Van Beek is President & CEO of the Eno Transportation Foundation, a non-profit operating foundation that promotes creative, research-based problem solving by government and the transportation community. Established in 1921, a key goal of Eno is to support the professional development of leaders across all transport modes.
Before joining Eno, he was Chair of the Federal Practices Group and Director for Jacobs Consultancy, an aviation management consulting firm. His areas included federal policy and funding initiatives, privatization, and congestion management.
Van Beek also served as Executive Vice President, Policy, with Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) in Washington, D.C., where he managed aviation and airport policy development on behalf of commercial service airports in the United States and Canada. Major areas of focus included airport finance, congestion management, security, and liberalization of aviation services.
Prior to joining ACI-NA, Van Beek served as Associate Deputy Secretary and Director of the Office of Intermodalism at USDOT. He was responsible for promoting and coordinating the development of intermodal passenger and freight transportation systems, improving connections among transportation modes, and enhancing services for passengers and shippers. In that role, he worked closely with other federal agencies, state and local governments, and private interests representing the transportation industry.
Van Beek also served as the Deputy Administrator of USDOT's Research and Special Programs Administration. Working with the Administrator, he was responsible for the regulation of interstate oil and gas pipelines and the movement of hazardous materials, university research, emergency transportation and response, and the Volpe Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Van Beek was a professor of political science at San Jose State University and was appointed a Research Associate at its Mineta Transportation Institute. He has also taught at Washington and Lee University, and served as a legislative assistant to former U.S. Representative Tony Coelho of California.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors and teaches for the University of Denver's Intermodal Transportation Institute.
A good deal of the discussion this week seem analogous to debating how best to get a runner from second to third base in the sixth inning before the game's first pitch is thrown. What we first need is a national transportation policy with clear goals. Such a policy must incorporate passenger and freight interests and must reflect the diversity of the U.S. and its different types of transportation: rural, metropolitan, intercity and international (and the fact that these are often interconnected). Seen in this light, while VMT is interesting to track and it can help point to important trends… Read more
Secretary LaHood is doing the right thing by speaking out forcefully about distracted driving and flying. Carol Carmody is right, however, to frame the issue in the larger context of human factors (flight and duty time and hours of service are just two of the issues that are important). While the ability of the operator to perform fundamental tasks is certainly impaired by outside distractions introduced into the vehicle such as drinking and texting, performance can also be potentially impaired by distractions that are built into or brought legally in vehicles. These include bluetooth technologies that enable cellphone use, GPS… Read more
To her credit, former Secretary Mary Peters offers an intellectually honest view, yet I believe ultimately a flawed one, for how our nation should deal with the financial and policy crises we have across our transportation system. The “federal interest requirements” she discussed during the Bush Administration (and reiterated during the interview) leave little room for the public parts of our system where privatization, long-term leases and concession income are insufficient to pay the capital and operating parts of our system. After all, if they could, the private sector would already be operating them profitably and we would not have public… Read more
I agree with Jim Burnley that our nation is significantly off course when it comes to transportation policy. The policy is unsustainable in many ways but certainly with funding where our current and projected resources do not match our needs and wants. That means we have to recalibrate our desires, reform how we allocate available resources, and/or raise additional resources. This is a reality whether we are looking at the highway and transit program, aviation, intermodal discretionary projects (TIGER), or high speed rail (the latter two new project categories have many multiples of wants for available resources). John Horsley’s submission is a… Read more
The best way to counter earmarking is to put in place a performance-based transportation system that would determine eligibility and award support for projects that demonstrate benefits according to identified goals. While I agree that earmarking is not as prevalent as critics of transportation programs would have us believe, it is undoubtedly true that the worst examples have damaged the public’s perception about the value of infrastructure investments. As a consequence, the bad examples also make it harder for policymakers to raise the gas tax or other revenues that would support programs that address the nation’s needs. President Obama clearly understood… Read more
