Transportation

On Topic

Highway, rail and aviation systems are vital to the national and global economy. They move our citizens and our products and they allow us to be more productive – but they can also contribute to sprawl, air pollution and global warming. Brookings experts look at how to most productively invest in our transportation infrastructure.

A long line of passengers wait for security at checkpoint before boarding their aircraft at Reagan National Airport in Washington (REUTERS/Larry Downing).

Opinion

How to Avoid Another FAA Fiasco

May 8, 2013, Clifford Winston

The United States will experience more costly disruptions to its transportation system, such as the recent air traffic control cuts unless its deficits are curbed by efficient policy reforms or by privatization, writes Clifford Winston.

Recent Activity

Refine by: U.S. Metro Areas | Business and Finance | U.S. Economic Performance | Competitiveness

In the News

When budget cuts hit high-profile business travelers, you can get Congress to act.
April 30, 2013, Darrell M. West, Bloomberg
In the News

[Ray Lahood] brought a different perspective to Washington. He is a straight shooter, and I think he took transportation from the back of the political discussion to more of the forefront.
April 30, 2013, Robert Puentes, National Public Radio
In the News

As a nation, we've got to figure out better, more long-term ways, more sustainable ways, to fund needed transportation projects without having to rely on this annual uncertainty which seems to be the norm instead of the exception now.
March 14, 2013, Robert Puentes, WAMU
In the News

15 years ago in this country, we thought that [telecommuting] was the death of distance and that it was just going to ruin cities and we didn't see that at all. We see that people really do benefit from face-to-face conversations. Face-to-face conversations are going to be critical for many, many metropolitan jobs. There are many jobs that will require you to be face-to-face. Telecommuting does have a role [but] it's not going to solve all of our problems.
March 10, 2013, Robert Puentes, WTOP Washington
In the News

The places we see Amtrak being competitive, running effective and efficient service, are in those places where the state already has some skin in the game. These are places where Amtrak is treated not as a big federal bureaucracy that's coming in but is actually part and parcel of the transportation plan.
March 1, 2013, Robert Puentes, USA Today
In the News

[Amtrak is] too often considered a big, bloated bureaucracy that depends heavily on federal subsidies and is no longer relevant to the technologically oriented metropolitan economies of today.
March 1, 2013, Robert Puentes, CNN
In the News

In order for metropolitan areas to compete, they have to be able to provide several different options for people in how they get around, for how business leaders are going to connect with other business leaders in different metropolitan areas and then how these regions are going to grow in the future. We are seeing continued congestion on the roadways, perhaps deterioration of the roadways in some cases, frustration with the airlines and looking at Amtrak as a potential alternative to some of the other modes.
March 1, 2013, Robert Puentes, Minnesota Public Radio
In the News

We’re moving from transportation's late 20th century federalism model where the federal government provides resources that rain down unencumbered to the state and metropolitan level.
January 29, 2013, Robert Puentes, The Atlantic
Expert Q & A

Global Gateways: International Aviation in Metropolitan America

October 12, 2012, Adie Tomer
In the News

[Riding the train from Tokyo to Nagoya is] astounding...You take one trip on [Japan’s high speed rail system] and you realize that other countries have made these kinds of seismic investments that are just lacking in the U.S.
September 6, 2012, Robert Puentes, Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane