Robert Puentes
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
East Coast United States
Articles by Robert Puentes
How local leaders and communities are leading the transition to clean energy
Local power is the engine for change that can really produce progress today while reshaping the playing field for what’s possible at the state and national level down the road.
Workers must have a seat at the AI bargaining table
Technology is way more successful if it’s done together with the workers who are going be using it. Christy Hoffman In this episode of Metro Blueprint, experts explain the importance of including workers’ voices in conversations that shape how AI is used and regulated. Molly Kinder, senior fellow at Brookings Metro, and Christy Hoffman, general secretary of the UNI Global Union, discuss how unions can protect workers from displacement as a result of companies using generative AI.
How federal funding cuts impact Tribal communities
Tribal communities are faced with relying on federal funds to stand in for so much of what we lost through colonization. Allison Neswood In this episode of Metro Blueprint, experts examine the challenges Indian Country is facing due to the disruption in federal funding. Robert Maxim, fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Allison Neswood, senior staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund, discuss what these cuts mean to Native communities—and why non-Native audiences should pay attention.
How can policymakers help communities left behind by globalization and automation?
It’s not so much a question of policy design. It’s matching the right design to the places in need and then resourcing those efforts in the appropriate way. Gordon Hanson In this episode of Metro Blueprint, experts discuss ways to address the regional economic consequences of globalization.
Will New York's congestion pricing program pave the way for broader adoption?
As a country, we don’t invest enough in our mass transit systems, and that’s a perennial problem. Polly Trottenberg In this episode of Metro Blueprint, experts explore how New York City created a successful congestion pricing plan that has so far reduced traffic and increased transit ridership while retaining a bustling downtown.
St. Louis shows how cities can break the "urban doom loop"
Downtown is in many ways ... the face of the city, it’s the living room for the entire city, it’s where the whole city should come together as a community to celebrate. Kurt Weigle In this episode of Metro Blueprint, experts take a deep dive into how St. Louis is using office-to-residential conversions to build affordable housing and a vibrant downtown.
L.A. fires expose long-standing local and national water infrastructure challenges
I think there’s a great desire among [local] utilities to really meet the moment, meet the mandate that they’re getting across a number of different realms in terms of expectations for what water systems should and can be doing in the 21st century. Greg Pierce In this episode of Metro Blueprint, experts discuss how the catastrophic fires in Los Angeles exposed long-standing challenges in water utility systems in Southern California and beyond.
What are the economic and legal implications of President Trump’s DEI and LGBTQIA executive orders?
A lot of these legal implications of removing DEI, I see it as robbing people of the resources that they deserve. And so for me, I’m going to always show that resource deprivation has an impact, but I’m also going to show that we have seen significant growth over the last hundred years. Andre Perry In this first episode of Metro Blueprint, experts discuss how efforts to weaken DEI protections result in taking away resources from people who deserve them.
Despite Trump’s orders, congestion pricing will win in the long run
Last month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rescinded the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) power to charge drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, officially known as the “Congestion Relief Zone.” President Donald Trump celebrated and playfully suggested New Yorkers would crown him king for doing so. But here’s the thing: New York’s congestion pricing may not be as hated as the president believes.
Why the Marine Corps never leaves you
On Jan. 26, 2024, I was honored to attend the Change of Command for the Seventh Marine Regiment Sergeant Majors at Marine Corps Base, 29 Palms. The Change of Command is a time-honored Marine Corps tradition, where the Commanding Officer or a Sergeant Major relinquishes, command, and responsibility of his unit and his Marines to the next in command.
You searched for "congestion pricing"
“‘Politically what makes sense is money that is being paid by these New Jersey residents should go to improve transit services between the two states,’ said Philip Plotch, principal researcher at the Washington-based Eno Center for Transportation (and a resident of Gottheimer’s district).” May 26, 2023 – A battle is brewing across the Hudson River and in the halls of Congress between New York and New Jersey over congestion pricing. Two legislators, one from each state, put forth their arguments.
Data for Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Mobility
Data on passenger movements, vehicle fleets, fare payments, and transportation infrastructure has immense potential to inform cities to better plan, regulate, and enforce their urban mobility systems. This report specifically examines the opportunities that exist for U.S. cities to use mobility data to improve transportation's environmental sustainability, accessibility, and equity.
