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

News Release
EPA’s decision to allow California to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 reversed after President Trump signs CRA resolution
California’s green light from the Environmental Protection Agency to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 was revoked after Congress passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA)…

Blog
Clearing the tracks: CEI’s three-point blueprint to DOT deregulation
Background The Trump administration has made good on some of its promises of deregulation – namely with two executive orders from the beginning of this…

Blog
Senate pulls plug on California’s gas car ban
The US Senate on Thursday voted 51-46 for H.J. Res.88, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to repeal the Environmental Protection…
Search Posts
MSNBC
The Real Problem with the TSA Can’t Be Fixed with Yelp Reviews
This article was co-written with Harper Jean Tobin, Director of Policy at the National Center for Transgender Equality, and John Whitehead, President of The Rutherford…
Blog
New York Times Editorial Board Clueless on Smart Car Safety and Security
On Sunday, August 9, The New York Times ran an editorial, “Protecting Cars from Hackers,” discussing the recent publicized hacking incidents of Fiat Chrysler and Tesla vehicles, with…
Blog
“Flypocalypse” Shows Air Traffic Control Too Important to Be Left to FAA
This past Saturday, hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled due to an air traffic control software glitch in the Washington, D.C. area. Naturally, #flypocalypse began…
The Wall Street Journal
Little State Choice With the FHTF Funds
T. Peter Ruane’s claim (“It’s a Rough Road in Any Direction,” Letters, Aug. 6) “that all of the decisions…
The Heartlander
House Transportation Chairman Proposes Privatizing Air Traffic Control
The Heartlander cites CEI`s Marc Scribner on privatisation of air traffic control: Marc Scribner, a transportation policy research fellow with the Competitive Enterprise…
Letters
Coalition Letter Supporting Aviation Industry Modernization
Full Document Available in PDF The Competitive Enterprise Institute joined a coalition of free-market organizations in writing a letter to aviation leaders of the…
Blog
CEI Sues TSA for Violating Federal Law and Court Order on Body Scanners
Yesterday, July 15, 2015, CEI filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Our suit requests the court enforce its…
FoxNews.com
TSA sued over airport body scanners
Marc Scribner is quoted in a report on a lawsuit filed by CEI over the deployment of body scanners in airports: “There is…
Legal Brief
CEI v. TSA
At issue in this case is TSA’s multi-year failure to complete its…
News Release
CEI Sues TSA For Violating Federal Law With Body Scanners
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a lawsuit today against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for violating the law by deploying body scanners before following…
The Washington Times
Desire cools for streetcar in D.C. amid missteps, costs
The Washington Times cites CEI`s Marc Scribner on the streetcar system: There’s at least one thing on which opponents and supporters of a…
Forbes
U.S. Airlines Face Antitrust Collusion Investigation–What’s The Big Deal?
Airlines, apparently including United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines…
Blog
Reimagining Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Pro-Market Recommendations for Policy Makers
Today, CEI published my white paper, “Reimagining Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Pro-Market Recommendations for Policy Makers.” In it, I lay out the case for making…
Study
Reimagining Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Full Document Available in PDF Many transportation policy observers estimate that stagnating revenues and increases in fuel efficiency will cause the current…
The Daily Caller
Objections To Optional Tolling Plan Are ‘Silly,’ Experts Say
The Daily Caller cites CEI`s Marc Scribner on optional tolling plan: “The I-77 corridor has seen a 20 percent increase in traffic volumes…
News Release
Highway Bill Bailout and Spending Schemes Put America’s Roads and Bridges at Risk
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report criticizing spending and bail-out schemes Congress is considering that would put our nation’s roads…
Duluth News Trubine
Pro/Con: Is government micromanaging US auto industry?
Yes: Industry, motorists victims of over-regulation Over-regulation is slowing growth, stifling innovation and costing jobs across the economy. The auto industry is the prime example.
Bradenton Herald
Auto industry and motorists prime victims of government`s overregulation
Over-regulation is slowing growth, stifling innovation and costing jobs across the economy. The auto industry is the prime example. Auto workers and investors are obviously…
GazetteXtra
Pro: Auto industry and motorists prime victims of government’s over-regulation
Auto workers and investors are obviously harmed by heavy-handed government regulation, but the biggest losers are drivers. In buying new vehicles, they already face higher…
Canada Free Press
Auto industry and motorists prime victim of Feds over-regulation
Auto workers and investors are obviously harmed by heavy-handed government regulation, but the biggest losers are drivers. In buying new vehicles, they already face higher…
The Sacramento Bee
Auto industry and motorists prime victims of government’s over-regulation
Over-regulation is slowing growth, stifling innovation and costing jobs across the economy. The auto industry is the prime example. Auto workers and investors are obviously…
The Hill
Tax cuts and reform for air travelers
The Hill quotes CEI`s Marc Scribner on the Passenger Facility Charge: The Congress Blog has hosted two well thought out pieces on the…
The Hill
The conservative case for a modernized Passenger Facility Charge
Recently in these pages, Grover Norquist, president of the venerable Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), argued that modernizing the airport Passenger Facility Charge (PFC)…
Fox News
DC weighs gondola system to connect tony Georgetown with outside world
