Transportation

Heading Off Track: The Impact of China’s Mercantilist Policies on Global High-Speed Rail Innovation
Chinese high-speed rail firm CRRC is less innovative than European and Japanese firms, but mercantilist policies help it dominate in China and expand globally. This starves superior firms of revenue, reduces their R&D, and slows the pace of global innovation.
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For a menu of actionable ideas for policymakers related to transportation, see ITIF’s “Tech Policy To-Do List.”

Transportation
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April 26, 2021
Heading Off Track: The Impact of China’s Mercantilist Policies on Global High-Speed Rail Innovation
Chinese high-speed rail firm CRRC is less innovative than European and Japanese firms, but mercantilist policies help it dominate in China and expand globally. This starves superior firms of revenue, reduces their R&D, and slows the pace of global innovation.
March 24, 2021
Addressing the Social Costs of Driving Through a Vehicle Miles Traveled Fee
ITIF and the Institute for Policy Integrity hosted a discussion about the report and the path to a road user pricing system.
March 3, 2021
Letter to House and Senate Transportation Committee Leaders Regarding a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Tax
ITIF President Robert D. Atkinson and other former members of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission believe now is the time for Congress to take the next steps to transitioning the federal surface transportation funding system away from the fuel tax and toward a VMT.
February 12, 2021
The CDC Should Not Require COVID-19 Testing as a Condition for Domestic Air Travel
Requiring passengers to return negative COVID-19 tests as a condition to travel unfairly signals out the airline industry and would add exceedingly little benefit compared to the costs it would impose.
February 10, 2021
The Postal Service’s $6 Billion Procurement of Its Next-Generation Mail Truck: What Would Ben Franklin Do?
If in making its once-in-a-generation vehicle choice, USPS opts to forego the once-in-a-century innovation of electric vehicles and instead tie the agency to fossil fuel for the next 30 years, it would be a damaging lapse in a 230-year history of innovation.
April 20, 2020
Does Investment in Physical Infrastructure Really Drive Growth?
Assuming that the “shovel readiness” of investments are the same, policymakers are better off investing in areas that also boost long-term economic growth.
February 4, 2020
Improve Rail Safety With Technology, Not Crew Mandates
It no longer takes two people to operate a train in many circumstances—and mandating it would have broad ramifications for the industry, consumers, roads, and the environment.
January 6, 2020
Time for Congressional Action to Speed the Arrival of Self-Driving Cars
Autonomous vehicles are the future of transportation, but so far, the United States is unprepared for them. Congress needs to act swiftly to establish consistent industry regulations that allow companies to safely test and deploy these vehicles, or it risks delaying their arrival.
July 26, 2019
The Best Way to Fund the U.S. Surface Transportation System
As Rob Atkinson writes for Morning Consult, the Senate should embrace innovation and charge the Department of Transportation with establishing a national road user charging system.
July 1, 2019
Fact of the Week: Equipping Trains With Real-Time Positioning Systems Allows for Dynamic Speed Requirements, Which Reduces the Average Delay by up to 42 Percent
Trains have traditionally relied on signals from human dispatchers to determine their speed. However, large disparities in the speeds that different trains can travel causes significant inefficiencies in this process. New analysis of Southern California’s rail network has found that new positive train control technology can dramatically improve efficiency.

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