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Paving the high road toward success. 'High Road Highlights' is our monthly roundup of project wins, news, and more!
December 22, 2025
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A big year for High Road Strategy Center!
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As we wrap up the year, we want to thank everyone in our network who supported and shaped our work in 2025. Here are just a few highlights from the year:
*State Smart Transportation Initiative <[link removed]> unveiled Innovative DOT <[link removed]> , a new framework grounded in more than a decade of research and hands-on work with state DOTs, offering clear strategies for how agencies can plan and deliver projects amid growing expectations and constraints.
*Mayors Innovation Project <[link removed]> released Under Pressure <[link removed]> , a landmark report documenting the systemic barriers women mayors face while campaigning and governing, elevating their experiences and calling for stronger support for women in executive leadership.
*High Road Strategy Center <[link removed]> published The State of Working Wisconsin 2025 <[link removed]> , analyzing wages, jobs, and unions at a pivotal moment for the state’s economy, with new attention to immigrant workers and the growing challenges facing workers amid a shifting federal policy landscape.
Stay tuned for our 2025 Year in Review, where we’ll share more details on these efforts!
Project Updates
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Honoring mayors at the close of their tenure
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As 2025 comes to a close, several long-serving Mayors Innovation Project <[link removed]>Mayors are preparing to leave office. To celebrate their successes and leadership, MIP has launched a new series reflecting on their enduring impacts to their communities.
Please join us in thanking these Mayors for their service and contributions to the MIP network, and stay tuned for future installments of this series.
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We don’t need to overthink induced demand to act on it
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Induced demand is now widely understood in transportation, but it’s often treated as a technical modeling issue rather than a basic principle of how people respond to the world around them.
A new State Smart Transportation Initiative <[link removed]> blog argues that when we build for driving, we get more driving and when we invest in transit, biking, or walking, we get more of those too. Drawing on recent research from the U.S. and abroad, the piece makes the case for shifting how agencies talk about and plan for induced demand, moving beyond highway debates to better align transportation investments with the outcomes communities actually want.
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In The News
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Point Taken w/ Kristin Brey – October 14th, 2025
620 WTMJ <[link removed]> | Point Taken host Kristin Brey chats with Laura Dresser about tariffs, immigration, and the shifting landscape of Wisconsin’s economy.
Wisconsin’s Economic Rollercoaster and the D.C. Shutdown Showdown
Civic Media <[link removed]> | Maggie, host of The Maggie Daun Show, dives into Wisconsin’s economic landscape with labor economist Laura Dresser, revealing a post-pandemic recovery paired with worrying disparities.
Tuesday 9/23/25: State of Working Wisconsin report, Buc-ee’s proposal, MMSD project, local sign painter
WUWM 89.7 <[link removed]> | Laura Dresser, Associate Director and author of the State of Working Wisconsin 2025, sits down with WUWM 89.7’s Lake Effect to talk about the findings from the newest report.
About High Road Strategy Center
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Based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the High Road Strategy Center <[link removed]> is a national think-and-do tank that promotes “high road” solutions to social problems. Learn more here, or click below to learn about our projects housed at the High Road Strategy Center:
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High Road Strategy Center
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MADISON
7122 Social Science Building, 1180 Observatory Drive | Madison, WI 53706
[email protected] <mailto:
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