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California’s green light from the Environmental Protection Agency to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 was revoked after Congress passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA)…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
Citation
Resort to False Fuel Savings
Products
Life, Liberty, And Cell Phones
From the August 2001 Edition of CEI Update A car speeds down a busy highway, zigzagging unpredictably from lane to…
Study
The Leaked Study on CAFE: Why It Doesn’t Justify Higher Fuel Economy Standards
This past Monday, the New York Times carried a front-page story on the National Academy of Sciences’ auto fuel-economy study.[1] The…
Op-Eds
Massachusetts: Go Slow on Disconnecting Drivers
Gattuso and Rupert Op-Ed in The Lowell Sun<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> …
Citation
Fatal Mileage Rules
Products
A Real Bill Of Rights For Passengers
Well, the sure signs of summer are upon us once again. The temperature is rising, there are tourists everywhere, and things are slowing down to…
Op-Eds
Blame EPA for Oil Companies’ “Price-Gouging”: Lieberman Op-Ed
Distributed by Bridge News Service Distributed by Bridge News Service April 5, 2001 WASHINGTON–Last June, drivers in Chicago…
Products
Now, Who’s to Blame?
California Governor Gray Davis and the state’s Democratic legislature are starting to seize control of the energy industry in Next to the…
Products
The Campaign Against the Car: Europe’s Call for a Car-Free Day
From the October/November issue of CEI UpDate Al Gore might not have mentioned it during his presidential campaigning, and you…
Products
Where Are All the Flying Cars?
Whether it’s H.G. Wells or 2001: A Space Odyssey, it seems that everyone has a vision of the future. The optimism of the post-war era…
Products
The Great Global Gasoline Crunch of 2000
From the October/November issue of CEI UpDate High motor fuel prices are now a major issue, both in America…
Op-Eds
Big Regulations for the Big Rigs: Gattuso Op-Ed in Washington Times
Published in the Washington Times Published in the Washington Times October 18, 2000 For most of this…
News Release
If Auto Safety Defects Are Criminalized, Shouldn’t Ralph Nader Be in Jail?
Washington, DC, October 2, 2000 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute today charged that congressional proposals to criminalize auto safety defects failed to…
Op-Eds
Car-Free Days? No Thank You: Hanasz Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal Europe
Published in the Wall Street Journal Europe September 20, 2000 We are all by now accustomed to the many campaigns to "free" us from the…
Op-Eds
Punish Ford-Firestone, But Don’t Reward NHTSA: Kazman WSJ Op-Ed
Published in the Wall Street Journal September 12, 2000 This year’s worst tire disaster claimed more than 100 lives. It came after scores of documented…
Products
Airline Mergers: What to Fear
Sometimes it seems that if you stick around Washington long enough, you start to see policy issues repeat themselves, coming around for a…
Op-Eds
Death By Caution: Fuel Economy Standards Cost Lives
The Precautionary Principle has become the rhetorical war-horse of the global warming movement. With the Earth's survival at issue, environmentalists claim, it's surely…
News Release
New Smart Air Bag Rule as Bad as the Original Mandate
WASHIGNTON, DC, May 5, 2000 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute today charged that NHTSA’s new smart air bag rule could be a potentially deadly replay…
Products
Only Smart Air Bag Mandate is No Mandate at All
By the time you receive this newsletter, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) either will have issued its “smart” air bag mandate, or will…
News Release
Most Americans Are “Dirty,” Says Enviro Group
Washington, DC, February 14, 2000 – “According to the League of Conservation Voters’ (LCV) Congressional Scorecard, most Americans are ‘anti-environmental,’” said Angela Logomasini, Director of…
News Release
Institute Attacks FAA Child Restraint Mandate As Deadly
Washington, DC, December 17, 1999 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute today charged that FAA’s newly-proposed child restraint mandate will actually increase transportation fatalities. The…
News Release
Institute Releases New Study On “Cars, Women, and Minorities”
Washington, D.C., November 29, 1999 – While grouching over holiday traffic preoccupies much of the nation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute today releases a…
Study
Cars, Women, and Minorities: The Democratization of Mobility in America
Full Document Available in PDF The central role of…
Op-Eds
Entrepreneurs Still Finding Sunny Skies
When JetBlue Airlines makes its debut this winter, its passengers may be reaching for buckets of popcorn instead of peanuts. The airline industry’s latest contender,…
News Release
CEI Launches Radio Campaign Against CAFE
