Air travel and rail transport were early examples of deregulation bringing huge benefits to consumers and industries. Yet automobility, air travel, and freight rail, are increasingly threatened with further regulation that will reduce their ability to transport goods and people. CEI opposes these attacks by arguing for greater freedom in mobility and opposing perverse transportation industry regulations.
Transportation Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
CEI suggests DOT put the brakes on train two-person crew rule
The Transportation Department recently asked the public for comments on how to reduce the regulatory burden. One thought that the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)…
Citation
Transportation Security Agency workers in Illinois, elsewhere lose union
Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy expert Sean Higgins said the agency claimed there were problems of waste and abuse with the practice…
News Release
Transportation Sec Sean Duffy announces immediate review of CAFE standards: CEI analysis
CEI applauds U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to commence an immediate review and reconsideration of all…
Search Posts
Blog
Surface Transportation Board Seeks to Impose Backdoor Railroad Price Controls
The infamously destructive Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) may be history, but many outside of the railroad policy world are unfamiliar with its predecessor: the Surface…
Comment
CEI Comments on New Mandates for Freight Railroads
View Document as PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the Surface…
The Hill
Meet the new Robber Barons
There was a time when railroad tycoons built empires by exploiting government connections to take advantage of the little guy. Today, the tables are turned,…
News Release
CEI Urges Rail Regulators to Nix Proposed Backdoor Price Controls
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today submitted public comments to the nation’s top railroad regulator opposing new mandates and price controls on freight railroad…
Politico
DOT doesn’t try to provide all the answers in driverless cars guidance
Politico's Morning Transportation quotes Marc Scribner on the Department of Transportation's guidance on self-driving cars. Marc Scribner, research fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute: “Highway…
Inside Unmanned Systems
DOT Issues Autonomous Vehicle Policy
Inside Unmanned Systems discusses the Department of Transportation's guidelines for self-driving car technology with Marc Scribner. The non-mandatory aspects of the policy provisions…
Blog
A Free Market Response to the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy
The quickest way to slam the brakes on innovation is for bumbling bureaucrats to outlaw it.
The Hill
White House rolls out guidelines for self-driving cars
The Hill discusses the Department of Transportation's guidance on self-driving cars with Marc Scribner. Marc Scribner, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise…
Ars Technica
The federal self-driving vehicles policy has finally been published
Ars Technica discusses the Department of Transportation's guidelines on self-driving cars with Marc Scribner. Marc Scribner, an expert on transport policy at the…
News Release
CEI Flags Flaws with New Obama Driverless Car Policy
The Obama administration today put out long-awaited regulatory guidance on self-driving cars. CEI transportation policy expert Marc Scribner says that along with some sensible policies,…
One News Now
‘Amazing’ developments re: self-driving cars
One News Now discusses technology developments for self-driving cars with Marc Scribner. "More training options are great," says Marc Scribner, transportation policy analyst…
The Hill
Driverless cars face regulatory roadblock
The Hill highlights Marc Scribner's study examining state laws restricting truck platooning technology. But it’s not just pedal and steering wheel rules that…
Inside Unmanned Systems
State Regulations Hampering Automated Truck Platooning, Report Says
Inside Unmanned Systems highlights Marc Scribner's study on state regulations on automated vehicle platooning. In a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Inside Unmanned Systems
What’s Important about Uber’s Autonomous Vehicle Announcements?
Inside Unmanned Systems discusses Uber's announcement of testing self-driving taxis with Marc Scribner. At least one industry observer believes one Uber announcement could…
Blog
National Right to Work Committee Wrong on Air Traffic Control Reform
The handful of conservative critics of air traffic control reform get the facts all wrong.
Blog
Transport Groups Oppose Obama Greenhouse Gas Power Grab
Twenty-three organizations representing highway users, transportation, vehicle, and energy trade associations filed joint comments last weekend opposing any proposal by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)…
Scientific American
Uber’s “Self-Driving” Test Cars to Be Overseen by Driver and Engineer
Scientific American reports on "self-driving" car technology and discusses regulatory hurdles to this technology with Marc Scribner. Uber’s decision to expose the public to the…
Legal NewsLine
Fight over airline e-cigarette ban focuses on ‘agency overreach’
Legal NewsLine discusses CEI's legal challenge to the Department of Transportation's ban of electronic cigarettes on airplanes with Marc Scribner. The Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Uber Announces Self-Driving Passenger Pilot, Raises New Regulatory Questions
It was just announced that Uber will soon begin piloting its automated vehicle prototype in Pittsburgh—with passengers. This is not the first automated vehicle…
Law 360
Trump, Clinton Tout Infrastructure Spending, With Few Details
Law 360 discusses the presidential candidates' positions on infastruture with Marc Scribner. Trump to spur economic growth with increased infrastructure investment have stoked…
The Hill
Think tank challenges ban on using e-cigs during flights
The Hill reports on CEI's legal challenge to the Department of Transportation's ban of electronic cigarettes on airplanes, and discusses the case with Marc Scribner.
