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
This week in ridiculous regulations: train crews and airport concessions
Our colleague R.J. Smith passed away. R.J. coined the term “free-market environmentalism,” ran CEI’s private conservation efforts for many years, and was a valued…
Daily Caller
Here’s Why It Could Take Longer To Rebuild The Baltimore Bridge Than The Whole Transcontinental Railroad
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited in Daily Caller about the length of time it is going to take to rebuild the Balitmore bridge: “If…
Blog
Will EPA empower California to ban gasoline-powered cars?
Did Congress authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to outlaw the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles? Did it authorize the EPA to…
Search Posts
Products
Free to Prosper: Transportation
Mobility for both people and goods is one of a modern economy’s most important needs. The COVID-19 pandemic changed our transportation patterns considerably and put…
News Release
House Premature on Rail Strike Intervention: CEI Analysis
The House today voted today on a resolution aimed at averting an impending strike by freight rail workers on December 9 – over a…
Blog
New Whole-of-Government Initiative on Junk Fees Comes with Unintended Consequences
Today the Biden administration announced a new whole-of-government initiative on junk fees from airlines and other industries. The news comes on the same day…
News Release
Amid Hurricane Power Outages, Biden Administration Waives Senseless Jones Act Shipping Restrictions: CEI Statement
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Ryan Young praised the Biden administration for temporarily waiving shipping restrictions imposed by the 1920s era Jones Act. “The…
Blog
Why Railway Unions Oppose the Deal Biden Helped Arrange
The Chamber of Commerce today urged Congress to step in and impose a settlement should talks between the rail industry and the its…
Blog
CEI Leads Coalition Opposing Increased Government Interference in Rail Operations
CEI and 21 other organizations and individuals have signed a letter opposing the misleadingly named Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act, which would…
Letters
Coalition Letter Opposing Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act
Dear Member of Congress: We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, oppose the inaccurately named Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act. It will cause significant harm…
Comment
Comments to the Federal Trade Commission Regarding the Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule
Comment Submitted: September 12, 2022 Docket No. FTC-2022-0046-0001 On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit the following comments in response to…
Blog
Dead Man’s Switch: Biden Administration Fights Railroad Automation
Of all modes of transportation, one would think that railways would be at the leading edge of automation. After all, they don’t use public roads,…
News Release
Mandating Reciprocal Switching Would Trample Property Rights and Raise Costs for Consumers
The Surface Transportation Board will hold a hearing on March 15 and 16 to consider a proposal to mandate reciprocal switching for freight railroads.
Comment
Comments on Application Of The National Railroad Passenger Corporation Under 49 U.S.C. § 24308(E)
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit this comment letter for the Board’s consideration in the FD 36496 proceeding. Founded in…
News Release
CEI Files Court Petition Challenging EPA Vehicle Emissions Rule
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today filed a petition for review with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of itself, four…
National Review
Video Explains Why New Freight-Rail Regulation Is a Bad Idea
National Review cites CEI’s video on reciprocal switching, featuring Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray: A new video from the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s…
Blog
Reciprocal Switching Is a Bad Idea at a Bad Time
The Surface Transportation Board has resurrected a bad idea it considered in 2012 and 2016—mandated reciprocal switching for freight railroads. For background, you can’t do…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Opposing Freight Rail Reciprocal Switching
Dear Honorable Board Members, We, the undersigned, maintain a deep interest in free markets and the benefits they provide to the American consumer. We write…
The Hill
5G Debacle Shows How Poor Governance Threatens Aviation Innovation
The U.S. aviation industry almost came to a halt earlier this month over the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) and airlines’ last-minute objection to…
News Release
President Biden to Discuss Tax Breaks for Wealthy Americans with Car Manufacturers
President Joe Biden plans to meet with the CEOs of General Motors and Ford to discuss proposals to subsidize electric vehicle purchases that were included…
Blog
Deregulate to Stimulate: 15 Republican Governors Launch ‘Operation Open Roads’ to Unclog Supply Chains
Some cheery holiday news reported in the Epoch Times: Fifteen Republican governors, led by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, have launched “Operation Open Road,”…
Blog
Not Always an Antitrust Issue: Airline Edition
The Justice Department is gearing up to file an antitrust case against JetBlue and American Airlines over an alliance they recently formed. The Wall…
National Review
INVEST in America Act Is a Bad Investment
The House of Representatives will soon vote on the “Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST in America) Act”…
Comment
Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0030 Marlo Lewis CEI free market groups 6-11-2021
View Full Document as PDF Comments of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, American Energy Alliance, Americans for Tax Reform, Freedom Works, Caesar Rodney Institute,…
Blog
Railway Unions Want Minimum Crew Numbers
Cars are learning to drive themselves on U.S. highways. Unmanned aerial drones are fueling the expansion of e-commerce. Railways have been trying to…
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Keep Driving Fees Flat No Matter the Vehicle
It’s plain that the federal gas tax is past its sell-by date. Originally introduced as a fair way for automobile drivers to pay for the…
The Washington Examiner
Polling Shows Slight Majority Support For Mileage Tax
The Washington Examiner cites CEI’s coalition letter in support of mileage-based user fees: The VMT tax is an idea that has seized a broad…
National Review
Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Plan: If You Build It, You Will Pay
You and I come by road or rail. Economists travel on infrastructure,” Margaret Thatcher once told an audience — pillorying economists’ love of jargon…
Letters
CEI Leads Highway Coalition Letter in Support of Mileage-Based User Fees
View Full Document as PDF Dear Member of Congress, As Congress considers surface transportation reauthorization, its top priority should be restoring the longstanding…
Blog
Secretary Pete Scores an Own Goal
It should have been an open goal. Everyone agrees that the nation’s highways need more funding. Everyone agrees that the gas tax has passed its…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter on Sami’s Law
View Full Document as PDF Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, Leader Hoyer, and Whip Scalise: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, representing millions…
The Free-Lance Star
Electric Vehicles are Not a Panacea
The Free-Lance Star cites CEI’s study on electric vehicles: A 2020 study by the Competitive Enterprise Institute concluded that “manufacturing an EV requires more…
The Washington Times
Biden’s Climate Agenda Likely To Push Gas Prices Even Higher
The Washington Times cites Director for th Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on gas prices: “People are more sensitive to changes in…
The Post-Journal
Why So Many Subsidies For Electric Vehicles?
