Since the early 1990s, federal transportation law has started—slowly—to level the playing field between highway and alternative transportation strategies and between older and newer communities. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 ("ISTEA") and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century ("TEA-21") made substantial changes in transportation practices by (1) devolving greater responsibility for planning and implementation to metropolitan planning organizations; (2) introducing greater flexibility in the spending of federal highway and transit funds; (3) creating a series of special programs to carryout important national objectives; and (4) tightening the linkages between transportation spending and issues such as metropolitan air quality.

The ongoing debate and deliberations around reauthorization of the federal transportation laws will set the course for transportation policy for next decade.

In order to inform this discussion, the Brookings Institution has initiated a series of analyses designed to assess transportation reform. These essays, commentary and related research will provide policy makers, the press and the interested public with a comprehensive guide to the numerous issues that must be addressed. The series focuses on issues likely to be central to the reauthorization debate as well as additional analyses dealing with state, metropolitan and local implementation of the federal reforms.