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
USA Today
TSA May Require a Full-Body Scan, Rather than Pat-Down
CEI's Marc Scribner comments to USA Today on the TSA's recent decision to end its policy of allowing all travelers to opt for a…
Blog
Automated Vehicles Update: California DMV Releases Draft Rules and Some Notes about that Crash Study
CALIFORNIA DMV AV OPPS RULES PROPOSED: On December 16, the California Department of Motor Vehicles released its draft licensing and operations rules for consumer automated vehicles,…
Blog
FAA Releases Mandatory Drone Registration Interim Final Rule
On December 16, the FAA will publish its interim final rule (IFR) on Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft in the Federal…
Bloomberg
U.S. Cities Spend $1.2 Billion on Streetcars to Nowhere
Bloomberg quotes transportation expert Marc Scribner on cities investing in streetcars. While streetcars in Portland, Oregon and Seattle have succeeded — measured by…
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Route to the Future
The Philadelphia Inquirer discusses the efficiency of trolley systems with Marc Scribner. Marc Scribner, research fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based free-market…
Blog
FAST Act Debrief: A Few Policy Notes on the Latest Highway Bill
Last Friday, December 4, President Obama signed into law the FAST Act, which reauthorizes federal surface transportation programs through Fiscal Year 2020 to the tune…
Washington Examiner
House, Senate reach deal on bill to renew Ex-Im Bank
The Washington Examiner discusses the approved highway bill with Marc Scribner. "We are disappointed that Congress has once again chosen to bail out…
News Release
CEI Comment on Highway Bill Conference Report
CEI transportation policy expert Marc Scribner praised parts of the federal highway bill released today out of a congressional conference committee. Scribner praised parts of…
Blog
Problems with Mandatory Drone Registration
On Saturday, the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Registration Task Force issued its recommendations on a mandatory UAS registration proposal. The report is available here. On…
Blog
Government Submits TSA Body Scanner Final Rule Schedule to Court
On October 23, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the Department of Homeland Security to produce a schedule for final rule…
Study
Reviving Capitalism
The near-death and rebirth of American railroads is a case study in business leaders fending off regulation.
Comment
CEI Comments Responding To the FAA Request for Information on Registration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Full Document Available in PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the Federal…
Blog
Barbara Boxer: Confirm PR Flak for Key Safety Role or the Transportation System Gets It
Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Sarah Feinberg to head the Federal Railroad Administration. Feinberg has been acting administrator since January. She replaced Joseph Szabo, who had…
Law360
TSA Ordered To Make Final Body Scanner Rule
The D.C. Circuit on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to submit a schedule for when it will issue a final rule on…
Blog
Court Rules against Government in TSA Body Scanner Case
Earlier today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against the government in CEI’s challenge to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) illegal…
Litigation
CEI Challenges TSA Body Scanner Policy
On July 15, 2015, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for violating the law by deploying body scanners…
News Release
CEI Prevails: Court Orders TSA to Bare Its Body Scanner Rule
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) won a favorable ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordering the Transportation Security Administration…
The Daily Signal
Another Dud Highway Bill from the House
The Daily Signal discusses the new Highway Bill and looks to Marc Scribner for information on the bills expansion of the federal government's role in…
Blog
Is a Drone Registration Mandate Illegal?
Today, the Department of Transportation announced the creation of a task force to develop recommendations for a national drone registration mandate. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx stated…
Blog
Initial Thoughts on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act
This morning, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released its Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act. Unlike the Senate bill, which relies on imaginary pay-fors…
News Release
CEI Report: Keep the Skies Open for Drones
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute warns that laws and regulations curtailing use of civilian drones could hold back big economic and…
Study
Keeping the Skies Open for Drones
Drone technology could transform the way we live and work, offering great potential in precision agriculture, aerial photography, to infrastructure inspection, and disaster response. But overzealous…
Blog
Drone Policy Update: FAA Proposes $1.9m Fine, 3 More Bills Vetoed in California, and More
FAA PROPOSES RECORD FINE FOR UNAUTHORIZED UAS OPERATIONS: On October 6, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it was proposing a $1.9 million civil penalty against…
Blog
No, Politicians Shouldn’t Outlaw Driving to Usher in Self-Driving Cars
Over at Fusion, Kevin Roose has what is perhaps the worst article on automated vehicles (AVs) I’ve ever seen. In it, he calls for a near-term…
Blog
USDOT Wants it Both Ways with Off-Peak Freight Movements
Over at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fastlane blog, Greg Nadeau, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, has a post touting USDOT’s support for off-peak freight…
Blog
Drone Policy Update: California Bill Vetoed, New Model Aircraft Guidance, and More
CALIFORNIA UAS BILL VETOED: On September 9, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 142 that would have imposed trespass liability on unmanned aircraft system (UAS)…
The Hill
Biden run could be a boon for Amtrak
Marc Scribner talks to The Hill about what Joe Biden's possible presidential run means for Amtrak: Competitive Enterprise Institute Transportation Research Fellow Marc…
The Wall Street Journal
Streetcar Projects Suffer a Bumpy Ride
The Wall Street Journal talks to CEI's Marc Scribner on Atlanta's streetcar system: “What Atlanta did was a huge mistake,” said Marc Scribner, a research…
Blog
Did North Dakota Just Authorize Pepper-Spraying Police Drones?
