Randal O’Toole is a Cato Institute senior fellow specializing in land‐​use and transportation issues. He has written six books, including Reforming the Forest Service and Romance of the Rails, plus dozens of policy papers and numerous articles and op‐​eds about free‐​market approaches to transportation, housing, and other issues.

Before working for Cato, his research on environmental issues led to fellowships or visiting professorships at Yale, the University of California, Berkeley, and Utah State University.

An Oregon native, O’Toole was educated in forestry at Oregon State University, geology at Portland State University, and economics at the University of Oregon.