Transportation

Chinese EV exports have boomed amid increasing global gas prices, with demand rising 120 percent in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

Philadelphia’s proposed $1 rideshare tax attempts to address school funding shortfalls. The city should reject narrowly targeted taxes on app-based services and instead pursue broader, more neutral revenue mechanisms such as property or income taxes.

As Korea moves toward its goal of commercializing Level 4 autonomous driving by 2027, the central constraint may not be technological readiness but whether the government reforms the mobility market in advance. Without regulatory changes, Korea risks deploying advanced autonomous vehicles within a closed, taxi-centered system.

The U.S. government needs to do what many nations around the world are already doing by leaning into rail technologies such as positive track control and automated track inspection, not resisting them on behalf of special interests.

China has surged ahead of the United States in adopting sidewalk delivery robots due to more proactive and coordinated policy experimentation, offering lessons for U.S. policymakers on how real-world pilots and clearer regulatory frameworks can accelerate deployment of autonomous delivery technology.

The Federal Railroad Administration should approve the expansion of Automated Track Inspection. This proven technology enhances rail safety and efficiency, but political pressure, outdated regulations, and an inconsistent waiver process have stalled its deployment.

Federal freight policy effectively incentivizes the most damaging and least efficient mode of freight transport—trucking—by underpricing access to public infrastructure. A restructured, mode-neutral cost system would encourage more efficient, safer, and environmentally sustainable freight transportation, better serving taxpayers, drivers, and the economy.

Insufficient, inequitable, and poorly incentivized tax structures are leading to counterproductive behaviors in the trucking industry that threaten the sustainability of the U.S. highway network. An axle-adjusted vehicle mileage traveled tax would address many of these inefficiencies and help address the shortfall to ensure the sustainability of the U.S. Interstate network.

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.