The Daily Beast’s Justin Glawe has written an article about a North Dakota law aimed at limiting law enforcement use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or…
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,…
Blog
Ridesharing and Regulation
Earlier this week, I appeared on a Cato Institute panel organized by Cato’s Matthew Feeney, author of a new report on for-hire vehicle safety issues. Video…
Roll Call
What Rules To Govern Uber-Type Services?
Roll Call reports on Marc Scribner's presentation at a Cato Institute policy forum on ridesharing regulations: But Marc Scribner of Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Transportation Roundup: Obama Budget, DOT 2045, and Sad Transcontinental Railroad Nostalgia
The President’s FY 2016 Budget On Monday, the White House released its DOA FY 2016 budget. Like President Obama’s previous budgets, this one has no…
Blog
Premature Capitulation?
Over the decades I’ve spent in this Heart of Darkness (a.k.a., the bowels of American politics), I’ve learned two lessons that have encouraged the steady…
Blog
Invest in Transportation Act of 2015 Violates Fiscally Conservative Transportation Principles
It was just announced that Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) would introduce the Invest in Transportation Act of 2015. The bill aims to offer…
Study
Free to Prosper
With the start of the 114th Congress comes a fresh opportunity to address the challenges created by a broken government. To kick off this new…
Blog
Gas Tax Mission Creep: From User-Pays to Carbon Tax?
The Niskanen Center is a new libertarian think tank that we at CEI look forward to working with on a number of issues. However, one where…
Blog
WSJ Editorial Board: Abolish the Federal Gas Tax
In recent days, a growing number of congressional Republicans have signaled a willingness to increase the federal excise tax rates on gasoline and diesel. As I…
Blog
Free to Prosper: Top Priorities for the 114th Congress
With the start of the 114th Congress comes a fresh opportunity to address the challenges created by a broken government. To kick off this new congressional…
Blog
Automated Vehicles Update: Big Feature at CES, California Rules Delayed, Georgia Cautious on Regulation
It’s been a few months since I last checked in on automated vehicles (AVs), commonly called driverless cars or autonomous vehicles. Below are some developments of…
Politico
A streetcar not desired?
Marc Scribner is cited in Politico: Besides costs, critics point to other shortcomings in the projects. For example, they question whether streetcar…
Opportunity Lives
Why America Needs to Get Smarter about Our Commercial Drone Policy
Marc Scribner talks to Opportunity Lives about the failings of current commercial drone policy: Marc Scribner, a fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Oppose Federal Gas Tax Increase
A new poll from Benson Strategy Group and SKDKnickerbocker found that 67 percent of Americans oppose increasing the federal gasoline tax by 15 cents, or an…
Blog
Political vs. Market Regulation: Uber Edition
Earlier this week The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell suggested that new entrants in the transportation market, like Uber, should face greater government regulation—despite having fueled much of…
Blog
Rep. Tom Petri Invokes Bad Reagan Policy to Justify Increasing the Gas Tax
Yesterday, retiring Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wisc.) joined wacky Rep. Earl "United Streetcar" Blumenauer (D-Ore.) to endorse increasing the federal gasoline tax by 80 percent.
Blog
United Streetcar: The Solyndra of Transportation
Over the weekend, The Washington Post published a fascinating article about the rise and fall of United Streetcar, an Oregon-based manufacturer that owes its very existence to the…
Blog
Congress Needs to Act to Bring about a Drone Revolution
Earlier this morning, a full panel of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) overturned a previous ruling from an NTSB administrative law judge in the Pirker case. In Pirker, the…
Roll Call
Friday Q & A: Marc Scribner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute
Part 1, Part 2 Analyst Marc Scribner at the Competitive Enterprise Institute examines transportation policy from a staunchly pro-market standpoint. Here are excerpts…
Blog
Voters Reject Three Rail Transit Boondoggles
Yesterday, voters across the country had the opportunity to vote on a number of transportation ballot measures. Three of these involved spending for new rail…
Blog
What Will the SpaceShipTwo Crash Mean for Commercial Space Flight Regulation?
The crash of a test flight of billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, which cost the life of one, riveted many around the globe on Friday afternoon.
Blog
New Jersey’s Driverless Car Bill: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back
Yesterday, the New Jersey Senate Transportation Committee in a unanimous vote reported S734, a bill that would recognize the legality of autonomous vehicle testing…
