In this series of blog posts, RFF researchers take a look at the current state of the Nation’s transportation infrastructure and evaluate various policies for financing the Highway Trust Fund. Facing a May 31st deadline to extend surface transportation funding, Congress is opting for a two month extension, the 33rd short-term measures to shore up  the Highway Trust Fund in the last 6 years.

In the United States, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that require automakers to produce fuel-efficient vehicles have been in place since the late 1970s. But major changes have come about in recent years to both the rules themselves and how they are to be implemented.

In early 2014, the case for lifting the crude oil export ban, which has been in place since the 1970s, started to gain traction—and with good reason. Doing away with the ban would result in lower US gasoline prices and greater US tight oil production.

Congestion pricing and driving restrictions offer two different ways for policymakers to address traffic congestion: the former levies fees individuals who drive into or within a designated “charging zone,” while the latter enforces “road-space rationing” (usually based on a car’s permit color or license plate number). Transportation experts strongly recommend the use of congestion pricing due to its efficacy and environmental benefits—so why do many cities choose to implement driving restrictions instead?

The rebound effect from improving energy efficiency has been widely discussed—from the pages of the New York Times and New Yorker to the halls of policy and to a voluminous academic literature. It’s been known for over a century and, on the surface, is simple to understand.

India’s car market has expanded rapidly since the country’s economic reforms in the early 1990s, a trend that is expected to continue well into the future; its passenger fleet alone is projected to swell from 22 million to 112 million vehicles between 2010 and 2030. In the wake of this growth, India is considering the adoption of fuel economy standards in its quest to curb fuel usage and foreign oil dependence.

New fuel economy rules are designed to slash fuel use, carbon dioxide emissions, and compliance costs. But Alan J. Krupnick, Joshua Linn, and Virginia McConnell argue that questions remain about their effectiveness.