Washington, DC, August 26, 1999 – Federal regulations that mandate fuel efficiency for new cars are also making them less safe, contributing to thousands…
Washington Times
A DOT Driving Record
Study
Jack Kemp: Closing Down the Hard Times CAFE
Congress soon will decide whether to continue the “freeze” on existing CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards that have been in place for…
Op-Eds
When Auto Safety Is Against the Law
In 1997, between 20 and 40 Connecticut residents were killed by a defective product. The dangers ofI this product have been documented for more than…
News Release
New Study Shows Death Toll Of Auto Fuel Economy Mandates
Full Study available via .pdf file. Washington, DC, June 21, 1999 – Of the 21,000 car occupant deaths that occurred last year, between…
News Release
Jack Kemp Named Distinguished Fellow At Competitive Enterprise Institute
Washington, DC, April 29, 1999 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute is pleased to announce that the Honorable Jack Kemp has been named CEI’s first…
Study
Passenger Service Regulation: A Placebo for Air Travel
View Full Document as PDF Spurred by several recent travel horror stories, the quality of airline travel has become a hot…
News Release
Safety Effects Of Fuel Efficiency Law Shift Public Opinion: Survey Shows
Washington, D.C. January 20, 1999 – A nationwide survey on environmental concerns released this week shows that most Americans oppose automobile fuel efficiency standards…
Products
Airline Deregulation – The Next Step
In the 20th anniversary year of airline deregulation, air travel is again at the forefront of public policy. Policymakers have been besieged with a variety…
Study
Airline Deregulation: The Unfinished Revolution
Full Document Available in PDF In the 20th anniversary year of airline…
Products
Cars and Communism
The following is excerpted from a forthcoming CEI monograph on mobility and the fall of Communism. Our grandparents told us…
News Release
Anti-Consumer Regulations Proposed By DOT
Washington, DC, April 6, 1998 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute today denounced proposed airline pricing guidelines released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation…
Study
Destroying Competition in Order to Save It: Predation Rules and the Airline Industry
“We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” According to legend, this rationale was once given by the U.S. army to…
Op-Eds
Large Vehicles Are The Solution, Not The Problem
Copyright 1998 Dow Jones Industrial, Inc. If you listen to journalists, you'd think sport-utility vehicles were more dangerous…
Products
Perry Mason Hearings
Blame it on inexperience, minority-itus, or El Niño, but some of our friends on Capitol Hill still imagine that the purpose of hearings is…
Products
We Luv Our Suvs
For a country so concerned about the well-being of soccer moms, it is hard to understand the recent verbal assault on their transportation of…
Products
Back to the Future
Over the past several years, America has faced a disturbing trend. It started with the disco revival and John Travolta’s return to the silver screen.
News Release
Institute Denounces Air Bag Deactivation Rule: Too Little, Too Late
WASHINGTON, DC, November 18, 1997 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute today charged that the U.S. Transportation Department's new air bag deactivation rule was a…
Products
Every Air Bag A Wanted Air Bag
Last December, as news spread of the risks posed by air bags to children and other vulnerable groups, President Clinton promised that “car dealers…
News Release
James Gattuso Joins CEI as Vice President
Washington, D. C., December 22nd, 1997 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) announced today that James Gattuso has joined the staff as Vice President…
Products
CAFE’S “Smashing” Success
If at first you cannot succeed in pushing a bad idea, try, try again – just use different rhetoric. Twenty years ago, when corporate average…
News Release
CEI Blasts NHTSA’S Handling Of Air Bags And CAFE At Congressional Hearing
WASHINGTON, DC May 22, 1997 -Testifying at a House reauthorization hearing on NHTSA, CEI today charged that the agency was on the verge of…
Products
Immorality of the Airbag Mandate
While the air bag issue occupies the full-time attention of dozens of technocrats, its ethical aspects have largely been ignored. At CEI's request, Bowling Green…
News Release
National Poll on Air Bags Shows Need for Change
WASHINGTON, DC March 28, 1997 — By a ratio of nearly 3 to 1, the public favors giving people the choice of purchasing a…
Study
Sudden Impact: The Collision Between The Air Bag Mandate And Ethics
Full Document Available in PDF Air bags…
Products
Drivers Caught in the Full-Cost Trap
Over the past several years, the push to limit Americans' use of their automobiles has gained a great deal of momentum. Advocacy groups and government…