REPORT
Estimates changes in annual vehicle miles traveled in response to changes in the cost of driving that would result from adopting a mileage-based user fee.
REPORT
There has been an overall downward trend in the use of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wind-tunnel test facilities, and fiscal pressures have increased incentives to cut costs and create additional sources of revenue. The authors explore six potential approaches to pricing the use of these facilities and evaluate each approach against three criteria — efficiency, fiscal impact, and fairness.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
To reduce air emission and oil dependency impacts from passenger vehicles, strategies to promote adoption of hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles with small battery packs offer more social benefits per dollar spent.
COMMENTARY
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.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Assesses alternate mechanisms for implementing fees to fund the nation's road network based on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and outlines a plan for large-scale system trials to further evaluate the most promising concepts.
REPORT
What aeronautics research should be supported by the U.S. government? What compelling and desirable benefits drive that research? How should the government make these decisions? The authors develop a unified decisionmaking approach for addressing these questions. This framework quantifies the social and economic reasons for the research, balances competing perspectives, and enables transparent explanation of the resulting decisions.
REPORT
The U.S. Air Force asked RAND Project AIR FORCE to perform a congressionally required assessment of contractor versus organic management of F-22 air vehicle and F119 engine sustainment to determine the most cost-effective approach. The methodology involved the development of notional government sustainment organizations and a consideration of a variety of factors relevant to such a decision, including the asserted benefits of each…
REPORT
Three essays explore the implicit private costs of improving vehicle fuel efficiencies, the private benefits and social impacts of electric vehicles, and the implications of a large-scale adoption of electric vehicles for transportation finance.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This research is an initial step toward creating policies to address autonomous vehicle technologies—which have the potential to enormously benefit humankind but raise substantial concern about tort liability for damages that may result from their use.
NEWS RELEASE
The long-term efficiency and effectiveness of the U.S. freight transportation system is threatened by bottlenecks, inefficient use of some parts of the infrastructure components, vulnerability to disruptions, and crucial environmental and energy concerns.
NEWS RELEASE
Policymakers need to address equity concerns early when implementing congestion pricing to improve traffic flow, as each situation is unique and must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
COMMENTARY
President Obama's infrastructure plan doesn't yet carry a price tag. We only know that it will be big.... The trick is how it will be done. It will not be enough to simply rebuild and repair critical infrastructure systems. We need to reinvent the systems themselves, writes Martin Wachs.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Alternative fuels derived from oil sands and from coal liquefaction can cost-effectively diversify fuel supplies, but neither type significantly reduces U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions enough to arrest long-term climate change.
REPORT
Alternative sources of fossil fuels such as oil sands and coal-to-liquids have significant economic promise, but the environmental consequences must also be considered.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff: Green But Unsafe, in Wall Street Journal, Europe Edition.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff: Paying for Our Transportation Needs, in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
REPORT
Examines the capabilities and costs of onboard technologies to divert missiles attacking commercial airliners. Given the significant uncertainties in the cost and effectiveness of countermeasures, a decision to install them should be postponed, and concurrent development efforts to reduce these uncertainties should proceed as rapidly as possible.
REPORT
Tells the story of Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) beginnings, how it has dealt with these challenges, and its progress to date, which, as of 1998, remains ahead of schedule.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based signal providing precise timing, location, and velocity information. Just as any number of receivers can tune into a commercial TV or radio station, there is no limit on the number of people who can use GPS.
REPORT
A discussion of transport planning and technology. The paper points out that transportation systems should respond to human needs and should not become a costly end in themselves. Thought must be given to the impact of such systems on the quality and...
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