Transportation Policy

Undergraduate / Graduate

This class will use applied tools of microeconomics and simple data analysis to analyze transportation policy choices, past and future, in the United States. We will consider surface transportation (roads, bridges, tunnels); airports and other aviation facilities; water transport (via inland waterways and coastal ports and harbors); intercity rail and bus; and public transit facilities. We will focus on policy impacts on efficiency (e.g., travel times, congestion, reliability), equity (e.g., fairness of service provision, funding), safety (e.g., injuries, fatalities, property damage), and the environment (e.g., carbon emissions). Class sessions will include lectures, small group activities, and discussions.