Transportation

Daniel Castro speaks about how the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) can use automation and innovation to improve safety at a webinar hosted by the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure.

Watch now for a virtual panel discussion with top experts as they explored the technological feasibility and legislative pathway for how a commercial trucking RUC can serve as the foundation for a sustainable, long-term solution to America’s transportation funding crisis.

ITIF respectfully urges the FRA to approve the requested relief and to initiate broader regulatory modernization that embraces autonomous safety technologies.

As part of its deregulation efforts, the administration should clarify Bayh-Dole march-in rights; rescind NIH Access Planning Policy; rescind FRA two-person train crew requirements; clarify requirements for manually operated driving controls; protect America’s innovative clean-energy technologies; and streamline regulatory permitting for semiconductors.

Populists argue mergers reduced robust competition that travelers previously enjoyed, allowing the remaining “Big Four” carriers to cut capacity, decrease service quality and raise prices. But that narrative could not be more wrong.

From safer roads and efficient railways to streamlined air and sea travel, technology-driven modernization can transform the nation’s infrastructure—if the administration overcomes regulatory roadblocks and special interest opposition.

With the gradual shift from internal combustion to electric vehicles, it is only a matter of time before the nation will have to replace gas taxes with a vehicle miles traveled system to pay for road maintenance. The most sensible way to start would be with heavy trucks.

Amidst the burgeoning advancements in autonomous vehicles, striking a balance between expectation and reality emerges as a challenge.

Despite later investigations finding automatic train operations (ATO) was not to blame for a 2009 accident—and decades of operation without problems—officials have yet to reinstate the technology in the rail system, leaving it and the region’s many commuters reliant on human workers operating trains manually.

Autonomous vehicles stand out as they offer the potential to reduce accidents & improve urban mobility. Policy decisions need to encourage this potential, rather than being swayed by emotional reactions to isolated events.