After a decade-long shift in emphasis in regional transportation planning, steadily impacted by politics and planning commissions, environmental impact studies, and national, state and local legislation, the authors interpret and explain the meaning of the transportation planning process in the United States today. The book focuses on the interrelations between federal legislation, the judicial process and transportation planning, particularly in light of two important landmark federal acts - The Clean Air Act of 1990 and the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The...

This paper discusses using an oil tax to fund U.S. transportation infrastructure, identifies the decisions Congress would need to make in designing such a tax, and outlines some of the likely implications of adopting an oil tax.

To inform debate on a new transportation bill being considered, the authors review the literature on the economic outcomes of highway infrastructure spending, which constitutes the largest share of federal spending on transportation infrastructure.

Some planners limit discussions of ethics to simple, though important, questions about the propriety of their daily activities. This approach to ethics restricts discussion of professional ethics to the propriety of everyday social and professional relationships. It ignores the broader ethical content of planning practice, methods, and policies. While narrow definitions of ethical behavior can easily preoccupy public officials and professional associations, they divert attention from more profound moral issues. Martin Wachs argues that ethical issues are implicit in nearly all planning...

This paper presents results of an assessment of the state of research on "decoupling" the relationship between vehicle travel and economic growth.