Revitalizing a Nation: Competition and Innovation in the US Transportation System

About the Book

An efficient transportation system reduces the cost of distance by moving people and goods from their origins to their destinations as cheaply, quickly, and safely as possible. By enabling individuals and firms to be more productive, transportation provides the foundation for the development and growth of industries and an entire economy.
Clifford Winston, Jia Yan, and Associates argue that competition and innovation are the key drivers of an efficient transportation system. The authors provide new evidence that transportation deregulation and privatization that spur additional competition among carriers and infrastructure providers, as well as new innovations that create autonomous transportation services, have the potential to rid the US transportation system of its major inefficiencies and revitalize the nation.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1. Introduction
Clifford Winston and Jia Yan

Part I. Urban Transportation

Chapter 2. The Effect of Reductions in Vehicle Miles Traveled on Highway Fatalities and Congestion with Heterogeneous Motorists
Vikram Maheshri and Clifford Winston

Chapter 3. Is Public Bus Transit a Competitor or a Subordinate to Public Rail Transit?
Austin J. Drukker and Clifford Winston

Chapter 4. Measuring the Benefits of Ridesharing Service to Urban Travelers: The Case of the San Francisco Bay Area
Hyeonjun Hwang, Clifford Winston, and Jia Yan

Chapter 5. Consumer Adoption of Electric Vehicles: The Appropriate Role of the Private Sector and Government
Clifford Winston and Jia Yan

Chapter 6. Consumer Adoption of Autonomous Vehicles: The Appropriate Role of the Private Sector and Government
Clifford Winston and Jia Yan

Part II. Intercity Passenger Transportation

Chapter 7. Would US Travelers Benefit from Entry by Foreign Airlines? Simulating the Effect of Cabotage Based on Low-Cost Carrier Competition in US and European Union Markets
Xinlong Tan, Clifford Winston, and Jia Yan

Chapter 7 Appendix. Potential Benefits of Seamless International Airline Travel
Austin J. Drukker and Clifford Winston

Chapter 8. Public Airport Competition and Some Potential Benefits of Private Airport Competition
Austin J. Drukker and Clifford Winston

Chapter 9. Private Airport Competition and Innovation: The Case of Heated Airport Runways
Jukwan Lee, Clifford Winston, and Jia Yan


Chapter 10. Competition and Innovation to Further Improve Intercity Passenger Transportation
Clifford Winston and Jia Yan

Part III. Freight Transportation

Chapter 11. Railroad Competition and Innovation
Vikram Maheshri, Clifford Winston, Jia Yan, and Scott Dennis

Chapter 12. The Potential Benefits of Autonomous Trucking
Chad Shirley and Clifford Winston

Chapter 13. Water Transportation and Drones
Clifford Winston and Jia Yan

Part IV. Synthesis and Policy Recommendations

Chapter 14. Synthesis and Policy Recommendations
Clifford Winston and Jia Yan

About the Author :
Clifford Winston is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and Jia Yan is a professor of economics at Washington State University.

Review :
“Since its origins in France in the early 19th century, transportation planning has been an incubator for the economic theory of incentives and consumer behavior. In its more recent history in the United States, transportation planning has become a branch of civil engineering, with a command-and-control approach to the design of transport infrastructure and the operation of transit systems. This book provides policy recommendations and empirical evidence that the use of economic markets and the incentives introduced through decentralization, privatization, and competition can increase the efficiency and utility of our transportation system. This is a provocative message that will get pushback from the transportation community, but it initiates a dialogue that can lead to significant improvements in the design and operation of our transportation infrastructure.” “This timely volume presents new research on the efficient design of transportation systems, reminds us that how a nation deploys transportation technology and utilizes its public and private transportation capital are key determinants of economic performance, and highlights the central role of public policy in the transportation sector.” “Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in transportation economics, in part stimulated by new technologies such as electric and autonomous vehicles. This volume provides an invaluable economic analysis of some of the key public policy issues. It will be of great interest to both research scholars and public policymakers.”