Robert Poole is Director of Transportation Policy and Searle Freedom Trust Transportation Fellow at Reason Foundation.
Poole, an MIT-trained engineer, advised the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush administrations on infrastructure issues.
Surface Transportation
In the field of surface transportation, Poole has advised the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the White House Office of Policy Development, National Economic Council, Government Accountability Office, and state DOTs in numerous states.
Poole's 1988 policy paper proposing privately financed toll lanes to relieve congestion directly inspired California's landmark private tollway law (AB 680), which authorized four pilot toll projects including the successful 91 Express Lanes in Orange County. More than 20 other states and the federal government have since enacted similar public-private partnership legislation. In 1993, Poole oversaw a study that coined the term HOT (high-occupancy toll) Lanes, a term which has become widely accepted since.
California Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Poole to the California's Commission on Transportation Investment and he also served on the Caltrans Privatization Advisory Steering Committee, where he helped oversee the implementation of AB 680.
From 2003 to 2005, he was a member of the Transportation Research Board's special committee on the long-term viability of the fuel tax for highway finance. In 2008 he served as a member of the Texas Study Committee on Private Participation in Toll Roads, appointed by Gov. Rick Perry. In 2009, he was a member of an Expert Review Panel for Washington State DOT, advising on a $1.5 billion toll mega-project. In 2010, he was a member of the transportation transition team for Florida's Governor-elect Rick Scott. He is a member of two TRB standing committees: Congestion Pricing and Managed Lanes.
Aviation
Poole is a member of the Government Accountability Office's National Aviation Studies Advisory Panel and he has testified before the House and Senate's aviation subcommittees on numerous occasions. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Poole consulted the White House Domestic Policy Council and the leadership of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
He has also advised the Federal Aviation Administration, Office of the Secretary of Transportation, White House Office of Policy Development, National Performance Review, National Economic Council, and the National Civil Aviation Review Commission on aviation issues. Poole is a member of the Critical Infrastructure Council of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation and of the Air Traffic Control Association.
Poole was among the first to propose the commercialization of the U.S. air traffic control system, and his work in this field has helped shape proposals for a U.S. air traffic control corporation. A version of his corporation concept was implemented in Canada in 1996 and was more recently endorsed by several former top FAA administrators.
Poole's studies also launched a national debate on airport privatization in the United States. He advised both the FAA and local officials during the 1989-90 controversy over the proposed privatization of Albany (NY) Airport. His policy research on this issue helped inspire Congress' 1996 enactment of the Airport Privatization Pilot Program and the privatization of Indianapolis' airport management under Mayor Steve Goldsmith.
General Background
Robert Poole co-founded the Reason Foundation with Manny Klausner and Tibor Machan in 1978, and served as its president and CEO from then until the end of 2000. He was a member of the Bush-Cheney transition team in 2000. Over the years, he has advised the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush administrations on privatization and transportation policy.
Poole is credited as the first person to use the term "privatization" to refer to the contracting-out of public services and is the author of the first-ever book on privatization, Cutting Back City Hall, published by Universe Books in 1980. He is also editor of the books Instead of Regulation: Alternatives to Federal Regulatory Agencies (Lexington Books, 1981), Defending a Free Society (Lexington Books, 1984), and Unnatural Monopolies (Lexington Books, 1985). He also co-edited the book Free Minds & Free Markets: 25 Years of Reason (Pacific Research Institute, 1993).
Poole has written hundreds of articles, papers, and policy studies on privatization and transportation issues. His popular writings have appeared in national newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, and numerous other publications. He has also been a guest on network television programs such as Good Morning America, NBC's Nightly News, ABC's World News Tonight, and the CBS Evening News. Poole writes a monthly column on transportation issues for Public Works Financing.
Poole earned his B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and did graduate work in operations research at New York University.
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Surface Transportation News: Replacing 75,000 deficient bridges in America
The U.S. Department of Transportation's 2023 National Bridge Inventory identifies 222,000 bridges needing significant repair or replacement. Among them are 75,000 bridges at or beyond their useful lives.
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Aviation Policy News: Calls to stop air travel in Europe, FAA on runway safety, and more
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Louisiana bridge debate shows P3 advocates must communicate benefits to drivers and policymakers
A wake-up call on the need for increased educational efforts on tolling and long-term public-private partnerships.
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A public-private partnership is the best way to rebuild Louisiana’s Calcasieu Bridge
Financial risks are transferred from taxpayers to private investors, including responsibility for cost overruns, late completion, failure to meet traffic forecasts, and toll revenue shortfalls.
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Surface Transportation News: Mileage fees, electric vehicles and commuting patterns
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Aviation Policy News: FAA shutdowns should not happen
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Surface Transportation News: Reducing car travel, Maryland express lanes, and more
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The growing national debt and the future of federal transportation spending
Endlessly expanded federal borrowing and spending is not a realistic long-term transportation future.
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Blame Congress for air travel delays and air traffic control problems
Several airlines have had meltdowns this year, but federal policies—set largely by Congress—have played a key role in these air travel problems.
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Aviation Policy News: More near-misses than FAA acknowledged, the push to reduce air travel, and more
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Surface Transportation News: Louisiana bridge P3 faces trucking opposition, intercity bus service comeback, and more
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Upcoming 405 express lanes will help Southern California commuters
The new variably priced express lanes are scheduled to open on 14 miles of highly congested I-405 in Orange County.
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A new approach to financing the reconstruction of Interstate highways
The majority of Intestate lane miles and numerous bridges across the country need to be replaced or reconstructed.
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Aviation Policy News: Controller shortages, FAA behind on space launches, and more
Plus: Future of ground-based navigation, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and more.
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The Texas legislature’s ongoing rejection of public-private partnerships and tolling
Many of the state's large construction companies have lobbied effectively against expanded tolling and new design-build-finance-operate-maintain P3s.
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Surface Transportation News: Research on driving and transit, automated vehicle progress, and more
Plus: Urban containment brings unaffordable housing and reduced mobility, good news on reconnecting communities, and more.
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Congress could have fixed many of the country’s flight delay problems years ago
Giving FAA more money will not solve America's air traffic control problems because we have a flawed model.
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Aviation Policy News: FAA reauthorization bill, future of air traffic control, and more
Plus: FAA's slow progress on advanced air mobility, Amsterdam Schiphol vs. its airlines, and more.