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National Review
J. D. Vance’s One-Track Mind for Railroad Regulation
Ohio senator and GOP vice-presidential nominee J. D. Vance has something of a soft spot for unions, as evidenced by his co-sponsorship of the…
Blog
Technological limitations of California’s in-use locomotive rule
Like our cardiovascular system, freight trains work like arteries running 24/7 transporting bulk commodities and goods. This includes transporting everything from cardboard boxes for…
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…
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National Review
J. D. Vance’s One-Track Mind for Railroad Regulation
Ohio senator and GOP vice-presidential nominee J. D. Vance has something of a soft spot for unions, as evidenced by his co-sponsorship of the…
Blog
Technological limitations of California’s in-use locomotive rule
Like our cardiovascular system, freight trains work like arteries running 24/7 transporting bulk commodities and goods. This includes transporting everything from cardboard boxes for…
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…
The Hill
East Palestine anniversary calls for careful attention, not rushed legislation
One year ago today, there was a terrible rail accident in East Palestine, Ohio that shocked the nation. Thousands of gallons of hazardous materials were…
Blog
Dear California, just let the trains run
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) in April approved regulations to ban the operation of diesel locomotives in California and the rule goes…
Blog
Wall Street Journal agrees with CEI, opposes Railway Safety Act
In an editorial today, the Wall Street Journal joined with many other voices, including Bloomberg, National Review, and a coalition led…
DC Journal
Railway Safety Act Will Drive Up Prices Without Adding Safety, Critics Say
DC Journal cites CEI’s Iain Murry on the Railway Safety Act: Competitive Enterprise Institute’s vice president for strategy and senior fellow, Iain Murray, agreed, arguing…
Blog
Let them eat public transportation
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its latest attack on Automobility with proposed CA standards on combustion engine vehicles. The war on…
News Release
Coalition warns Congress about Railway Safety Act
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Rio Grande Foundation today sent a coalition letter to Congress expressing serious concerns with the Senate’s Railway Safety Act…
Blog
Congress should vote no on the Railway Safety Act, says coalition
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Rio Grande Foundation today sent a coalition letter to Congress expressing serious concerns with the Senate’s Railway Safety…
Letters
CEI Co-Leads Coalition Letter on Railroad Safety Act
Dear Members of Congress: The undersigned individuals write to express concerns with the Railway Safety Act (S. 576). Safety advancement in any mode of…
Blog
Costlier cars help the poor, according to EPA
There is plenty of controversy surrounding EPA’s proposed new tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions rules for model year 2027-2032 vehicles, ranging from whether the…
Blog
Protecting private property in the Peach State
Institute for Justice communications manager Dan King brings us an infuriating but important story out of the state of Georgia. Property owners in the…
Blog
Senate committee yells ‘all aboard!’ for controversial Railway Safety Act
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved the Railway Safety Act this morning, with all Democrats and Republican Sens. J.D. Vance (OH) and Eric Schmitt…
Letters
Coalition Letter Opposing Railway Safety Act of 2023
We write you to urge your opposition to the Railway Safety Act of 2023. Introduced following the horrible accident in East Palestine, Ohio, the legislation…
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
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…
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
Transportation Infrastructure Stimulus Is No Cure for Coronavirus Economic Slump
As we enter a new era of slapdash bailouts driven by a dangerous mix of panic, ignorance, and opportunism, we face a growing list of…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter Supporting Revamping American Infrastructure Act of 2020
Dear Members of Congress: We write in strong support of the Revamping American Infrastructure Act of 2020 (H.R. 5571). The bill would order the Secretary…
Blog
CEI Leads Coalition to Congress Urging Close Oversight over Possible New Railroad Price Controls
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) led a group of scholars and advocates from 13 free market organizations urging Congress to exercise close oversight over…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter to Congress on STB Revenue Adequacy Hearing
Dear Chairmen Fischer and Lipinski, Ranking Members Duckworth and Crawford, and Members of the Subcommittees,…
Blog
Long Wait for Worker Freedom Finally Ends for Airline, Rail Employees
It is a banner day for employee choice. For the first time, airline and railroad workers have a direct path to remove an unwanted union.
Blog
Surface Transportation Board Delays Consideration of Regulatory Reform Petition
Yesterday, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) published a decision on a March 2019 rulemaking petition from the Association from American Railroads (AAR). The AAR petition…
Blog
Federal Railroad Administration Withdraws Proposed ‘Featherbedding’ Train Crew Rule
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released a draft notice indicating that it will be withdrawing a 2016 proposed rule that would have required trains…
Blog
CEI Leads Coalition Urging Surface Transportation Board to Withdraw Proposed Switching Rule
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) led a coalition of 20 other free market organizations urging the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to withdraw a harmful…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Supporting DOT on California High-Speed Rail Funding
We, the undersigned organizations, representing millions of taxpayers nationwide, appreciate your leadership and support your efforts to de-obligate $929 million in federal grants not yet…
Roll Call
5 Ways Congress May Try to Fix the Highway Trust Fund
Roll Call cited Senior Fellow Marc Scribner on mass transit. Marc Scribner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who will testify at Wednesday’s Ways…
Blog
Department of Transportation Should Rescind Crew-Size ‘Featherbedding’ Proposal
Unions in the railroad industry have a long history of “featherbedding,” the pejorative term for the practice of creating pointless make-work jobs. Most infamous was…
Blog
California’s Gov. Newsom Slams Brakes on California Bullet Train
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on February 12th unexpectedly slammed the brakes on the state’s high-speed rail project. The project “as currently planned, would cost too…
Blog
Year in Review 2018: Transportation Policy
CEI had a busy year in the transportation policy trenches. We worked at the federal, state, and local levels on a variety of projects. Below…
Comment
CEI Comments on Automated Vehicles 3.0 Guidance
View Full Document as PDF Introduction On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to…
Blog
New Federal Railroad Administration Rule Can Help Reduce Passenger Train Costs
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published its long-awaited final rule to modernize passenger railcar crashworthiness standards. When it takes effect on January 22,…
Blog
Dockless Bikes, E-Scooters, and Urban Transportation Policy Hypocrisy
In August 2017, I wrote about the municipal government cronyism and monopoly franchise agreements driving the controversy over unsubsidized dockless bikesharing companies. In the rapidly…
Blog
Can Self-Driving Taxis Reduce Urban Poverty?
In last year’s omnibus spending package, Congress allocated up to $1.5 million to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to conduct a study on the…
Comment
CEI Comments on Automation in the Railroad Industry to the Federal Railroad Administration
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (“FRA”) Request for Information on…
Blog
Human Achievement: The Shipping Container
One of the most underappreciated drivers of the modern global economy is the humble shipping container. Widely adopted internationally in the second half of the…
Blog
Trump’s Infrastructure Plan: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
This morning, the White House released its long-anticipated, 53-page infrastructure proposal. It is an expansion of the leaked six-page summary that I commented…
The Tennessean
Opponents Paint Grim Picture of Nashville Transit Plan at Forum Watched by Both Sides
The Tennessean covers Marc Sribner’s appearance at a forum surrounding Nashville’s transit plan. Opponents of Mayor Megan Barry’s transit plan brought in conservative thinkers leading the…
Blog
Where Are the President’s Surface Transportation Board Nominees?
Three seats currently sit empty on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and the White House should move quickly to nominate cautious and judicious rail experts…
Law360
Rail Regs In Crosshairs After Emergency Brakes Rule Repeal
Law360 interviews Marc Scribner about the repeal of the electronically controlled pneumatic brake mandate for high-hazard flammable unit trains by the Federal Railroad Administration: The…