Paving the high road toward success. 'High Road Highlights' is our monthly roundup of project wins, news, and more!
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A big year for High Road Strategy Center!
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 unveiled Innovative DOT
, 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 released Under Pressure
, 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 published The State of Working Wisconsin 2025
, 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!
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Honoring mayors at the close of their tenure
As 2025 comes to a close, several long-serving Mayors Innovation Project 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
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 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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Point Taken w/ Kristin Brey – October 14th, 2025
620 WTMJ | 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 | 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 | 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.
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About High Road Strategy Center
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Based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the High Road Strategy Center 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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