America 2021
– After 2020 disrupted lives and livelihoods, the country is geared for a reset. In America 2021, leaders, innovators, and changemakers... have an opportunity to make a telling difference. Here are the first in a yearlong series of our contributions to the discussion.

Making the shift to sustainable and inclusive growth
Explore insights on the new era of growth—one that doesn’t treat growth and positive impact as opposing forces.