If electric vehicles (EVs) are as fantastic as claimed, why do they need so many government handouts? Proponents of EVs are increasingly using the “I Word” —…
Blog
UK Court Ruling on Uber will Mean Fewer, More Expensive Rides, and Fewer Jobs
Today, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled on an important question as to whether certain drivers who work with Uber are entitled to…
News Release
UK Court Ruling Against Uber Will Mean Fewer Drivers
The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that Uber drivers must be treated as workers instead of self-employed, which could put Uber on the hook…
Citizens Journal
Electric Vehicle Shock Treatment
Citizens Journal cites CEI’s report by Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman. Mining and processing ores, and manufacturing batteries, would also require enormous amounts of fossil…
News Release
Report Urges Reforming Surface Transportation for Long-Term Sustainability
The president and Congress opted to extend the multiyear surface transportation authorization for another year through Sept. 2021, due to pandemic uncertainties and ongoing lack…
Study
Reforming Surface Transportation for Long-Term Sustainability
View Full Document as PDF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY When policy makers are asked to assess the condition of highway infrastructure, their responses tend to break…
News Release
New CEI Paper Asks: Would More Electric Vehicles be Good for the Environment?
The environmental benefits of “zero emission” electric vehicles are often touted, but rarely discussed are the many environmental downsides associated with creating and powering EVs.
Study
Would More Electric Vehicles Be Good for the Environment?
Executive Summary The environmental advantages of electric vehicles (EVs) over internal combustion engine-powered vehicles are as obvious as the lack of a tailpipe emitting air…
Blog
Forty Years of Freedom: Rail Deregulation Worked
Forty years ago today, President Carter signed the Staggers Act, which deregulated the American freight rail industry. As CEI has long maintained, this…
Blog
Regulatory Waiver Clears the Sky for Private Partnership, Innovation, and Competition
Three months have passed since the Federal Aviation Administration granted a special waiver to the drone delivery company Zipline International. Early last week, Walmart announced…
Letters
Coalition of 12 Urges Revisions to Bill Regulating Transportation Network Companies
Dear Leader McConnell: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, representing millions of taxpayers and consumers, we ask you to decline any requests to hotline H.R.
Blog
All Levels of Government Need a Top-to-Bottom Review of Transportation Policy
Evidence is mounting that mass transit played a major role in spreading COVID-19. According to analytics firm TrendMacro, the only factor “that seems to make…
Duluth News Tribune
Jones Act Draws Critics, Defenders: Battle Lines Are Forming as the Merchant Marine Act Marks its Centennial
The Duluth News Tribune references CEI senior fellow Mario Loyola’s writing on the Jones Act: Mario Loyola, a senior fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Forbes
From SpaceX To George Washington: How Our First President Welcomed Balloon Flight And Predicted Air Travel
With its splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the SpaceX Crew Dragon became the latest vehicle to continue the tradition of manned flights taking off from and…
National Review
Trump’s Push to Modernize Our Infrastructure
Last week President Trump accomplished one of his most important goals: to reform the broken system of federal approvals for major infrastructure projects such as highways,…
Blog
CEI Opposes Federal Government Coercing a State into Assisting with Federal Law Enforcement
Last Friday, CEI took a stand for federalism and separation of powers through an amicus brief. These constitutional principles are critical to the constitutionally limited…
Blog
Infrastructure Bill’s Non-Serious Nature Is a Serious Problem
America’s current surface transportation authorization, the FAST Act, expires at the end of September. Rather than reauthorizing it, however, House Democrats have introduced the INVEST…
Blog
EPA Sends Proposed Aircraft GHG Rule to White House for Review
On May 1, the EPA sent its first-ever proposed rule on aircraft greenhouse gas emissions to OMB for review. Promulgated pursuant to the Clean Air…
Blog
CEI Submits Comments to DOT on Aviation Consumer Protection Authority Modernization
Today, CEI submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s notice of proposed rulemaking in the matter of Defining Unfair or Deceptive Practices.
Comment
CEI Comments to OST on ACPA NPRM
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation’s (“OST”) Notice…