Around the halls: Brookings scholars discuss built environment issues that could define 2023
In December 2021, we asked Brookings Metro’s nonresident senior fellows what the most pressing built environment issues could be in the year ahead. Their responses were remarkably prescient. Many of their warnings came true over the past 12 months, such as the need for public capacity to manage new federal funding and the dangers that could arise if cities did not step up their climate responses.
Establish a national PPP Unit to support bottom-up infrastructure investment
By any measure, the United States is a laggard in terms of public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Between 1985 and 2011, there were 377 transportation PPP infrastructure projects funded in the U.S. Those projects comprised just nine percent of the total nominal costs of infrastructure PPPs around the world.
Around the halls: Built environment issues that could define 2022
For the nation’s infrastructure and built environment, 2021 felt like a year of extremes. Extreme weather events such as Hurricane Ida, western wildfires, and recently, the Kentucky tornados made the effects of climate change harder to ignore. Housing prices and rents rose precipitously, driven by strong demand, pandemic-related supply constraints, and policy choices. The digital divide persisted, separating children from school and workers from jobs.
Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide
As of 2020, nearly 50 percent of the bus-operator workforce was over 55. Evidence indicates that many younger job seekers are often not aware of the potential career opportunities and employee benefits that are available at transit agencies.
Valley Voice: Veterans Day commercialization infuriates this vet
Veterans Day is the day many pay tribute to our armed forces. As a retired Marine, now in business, “Thank you for your service” has been said to me nearly every time I meet someone new and my service in the Corps is mentioned. “Oh my god, Thank you, sir for your sacrifices, and being a hero” has been said to me many times. Let’s get this straight: I ain’t no hero.
Media Mentions
Media Mentions The Star Tribune | June 29,2020 As virus restrictions ease, Metro Transit wonders: Will riders come back? Grossman notes that transit ridership has been declining for years — and that’s been the case at Metro Transit, too.
The CDC's wrong-way approach to contact tracing
As part of the long-term effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, U.S. public health officials plan to rely on contact tracing. Identifying individuals who may have come in contact with another infected person — such as workers or travelers on an airplane — is a vitally important approach in containing the disease.
Valley Voice: Here's hoping the handshake doesn't also fall victim to coronavirus
OPINION Robert Puentes, Special to The Desert Sun Published 5:00 a.m. PT May 25, 2020 A sign in London to discourage handshaking as a way to stop the coronavirus (Photo: The Conversation) A handshake is a way of meeting, greeting, departing, offering congratulations or condolences, gratitude, or sealing a business or diplomatic deal.
Takeaways from a European Congestion Pricing Study Tour
|Robert Puentes and Brianne Eby In the United States, congestion pricing continues to garner considerable attention from policymakers and transportation advocates. New York is famously working to roll out their initiative in 2021. Major studies are underway to study the policy’s application in Los Angeles and Chicago.
Eno Brief: Taxing New Mobility Services: What’s Right? What’s Next?
July 23, 2018 | Alexander Laska By So Jung Kim and Robert Puentes Transportation network companies (TNCs)—Uber, Lyft, and Via—are now established parts of many cities’ urban mobility systems. Given their popularity, they are also attractive targets for state and local policymakers looking for a way to fund transit and infrastructure, to establish parity with taxis, to cover regulatory costs, and to support programs that improve equitable mobility.
The bus - yes, the bus - is key to fixing our transportation woes - The Washington Post
Robert Puentes chairs the Executive Steering Committee of the Bus Transformation Project and is president and chief executive of the Eno Center for Transportation. When it comes to transportation, few metropolitan areas have demonstrated their ability to innovate more than Washington. That may be hard to swallow for some given our notorious traffic congestion, chronic maintenance backlog and safety concerns for bikers and pedestrians.
New GAO Report Finds Issues, Posits Few Solutions
July 26, 2019 Support for capital investments in public transit is high in the United States. Evidence for this can be found in measures for new investments that voters approve with regularity at the ballot box, the state legislatures raising their own sources for capital projects, and the widespread recognition that boosting ridership requires investment in the right priorities.
Spotlight on Measure M
July 26, 2019 This week, Eno released an important new paper from UCLA’s Michael Manville about one of the most significant transportation ballot measures in recent years. Los Angeles County voters approved Measure M in November 2016. The fact that a transit measure passed is, in itself, not much of a surprise. Eno has tracked these measures across the country for a number of years now and transit projects are consistently popular.
