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: Lessons from the Maryland Key Bridge collapse
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Aviation Policy News: FAA facility replacement budget falls short
Plus: A fuel tax increase for business jets, a modest carry-on bag fee proposal, and more.
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Surface Transportation News: The questionable future of the Highway Trust Fund
Plus: Hybrids vs. battery-electric vehicles, aerial trams, Texas tolling, and more.
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Fact-checking the trucking industry’s claims against tolling
Trucking organizations attack tolls as unfair and costly to collect by ignoring the low cost of all-electronic tolling collection and the economies-of-scale institutions already in use.
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Aviation Policy News: A big step forward in air traffic controller training
Plus: U.S. airports get $1 billion in discretionary grants, how FAA reauthorization could jump-start remote towers, and more.
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Surface Transportation News: Louisiana I-10 bridge P3 approved, after all
Plus: A case for hybrid vehicles, new approaches to express lanes enforcement, and more.
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The future of U.S. toll agencies
The toll industry should be helping state transportation departments show motorists there's a customer-friendly way to begin the transition away from unsustainable gas taxes.
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Aviation Policy News: Why New York airspace remains a mess
Plus: The rise of hybrid electric aircraft, reality time for eVTOLs, and more.
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Surface Transportation News: Trucking research spotlights parking and EV charging needs
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Aviation Policy News: FAA safety review reveals air traffic control dysfunction
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Reduced purchasing power of federal gas tax and national debt will force highway funding changes
Policymakers and transportation officials need a new paradigm for funding highways and other vital infrastructure.
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Surface Transportation News: Louisiana’s decreasing fuel tax revenue
Plus: Truckers and mileage fees, electric vehicle trends, and transportation sector impacted by trade wars.
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Louisiana needs to transition from per-gallon gas taxes to per-mile user fees
With a mid-level shift to electric vehicles, Louisiana could anticipate annual fuel tax revenue would be reduced by $250 million by 2040 and over $325 million by 2050.
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Aviation Policy News: Another U.S. remote tower project loses its provider
Plus: The problems with U.S. aviation user taxes, increasing runaway throughput, and more.
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The Highway Trust Fund is running out of money
The Congressional Budget Office projects that the highway and transit accounts of the Highway Trust Fund will be out of money in 2028.
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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
Plus: Hybrid electrics taking off, eliminating contrails, new eVTOL regulations, 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.