I agree with my colleagues that eight years after the September 11 terrorist attacks we have better defenses and Norm Mineta and Michael Jackson are among those we have to thank for getting us to where we are. The application of technology to the screening of passengers and checked baggage is just one example where we have made great strides in transportation security. As others have indicated, I suspect we will continue to make technological improvements that address today and tomorrow’s vulnerabilities while better protecting the free flow of passengers and goods that is so vital to our way of life.… Read more
How heartening that transportation advocates from a variety of perspectives agree that we need (1) a vision and national policy for freight, (2) a dedicated source of revenue to help pay for regionally and nationally significant projects, and (3) eligibility criteria that include a wide range of benefits and costs to the economy and the larger society. I agree with Mort Downey that one of the first things we need to do is obtain better data, commission more research, and create better institutional capacities at the national, state, and MPO levels. Goods movement presents at least three policy challenges… Read more
In the spirit of the climate debate, let's "chill." Rather than making two more laps around the Moving Cooler track, why don't we discuss and debate the policies contained in the report? Knowing many of those involved with the report, I accept it as an honest attempt to test the potential of a diverse set of strategies. The fact that some are politically unrealistic does not necessarily mean that they should not be explored. If some have misinterpreted the metholodology or some were inexact about how they communicated the report's findings, well, it wouldn't be the first time that has… Read more
There is no doubt that one of the principal strategies for reducing transportation’s share of greenhouse gas emissions should be to invest in alternative methods of powering light-duty vehicles. Given that they constitute 60% of total transportation emissions, no comprehensive strategy can be successful without a fleet-wide (or close to it) conversion by 2050. Although they constitute lesser shares of the overall problem, the same is true of the maritime and the aviation sectors as ships and aircraft are still reliant on fossil-fuels (it is especially true for the international bunkered emissions handled by IMO and ICAO). There does appear… Read more
IPat Jones has asked me to clarify the last point in my previous post: My point is that there is a kind of mythology surrounding the creation of our interstate system that is quite useful. The public was supportive of the infrastructure investment in a way that they rarely have been. If we treat the interstate as just another asset, we de-mythologize it. In my view we do so at our peril. As I noted in my first post, I support tolling in exceptional circumstances (such as congestion) if authorities pledge to reinvest all proceeds in improving service and/or increasing… Read more
Many of the bloggers have noted that they support tolling but only in ways that protect the public interest. I would be interested to know what proponents identify as the public interest, how they would protect it, and under what conditions states and localities should be permitted to toll (or should this be an unlimited authority?). Simply saying that states and localities need the money and they should be allowed to get on with it ignores the fact that the vast majority of the public and many members of Congress, whose support we need to transform transportation and meet our… Read more
Tolling existing interstates should only be done in exceptional circumstances and any and all proceeds should be reinvested in the corridor to improve service. One example would be to reduce unacceptable levels of congestion and provide a better level of service to users (and if possible to add capacity). Under these restrictive conditions, I think you would maximize the chances of getting support. This is as much a political argument as an economic one. The idea is unpopular and as an industry we are much better off keeping our powder dry for the tough decisions such as raising the fuels… Read more
These are excellent questions and ones that must be answered if we are going to transform the transportation industry. I say transform because the current models of funding investments through the HTF and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF), and some general fund contributions, do not meet today’s infrastructure needs let alone future needs. At the same time, the nation is now on a course to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) with a 2020 goal of between 14-20% (President’s FY2010 budget and H.R. 2454 passed by the House) and a 2050 goal of GHG reductions of 83%. This latter goal… Read more
My colleagues have placed the right qualifiers on an evaluation of transportation stimulus, which by most accounts has been successful. It is also worth remembering that the stimulus program was implemented in very different ways depending on mode and/or program: transit (formula-based) highways (formula, but with some additional flexibilities) airports (discretionary, with an emphasis on truly ready-to-go projects) "TIGER" multimodal/intermodal (discretionary with some criteria about distribution) high-speed rail (first appropriations of PRIIA with some new criteria) This suggests that as the stimulus program is evaluated that we should look at project delivery by mode and/or program to ensure that we are… Read more
