Anthony Downs is Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, a private nonprofit research organization based in Washington that specializes in public policy studies. Before that he was for 18 years a member and then Chairman of Real Estate Research Corporation, a nationwide consulting firm on real estate investment, housing policies and urban affairs.

Dr. Downs is the author or co-author of 20 books and more than 480 articles. His latest policy brief for Brookings is titled "Traffic: Why It's Getting Worse, What Government Can Do."

Hank Dittmar is president and chief executive officer of Reconnecting America, a new national organization formed to link transportation networks and the communities they serve.

Hank previously served as Executive Director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, the nation's leading advocate for transportation policy reform, where he managed the coalition's campaign for passage of TEA-21, the landmark transportation bill. Hank was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the White House Advisory Committee on Transportation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and chaired the Metropolitan Working Group of the President's Council on Sustainable Development. He is co-editor of the new book, "The New Transit Town: Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development," published by Island Press.