Fox News talks to Marc Scribner on the DC gondola system: "Street cars in the sky — that's how I like to think…
Comment
CEI Comments to the Uniform Law Commission’s Study Committee on State Regulation of Driverless Cars
Full Document Available in PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the…
The Washington Examiner
Gondolas in D.C.? Transit policy should not be a high-wire circus act
The Washington Post’s Perry Stein recently wrote a fascinating article on a proposed new transit link between Georgetown and Arlington. No, it wasn’t…
Blog
Long Mass Transit Commutes Are Horrible for Your Health
Joseph Stromberg at Vox.com has an article up arguing that “commuting alone by car” is “associated with obesity, high blood pressure, sleeplessness, and general unhappiness” relative…
Reason
Is Dianne Feinstein Responsible for the Amtrak Crash that Killed Eight? No, But Government Safety Mandates Can Have Tragic and Unintended Consequences.
Reason's Jim Epstein cites Marc Scribner's blog on the Philiadelphia Amtrak derailment: While it's true that PTC works better than ATC at preventing…
Blog
Yes, It Is Stupid to Blame Lack of Subsidies for Amtrak’s Derailment
This morning, Amtrak Northeast Regional service was finally reopened following last week’s tragic derailment in Philadelphia that has killed at least eight and injured approximately 200.
Blog
This Week Is Infrastructure Week
In the lead-up to the May 31 sunset date for federal highway funding, this week is “Infrastructure Week”—a week for scholars, advocates, and policy…
Blog
Not So Fast: Fatally Flawed Research Asserts Alcohol Taxes Save Lives
Last month, researchers at the University of Florida published a study in the American Journal of Public Health that concluded, “Increases in alcohol excise taxes, such…
Blog
New Tax Foundation Report Endorses PFC Modernization
The Tax Foundation today released a new report, “Improving Airport Funding to Meet the Needs of Passengers.” Authored by Tax Foundation economist Alan Cole, the…
Blog
Why Is the Federal Government Threatening Times Square’s Billboards?
Colleagues tipped me off to an absurd news story about how the federal government is threatening to punish New York City for its famously gaudy Times…
Blog
ERAM Deployed Five Years Late, NRC Blasts FAA on NextGen Delays
We saw two announcements on air traffic control modernization last week. The first was that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had finally completed its En Route…
Blog
CEI Submits Comments to FAA on Small Drone Certification and Operations Proposed Rules
Today, I submitted comments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of CEI on its notice of proposed rulemaking for small unmanned…
Comment
CEI Comments to the FAA on Proposed Regulation Regarding Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Read the Full Comments Here On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the…
Blog
Let Amtrak Pay Its Own Way
Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute has a great blog post outlining the various ills besetting America’s government-subsidized passenger rail carrier Amtrak. The gist of O’Toole’s…
Blog
Google Now Opposes State Automated Vehicle Legislation?
Back in 2012, I warned that California’s bill (now law) that would explicitly recognize the legality of automated vehicles and order state regulators to develop a…
Blog
Could Alcohol Taxes Reduce Fatal Car Crashes?
A new study from the University of Florida asserts that because Illinois instituted an alcohol tax increase in 2009 and the rate of alcohol-related traffic…
Blog
California Drought 2.0, or Is it 3.0?
California’s water woes are back in the headlines after Gov. Jerry Brown commanded a 25 percent cut in consumption last week after extended drought. Pricing matters…
Blog
Administration’s GROW AMERICA Act 2.0 Mixes Bad with Good
Today, Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx unveiled the administration’s latest surface transportation reauthorization proposal. Like the previous White House bill, the latest iteration of the…
Blog
Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform Are Wrong about Passenger Facility Charge
I saw some unfortunate news today: Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform sent a letter to Congress opposing a possible increase in the cap of the…
The Washington Post
Streetcar Fatigue
In the Washington Post, CEI's Marc Scribner discusses "streetcar fatigue" and the quagmire surrounding Washington, D.C.'s H Street Streetcar project: Marc Scribner,…
Blog
Benning Road: The Last Refuge of Streetcar Apologists
Washington City Paper’s Housing Complex blogger Aaron Wiener has an unintentionally hilarious article on the slow-motion implosion of the D.C. Streetcar. But before I get to Wiener’s…
Blog
How Not to Fix, and Fix, Federal Surface Transportation Policy
A lot of misinformation and scaremongering swells around transportation infrastructure policy in Washington. We are told our highway network is on the verge of collapse…
Washington Times
No Desire for a Streetcar
CEI's Marc Scribner is quoted on the modern streetcar resurgence in the Washington Times: If nearly everybody likes a streetcar, fewer want to…
Mass Live
Can MBTA passengers get a refund on their passes?
Massachusetts Live talks to CEI's Marc Scribner about the issues facing MBTA: Transportation scholar Marc Scribner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute said in…
Blog
Vapes on a Plane: More on Why DOT’s Proposed In-Flight E-Cigarette Ban Is Fatally Flawed
Over at CNN.com, I have a piece arguing against the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) forthcoming rule aimed at outlawing “vapes on a plane.” I explain why…
Blog
What the U.S. Can Learn from Canada on Aviation Innovation
As I continue to digest the sUAS NPRM, which is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, I came across Canadian drone attorney Diana…
Blog
First Thoughts on FAA’s Small Unmanned Aircraft System Proposed Rules
At 10am on Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced its draft rules to govern small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The announcement is not particularly surprising,…