Blog
CEI Files Opening Brief in “Vapes on a Plane” Lawsuit
Today, CEI filed its opening brief against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Secretary of Transportation’s March final rule prohibiting electronic cigarette…
Politico
FTA blasts WMATA inspection practices
Politico's Morning Transportation reports on CEI's legal challenge of the Department of Transportation's rule banning electronic cigarettes on airplanes. The libertarian Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Volkswagen Deal on Zero Emission Vehicles an End Run around Congress
In his 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama promised to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road. To this end, the President…
Blog
Elon Musk Angry at Having to Compete for Taxpayer Handouts
“Rent seeking” occurs when companies secure government benefits for actions that do not otherwise create wealth.
Blog
Authorizing Automated Vehicle Platooning: A Proactive Approach for the States
I recently attended the annual Automated Vehicle Symposium in San Francisco. More than 1,000 attendees from around the world from industry, academia, government, and NGOs…
Washington Post
As driverless cars grow closer, a delicate balance between rules and guidelines
The Washington Post highlights Marc Scribner's report on state laws blocking platooning technology. Enter the concept of “platooning,” the idea that two or…
News Release
Robocars of the Future Could Save Lives, Lower Costs, But State Laws Remain a Roadblock
Automated vehicle technology offers the promise of fewer highway fatalities and big cost savings in transporting consumer goods nationwide, but state driving laws remain a…
Study
Authorizing Automated Vehicle Platooning
View Document as PDF Automated vehicles have captured the public’s imagination in recent years following successful on-road demonstrations by developers such as…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Secret Rules
Since Obama took office, the EPA’s grossest procedural violation was so outrageous that the agency voluntarily reversed course after it came to light. In the…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Good Cause, Bad Faith
For the past seven decades, most federal agency actions must comport with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA lays out the basic processes required…
Daily Caller
Railroads Warn Mandatory Two-Man Crews Kills Innovation
The Daily Caller discusses a railroad regulation requiring two-man crews with Marc Scribner. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) believes the proposed rule is merely…
News Release
Rail Regulators Threaten Innovation with New Mandate
A Federal Railroad Administration hearing today debates whether regulators should require a minimum crew size for rail, as a proposed FRA rule would do. CEI transportation policy expert…
Blog
New York Times Editorial Board Crashes into Automated Vehicles
In light of Tesla’s foolish decision to rush distraction-causing, low-level automation technology to car consumers, which has resulted in at least one fatality and several…
Blog
The Military and ATC Corporation? No Big Deal
Guest post by Robert Poole Robert Poole is Director of Transportation Policy at Reason Foundation and a member of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) National…
Blog
Another Anti-Union Conservative Swings at Air Traffic Control Reform and Misses
Most free market and libertarian researchers—at least those familiar with what the House’s AIRR Act (H.R. 4441) actually does and doesn’t do—are…
Blog
Will the Sharing Economy Give Us Greater Economic Mobility?
Last night the R Street Institute sponsored a fascinating policy panel here in Washington, D.C., “Boost or Barrier? Upward mobility in the on-demand economy.”…
Airport Revenue News
Republican Congressmen Introduce Bill Supporting PFC Increase
Marc Scribner is quoted on passenger facility charge modernization in Airport Revenue News: The trade organizations, however, are not the only supporter of…
Blog
Reps. Jolly, Massie, and Bilirakis Introduce Bill Supporting PFC Modernization
Reps. David Jolly (R-Fla.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) have introduced the Restoring Local Control of Airports Act of 2016 (H.R.
Blog
Coming Soon: International Mayors for Inconvenient Travel
While we wait to see whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo will sign legislation targeting home-share listings in New York, the governmental response to the sharing economy’s…
Blog
FAA’s Long-Delayed Drone Certification and Operations Rule Disappoints
This morning, the Federal Aviation Administration released a copy of its final rule on Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which is to…
MarketWatch
New FAA rule means huge changes for drone industry
MarketWatch discusses the FAA's drone regulations with Marc Scribner. “The FAA seems intent on crushing the nascent drone industry and consumer operators with…
Fortune
Here’s Why the Drone Industry Just Had A Milestone Moment
Fortune discusses the Federal Aviation Administration's new rules on small unmanned aircraft systems with Marc Scribner. Not everyone is pleased with the new…
PC World
New FAA rules mean you won’t get Amazon drone delivery anytime soon
PC World discusses the Federal Aviation Administration's new rules on drones with Marc Scribner. Marc Scribner, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Daily Caller
Business Leaders Unsurprisingly Tepid About FAA’s New 624-Page Drone Rulebook
The Daily Caller discusses the Federal Aviation Administration's new regulations on drones with Marc Scribner. “The new FAA drone rules are disappointing and…
News Release
CEI Comments on FAA Drone Regulations
Today, June 21, 2016, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration finalized their operational rules for commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems. Transportation policy expert Marc Scribner responded:…
Blog
Building on the Optimism of “Uber-Positive” Attitudes
There’s a new resource for understanding the state of play between politics and developments in the sharing economy, the pleasantly slim volume by the Manhattan…
Blog
Diana Furchtgott-Roth Still Mistaken on Air Traffic Control Reform
A lonely critique from the center-right of air traffic control corporatization appeared on MarketWatch making a series of incorrect and misleading claims. I have previously…
Blog
Export-Import Bank Drama Continues
The Senate’s main business right now is the annual Defense Appropriations bill. The Export-Import Bank, or Ex-Im for short, might become part of that bill.
Blog
Railroad Industry Releases New Economic Impact Report, Urges Regulatory Restraint
Today, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) released its latest State of the Industry Report, highlighting new research from Townson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute…