I certainly agree with the previous bloggers that the FAA and its programs need to be reauthorized. Additional partial-year extensions give the industry little ability to plan and create a tremendous burden on the agency and its grant recipients. While the current House and Senate legislation provide additional revenue for the short-term needs to modernize the air traffic control system, they do not deal with the structural shortfall in revenues that will inhibit the ability of the FAA to meet the medium- to long-term needs of the system including those related to hiring controllers, funding airport capacity, and finally getting… Read more
As important as transportation is to economic competitiveness and business, it is much more than that. It has become indispensible to our way of life. But the way we invest in, operate, and use transportation today is not sustainable and requires reform. Unfortunately in addressing transportation challenges, the U.S. has gone from being a leader to a laggard when compared to other nations in the world or what our system requires. Unless we turn it around and address our challenges, we will leave the next generations a sector that supports neither the mobility demands of individuals nor the needs of… Read more
If we are to improve safety significantly we have to better ingrain it in our culture especially when it comes to driving. I believe it is still true that someone in each of the modes at USDOT still receives some sort of communication when someone dies and/or there is a serious incident involving transportation (all except with autos on highways, unless involving a truck, hazmat, transit, or an intercity bus). It certainly focuses the mind when you are notified a pipeline has ruptured, a train has derailed or an aircraft has been lost. Our number one focus should be on… Read more
Lisa: Below is a list of the goals, including the first (reducing per capita VMT), from the Rockefeller/Lautenberg legislation. I thought they would be useful to enumerate given the comments of some of the bloggers. Whatever our individual thoughts about the individual goals or what should have been included but was not, it is a refreshing specificaiton given recent experiences. These goals are similar to those contained in many other national transportation policies. Steve Van Beek Major Goals of The Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 • Reduce national per capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an… Read more
Perhaps All the King's Horses and All the King's Men Can Put Our Transportation Policy Back Together Again. We should all be delighted congressional authorizers are finally talking about fundamentally reforming our nation's surface transportation policy. How long has it been since Congress was actually talking about what the our vision should be, the goals to implement the vision, and the funding allocation mechanisms to support them? This is a potential turning point from what has been a disjointed and incremental policy that has been built by distributive politics rather than national needs. Seen in this light, I think it… Read more
This one is easy. Janet is certainly right about the need for stable long-term funding and Terry is spot-on about the benefits that transportation investments make to the economy. And, as Chairman Oberstar has indicated, there is plenty of time this fiscal year to reform surface transportation. After all, we have discussed the good work that has been done in town on policy, finance, and performance to reform our outdated policy architecture. The Problem? Money. Until we identify an adequate revenue source to back the program we should not reauthorize the program whether this year, 18 months from now or… Read more
Ideas for Making and Implementing Freight Policy We need a freight policy. If we do not have explicit agreement on what we want to do then any investments made will continue to build on what has been a disjointed and incremental federal policy that has too often ignored or marginalized freight interests. I would argue that "spreading resources around like peanut butter" has not been a particular problem on the freight side, where mobility needs, congestion, and inefficiencies have too long been ignored. Certainly we should spend any available monies responsibly according to system needs and public goals. As the… Read more
Midway, Airport Privatization and PPPs The apparent collapse of the Midway deal says very little about private-public partnerships, lease deals, or the role of private capital at airports. The program operates within very tight boundaries that mean only a select few deals will ever be put together. The limited number of "slots" available and the role of airlines in approving the deal make the program a challenge and help explain why there have been few attempts at putting deals together. The Bush Administration recommended several measures (including creating more slots and reducing airlines' influence over the deals) that would have… Read more
Labor and Transportation Policy As it has in the past, our sector will face a challenge in convincing the public and policymakers that infrastructure investments in transportation are both worth paying for and that they make important contributions to national wealth and productivity. Organized labor has been a crucial supporter and ally in this effort, often turning out many of its members at the local level to urge passage of authorizing legislation, budgets, and the appropriations that help fund the investments. In return, they seek to participate in the jobs created and the other benefits that accrue from these investments. … Read more