Lessons Learned: Moscow Urban Forum, 2019
I knew it would be strange to be in Russia on July 4 for the Moscow Urban Forum. I also thought the country’s capital city was a curious place for a global conference on urbanism given its past. The highly centralized Soviet style of city building focused on the industrial, not human, scale with urban planning focused on production for state needs.
Pricing Strategies to De-Congest Cities
March 8, 2019 In the country’s two biggest metropolitan areas, political leaders took big steps toward full-scale congestion pricing strategies last week. New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to support the plan devised by Governor Andrew Cuomo to charge drivers entering the busiest parts of Manhattan and use the revenue generated to support the city’s stressed transit agency.
The Future of U.S. Redevelopment Financing: China?
Shutterstock China is considering investing in major projects in San Francisco. Could this be the way forward for cash-strapped cities?
What Would an Infrastructure Bank Really Do?
Last week, the Congressional Budget Office released an important analysis on the potential efficacy, need, and impact of a national infrastructure bank (NIB.) While the idea remains stuck in political and policy limbo, the report is still highly relevant. Interest in the idea remains high, helping to inform the policy innovation happening in states like New York and cities like Chicago. The CBO report is, as usual, careful and thorough.
The shutdown’s effect on air traffic control - and how to end it
As the federal government shutdown stretches on, its effects on the nation’s aviation system are in the spotlight. Of course, there are the long lines reported at airport security checkpoints and concerns that they might get worse in the coming days. But another critical problem is the shutdown’s effects on the nation’s air traffic control system.
The shutdown's effect on air traffic control - and how to end it
As the federal government shutdown stretches on, its effects on the nation's aviation system are in the spotlight. Of course, there are the long lines reported at airport security checkpoints and concerns that they might get worse in the coming days. But another critical problem is the shutdown's effects on the nation's air traffic control system.
Major Transportation Funding Proposals on Next Week's Ballot
Next week’s midterm elections hold major political ramifications for the United States given the high-profile Congressional, gubernatorial, statehouse, and mayoral choices American voters will consider. But Election Day also plays a critical role in shaping communities from coast-to-coast in the form of investments and decisions about transportation.
Op-Ed: Eno's Certification Recommendations in Final FAA Bill
October 3, 2018 The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act overwhelmingly passed the Senate this week and is on its way to the President’s desk for this signature. The new law will address weighty issues like unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), security, consumer protection, and airport and airline operations.
California: Will voters repeal the gas tax increase?
California: Will voters repeal the gas tax increase? California voters are set to vote on Prop 6, which would repeal the 2017 gas tax increase passed by the state legislature and require future tax increases to go before voters. This comes after voters approved a measure to put the new revenue in a lockbox for transportation earlier this year. Dr. Marty Wachs, distinguished professor emeritus of urban planning at UCLA, talks to us about Prop 6 and the motivations behind it.
The Indiana Toll Road: How Did a Good Deal Go Bad?
What happens when the wave of the future files for bankruptcy? That’s what they’re asking in Indiana now that its privatized toll road, lauded as a new era in public/private infrastructure partnerships, has filed for a “pre-packaged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Now, after years of low traffic volumes, the Indiana Toll Road is facing major financial restructuring and likely new management. What went wrong?
Our air transit system is overloaded - is privatization the answer?
With the summer travel season in full swing, many Americans are heading to our nation's airports. Today, over 3,330 publicly owned airports are part of a that moves more than 2.5 million passengers each day safely and effectively and $76 billion in total output to the American economy. But there are also considerable challenges. The runway and terminal capacity at the nation's major airports will not be able to accommodate the projected growth in passengers over the next 20 years.
Eno Brief: Taxing New Mobility Services: What's Right? What's Next?
Skip to content By So Jung Kim and Robert Puentes Transportation network companies (TNCs)—Uber, Lyft, and Via—are now established parts of many cities’ urban mobility systems. Given their popularity, they are also attractive targets for state and local policymakers looking for a way to fund transit and infrastructure, to establish parity with taxis, to cover regulatory costs, and to support programs that improve equitable mobility.
