Coronavirus Is Devastating State Budgets. Is Leasing Toll Roads to Private Operators the Answer?
Leasing state toll roads could provide the revenue states need to improve their balance sheets.
Transportation Policy
Trump Promises Manned Moon Base, Mission to Mars During Second Term
The Trump administration has expanded a bipartisan drive to commercialize more of NASA's space operations.
Lyft, Uber Get Last-Minute Reprieve Before They Would Have Canceled Services in California
Lawmakers and courts are trying to force them to put drivers on their payrolls. They're threatening to take a freeway out of the state entirely.
Republicans, Democrats Debate Whether Next Relief Bill Should Be $1 Trillion or $2 Trillion
Plus: Uber, Lyft threaten to suspend California operations following court decision; New Zealand reimposes lockdown measures in response to new COVID-19 cases; and Kamala Harris's hawkish foreign policy
San Francisco Judge Rules Drivers With Ride-Sharing Companies Are Employees. Uber Warns It'll Have To Raise Prices By as Much as 111 Percent.
Plus: Federal government spent $250 billion on expanded unemployment benefits, Joe Biden's V.P. pick is "imminent," and Ben Shapiro takes on Cardi B
Manned SpaceX Capsule Returns From Orbit Without a Hitch
Two American astronauts splashed down to Earth after over 60 days aboard the International Space Station
Writer-Activist Hit With Licensing Complaint for Calling Himself an Engineer
Licensing laws can be weaponized to chill speech.
Homeland Security Seized $2 Billion in Cash From Travelers at U.S. Airports
In two-thirds of those cases, there were no accompanying arrests.
California's Attorney General Decides How Ballot Initiatives Are Summarized. He's Happy To Abuse This Power.
Xavier Becerra conceals tax increases and reframes a gig economy proposition to hurt its chances.
Chicago City Council Votes To Partially Reform Its Notoriously Harsh Vehicle Impound Program
A 2018 Reason investigation showed how Chicago's impound program ensnared innocent owners, stripped them of their cars, and soaked them in debt.
Trump Said 'You Don't Have To Drop Bombs on Everybody.' He's Right.
The president’s accidental vision of a war-free second term.
Even the Coronavirus Might Not Be Able to Kill California's Bullet Train Boondoggle
As the state deals with budget cuts and deficits, some boosters still fight to keep construction going.
Chicago Mayor Introduces Major Reforms to Punitive Vehicle Impound Program
Reason showed how Chicago's impound program traps innocent owners in thousands of dollars of debt in 2018.
Coronavirus Pandemic Paving the Way for Drone Delivery Services
The government granted a temporary waiver allowing drone-based deliveries of medical supplies in North Carolina. That shouldn't end when the pandemic does.
House Democrats' $500 Billion Transportation Overhaul Would Require Doubling the Federal Gas Tax
Senate Republicans have proposed a far more modest reauthorization of federal surface transportation spending programs that are set to expire in September.
NASA Astronauts Hitch a Ride With Elon Musk's SpaceX
Today's Crew Dragon launch marks the first time a private company has sent humans into orbit.
Is America Headed for a Post-Coronavirus Traffic Apocalypse?
Substantial numbers of people returning to work, but avoiding the buses and trains that took them there, could see urban travel speeds grind to a halt.
10 Ways a Roadside Police Stop Can Go Wrong
What could happen—and what to do about it—if you get pulled over by the cops
Fun Travel May Mean Road Trips for the Foreseeable Future
Unless you are especially dedicated to seeing the world and willing to run a gauntlet of hassles to do so, travel is poised to become a more local activity.
Coronavirus Has Devastated Uber and Lyft's Business. Now California Is Suing Them.
A lawsuit filed yesterday by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra accuses the companies of misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors.
Community Anger Shuts Down Connecticut City's Plan To Use Drones for Coronavirus Monitoring
Westport won’t be using tech to monitor people’s body temperatures or whether they’re properly social distancing.
Did Subway Riders or Motorists Do More To Spread COVID-19 in New York City?