Bill Graves and Bob Poole detail reasonable concerns about implementation of a downstream cap and trade system. I think we all agree that it is the outcomes that are most important. Toward that end, the transportation industry should endeavor as Jim Burnley (sort of) suggests to figure out the best way to reduce its 28% contribution to domestic GHG emissions (presumably by the goals identified by the President in the FY 2010 budget--let's also remember that Senator McCain called for large reductions during the campaign as well). The legislative process will be a challenging one and ideas on the best… Read more
Great question. The honest answer is that we do not know. Cap and trade has been used effectively to address acid rain in the U.S. and is a work in progress in the European Union. The former, while successful, has a limited scope compared to an economy-wide cap and trade system to address climate policy. The latter has gone through a bit of an evolution that is worth understanding more thoroughly. Matt Rose is concerned about one particular model--a downstream cap and trade system imposed on transportation users. An alternative is an upstream cap and trade regime that would focus… Read more
I'd like to make three comments about Rich's excellent post. First, he is exactly right that someone must be in the Office of the Secretary to act as an intermodal and multimodal advocate. I'm sure Jeff Shane could provide examples from his own time as Undersecretary, but the ones that come to my mind are the Alameda Corridor, the Salt Lake City Olympics, the Miami Intermodal Center, Bart-SFO, the Chicago Bridges issue (opening and closings and their effect on traffic) and several other projects. In each of these, they were multimodal projects that required an advocate in the department to… Read more
ISTEA and Intermodalism The answer is decidedly "no" we have not come far enough since the passage of ISTEA. I'm delighted that House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar has discussed returning the "I" back to the surface transportation program in part by creating an Assistant Secretary of Intermodalism at USDOT. We can also look to the language of ISTEA and our experience over the last 18 years to make improvements in our surface transportation program as well as our aviation program. The preamble to ISTEA said that our goal should be "to develop a National Intermodal Transportation System that is… Read more
High Speed Rail: A Promising Initiative High speed rail has great potential in several of the identified corridors. Its potential is demonstrated by Amtrak's current service on the Northeast Corridor that now has over a 60% market share between Washington and New York and by several of the busiest corridors connecting the major urban areas of Europe. Many of these options in operation today provide outstanding levels of service and interconnect major city centers, airports, and mass transit systems. Its future in the United States is likely to depend on the criteria that Steve Heminger and Peter Gertler have identified:… Read more
"User Pays," but not only the user pays... It is a good principle to have the user pay for transportation services, both for policy and budgetary reasons. The HTF is a valuable contributor and, until last year, it was a reliable generator of long-term capital, critical for infrastructure investment. The point is if we had relied solely and exclusively on the HTF we would not have received $8 billion last year and nearly $50 billion in total transportation investment this year. In addition, we received new infusions of TIFIA money, tax credit bond authority, and useful measures temporarily suspending Alternative… Read more
FY 2010 Budget and Future Needs The brief outline of transportation priorities contained in the 2-page FY 2010 budget narrative signals that the Administration will be serious about several important issues, including: putting the surface transportation program on a sustainable foundation; institutionalizing its priority to high speed rail; modernizing air traffic control; and grappling with the dramatic decline in rural access to aviation (scheduling data confirms that in the last 10 years, traffic is down 40% at small airports). These are all welcomed priorities. I understand my fellow bloggers' concerns about budgetary rules (a frequent dispute over the years). Fortunately,… Read more
Question: Under user-pays, is a user in an urban environment such as the Washington-Metro area assumed to be a user of a particular mode or of the passenger transportation system generally? An intermodal perspective would assume that a user such as myself--who uses commuter rail, the subway, or drives depending on my daily needs--is a user of the passenger system. A modal perspective would assume a user-pays policy would view each modal in isolation from the others. Thee contrasting perspectives can then result in different views about how monies collected should flow back for investment (i.e., to the mode or… Read more
Kudos to the Commission In light of the VMT kerfluffle last week, the Commission handled their recommendations just right. James Whitty's thoughtful comments about transitioning the concept are right-on, bringing it in gradually helps both gain acceptance and avoids a direct link between a VMT recommendation and a tax increase. The right strategy is baby VMT steps this surface authorization cycle that lay the groundwork for future transformation during the next cycle. More revenues are necessary but it appears in the short-term that they are much more likely to come from economic recovery-style stimulus or further general fund injections into… Read more
