MTI National Transportation Finance Center’s

Transportation Finance Information Clearinghouse

 

This Clearinghouse collects information that will help transportation researchers, policymakers, and the public to find information on specific transportation finance topics, as well as knowing where to look for current news in the field.

The Clearinghouse has the following sections:

  • Newsletters and listserves
  • Websites
  • Strategies for finding transportation finance research

 

The Clearinghouse only presents information on websites that make all—or at least most of—their information available to the public without charge.

We regularly update this website with new information. If you would like to suggest material to add, please email your recommendations to Asha W. Agrawal at asha.weinstein.agrawal(at)sjsu.edu.

 

Newsletters and Listserves

The following newsletters or listserves all regularly report on transportation finance issues, though not all limit themselves to those topics.

AASHTO Daily Transportation Update and AASHTO Journal
http://news.transportation.org/

The Daily Transportation Update provides links to major news stories, Monday to Friday, while the weekly AASHTO Journal summarizes news from the preceding week.

IBTTA News Roundup
http://ibtta.org/News/NewsRoundupList.cfm?navItemNumber=916

This bi-weekly newsletter from the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association reports and summarizes news about tolled transportation facilities.

Innovation Briefs
http://www.innobriefs.com/index.html

Each issues of this newsletter contains public policy consultant C. Kenneth Orski’s analysis of a single issue. The newsletter is issued approximately once a week.

Surface Transportation Innovations
http://www.reason.org/surfacetransnews.shtml

In this monthly newsletter from the Reason Foundation, the Foundation’s Director of Transportation Studies, Robert Poole, presents his analysis of recent transportation research and comments on major transportation issues of the moment.

The Tom Warne Report
http://tomwarnereport.com/

Each issue of this weekly newsletter contains short summaries of 10 or 15 articles about transportation finance that have been published elsewhere. The editor, Tom Warne, sometimes adds a few sentences of his own commentary on the stories.

 

Websites

International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA)
http://www.ibtta.org/

IBBTA collects and disseminates information about tolled transportation facilities around the world. This extensive site includes news updates, links to publications, and a “warehouse” of data that IBTTA collects from toll operators. Some information on the site is only available to members.

Toll Roads News
http://www.tollroadsnews.com/

This website provides news updates about all facets of toll roads operation and management, as well as government policy related to tolling and road pricing. The news items sometimes include commentary from the website editor. New reports are posted at irregular intervals, and one can sign up to receive them as email alerts.

National Journal Expert Blogs: Transportation
http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/

This blog by the National Journal posts a question once a week, and transportation industry leaders respond in a few paragraphs.

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/PPP/index.htm

This website from the Federal Highway Administration provides links to resources such as case studies on PPPs and state legislation authorizing PPPs.

Tolling and Pricing Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tolling_pricing/index.htm

This website provides extensive information about tolling and pricing projects funded by the Federal Highway Administration.

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Congestion Pricing Committee
http://www.trb-pricing.org/

This website reports on the activities in the field of congestion pricing, especially but not exclusively those organized through the TRB.

Urban Transport Pricing in Europe
http://www.transport-pricing.net/

This site provides links to various transportation pricing projects and programs in Europe.

Value Pricing
http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/slp/vp/vp_org/index.html

This website hosted by the State and Local Policy Program at the University of Minnesota provides links to information about congestion pricing projects in the U.S. and internationally.

 

Tips for Finding Research on Transportation Finance Topics

Libraries

Many libraries have specialized transportation collections. For a partial listing, see the website “Directory of Transportation Libraries and Information Centers” (http://ntl.bts.gov/tldir/index.html).

Researchers may wish to consult the electronic catalogues at these libraries, and many transportation libraries also provide websites with information about searching for information on transportation topics. Also, the reference librarians at these institutions are a valuable resource for researchers, since the librarians specialize in transportation research.


The following are a few of the larger transportation libraries:

National Transportation Library
http://ntl.bts.gov/about_ntl.html

The library will assist members of the public trying locate information on transportation topics. In addition, the library provides links to many useful research tools at http://ntl.bts.gov/tools/index.html#tools.

Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library at UC Berkeley
http://library.its.berkeley.edu/

Transportation Library of Northwestern University
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/

 

On-line catalogues and databases

TRIS On-Line
http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/index.do

TRIS is a database of bibliographic records on more than a half-million transportation publications. Researchers can search this database to identify items they wish to read. The TRIS entries include links to on-line electronic copies when these are available. If there is no on-line electronic copy available, users can contact their local library for help obtaining the item.

Transportation Libraries Catalogue (TLCat)
http://ntl.bts.gov/about_tlcat.html

This catalogue allows users to search through the catalogues of dozens of specialized transportation libraries. These include university libraries, government transportation department libraries, and the libraries of transportation industry groups.