The federal government has played a counter-productive role in the Nation’s transportation policy and that responsibility should be returned to the states.
Transportation Seminar: Randal O’Toole Read More.
President Barack Obama’s high-speed rail program promises to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in federal and state funds to provide mediocre passenger rail service to an extremely small fraction of travelers. Read More.
Spending approximately $50 billion per year on roads and transit systems, the federal program supplements similar volumes of spending by state and local governments, also usually derived from a state-imposed fuel tax. Read More.
Abstract: Wasteful, inequitable, and bristling with burdensome regulations, the Federal Highway Program is in dire need of reform. Although Members of Congress have attempted to enact changes in the past, the influence of many lobbyists and influential constituencies continues to thwart the process. By… Read more
On this week’s Scribecast, Rob Bluey and Lachlan Markay interview Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza about the company’s opposition to new regulations from the Department of Transportation. The interview runs about 12 minutes. Click here to subscribe to Scribecast, the weekly podcast of the Center for Media and… Read more
As Congress gears up for another year, reining in spending and debt should top the agenda, but one issue heading squarely against that priority is reauthorization of the transportation program. The last transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, was marked by gluttonous excesses, which ranged from its porcine spending increases and wasteful spending… Read more
In October, the Obama Administration took the unprecedented step of revoking funds already awarded to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to study the feasibility of absorbing the independent turnpike commission, which operates the Ohio Turnpike, into ODOT or leasing the turnpike to private investors. Unfortunately for Ohio, neither option… Read more
As this Congress and President continue their struggle to reauthorize the federal highway program (now more than two years overdue), their focus should be maximizing the value of each dollar spent by directing available funds to programs that improve mobility and safety on the roads. To do this, Congress should… Read more
My name is Ronald. D. Utt. I am the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are my own, and should not be construed as representing any official position of The Heritage Foundation. Until recently, federal… Read more
In its request for substantial sums of taxpayer money to move and rebuild Amtrak’s Atlanta train station, the railroad notes that its Atlanta passengers have increased by 16 percent over the past year. But since no more than an average of 308 passengers get on or off the two Amtrak… Read more
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation needs to collect substantial information about aircraft flying in U.S. airspace in order to ensure safety in air travel. The FAA also must share flight data with the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and law enforcement… Read more
President Obama remains enamored of an “infrastructure bank,” an idea flogged, in one shape or another, for several years now. All of the proposals floated to date involve creating a new federal bureaucracy that would provide loans and grants for construction or repair projects sought by state or local governments.… Read more
They stab it with their steely knives, But they just can’t kill the beast. —The Eagles, “Hotel California,” 1977 With Congress eliminating spending for the President’s faltering high-speed rail (HSR) program and making cuts in Amtrak’s… Read more
Saving the American Dream is The Heritage Foundation’s plan to fix the debt, cut spending and, above all, restore prosperity. It balances the nation’s budget within a decade—and keeps it balanced. It reduces the debt and cuts government… Read more
High gasoline prices and America’s alleged addiction to oil give rise to policy ideas to reduce America’s oil use, particularly in the transportation sector. Along with fuel efficiency standards and alternative fuel consumption mandates and production tax credits, the government has in place incentives to make and purchase electric cars,… Read more
In response to the credit downgrade by Standard & Poor’s in August, the grim reports on the state of the economy, and the collapse of the stock and financial markets in the week after the downgrade, President Barack Obama has re-engaged with the issue of America’s faltering economy and the… Read more
Both the majority in the new Congress and the members of the Republican Study Committee recognize that federal transit programs have become a costly extravagance that provides minimal benefits in comparison to costs incurred. In turn, both have proposed that federal transit spending and government subsidies be cut back substantially… Read more
Revised and updated April 13, 2010 Abstract: President Barack Obama has committed the United States to building at least 13 high-speed rail (HSR) lines, one of the most expensive… Read more
The House Budget Committee has announced its discretionary federal spending target for the remaining eight months of fiscal year (FY) 2011, and the House Appropriations Committee subsequently provided details on how the 12 major program areas would have to be cut to meet that target. The transportation/housing account will receive… Read more
America’s transit systems confront serious financial challenges that will force them to raise fares and reduce service unless they can get better control of their costs. Carrying less than 5 percent of commuters and less than 2 percent of all urban travel and concentrated primarily in large urban areas, these… Read more
Growing dissatisfaction with federal transportation policy and government’s mismanagement of the highway trust fund have encouraged many in Congress and in state governments to seek ways to overhaul the system or to extract themselves from it. Since the mid-1990s, legislation has been introduced each year in Congress to phase out… Read more
At May congressional hearings, Representative Jon Mica (R–FL), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, proposed (1) that 363 of the 456 miles that comprise the Northeast Corridor (NEC) owned by Amtrak be transferred to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) or a newly created government entity and… Read more
The U.S. Department of Transportation imposed new regulations on airlines Jan. 24 that were supposed to benefit...… Read more
A District of Columbia city council member is calling on the city’s taxicab commission to allow competition to its...… Read more
Last week, the independent California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group recommended that the state legislature not...… Read more
On September 26, the Department of Transportation (DOT) published a rule requiring modification of airline Web sites...… Read more
Yesterday, I wrote about the House-passed bill H.R. 2887, which would reauthorize expiring aviation and surface...… Read more
The House passed today H.R. 2887, a bill to reauthorize expiring aviation and surface transportation programs for a...… Read more
President Obama is accustomed to having his way—like trying to dictate the date and time when Congress would assemble...… Read more
Some national business leaders are outright opposing measures of fiscal responsibility. Fortunately, fiscal...… Read more
America’s trucking industry is on pace to pay a whopping $138.7 billion for fuel in 2011 -- an increase of $37.2...… Read more
Want a fast way to blow some taxpayer dollars? Buy a ticket on President Barack Obama's high-speed spending...… Read more