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Suggested Citation:"Preface." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now!. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14664.
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Page 9
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"Preface." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now!. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14664.
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Page 10
Page 11
Suggested Citation:"Preface." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now!. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14664.
×
Page 11
Page 12
Suggested Citation:"Preface." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now!. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14664.
×
Page 12

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1The Transportation Research Board (TRB) con-vened the Fourth International Conference on Transportation Finance, Financing Surface Trans- portation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now! on May 19–21, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference continued a series that began in 1997. As techniques have evolved, each conference has addressed the latest economic and funding trends and has looked toward the future of transportation rev- enue generation and finance. The conference attracted some 150 transportation finance specialists from the public and private sectors. They gathered to share the latest developments in innovative funding techniques and to explore options for securing continued revenue to support national infrastructure and mobility needs. The contributions of the following organizations enabled the conduct of this important and timely confer- ence: TRB and the standing Committees on Revenue and Finance, Congestion Pricing, and Economics; the Loui- siana Department of Transportation and Development; the Federal Highway Administration; the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Offi- cials; the American Public Transportation Association; the Galvin Mobility Project; Morgan State University’s National Transportation Center; and the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center. Background In 1997 in Dallas, Texas, TRB initiated a series of confer- ences addressing the evolution of transportation finance and funding. Subsequent conferences were held in 2000, 2002, and 2010 in Scottsdale, Arizona; Chicago, Illinois; and New Orleans, Louisiana, respectively. Each confer- ence’s program was designed to reflect current trends and address emerging issues. The first TRB Conference on Transportation Finance, Transportation Finance for the 21st Century, focused on a variety of new tools and techniques known collectively as innovative finance. The 2000 conference revolved around the new funding categories and finance opportunities pro- vided with the passage of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). In 2002, transportation professionals discussed the reauthorization of TEA-21 and new methods to enhance and expedite project delivery. The 2010 conference generated discussion of alternative finance mechanisms and sustainable approaches to support infra- structure and mobility needs amid economic uncertainties. conference Planning TRB assembled a conference planning committee appointed by the National Research Council to design and develop the conference program. Kay McKinley of PBS&J served as the committee chair and was joined by the eight members listed on page ii. The range of exper- tise represented by the organizing committee’s member- ship included financial management; innovative project and program delivery; federal, state, and local govern- ment policy development; academia; and research. The conference’s primary objective was to provide information on emerging issues and to explore and stimu- Preface

2 FINANCING SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN THE UNITED STATES late discussion of new approaches and alternative revenue- generating mechanisms. In addition, the committee wished the program to increase awareness of the role of public edu- cation to better articulate the importance of infrastructure needs and to engage the next generation of policy leaders and decision makers in the transportation finance debate. The committee incorporated innovative approaches into the conference planning effort through inclusion of a student video competition to explore public awareness of how transportation is funded and through the award of travel scholarships to facilitate graduate students’ par- ticipation in the conference. After rigorous evaluation, two videos received awards and were featured during the conference, and seven graduate students received travel scholarships to attend. Two students associated with the winning videos also attended. Two preconference workshops describing the state of the practice for performing benefit–cost analysis, providing techniques for financing projects in challenging times, and discussing emerging trends for raising capital were offered. The workshops were followed by an evening poster dis- play with 20 peer-reviewed presentations that addressed a wide range of transportation funding approaches and programmatic options in use around the world. The 2-day conference program featured an opening session with two keynote speakers completed by five additional plenary sessions, each with its own three cor- responding breakout sessions; a second poster session conducted during breakfast on the second day; an infor- mal brown bag lunch discussion session; and a formal luncheon with a keynote speaker. A compendium of PowerPoint presentations featured at this conference is available at http://onlinepubs.trb .org/onlinepubs/conferences/2010/finance/program.pdf. Plenary SeSSionS The conference’s opening plenary session featured key- note presentations by Victor Mendez, Federal Highway Administrator, and Jane Garvey, North American Chair for Meridiam Infrastructure, who highlighted transpor- tation priorities and future opportunities. The five subse- quent plenary sessions each explored a different issue, as follows: the policy dynamics of future surface transpor- tation finance, international project finance, emerging issues, sustainable transportation finance, and creation of a research road map for the future. Breakout SeSSionS After each plenary session, participants were offered a choice of three breakout sessions, each of which included three to four presentations. The format provided an environment conducive to delving into the concepts presented in the plenary sessions and to learning about real-world applications of those concepts, drawing from project managers’ and others’ experience. PoSter SeSSionS The conference included two poster sessions. The first was conducted after the preconference workshops and featured 20 peer-reviewed poster presentations address- ing a wide range of transportation funding approaches and programmatic options in use around the world. The second was conducted during breakfast on the second day of the conference and featured six peer-reviewed poster presentations. conference Summary format The conference summary was prepared by Benjamin Perez of Parsons Brinckerhoff as a factual summary of what occurred at the conference. The views presented reflect the opinions of the individual participants and are not necessarily the views of all conference participants, the planning committee, TRB, or the National Research Council. This report was reviewed in draft form by individu- als chosen for their technical expertise and diverse per- spectives, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purposes of this independent review are to provide candid and critical comments to assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional standards for clarity, objectivity, and responsiveness to the proj- ect charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process. TRB thanks the following individuals for their review of this report: Z. Andrew Farkas, Morgan State Univer- sity; Tamar Henkin, High Street Consulting Group, LLC; Lowell Clary, Clary Consulting, LLC; and Steven Gayle, Gayle Consult, LLC, Gilbertsville, New York. Suzanne B. Schneider, TRB Associate Executive Director, man- aged the review process. The review of this conference summary was overseen by C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas at Austin. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for ensuring that an inde- pendent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. The contributions of the chair and members of the conference planning committee were innumerable and led to the success of the conference. The dedication and

3preface efforts by the chair and topic leaders ensured the quality and creativity of the conference program. Additional support was provided by the conference liaisons, Harold (Skip) Paul, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; Suzanne Sale, Federal Highway Administration; Z. Andrew Farkas, National Transportation Center, Morgan State Univer- sity; Adrian Moore, Reason Foundation; Jack Basso and Joung Lee, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; Art Guzzetti, American Public Transportation Association; and conference rap- porteur Benjamin Perez, Parsons Brinckerhoff.

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TRB’s Conference Proceedings 48: Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now summarizes a May, 2010 conference that focused on developments in innovative funding techniques and options for securing continued revenue to support national infrastructure and mobility needs.

Views presented in Conference Proceedings 48 reflect the opinions of the individual participants and are not necessarily the views of all conference participants, the planning committee, TRB, or the National Research Council.

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