VMT--The Road Ahead I agree with much of what has been said. The results from Oregon are indeed promising. If we want to maximize the likelihood that VMT will be adopted gradually (by the states, or by certain vehicle types as others have noted), it should be sold as a superior method of collection that introduces the right incentives into transportation decision-making, not as a method of bring more revenue to the system (or what individuals hear "raising my taxes"). Introducing it as a revenue-neutral method (i.e., raising the same amount as the gas tax) will help focus the discussion… Read more
Climate Change and Transportation As is evident in the responses to Lisa's question, there is finally agreement among the President, Congress and the transportation industry that we should have a national climate change policy--something we to this point have not had. We should not underestimate the importance of this movement and get too bogged down in a debate over the exact right solution. What this really means is that we cannot make climate policy without transportation and we cannot make transportation policy without consideration of the climate (i.e., the aviation and surface authorizations are climate policy). That is why… Read more
Stimulus and PPPs The nearly $800 billion stimulus has a mix of transportation infrastructure proposals that seem to make sense given that (1) they rely--for the most part--on existing authorities, (2) the need for expediency, and (3) the feedback given by federal agencies about what they could handle responsibly. The surprise of the bill without question was the $8 billion high speed/inter-city number, which will require substantial effort on the part of USDOT and FRA to spend responsibly within the allotted time. Although not unprecedented for conference politics, it is rare to see such a plus-up when neither bill had… Read more
Future Funding and Financing Valid estimates of the current balances and forecasts of the trust funds highlight the point that we do not have anywhere need sufficient funding to support our current transportation programs (even with some infusion of general fund monies). That means we have to (1) raise the current system's taxes and fees that support the funds, (2) reform the structure, or (3) drastically cut back the public parts of our transportation system to align with available public and private monies. With a couple of exceptions, most of the analysts in this blog have ruled out the first… Read more
Roles, Missions, and Goals Then Programs: The 2009 Opportunity Mort Downey is exactly right: it makes little sense to get into a program by program review before settling on the mission and priorities for a national transportation program. What makes 2009 an opportune time to conduct this review are the following set of circumstances: The prevailing sense of crisis, which in the past has led to historic change and a changing role for government (e.g., 1800, 1832, 1860, 1896, 1932, 1964, 1980). The saliency of transportation as a potential contributor to important public priorities such as climate change, energy use,… Read more
Gabriel: In my view no. I think that is the decision for the appropriate level of government. I think they should be incentivized to do a comprehensive alternatives analysis, which would consider the performance criteria set in the program as well as the local market dynamics in order to reach the best decision about mode, level of service, and other factors. If roads are as superior as you believe they are in the overwhelming number of instances, then presumably they would come out on top. My own view is that in many cases they would, but I think in others… Read more
Gabriel: Europe is not there yet (although they are further along than we are). What we are discussing here is the user and what he or she is using. From my perspective, I am a transportation user, not a car or rail user, using different modes in the transportation network. (My individual decisions are influenced by my alternatives, time of travel, reliability, etc.) Certainly public or private actors who pay for roads should insist upon a level of service. Many states, such as Virginia and Washington, have gone in that direction and have quite explicit performance dashboards for key routes. … Read more
Improving Transportation Policy by Actually Making One We have a transportation policy today, but unfortunately it is a collection of disjointed and incrementally built policies that collectively don't respond to today or tomorrow's challenges (if only we had really focused on ISTEA's goals of nearly 20 years ago). That is why it is so important to spend the time devising new authorizations, ones that effectively tackle the traditional transportation challenges such as mobility, safety, and capacity but also address ones too long ignored--congestion, energy use and the environment. In our quest to devise a new policy architecture and funding sources--not… Read more
Economic Recovery Part I $40 billion-plus of new money is a substantial investment to be made so quickly after a new election. Does it fall short of all of our needs? Yes. But is it likely to be the last tranche of new money made available? No. I think the Obama Administration and members of Congress are being particularly careful to make sure that this first installment of monies is spent quickly and responsibly. That is wise and, if successful, may help repair not only transportation infrastructure, but also the public's perception about the wisdom of the public investments we… Read more
We've come a long way very quickly to put together a solid economic recovery proposal The idea that public investments in infrastructure, including transportation, are a method of promoting economic recovery and providing jobs is great progress from where the debate was last year (where we were overly fixated on public-private-partnerships and many were discussing a much more limited role for the federal support for transportation infrastructure). Now, in a dramatic change, leaders are talking seriously about the importance of transportation to our communities, national wealth and prosperity; not only that but they are putting tens of billions of dollars… Read more