House Amendment Log - H.R. 4, FAA Reauthorization
The following is a list of amendments made in order by the House Rules Committee to H.R. 4, the FAA reauthorization bill. Clicking on the sponsor name will take you to the text of the amendment. Amendments are listed in...
DOT Fast-Tracks Application Process for $1.5 Billion in Discretionary Grants
The Eno Center for Transportation conducts research on a variety of subjects intended to guide and improve transportation policy. Research projects can be specific studies by Eno or can be ongoing projects overseen by a working group.
Over 200 Amendments Filed to Revised House FAA Bill
The House Rules Committee has now posted the text of 213 amendments to H.R. 4, the FAA reauthorization bill, that were filed before or shortly after the deadline of 2 p.m. today.
FHWA Distributes $36.4 Billion in Highway Funding to States
The Eno Center for Transportation conducts research on a variety of subjects intended to guide and improve transportation policy. Research projects can be specific studies by Eno or can be ongoing projects overseen by a working group.
Four Takeaways from Uber’s Big Launch Day
Uber announced Wednesday a series of new initiatives designed to work with cities in addressing challenges related to transportation and technology. Uber listed their goals as reducing individual car ownership, expanding transportation access, and helping governments plan future investments. Uber unveiled five new business elements: three that expand Uber services beyond ride hailing, and two related to data sharing between Uber and the cities in which it operates.
Charging for Congestion in New York
In the early 2000s, the United Kingdom faced a big problem. Congestion in its cities was rapidly growing, causing long delays on the roads and leading to severe overcrowding on the commuter rail networks. The links to the UK’s international gateways for both freight and passengers, were under increasing pressure. Rail freight lines and strategic road links to ports and airports were heavily congested and often beyond capacity in peak times.
The Coming Age of Microtransit
This month's massive Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas featured the expected high-tech gadgets and gizmos. Private companies from around the world descended on this desert city to display the latest in wearable tech, televisions and gaming. But the expo also functioned something like a car show highlighting the latest in autonomous and electric vehicles, on-demand ride services and vehicle sharing.
Why Virginia's I-66 tolls are likely to pay off
When the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) began charging rush-hour tolls on Interstate 66 inside Washington’s Beltway, a very important economic experiment was launched. The state put a price on free-flowing traffic by allowing solo drivers to use the road and charged them based on the actual demand for the opportunity to do so.
New Report Suggests Workforce, Safety Concerns for Automated Trucks Are Overblown - The Eno Center for Transportation
Commercial trucking is likely to be one of the first sectors that benefits from vehicle automation and connectivity, according to a new report from Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE). While commercial trucks account for only 4 percent of vehicles on the nation’s roadways, long-haul trucks move more than 70 percent of all freight – and account for 13 percent of total U.S. petroleum consumption.
Scenario Planning for Automated Vehicles - The Eno Center for Transportation
In region after region, a growing chorus of leaders are calling for their city and metropolitan area to plan for a future of automated vehicles (AVs). Often these calls fall along a binary argument between what analysts call the “heaven’ and ‘hell’ scenarios (or ‘utopia’ or ‘dystopia’ visions) for AVs. In the Heaven scenario, AVs a are parts of shared fleets of vehicles that travelers don’t own but use like we see today in some car and bike programs.
Transportation Is a Big Issue for Voters at the State and Local Levels
Last November's election was historic for many of reasons. Transportation stakeholders may remember it as the day when about $250 billion for roads, transit, airports and pedestrian facilities was decided on by voters in 34 states. Over 70 percent of those measures passed for everything from subways in Los Angeles, to seaports in Rhode Island to parking lots in Telluride, Colorado.
Eno Launches "Aviation Insights" Policy Brief Series - The Eno Center for Transportation
On October 11, the Eno Center for Transportation released the first of a series of policy briefs that make up the latest installment of Eno Aviation Insights. The series focuses on answering important questions affecting the U.S. aviation industry from an independent and objective perspective. These briefs are timely as the scrutiny on many airports and airlines has increased in recent years.
Wanted for Innovation Districts: Transit and Broadband
Whether it was the canals and railroads that linked our heartland to our industrial centers, the interstate highway system that ultimately connected all regions of the nation, or telecommunications infrastructure that allowed data and information to be shared instantly, transportation and telecommunications infrastructure has always played an important role in shaping the economic and physical landscape of this country. This was especially the case within metro areas.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Robert
Contact Robert, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack