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1Welcome and Introductory Remarks Jean-Bernard Kovarik of the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy opened the meeting by saying that the goal of the symposium was to cooperate across the Atlantic and exchange information on transportation and mobility. Cooperation between the United States and the Euro- pean Union is necessary to optimize public funding of transportation research and to provide quality research outcomes via fast implementation of transportation ser- vices, which is how the outcomes are measured. Trans- portation is facing challenging issues, such as balancing demand and land planning. Other challenges include energy efficiency, reliability in mass transit, climate change, safety, security, and the social acceptability of new technologies in our connected world. Given these common challenges, cooperation across the Atlantic could be beneficial. Kovarik congratulated the plan- ning committee for its organization of the symposium and its cross analysis of tangible examples through the white papers commissioned. Innovation is important for human jobs and progress in transport as well as other sectors, he said. He concluded his remarks by saying that âhumans are the ultimate target of the eco- nomic advancementâ and that he looked forward to a fruitful meeting. Alessandro Damiani, Head of Unit, Horizontal Aspects of the Transportation Directorate, Directorate- General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, thanked the participants, the French hosts, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) partners for making this symposium possible. He likewise thanked the white paper authors, speakers, and participants. The European Commission is proud to be part of this endeavor, he said, given the good preparation and white papers that laid the groundwork for a productive 2-day discussion. This is the second symposium in the series of four. The first one had good follow-up, and the theme for this symposium was how to get the most out of transportation research efforts. Whether as a funder or user or researcher, that outcome is important to all. Regardless of whether participantsâ transportation research budgets are expanding or shrinking, all decision makers and politicians expect a better return on investment on the research. In the United States and the European Union, the contexts are different and the institutional framework and governance are different, but, as the white papers showed, the challenges are quite similar, and all participants could learn from each otherâs successes and failures. Kevin Womack, Associate Administrator, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. DOT, encouraged the U.S. and European participants to interact with each other by participating in the discussions and in open debate during the sessions. The goal of this symposium is to encourage conversation and consider new ideas, he said.
2 t r a n s p o r t r e s e a r c h i m p l e m e n t a t i o n Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Executive Director, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., expressed gratitude to Mr. Kovarik and the European Commission partners. Despite changes taking place in some of the institutions, this series of symposia is promising, and it meets on a semiregular basis. He said further that âwe all have a piece of the innovation process and yet are often limited by our own narrow perspectives.â He thanked Jesús RodrÃguez and John Mason for chairing the planning committee and said he looked forward to the discussions.
