UPCOMING 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) will bring 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 will launch 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
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
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
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, June 19, 2009, The Vine, The New Republic
Federal gas taxes are drying up and the nation’s highway bill is set to expire this fall. In that context, Robert Puentes analyzes the House proposal to revamp U.S. transportation policy and the administration’s call for an 18 month delay to ensure “better investment decisions." Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes, May 13, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Robert Puentes discusses how President Obama’s FY 2010 budget holds the baseline on transportation infrastructure spending with slight increases at the modal agencies at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes, March 26, 2009, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Before a special session of the Senate Banking Committee, Robert Puentes discussed the coordination of transportation and housing policy and its role in developing livable communities. Among others things, he stressed the need for the federal government to assist states and metropolitan areas in one of their hardest tasks: transcending the stovepiping of disparate programs that remains a serious cause of undesirable development outcomes. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes, February 27, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Robert Puentes discusses how President Obama’s FY 2010 budget marks a shift in transportation policy, especially in mass transit. One proposal to create and fund a National Infrastructure would provide financial assistance to qualified and innovative infrastructure projects—from road and rails to ports and pipes—that matter to the nation as a whole or to a group of multiple states. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer, February 26, 2009, The Brookings Institution
As the recent kerfuffle between Transportation Secretary LaHood and the White House spokesperson demonstrate, debate over transportation policy and funding is heating up fast. Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer suggest that, while that flap was about taxing miles traveled instead of, or in addition to, gasoline consumed, the comments provide a window into the long simmering quandary over how we move the nation. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Pietro S. Nivola, February 25, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The United States has been largely unsuccessful in reducing its petroleum consumption by regulating the fuel economy of motor vehicles. Pietro Nivola proposes a move towards a comprehensive carbon tax, which could reduce gasoline consumption more effectively and curtail carbon emissions from other, more damaging sources. Read More
BOOK
David B. Sandalow, February 01, 2009
This important book examines the role that the U.S. government can and should play
in promoting the widespread use of plug-in electric vehicles. Read More
PAST EVENT
Monday, January 12, 2009
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Washington, DC
President-elect Obama is preparing plans for an immediate economic stimulus package. At the same time, his new administration must consider how to make investments that will stabilize and strengthen our economy over the long term. After opening remarks by Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell, Bruce Katz and Robert Puentes presented their recommendations on bolstering infrastructure and investing in other economic drivers that can enhance long-term prosperity. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Katz and Robert Puentes, January 12, 2009, The Brookings Institution
President Obama is preparing plans for an immediate economic stimulus package. At the same time, his new administration must consider how to make investments that will stabilize and strengthen our economy over the long term. Bruce Katz and Robert Puentes present their recommendations on bolstering infrastructure and investing in other economic drivers that can enhance long-term prosperity. Read More
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, November 13, 2008, The New Republic
In this opinion piece published in the New Republic, Robert Puentes argues that President-elect Obama has a tremendous opportunity to connect infrastructure spending to broad national goals (such as economic competitiveness and environmental sustaianability). In this way the federal stimulus dollars can accelerate the right kind of projects in the right places, creating jobs and waking up related areas of the economy. Read More