Transportation Policy Institute

Transportation Policy Institute is a trial Economic Thinking project helping current and alumni debaters engage the public policy world with the research and advocacy skills developed through the debate season.

Many affirmative cases–some from past energy, agriculture, and ocean policy topics–are still significant problems and remain unsolved. Special or vested interests dominate state and federal transportation policy in part because few take the time, or have the motivation to research and communicate reform proposals to the public.

Debaters can market their skills to think tanks, industry associations, and give presentations to Rotary, Kiwanis and other business and community groups. Policy debaters are experienced (though young) transportation policy researchers and reform advocates.

Federal transportation policies ripe for reform include:

• Market reforms for ports and airports
• The Jones Act
• Highway Trust Fund/Mass Transit subsidies
• Transportation Safety Administration (TSA)
• Sunset Electric Vehicle mandates and subsidies
• Renewable Fuel Standards (Ethanol mandates and subsidies)
• Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
• Congestion pricing for freeways
• End federal light-rail subsidies

For students interested in these opportunities, visit the Economic Thinking table Thursday at NCFCA tournament, or reply to Greg Rehmke (see flyer, click image above).

Let us know the transportation reform areas you have researched and are interested in. Economic Thinking/Transportation Policy Institute will follow-up with a request for a writing sample addressing one or more reform areas.

Plus students will be invited to record short videos of one or more transportation reform proposals (from first affirmative, for example). These videos can be entered in our online transportation policy speech contest (details soon).

Thank you for your interest in the Transportation Policy Institute.