About the Transportation, Space, and Technology Program
Technological innovation is central to counterterrorism, critical infrastructures like transportation and energy systems, space enterprise, and nearly every other aspect of society. The Transportation, Space, and Technology Program will manage research on new technologies and their implications for the nation and the world. Projects in this program will focus on transportation systems and regulation, ports, space exploration, information and telecommunications technologies and regulation, federal research and development allocation, and social implications of emerging technologies.
Recent Research and Publications
Congestion within the U.S. freight system has increased dramatically in the past few decades, costing travelers, consumers, and businesses billions of dollars each year. A federal policy is offered to address the challenges faced by the U.S. freight network in an environment dominated by declining revenues and public resistance to increasing taxes.
The Santa Monica Municipal Airport can enhance the quality of life in the community by upgrading access; enhancing retail activity; developing a Sustainable Santa Monica Center; and expanding the Museum of Flying, outdoor athletic and recreation opportunities, and the presence of the performance and creative arts.
Achieving the potential economic and national security benefits offered by alternative fuels requires that their domestic production must be an appreciable fraction of domestic demand for liquid fuels. Alternative fuels derived from oil shale and coal have the potential to meet that important criterion.
To inform debate on a new transportation bill being considered, an analysis of literature on the effects of highway infrastructure spending on the economy offers principles for reforming federal policy and programs, as well as ideas for future research.
Good data can inform decision makers about what really works—how best to relieve congestion and improve supply-chain connectivity to make freight transportation—and hence the U.S. economy—more competitive, write Mortimer Downey, Joseph Schofer, and Johanna Zmud.
Our transportation future will be multi-layered and complex—bounded by transportation infrastructure that is under-funded on the one hand and ever-expanding congestion and capacity constraints on the other, writes Johanna Zmud.
A proposed 15-cents-a-gallon gas tax is worth a second look. Among various painful options put forward in the Deficit Reduction Commission's draft report, this tax hike may be well justified, writes Martin Wachs.
The principle of paying for roads and transit by charging those who use the system has served our nation well, but in its current form it will soon outlive its usefulness. Americans are driving more but paying less fuel tax, creating a crisis in transportation financing, writes Martin Wachs.
In this March 8, 2010, Congressional Briefing, Martin Wachs and Paul Sorensen discuss alternative funding streams for highway and public transportation improvements that Congress can consider as it focuses on the pending reauthorization of the federal transportation bill.
Martin Wachs, Director of the Transportation, Space, and Technology program, received the 2010 Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lectureship Award, which recognizes the career contributions and achievements of an individual in areas covered by the Board's Technical Activities Division.
While traffic congestion plagues many cities, Los Angeles stands apart, routinely ranking first for both total and per-capita congestion delay, with an estimate annual cost at close to $10 billion, writes Paul Sorensen.
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