Essential Air Service is a federal government program that provides subsidies to airlines that provide commercial service between certain remote communities and larger hubs, which proponents argue are justified because driving to larger airports would be prohibitively expensive for residents of these communities. I estimate the value of Essential Air Service to local communities using a revealed-preferences approach by formulating and estimating a discrete-choice model of domestic air travel… Read More

A "polycentric" region is a network of compact developments (centers) that are connected with each other through high-quality transportation options. As the antidote to sprawling suburbs, compact centers can encourage all the things that sprawl discourages: public health, environmental sustainability, social cohesion, and economic diversity. But how can metropolitan planning organizations ensure that their regional plans will actually meet these goals? Polycentric development has been… Read More