Robert Puentes is President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation a non-profit think tank with the mission of improving transportation policy and leadership. Prior to joining Eno, he was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program where he directed the program’s Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative. He is currently a non-resident senior fellow with Brookings. Before Brookings, Robert was the director of infrastructure programs at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America.

Robert has worked extensively on a variety of transportation issues, including infrastructure funding and finance, and city and urban planning. He is a frequent speaker to a variety of groups, a regular contributor in newspapers and other media, and has testified before Congressional committees. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Virginia where he served on the Alumni Advisory Board, and was an affiliated professor with Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute.

Robert serves on a variety of boards including the Shared-Use Mobility Center, UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies, and Young Professionals in Transportation. Recent appointments include the Federal Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity, New York State’s 2100 Infrastructure Commission; the Advisory Council of the West Coast Infrastructure Exchange, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Transportation Reinvention Commission; the District of Columbia’s Streetcar Financing and Governance Task Force; the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority’s Technical Advisory Committee; and the Falls Church, Virginia Planning Commission where he lives with his wife and three sons.

 

Eno Transportation Weekly Articles

Lessons, Learnings, and Legacies: Eno Establishes Downey Fellowship

October 6, 2023 - The Eno Center for Transportation is proud to announce the Mortimer L. Downey Legacy Fellows Program for former and outgoing United States Deputy Secretaries of Transportation.

Driving Change: Advice For The National VMT-Fee Pilot (A Special Excerpt)

July 24, 2023 - A special excerpt from the Eno Center for Transportation's latest research report Driving Change: Advice for the National VMT-Fee Pilot.

Research

Yahoo News|July 24, 2023|Electric Vehicles, Federal Governance, Governance reform, Highways & Streets

Driving Change: Advice For The National VMT-Fee Pilot

The US faces funding challenges for transportation infrastructure due to changing vehicle technology. To address this, a national pilot program for a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee is being established. Recommendations include simplicity, scalability, and...

Yahoo News|June 13, 2023|Data, Eno Announcements, Environment

Data for Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Mobility

Data on passenger movements, vehicle fleets, fare payments, and transportation infrastructure has immense potential to inform cities to better plan, regulate, and enforce their urban mobility systems. This report specifically examines the opportunities that exist...

Media Mentions & Commentary

KAKE|November 25, 2023|Buses, Public transit

Why Doesn’t the US Have More Passenger Trains?

A realistic goal would be to build out rail systems that link major metropolitan areas with economic connections, emulating Amtrak’s Northeaster Corridor, said Robert Puentes, the CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a nonprofit...

NPR|November 15, 2023|Buses, Public transit

Public Transit Systems Try to Avoid a 'death spiral' as Remote Work Hurts Ridership

"We've seen that the normal workweek has changed fundamentally," said Robert Puentes, president of the non-profit Eno Center for Transportation in Washington, and a regular Metro commuter.