Transit wonks are debating which mode of transportation was most responsible for the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak.
New York's New Budget: No Legal Weed, No Fracking, No Flavored Vapes, No Police Transparency. But You Get E-scooters!
If only everybody weren’t stuck in their homes.
The Federal Government Is Spending $60 Billion To Keep Mostly Empty Commercial Planes Flying Over the U.S.
Pending minimum service rules would require airlines to keep operating a certain number of flights, regardless of how little demand there is for air travel.
Airlines Make Out Like Bandits in $2.3 Trillion Coronavirus Aid Bill
A lot of industries and individuals are suffering right now. A select few corporations are getting big bailouts.
Last Week, the Public Transit Industry Asked for $12.8 Billion in Emergency Funding. The Senate GOP Relief Bill Gives Transit $20 Billion. House Dems Want $25 Billion.
The public transit bailout is spiraling out of control.
Public Transit Advocates Ask for $12.8 Billion Bailout To Cope With 75 Percent Revenue Drop Related to Coronavirus
Public transit was already in decline before the COVID-19 outbreak. Now transit agencies are teetering on the brink of collapse.
Truckers Are Rushing Supplies to Empty Store Shelves During Coronavirus Crisis. Will Regulators Get Out of the Way?
The churn of new emergency regulatory waivers and restrictions is causing confusion for American manufacturers and freight haulers.
Biden Says High-Speed Rail Will Get Millions of Cars Off the Road. That's Malarkey.
This is what happens when you think all of America looks like the Acela corridor.
After a State-Authorized Medical Marijuana Patient Had an Epileptic Seizure and Crashed Her Car, Police Arrested Her for Driving With 'Marjuana in Her System'
The case illustrates the injustice and irrationality of Pennsylvania's "zero tolerance" approach to stoned driving.
Has D.C. Found the Right Way To Do 'Free' Public Transit?
Councilmember Charles Allen has proposed giving every D.C. resident a $100 monthly subsidy for bus and train rides.
Chicago Police Shooting Captured on Video Leads to Outrage, Dropped Charges
Man tackled, shot twice for crime of illegally shifting between train cars.
Oregon Tried To Silence This Engineer's Red Light Camera Research. Now Experts Say He Was Right All Along.
Mats Järlström's research never would have seen the light of day if the Oregon Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying had its way.
Is Trump Deliberately Sandbagging New York's Landmark Transportation Policy?
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) claims political motivations are delaying federal approval of a plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan a congestion fee.
Federal Judge Refuses To Grant Injunction Against California's Gig Economy Law, But Acknowledges 'Likelihood of Irreparable Harm'
Assembly Bill 5 forces many companies to reclassify contractors as employees.
In California, Protecting Workers Means Outlawing Their Jobs
Assembly Bill 5 was designed to constrain the growth of the so-called gig economy. In practice, it's closing off opportunities
We've Entered the Sixth Stage of Grief Over Kobe Bryant's Death: Legislation
Rep. Brad Sherman (D–Calif) has introduced a bill to mandate ground collision detection systems on all helicopters.
The Supreme Court's Next Fourth Amendment Showdown
In November, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Kansas v. Glover.
House Democrats' $760 Billion Infrastructure Proposal Has Lots of Funding Proposals, Few Proposed Funding Sources
The "Moving Forward Framework" includes some sensible reforms alongside expensive, dubious policy proposals.
Feds Ground 800 Drones Over Fears About Chinese-Made Tech
But without specifying an actual cybersecurity risk, the policy comes off looking like a wasteful protectionist maneuver that will likely put human pilots back in riskier situations.
Is Houston's Affordability Just a Myth?
A new article argues unconvincingly that the sprawling Texas metro is less affordable than ultra-expensive New York City after accounting for higher transportation costs and lower incomes.
Family Sues DEA and TSA After Elderly Man's Life Savings Were Seized at Airport
A class-action lawsuit is now challenging the DEA's habit of seizing large amounts of cash from travelers without evidence of any crime.
