2009-2010 Topic Paper #3: Transportation

A statement of the significance of the topic in current events:

US Transportation policy is central to number of public policy issues: energy policy, land use policy, economic policy and environmental policy.  All of these issues impact the quality of life for people throughout the country and the world.  Designing a realistic policy for any of the above areas of policy requires an understanding of the issue of transportation policy.

A statement of why the topic is challenging, interesting, and/or provocative:

Transportation affects every day of our lives in a multitude of ways.  From how we move around to how the goods and services that we utilize constantly are moved around the country, transportation policy is an integral and essential part of our daily life.  This is not a topic that we may or may not actually deal with at some point during the debate year. 

Many exciting and new ideas exist to deal with our transportation issues.  It is time for America to consider a significant overhaul of its transportation modalities.  Potential topic areas would include: improvements in ports and airports; regulation of air travel; new ways to provide power to automobiles, such as electric cars or alternative fuels; accidents and transportation safety; plans to increase mass transit and railroad use; the merits of public expenditures on highways and expanded lanes for alternative travel; design for new highways intended to change usage patterns; and laws and treaties regarding space transportation. 

          The broad themes of policy arguments that could be made include:

• conflicts between federal, state and local levels of government;
• the discussion between the need for government subsidies as opposed to the working of the free market; and
• the argument for a holistic approach to transportation instead of continually breaking each transportation policy into small unrelated subsets.

Lastly, this discussion will have impact on a number of larger issues, including the environment, in terms of pollution and global warming, the overall US economy, as well as international implications of proposed policies.

 

A statement of the perceived educational value of the topic for debaters:

This topic will give debaters a chance to debate a key domestic policy.  We have debated foreign policy topics for 3 of the past 4 years.  It would be educational for our community to delve into our domestic affairs for a year.  Also, we have a new President this year who is proposing a wide range of changes compared to the past eight years.  This is an ideal time to consider the changes which the new President will consider when assessing these energy, environmental and economic policies. There is already over $40 billion in the stimulus package devoted to transportation issues.  The merits of this expenditure will provide considerable ground for comparisons. 

A brief bibliography of selected readings that capture the nature of the controversy surrounding the area.

http://www.dot.gov/  (US Government Dept of Transportation website)
http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/ht/d/sp/i/599/pid/599 (National Transportation Policy Project)
http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/ (A panel of eleven experts debate Transportation policy reforms.  What Can We Learn About Transportation From Beyond Our Borders?)
http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/educweb/crp445/future.ppt. (A power point on the future of transportation issues)
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/FactSheetTransportation.pdf (from the Obama/Biden website of policy proposals)
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/legislation/ (FAA website regarding legislation and policy on space transportation)

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