State and local projects To reply to Bob Poole, the overwhelming majority of projects that I have been involved with have gone through a fairly strict project approval process, including benefit-cost analyses. While many of these are major projects, some have not been. This includes both federal grant programs and even PFC applications for airports (that are federally authorized but are local money). Obviously there are exceptions, but the FAA Office of Airports, as well as many states and localities have fairly stringent processes, particularly when projects require environmental review. Perhaps some of our contributors can inform us of their… Read more
Earmarks, Political Power and Consensus-Building Lisa's question and a couple of the answers suggest concern about the obvious pork-oriented earmarks that are indefensible using any calculus. If only the issue were that easy. Earmarks, whether they be statutory or "soft," can be justified when the executive branch is unwilling to fund a project or when legislators want to ensure a good project receives support. Far more important is whether a project has been part of a project review process (with the consideration of alternatives and a measure of cost-effectiveness), can withstand scrutiny of performance measures, and is transparent so all… Read more
Three Strategies to Implement Now As with a number of issues posed by Lisa, the answer boils down to leadership. Will we use this golden opportunity to reorient transportation policy? Or will we once again put off tough decisions only to compound the challenge to future generations? Gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and bunker fuel are fossil-fuel commodities vital to today's transportation network. This fact will not change in the short-term. Therefore, we must do several things that include: (1) support the development of alternative fuels, electric vehicles, and enabling technologies that will provide consumers and businesses with alternatives with dramatically lower… Read more
Two management approaches are clear given the regulatory and administrative challenges addressed so far. The first is a need for system-wide thinking in DOT. The current overly formulaic approach, combined with the modal structure of the department, impede strategies to meet national goals. Ken Mead's plea for a "ONE-DOT" focus from the beginning where political appointees and senior career executives work together to chart out, propose, and implement policies is correct. While not a first-year priority given the full agenda, reorganizing DOT in combination with reforms of the modal authorizations is imperative. The second is the need for interdepartmental solutions… Read more
Transformative Change Requires Greater Transit Investments Indeed, the time has come for mass transit. Mobility needs -- together with the inclusion of criteria such as responsible land use, the promotion of energy security and the reduction of GHG emissions -- mean the time is right to transform our transportation culture and devote significantly more infrastructure support to public transportation in all forms. Some analysts have a static view of transportation, examining today's land use and commute patterns and coming to the conclusion that public transportation can only contribute marginal gains to mobility. This perspective has as a fundamental assumption that… Read more
Sticking to Our Knitting: Transportation and Stimulus The transportation community should not take ownership of stimulus projects designed more for economic development and job creation than they are for meeting transportation priorities. If monies are going to be distributed quickly, a certain amount of deference is going to have to be given to governors and mayors for projects they deem important. Transportation advocates should spend our time identifying infrastructure projects that meet stimulus goals, as well as transportation goals, and developing a consensus around long-term strategies to incorporate in the surface authorization and other transportation bills. That is the best… Read more
How to Spend the Stimulus Bill John Porcari is right. There will be plenty of time in the coming months to debate the outlines of the surface authorization's policy and funding architecture that will guide our policy over the next few years. Last week's post was heartening in the degree of consensus about including national priorities such as contributing to energy security, reducing transportation's carbon footprint, improving planning and finally having an intermodal transportation policy that lives up to ISTEA's promises and our future challenges. While there was agreement on many of the principles, there undoubtedly will be many debates… Read more
Top Five Priorities for the New Secretary: 1. Provide the leadership with Congress and the entire transportation industry to establish clear goals for the federal transportation program, including surface transportation, aviation, and maritime (as well as the connections among them). With the new Administration, several pending authorizations, and trust funds that are on life support, it is imperative that we understand where we want to go. Today there is not a consensus on first principles. 2. Identify new revenue sources, including an increase in fuel taxes and a process for transitioning to a VMT-based user fee. We should not apologize… Read more
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