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Eno Impact Report 2019

Leading Innovation in a Rapidly Changing Industry 

We like to refer to our organization as the world's oldest start-up. Although we are approaching our centenary in 2021, the Eno Center for Transportation doesn't act like a 100-year old think tank. In order to pursue our mission to shape public debate on critical multimodal transportation issues and build an innovative network of transportation professionals, we need to constantly reinvent ourselves since the environment is changing rapidly.
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We know that transportation professionals are looking to each other for creative problem solving. Today, there is an insatiable demand for people to learn from one another, especially in transportation. That's why we are piloting a new Intra-Regional Multi-Agency Exchange (MetroMAX) program to bring together employees with similar roles at different agencies within the same region to engage with and build relationships through curated meetings, tours, and information sharing.
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Reinventing ourselves also means using new tools to allow transportation professionals, experts, and leaders to interact in new ways. Eno will launch our new Learning Management System (LMS) in the next year to significantly build our outreach and webinars with an online platform. It will allow us to vastly expand our audience by enabling participants to access our classes, forums, and training on-demand and virtually. LMS is the future of learning and Eno is embracing it, not as a replacement, but as a complement to our work.
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After all, we still need our standing advisory groups to cut across disciplines and inform our ongoing cutting-edge policy work. For example, our aviation working group is tackling the critically important topic of how to integrate highly advanced unmanned aircraft systems (drones) within the national airspace system. The focus is not just on the tech, but on how to change from a reactive regulatory framework to a permanent, overarching one that allows innovation to both flourish and safeguard the public interest.
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While our work remains focused domestically, we are also increasingly looking outside the United States for best practices, ideas, and experiences. In an increasingly global environment, we are finding lots of receptivity to international lessons. That's why we recently brought a delegation of U.S. officials overseas to hear about other cities' experiences with congestion pricing policies and directly inform the new wave of policy and practice innovation here at home. We also intend to dig deep into several international cases to understand how American cities, states, and metropolitan areas can deliver public transit projects better, faster, and cheaper.
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The workplace environment for startups is also characterized as valuing open communication and collective problem-solving. The Eno team embodies this culture and works together to learn from each other, help the organization remain strong, and look around the corner for the next innovation in transportation policy and practice.
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We look forward to building on our successes with you over the next year. You can download a PDF summary of the report here.

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James Burnley

Board Chairman

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Robert Puentes

President & CEO

Click below to explore Eno's 2019 impact

RESEARCH + ANALYSIS

Eno's expert and timely research and analysis shapes public debate on critical multimodal transportation issues 

Can we do better?
Exploring Alternative Scenarios for Federal Highway Funding Distribution 

The federal government distributed $45.6 billion in highway “formula” funding in 2019 to the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Eno’s research team created an independent analysis of the past, present, and possible future of the distribution of Federal-aid highway funding to states. The paper and its findings are timely, as Congress is working to reauthorize the current federal transportation bills in the coming year. Eight scenarios evaluate different possibilities and strategies for redesigning federal highway programs and their funding streams. The analysis reveals two significant challenges with creating new formula factors: data, and of course, the fact that some states stand to lose significant funding. 

Documenting Lessons Learned and Best Practices for Innovative New Partnerships
Mobility On-Demand

Eno published Contracting for Mobility, which provides recommendations to transit agencies for contacting with private mobility on-demand providers. This paper is the first in a series of policy papers, each of which covers a key policy topic in partnerships between public agencies and private mobility providers using the MOD Sandbox pilot projects in Los Angeles and Puget Sound as robust case studies. Contracting for Mobility covers the process that developed the contracts for the MOD Sandbox pilot projects in the Los Angeles and Puget Sound regions. It discusses the nuances of interactions between private companies and public agencies, including non-disclosure agreements, data sharing, and the challenges and opportunities faced between the transit agencies and the MOD provider as well as between the other entities involved in the service provision and evaluation of the project. into who you are, what you do, and why it’s all about you.

Beyond the Automated Vehicles Hype:
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Eno’s Beyond Speculation 2.0 is an update to our 2017 report on automated vehicle (AV) policy discussing the current and future state of AVs, as well as the existing, proposed, and expected implications for federal, state, and local policy around AVs. It provides an overview of the current policy arena and posits concrete and substantive recommendations for policymakers at various levels of government to responsibly test and deploy AVs on public roads.

