2011
December 08, 2011
Leveraging private-sector financial resources and expertise to deliver infrastructure projects has growing appeal. However, U.S. public entities are under-equipped to consider such deals and fully protect the public interest. Emilia Istrate and Robert Puentes argue that America should follow other countries’ examples and establish public/private partnership units to help manage and deliver infrastructure projects.
August 18, 2011
While most Americans rely on a car to get to work, what about the millions of American households without a vehicle? Adie Tomer and Robert Puentes examine this particular group and assess transit’s ability to help them reach economic opportunities.
May 23, 2011
The United States must align its transportation policy with its economic goals to build long-term prosperity, writes Robert Puentes. Prioritizing investments, increasing exports, and producing low-carbon transportation alternatives are just a few of the ways the country can begin a shift toward the next American economy.
May 12, 2011
Against the backdrop of rising gas prices, growing suburban poverty, and continued sprawl, how well do transit systems in the 100 largest metropolitan areas connect people to jobs? A new report by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings reveals tremendous variation across regions in both initial coverage and the number and types of jobs commuters can reach via transit.
May 12, 2011
During a recent event to launch a new report on transit accessibility to jobs in metropolitan areas, Robert Puentes presented an overview of the findings and urged regional leaders to consider the economic opportunities that adequate transportation can bring.
April 28, 2011
Budget constraints at the federal, state and local levels pose a significant challenge to discretionary government programs, such as transportation. Using accessibility to assess transportation performance, as discussed by David Levinson and Emilia Istrate, has the potential to increase U.S. transportation efficiency and is a means toward creating a sustainable transportation funding source through land value capture techniques.
February 22, 2011
Few areas of policy are as critical to states' long term economic health, or as significant a share of state budgets, as transportation. However, state transportation systems face two overarching challenges: their funding sources are shrinking and their investments are not made in a sufficiently strategic, economy-enhancing way. In this policy brief, Robert Puentes lays out a set of low cost recommendations to make sure state efforts are coordinated and efficient.
2010
December 14, 2010
Robert Puentes calls on Congress to pass a streamlined transportation bill. With deficit reduction as a major theme, he proposes a focus on performance measurement, leveraging a variety of funding sources, and strengthening metro areas.
October 26, 2010
Despite recent major budget cutbacks across various government agencies, British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced an ambitious infrastructure plan for the United Kingdom. Robert Puentes assesses the proposal and ponders whether the United States could tailor such a plan to fit its needs.
October 12, 2010
On Columbus Day, the Obama administration released a report on infrastructure investment, presenting an economic framework for its previously announced plan. Robert Puentes notes that questions on funding such transportation investments still haven’t been answered but finds opportunities are still available to keep the conversation going about raising revenue.
September 11, 2010
In an interview with C-SPAN, Robert Puentes explains the role of an infrastructure bank. He emphasizes the urgency to prioritize transportation projects and discusses how properly managed infrastructure investments could provide a boost to the U.S. economy.
September 09, 2010
Following President Obama’s announcement for new investments in infrastructure, Robert Puentes notes that optimizing the efficiency of funding is the only way to ensure that projects receive the highest returns.
September 08, 2010
Following President Obama’s proposal for an infrastructure bank, Robert Puentes discusses with Greg Millman of Dow Jones Investment Banker ways to maximize efficiency for investments. Puentes stresses the need for prioritizing transportation projects and tying funding to the building of a stronger national transportation network.
August 23, 2010
In this testimony, Robert Puentes argues that Los Angeles’ 30/10 plan to accelerate the construction of a dozen transit projects is a prime example of the kind of 21st century compact that this country needs. It at once challenges our nation’s state and metropolitan leaders to develop deep and innovative visions to solve the most pressing transportation problems. At the same time, the federal government can hold these places accountable for advancing their tailor-made, bottom-up vision.
May 25, 2010
The next iteration of federal transportation policy in the United States should take cues from Britain’s strategy to make spending decisions based on economic and environmental goals, writes Oliver Jones. The U.K. is on the path of implementing a policy process focused on the prioritization of transportation projects with highest social return. Learning from this process, American transportation stakeholders could move the reform discussion forward in a substantive way.
May 13, 2010
In this testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee, Robert Puentes argues that a merit-driven national infrastructure bank could be the vehicle for green-lighting those infrastructure projects that have the highest return on investment rather than the greatest political reward. He argues that the most critical question to answer now is the governance structure of such an entity and its relationship to existing programs.
January 29, 2010
At the Congressional Transportation Finance Forum, Emilia Istrate discussed current National Infrastructure Bank proposals. She argued that a NIB, designed appropriately and with sufficient political autonomy, would be a targeted federal investment mechanism in projects of metropolitan and national significance. However, a NIB is not a funding source, a solution to the problems of the current federal transportation system or a replacement of the current federal funding for transportation.
2009
December 10, 2009
Emilia Istrate and Robert Puentes examine the current federal investment process and call for a revamped federal infrastructure policy in order to upgrade existing facilities, expand choices in moving people and goods, and help us attain energy independence. Moreover, in order to achieve these goals a federal capital budget and national infrastructure bank are explored as solutions.
October 08, 2009
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer assess metropolitan air travel trends over the past two decades. They find that most travel is consolidated within a select group of 26 metropolitan areas, which contribute to the country’s highest volume corridors and produce the worst on-time performance. Their findings reveal serious implications for the country’s aviation infrastructure as passenger volumes are predicted to grow in the coming years.
April 16, 2009
To help improve the energy efficiency and overall environmental sustainability of the U.S. transportation system, we will need to adopt policies that foster changes in the way Americans travel. In a new report Brookings researchers find that Germany may offer valuable lessons. Like the United States, Germany is a federal republic but it has taken impressive steps to improve transportation options, link transportation planning to land use, and advance other reforms – all while empowering metropolitan action.
2008
December 16, 2008
Nevada, Idaho and Colorado lead the way in ending car dependence, according to a first-ever ranking, as do the metro areas around Austin, Indianapolis and Atlanta. A new Brookings report by Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer shows that other modes of transit grow in popularity, even as gas prices drop, suggesting a need for dramatic shifts in the way we fund transportation, build our communities and address greenhouse gas emissions.
June 12, 2008
Robert Puentes calls on the federal government to empower major metropolitan areas by giving them direct transportation funding and the flexibility to make unbiased decisions between different modes of transportation. The federal government can then maximize performance by committing itself (and the recipients of federal funds) to an evidence-based, outcome driven, and benchmarked way of doing business.
2006
June 2006
Metropolitan planning organizations are often the conduit through which billions of federal and state transportation dollars flow for regional transportation investments.
January 2006
Martin Robins and Anne Strauss-Wieder argue that, rather than the Balkanized approach of the past, a systems-based and multimodal agenda for America's freight needs involving regional coordination, public-private partnership, and federal funding reco