Robert Poole
Director of Transportation Policy, Reason Foundation
Robert Poole is director of transportation policy and Searle Freedom Trust Transportation Fellow at Reason Foundation.
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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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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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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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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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Countering attacks on private sector investment in infrastructure projects
Private infrastructure investment firms have a good track record of funding large projects, guaranteeing long-term maintenance, and pioneering innovation.
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The trucking industry is increasingly examining mileage-based user fee options
The trucking industry has begun to acknowledge the impending decline of fuel-tax revenues.
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Tolling and mileage-based user fees would help produce better highways for Michigan
Michigan's highways need fixing, but the state is woefully short of the transportation funding required.
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Examining the trucking industry’s opposition to tolling highways
Three of trucking’s four main concerns about tolling are valid—and fixable by legislation.
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Sustainable highway funding requires charging the drivers who use them
The true costs of building and maintaining highways and bridges should be paid for by those who use them.
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Stop disguising the real costs of building and maintaining highways and bridges
Today, rather than being paid for by their users, highways are increasingly subsidized by federal taxpayers—or their grandchildren.
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Examining recent attempts to apply equity policies to toll lanes
Some metropolitan planning organizations and state transportation departments are looking into offering discounts or free trips in express toll lanes.
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The costs and benefits of rebuilding the Interstates
A study estimates the economic value of the Interstate system to be $742 billion a year.
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Transportation departments embrace revenue-risk public-private partnerships
Revenue-risk P3s create a customer-provider relationship that is absent when the state builds and maintains a highway based on what the legislature decides.
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Express lanes for electric vehicles should be a bigger part of Denver’s long-range transportation plan
With today’s large-scale decentralization of homes and jobs, it is increasingly difficult to serve large numbers of workers via mass transit.
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Finding consensus on environmental and permitting reforms to build needed infrastructure
Needless delays, bureaucracy, and litigation are increasing costs and preventing the U.S. from building 21st-century energy projects, highways, transit, and more housing.
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Express toll lanes can reduce traffic and improve bus service
Federal Highway Administration data shows more than 60 express toll lane projects are in operation across the country.