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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Public pension funds and public-private partnerships could increase funding for transportation infrastructure
Public pension funds could invest in public-private partnerships that produce more greenfield and brownfield transportation projects across the United States.
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Why Michigan should replace gas taxes with mileage-based user fees
State policymakers should start thinking about a permanent replacement for the gas tax, such as mileage-based user fees.
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Aviation Policy News: FAA change on eVTOL certification, San Juan’s airport transformed by privatization, and more
Plus: More remote towers coming to the U.S., a state threat to AAM vertiport development, and more.
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Surface Transportation News: Private infrastructure financing growth, intercity buses rebound, and more
Plus: Traffic fatalities, a new approach to tolling transponders, and more.
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Shifting away from gas taxes to modernize Interstate highways
About a dozen states have conducted federally-assisted pilot projects in which motorists and truckers tested mileage-based user fees.
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Replacing Michigan’s gas tax with mileage-based user fees
A transition from per-gallon fuel taxes to a mileage-based user fee system should be considered as a strategy to ensure adequate road funding for Michigan’s future.
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Annual Privatization Report 2022 — Transportation Finance
This report reviews 2021 developments in the infrastructure investment fund world, focusing on transportation infrastructure.
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Aviation Policy News: New approach for Europe, U.S. airline competition, and more
Plus: Mexico's air traffic control mess, reforming the airport passenger facility charge, and more.
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Surface Transportation News: Anti-highway rhetoric, electricity on highways, and more
Plus: Hyperloop's still-unanswered questions, why free transit may not reduce auto trips, and more.
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What is a revenue-risk public-private partnership?
And when is revenue risk the better financing choice for the state and taxpayers?
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Lessons from San Diego’s proposed mileage fee
Mileage-based user fees should replace gas taxes, not be added to existing fuel taxes.
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Aviation Policy News: European aviation’s net zero plan, rethinking service at small airports, and more
Plus: Looking ahead to the next FAA reauthorization bill, Amazon Air adds business for airports, and more.
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Surface Transportation News: Pandemic and migration change transportation plans, supply chain crisis, and more
Plus: Puerto Rico considering more toll road leases, emulating Canada on commercial rest areas, and more.
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Growing agreement that government regulations are driving up the costs of vital infrastructure
We may have an unprecedented opportunity to reform the National Environmental Policy Act.
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Aviation Policy News: Merger increases airline competition, eliminating the North Atlantic tracks, and more
Plus: Linking smaller airports to popular destinations, legal scholars debate approaches to drone law, and more.
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Surface Transportation News: Most advanced toll lanes, DOT’s unserious supply chain proposal, and more
Plus: Mileage-based user fees study breaks new ground, the 15-minute city, and more.
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Finding ways to finance the reconstruction of America’s bridges
The Mobile River Bridge in Alabama is just one of many major bridges that need to be replaced with modern facilities.
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Aviation Policy News: Remote towers going mainstream in Europe, handicapping the eVTOL race, and more
Plus: Why 2022 could be a banner year for U.S. airport P3 projects, the EU airport slot system is under fire, and more.