RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer, December 16, 2008, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes, February 04, 2010, The Brookings Institution
When it comes to infrastructure, President Obama faces a tricky balancing act. On one side he needs to invest in the kind of infrastructure that the nation needs to remain competitive and put us on the path to a low-carbon future. On the other he has to operate in a constrained fiscal environment with programs that are in fundamental need of reform. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes, Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst and Isabel V. Sawhill, January 28, 2010, The Brookings Institution
On Janaury 27, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. Scholars from around the halls of Brookings offer their thoughts on the speech and on various issues the president addressed, from updating the nation's high-speed rail infrastructure and investing in the education and skills of the American people, to the budget deficit and the nation's economic growth.
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Robert Puentes, January 06, 2010, The Brookings Institution
As the U.S. DOT is slated to announce the initial recipients of the first wave of stimulus dollars, Robert Puentes suggests that funds should concentrate in a large share of resources in one corridor with broad political support that also consistently tests as a high-ridership corridor. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, December 10, 2009
11:00 AM to 12:45 PM
Washington, DC
On December 10, the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings hosted the fourth Bernard L. Schwartz Forum on U.S. Competitiveness to address the connection between infrastructure investments and economic growth, including the release of a paper discussing the merits and intersections of the capital budget and National Infrastructure Bank concepts. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood outlined current federal reform efforts. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Washington, DC
On December 8, Brookings and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) brought together civic and business leaders, policymakers, and administration officials for a conversation about practical and imaginative ways to promote alternative forms of transportation. The event launched Cities for Cycling, a NACTO project to break down barriers to bicycle-friendly street design in municipalities around the United States. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Isabel V. Sawhill, Mark Muro, William A. Galston, Robert Puentes and Gary Burtless, December 03, 2009, The Brookings Institution
As the Obama administration hosts economists, academics and corporate executives at a White House "jobs summit" to consider how the government can spur job creation, scholars from around the halls of Brookings suggest a range of ideas from revisiting the National Infrastructure Bank to more investment in education and training. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer, November 30, 2009, The Brookings Institution
With heightened attention around job creation, it is easy to overlook the fact that the federal government did provide guidance on how best to geographically target funds for highway projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Adie Tomer and Robert Puentes contend that the specific policy is flawed and could lead to unintended consequences. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Washington, DC
On October 13, the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program hosted a panel discussion around how to best prepare and support metropolitan regions in the development of integrated blueprint plans for sustainable growth. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer, October 08, 2009, The Brookings Institution
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. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Adie Tomer, Robert Puentes and John C. Austin, October 08, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The economic recession and contraction in the auto and manufacturing industries have had a significant impact on air travel trends in the Great Lakes region’s metropolitan areas, according to Robert Puentes, Adie Tomer and John Austin. The fall-off in air travel in the last ten years has been precipitous in the region, but a return to economic growth will challenge the most connected metropolitan areas. Read More
VIDEO
Robert Puentes, October 07, 2009
While air travel has made the globe and the nation more accessible, simply flying from one state to the next is often fraught with delayed flights, runway congestion and a host of other problems. Robert Puentes, an author of a new report on air travel trends, says that their report findings can help policymakers address critical issues affecting the nation’s transportation infrastructure.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Emilia Istrate, July 28, 2009, Government Research Association Annual Conference
At the annual conference of the Government Research Association in Washington, DC, Emilia Istrate spoke about the current transportation reauthorization debate from a metropolitan perspective. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer, July 17, 2009, The Vine, The New Republic
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer argue that the largest federal highway program—Equity Bonus—should be apportioned to states based on proportionate contributions to the nation's general fund rather than the highway trust fund since more and more transportation dollars are coming from those general sources. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes, July 14, 2009, The Brookings Institution
On July 14th, Robert Puentes addressed Senate and House staff on the Hill on the use of public private partnerships (PPPs) for surface transportation financing. In his remarks, Robert stressed that PPPs are only one of several means of addressing funding shortfalls, and reflected on the need for federal direction, describing the growing number of institutions abroad designed to fulfill functions including quality control, policy formulation, coordination, and promotion of PPPs. Read More