Transit Leaders Turn to Eno

Transit leaders at the top of both public and private-sector organizations rely on Eno's research and analysis of today's top issues and trends in transit, along with the actionable and practical recommendations for reform.

More than 13 million jobs—about 9 percent of civilian workforce in the United States—are transportation-related. This workforce pipeline includes a multitude of professions from bus and truck drivers, to autoworkers and engineers, in both motorized and non-motorized modes. Eno's Workforce Initiative focuses on critical sectors and innovative solutions across the country.

Eno's Workforce Initiative

Informed. Insightful. Independent.

Eno Transportation Weekly

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Why the California Bullet Train Project Failed: 7 “Worst Practices”

Jeff Davis | February 13, 2019

The failure of the California high-speed rail project doesn't necessarily mean the doom of HSR in the U.S. The California project followed seven "worst practices" that other projects could avoid, according to this provocative piece from Jeff Davis

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Defense Bill Bans New Purchases of Mass Transit Vehicles from Chinese Companies

Jeff Davis | December 9, 2019

The National Defense Authorization Act would ban mass transit agencies from using federal funds to purchase rail cars or buses from Chinese-owned or Chinese-domiciled companies, and would penalize transit agencies using their own funds for such procurements.

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Is the Federal-Aid Highway Program Compatible With the “Green New Deal?”

Jeff Davis | January 25, 2019

Both the spending and revenue sides of the federal-aid highway program are very carbon-centric. Is the present highway program compatible with a "Green New Deal"? Eno's Jeff Davis provides an in-depth analysis on the lessons learned from California's experiment.

2019's Most Read Articles

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Guest Op-Ed: Disruption in Mass Transit Calls for Disruption in Public Policy

Tina Quigley | February 22, 2019

Ride-sharing services offer an opportunity to enhance transit and create a new ecosystem of interconnected multimodal options where ride-hailing and transit work together to provide cost-efficient and environmentally friendlier commutes. 

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Guest Op-Ed: Infrastructure – How to Make A Difference

Richard Mudge | April 12, 2019

Large, regional infrastructure projects are key to unlocking future economic growth. One example is the AIRnet-21 proposal that would rebuild the Northeast Corridor rail line.

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Guest Op-Ed: Managing Social and Political Risk in the Digital Age

Stephanie White | September 13, 2019

Transportation in particular can be sensitive to social and political risk. A strong, well-thought-out public process and education campaign is always the best remedy.

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2019's Most Read Guest Op-Eds

Research
MOD + AVs
Alt Dist
Measure M
Trends in Transit
Workforce
ETW

CONVENE + EDUCATE

Eno's programs bring transportation leaders together to develop and exchange innovative and effective solutions

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  • Developing and retaining future leaders

  • Improving staff's big picture transportation and transit perspective

  • Sharing best practices and foster innovation

  • Solving high priority agency-defined business problems

The Eno/MAX Programs impact is unmatched in:​

Public transportation in the United States is going through a period of profound change and transition. From workforce constraints to technological advances, transit agencies face a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Through peer learning and leadership development, Eno/MAX is the first program of its kind designed to prepare today's transit workforce to tackle these issues head-on and ignite innovation to improve agencies from bottom to top.

Eno/MAX is Igniting Innovation from the Bottom Up

The Eno/MAX Program is based on four program components, or pillars, which combine to make a state of the art training program that is described by participants as the "most transformational training of their lives."

Preparing the Next Generation

Future Leaders Development Conference

The Future Leaders Development Conference (LDC) program celebrated its 27th year in 2019. The LDC provides 20 of the nation’s top graduate students in transportation-related programs a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a first-hand look at how national transportation policies are developed. During the weeklong program, the Fellows meet with federal, state, and local officials, as well as public, private, and non-profit leaders across the transportation industry.

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Alumni from the program continue to impact the transportation industry across all modes and sectors. Learn more about the lasting impacts in the alumni's own words in this video.

Highlights from the 2019 Program: