TRB Panels to Examine Transportation Funding, Aftermath of Superstorm Sandy at Conference
This story appears in the Jan. 7 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Transportation Research Board said the new federal transportation funding law and the effects of Superstorm Sandy will be among the topics discussed at its meeting later this month.
The group’s 92nd annual conference, scheduled for Jan. 13-17 in Washington, D.C., will include 17 sessions on the implementation of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.
Known as MAP-21, the legislation signed by President Obama in July funds transportation programs at more than $105 billion for fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
The TRB annual meeting covers all transportation modes, with more than 4,000 presentations in nearly 750 sessions and workshops. It draws attendees from throughout the United States and from 70 countries. It is considered the single largest gathering of transportation practitioners and researchers in the world.
A highlight session slated for Jan. 16 will bring together several key personnel within the Department of Transportation to update progress on the implementation of major freight and other policy measures included in the legislation.
Scheduled to speak are Polly Trottenberg, DOT’s acting undersecretary; John Porcari, DOT’s deputy secretary; Victor Mendez, administrator of Federal Highway Administration; Peter Rogoff, administrator of Federal Transit Administration; and David Strickland, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A day earlier, Trottenberg is expected to participate in a four-part discussion titled “Freight Day.” The individual sessions will focus on different aspects of cargo movement.
Also on Jan. 15, Anne Ferro, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, will discuss her agency’s priorities at a morning panel discussion. Other agency officials will specifically discuss MAP-21, safety research and the Comprehensive Safety Analysis program.
After Superstorm Sandy, TRB announced a special event has been added to the conference agenda. The Jan. 13 session is titled “Transportation Challenges and Research Opportunities in the Aftermath of a Major Disaster.”
Among presenters planned are representatives of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The final day of the conference includes a two-part discussion on the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel, which will bring together government officials and industry executives.
TRB also announced that John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, will be the featured speaker at the annual chairman’s luncheon on Jan. 16.
Horsley, who previously announced he would retire from AASHTO in February, is being honored with the W.N. Carey Jr. Distinguished Service Award for his support of TRB and transportation research programs.
Also during the luncheon, David Greene, a research professor in transportation energy and a corporate fellow at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will receive the 2012 Roy W. Crum Distinguished Service Award. He will be recognized for his contributions to research on transportation energy, TRB said.
In addition, C. Michael Walton, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, will receive the 2013 Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation.
