Robert L. Darbelnet is president and CEO of AAA, a not-for-profit federation of 53 motor clubs that serves more than 51 million members in the United States and Canada.
Darbelnet became AAA president and CEO in November 1994, after serving 11 years as CEO of CAA-Quebec. He began his AAA career as an emergency road service driver for the Quebec Automobile Club in 1973.
Darbelnet is a past Chairman of ITS America and the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT) based in Geneva. He served as Deputy President for Mobility of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) from 2001 to 2005 and as an elected member of the FIA Senate from 1997 to 2005. Darbelnet currently serves as Chairman of the Global Mobility Alliance, President of FIA Region III and a trustee of both the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the FIA Foundation.
Darbelnet is a graduate of Sainte-Foy College and Laval University in Quebec City.
Despite the efforts of the traffic safety community, society as a whole has become extremely complacent about the staggering roadway death toll. Instead of demanding action, it appears we accept these preventable deaths as the cost of the mobility we enjoy. As has already been mentioned in earlier postings, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has undertaken important work to try to better understand our traffic safety “culture” and figure out ways to change it. The Foundation published its first-annual Traffic Safety Culture Index, a nationwide survey examining the attitudes and actions of people across the country, in 2008. The results… Read more
The short answer to today’s question is there really are no good options, other than raising the gas tax, to pay the bill for transportation in the near term. Two independent commissions have thoroughly examined the issues and came to the same conclusions – the funding needs are staggering and the federal gas tax is the best near-term funding solution. Tolling, public-private partnerships and other funding and financing tools can help fill the gap, but they can’t close it. Policymakers who argue we don’t need to invest more in transportation and that federal gas taxes should never be raised, need… Read more
Arbitrarily reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is not an appropriate policy to achieve environmental goals. VMT is a measure of mobility, and the public should not be constrained in its travel choices. While AAA members rely on and value various modes of transportation, there is no doubt that the personal vehicle has improved the quality of life, employment, and economic opportunities for many Americans, especially for moderate and low income workers. Arbitrarily reducing VMT would mean fewer family trips, fewer economic transactions within communities, more limited employment recruiting bases for small business, and a general societal shift away from the open… Read more
Every participant in this debate has their work cut out for them over the course of the next few months. At a time when many feathers are getting ruffled from Capitol Hill to Pennsylvania Avenue (and spots in-between) I believe the only way to provide this debate some clarity is to take a step back and focus on some core realities. Reality #1: It is highly unlikely that by September 30, 2009 Congress will pass, and the president will sign, a reformed multi-year transportation program funded through an increase in the fuel tax and coupled with other supportive… Read more
The collapse of the Midway airport PPP deal alone probably doesn't portend a shift in investor appetite for U.S. infrastructure assets, despite the ultimate lack of financing in that instance. What that case-study does foreshadow, however, is that in the short-to-intermediate term, the price these assets can fetch from private investors will be much lower. From AAA's perspective, this could be a good development. Although we recognize states are struggling to address significant budget shortfalls and transportation funding needs are great, the motivation and focus for considering greater private sector investment should not solely be receiving a large upfront payment.… Read more
AAA members are motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders. They are concerned about safety, congestion, the environment, the health of our economy and the nation’s competitiveness. So we support a transportation system that provides the greatest degree of choice, flexibility, sustainability and efficiency possible. But today the question of whether Highway Trust Fund dollars should be spent on non-highway projects is beside the point. With the fund again moving toward insolvency this year, we face a tremendous challenge figuring out how we are going to make up for the decades of neglect and under-investment in our existing roads, bridges and transit infrastructure. Our transportation… Read more
The topic of how we fund transportation is very important to the future of our nation. The problems we now face have been years, if not decades, in the making. Unfortunately, there is no quick or easy fix. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have a role to play in the overall funding solution; however, where utilized, they must be carefully implemented with a priority given to protecting the public interest. As a general principle, “greenfield” projects that focus on adding new capacity to the system are likely to provide greater value to the public than “brownfield” projects that lease or sell existing… Read more
Transportation Secretary LaHood’s comments last week expressing support for a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax prompted widespread media interest, swift clarifications from the Department of Transportation and the White House, as well as media polls showing strong opposition to the idea. The response demonstrates the significant challenge transportation leaders face not only in identifying funding solutions that can meet the nation’s transportation needs going forward, but in garnering the public support needed to make any future funding proposal viable. The fact is, a number of credible sources have come to similar conclusions about the need to shift to a vehicle… Read more
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