As the U.S. looks to improve passenger transportation, join us for a live Webinar where industry experts will share experiences, examine challenges and present various approaches of successful high-speed rail projects.

Panelists include:
•Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association
•Peter Gertler, Vice President of HNTB
•Chuck Pineda, Rail Division Manager – US for OHL
•Antonio Pérez, CEO of TALGO America
•Susana Mate, Assistant Director of Industry and Technology for the Trade Commission of Spain in Chicago

The panel will discuss the elements of a high-speed rail system, as well as the similarities and differences of projects in Spain, the U.S. and around the world; from how they are planned and engineered to how they are built and operated.

Hosted by the Trade Commission of Spain in Chicago, www.spaintechnology/rail.

Register at: www.masstransitmag.com/hi-speedrail

Funding of transportation-related infrastructure is at a crossroads. Traditional funding mechanisms, such as general and specific tax revenues, are proving to be insufficient to maintain existing facilities and fund expanded capacity. Infrastructure providers and operators are looking to users to make up for the shortfall. Transport-related infrastructure offers an exceptional opportunity for raising funds to establish and/or sustain such infrastructure while providing an attractive return on investment to both public and private investors. Key to achieving such returns are the prices charged to users. But how should user charges be set?

• Should every user pay the same fee?
• Is it practical, commercially worthwhile, and socially acceptable to charge differential prices?
• How should the price be set relative to the cost of alternatives modes or routings?
• How are these pricing principles changed when the facility is congested?
• Can pricing be used to reduce the problems of congestion?
• How does private operation of a facility change the pricing objectives?
• How might the public sector regulate prices?

These questions and more will be addressed in this two-and-half day course offered by the Transportation Center at Northwestern University.

Click Here for a Full-Brochure of the Program.

View Faculty

Facilities & Location

Registration & Fee*Registration

Program Fee (after 10.5.09) $2,700
Early Registration Fee (before 10.5.09) $2,160
Government & academic rate $2,160
Registration

Who Should Attend

The course is aimed at professionals who currently, or might in the future, set user charges; financial personnel; and engineers and project managers who oversee facility maintenance and new construction. It is also applicable to consultants to infrastructure providers, and those who finance infrastructure projects.

Course Format

Program content will be thoroughly integrated by the course faculty, so that participants will emerge with a comprehensive understanding and perspective of transportation infrastructure pricing strategies.  The focus of the course is on the economics of pricing. Some prior knowledge of economics, such as might be obtained from an introductory college level microeconomics course, will be useful.

Topics to be covered include:Full Program Schedule

For additional information please visit the Northwestern University Transportation Center website or contact: Ms. Diana Marek, Program Registrar – 847-491-2280; dmarek@northwestern.edu

Washington, DC is known as the power capital of the world. But on September 29 it’s going to be transformed to the CLEAN DIESEL POWER capital of the world.

The next *IntelliDrive^SM Working Group Meeting will take place October 29-30th at the Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby/Detroit Downtown Hotel.  The purpose of this meeting is for the major partners and stakeholders to present future plans and focus areas of the program and to discuss stakeholder involvement in all focus areas.  On the first day, each of the major partners (the states, auto industry, and USDOT) will discuss their upcoming plans, projects and focus areas. Day one will end with a facilitated discussion of the Working Group structure and stakeholder involvement to accommodate new focus areas including environmental applications, mobility applications based on various communications systems, and inclusion of aftermarket devices and applications.  Day two will include breakout sessions on specific focus areas for the program, including safety, mobility, and environment.

Who should attend?  The Working Group meeting will be open to members as well as other interested participants.

Date:  October 29-30, 2009 Oct 29th full day; Oct 30th half day, ending by 11:30 AM.

Location:  Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby/Detroit Downtown Hotel.

525 West Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, Michigan, 48226

Tel: 1-313-963-5600

Registration:  Registration for this event is free.  However, a registration form must be completed by October 23 and sent to Brei Whitty at bwhitty@itsa.org in order to attend.

Click here for a registration form.

Hotel Info – Link

Airport to Hotel Transportation Information – Link

*IntelliDrive is a registered service mark of the US Department of Transportation. IntelliDrive was formerly known as the Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration (VII) program. More information about the program is available at www.intellidrive.org.

Transit Oriented Development Panel

Hosted by Womens Transportation Seminar (WTS), Washington DC Chpater

September 15, 2009

This panel will focus on recent and anticipated changes in national and state-level legislation and policies that facilitate stronger transportation-land use coordination in the planning process, with a focus on encouraging transit oriented development.

Featured Speakers:

Amy Inman,  Senior Planner, Department of Rail and Public Transportation

Christopher Patusky, Director, Office of Real Estate, Maryland Department of Transportation

Mariia Zimmerman, Vice President for Policy, Reconnecting America

Serving as Moderator for the Panel:

Susan Borinsky, FTA Associate Administrator for Planning and the Environment

WHEN:

WHERE:

METRO:

PROGRAM FEES:

$30 WTS Members ; $60 Non-Members; $15 Students

RSVP:

We urge you to RSVP now and reserve your seat.* Seating is limited, and priority will be given to WTS members.

The Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark

1 South Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102

IBTTA and ITS America Join Forces on Sustainable Transportation and Facility Maintenance

Register today for this groundbreaking joint conference, Sustainability, Social Responsibility, Energy Conservation and Fall Maintenance, October 4-6, 2009 at the Hilton Hotel in St. Louis.

Agenda highlights include:

• Congressman (MO-3rd) Russ Carnahan;
• “Four Legs” of Sustainable Transportation presented by John Charles, President & CEO, Cascade Policy Institute and his expert panel, including Allen Biehler, President of AASHTO and Michael Replogle, Global Policy Director of ITDP;
• Dennis Archer, Chairman, Dickinson Wright, PLLC, and Former Mayor of Detroit will discuss the role of the federal government in promoting sustainable transportation policies for metropolitan areas;
• Views of the FHWA and the US DOT ITS Joint Program Office on operational strategies, policies and supporting ITS Technologies and their impacts on climate change;
• 21st Century Roadway Maintenance and more.

Meeting Host: The Missouri Department of Transportation; Organization Sponsors: AASHTO, The Bipartisan Policy Center and the Missouri Valley Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

Supporting Organizations

Visit IBTTA’s website for information on registration, hotel reservations, exhibiting or sponsorship.  Show below is the conference agenda.

Image Courtesy: ARTBA

(Source: Bernie’s TCN – Aug. 26, 2009)

One longtime observer calls the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) Annual “Public-Private Ventures (PPV) in Transportation Conference” the “de facto voice of the transportation community” on issues relating to private financing of transportation infrastructure projects.

It’s a reputation that’s been hard-earned – 20 years in the making. This September 24-25, in Washington, D.C., ARTBA will host its “21st Annual PPV Conference” at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel. If you or your organization is involved or interested in the P3 market, this is an event you won’t want to miss!

This year’s PPV Conference will be special… because there is a lot happening… and a lot at stake!

What role will P3s play in this year’s important rewrite of the federal surface transportation law? More importantly, what’s happening out in the state legislatures, where the “rubber meets the road” on transportation financing choices?

Once again, ARTBA is assembling key experts and leading voices from on and off Capitol Hill to give you the latest intelligence and “heads up”!

This year, ARTBA plans to produce the largest and best conference to date. Don’t miss your opportunity to attend this incredible event!

Who Should Attend?

The PPV Conference owes its success to its blend of public and private sector participants. Conference attendees have included individuals from the following industries…

Why Should You Attend?

Attendees of previous PPV conferences will attest to its most distinguishing-and valued-feature…

The Australian Intelligent Transport Systems Summit 2009 (ITS 09) will showcase the latest in transport technology in Australia together with new innovations from around the world. In addition to the Summit being a fantastic opportunity to learn from leading experts and discover new ideas, the program will also provide delegates the unique opportunity to be part of discussions and decision-making to take ITS for Australia into the next generation.

Road safety, congestion and sustainability are just some of the challenges facing, transport networks around Australia (and the world). Meeting these challenges requires close consultation from all state and federal governments, as well as the systematic implementation of intelligent transport systems technology (ITS).

ITS technology helps our transport and road users to utilise infrastructure more effectively and efficiently. It is the link that will help all state, territory and federal governments meet their transport challenges. This was the pre cursor in establishing Australia’s first ITS Summit. Improving road and rail safety.

• Speakers that will present case studies on local and international developments in ITS and innovative applications of ITS
• Panel discussions and debates on appropriate directions, policy development and actions
• Facilitated workshops and/or working group sessions

Themes:

• Improving road network management
• Providing better travel and traveller information
• Improving public transport operation
• Facilitating a more efficient freight industry
• Reducing environmental impacts
• Improving security, safety and emergency planning

The program will include:

• Speakers that will present case studies on local and international developments in ITS and innovative applications of ITS
• Panel discussions and debates on appropriate directions, policy development and actions
• Facilitated workshops and/or working group sessions

Click here to learn more about the ITS Summit 2009

Date:  August 19, 2009

Time: 3:00 PM -4:30 PM EST

Speakers:

• Balaji Prabhakar, Stanford University
• Nicholas W. Ramfos, Director, Commuter Connections, National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board

This webinar will examine a project in India, led by Dr. Balaji Prabhakar, where a variety of payments and lottery awards were tested to encourage bus commuters to shift their schedules to just outside of peak periods. Dr. Prabhakar’s presentation will discuss the specific tests that were conducted and the results of each.

Closer to home, Dr. Prabhakar is also beginning to help try to solve some of Stanford University’s parking and commuting challenges in a policy climate that leaves little room for error¿the university is subjected to heavy penalties if the campus exceeds its allowance for peak-period car commuters.

Dr. Prabhakar has some very creative ideas for testing incentives related to parking at Stanford, which he plans to share in this Webinar, and the technological know-how to implement them and determine their effects.

The webinar will also provide a brief look at incentive programs implemented in the Washington DC metropolitan region to help reduce congestion. Nicholas Ramfos, the Director of the Commuter Connections program at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments will highlight incentives including a region-wide Guaranteed Ride Home Program, free consulting services and equipment lease reimbursements to employers that start or expand a telework program, and a new demonstration program that will be launched this fall which will pay commuters to carpool in designated congested corridors in the region. Nicholas Ramfos’ brief presentation will focus mostly on this newest demonstration program.

Click here to Register and for additional information on the event.