(Source: Transportation for America; USA Today)

A yearly census survey released Monday illustrates the continuation of a trend that started well before the recession: Americans are taking steps to reduce their dependence on cars, and are looking for other options for getting around. The daily drumbeat of high unemployment, home foreclosures and plummeting retail sales drowns out a less obvious impact of the recession: its influence on America’s lifestyle.  Rates of solo driving and car ownership are dropping, according to this story in the USA Today about new census data. The paper cites a census report showing drops in both Americans who drove alone to work and in overall car ownership.

Commuting. The share of workers who drove to work alone has dropped to 75.5% from 76% the past two years — a possible consequence of high gas prices and the recession.

TransportGooru.com is proud to share this insightful presentation on market-based road pricing in the U.S. prepared by Mr. Glenn Havinoviski, a long time supporter of TransportGooru.com, for his recent discussion with the Public Policy program students at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

When Glenn updated his status message on LinkedIn after the classroom discussion, TransportGooru jumped on the opportunity to get a glimpse of his briefing material prepared for the class and wrote to him seeking permission to publish the briefing materials.  Glenn graciously agreed to share this excellent presentation and sent along a PDF version (shown in the PDF viewer below).   Please feel free to leave your comments/questions in the “Comments” section below and they will be brought to Glenn’s attention right away.   Thanks for sharing the presentation, Glenn.

About Glenn Havinoviski: Glenn currently serves as an Associate Vice President (Transportation Systems) at Iteris in Sterling, VA and is a registered PE.   Until recently, he was an Associate Vice President and ITS Group Director for HNTB Corporation in the Arlington, Virginia office. His 27 years of experience (25 in consulting, 2 in the public sector) include serving as both a practice builder and a practice leader, providing project management and technical leadership for ITS and traffic management projects in the US and abroad.Glenn N. Havinoviski, PE joined Iteris in Sterling, VA on July 6 as Associate VP, Transportation Systems, after serving as Associate Vice President and ITS Group Director for HNTB Corporation in the Arlington, Virginia office. His 27 years of experience (25 in consulting, 2 in the public sector) include serving as both a practice builder and a practice leader, providing project management and technical leadership for ITS and traffic management projects in the US and abroad.

(Source: Times Online, UK & Wired)

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has a rather curious new addition built in to his latest oversized yacht. The 557-foot boat Eclipse, the price tag of which has almost doubled since original plans were drawn to almost $1.2 billion, set sail this week with a slew of show-off features, from two helipads, two swimming pools and six-foot movie screens in all guest cabins, to a mini-submarine and missile-proof windows to combat piracy.

It might not seem like somebody with such ostentatious tastes would crave privacy, but along with these expensive toys, Ambramovich has installed an anti-paparazzi “shield”. Lasers sweep the surroundings and when they detect a CCD, they fire a bolt of light right at the camera to obliterate any photograph. According to the Times, these don’t run all the time, so friends and guests should still be able to grab snaps. Instead, they will be activated when guards spot the scourge of professional photography, paparazzi, loitering nearby.

The high-tech system on Eclipse, a mega-yacht measuring up to 557ft, relies on lasers to block any digital camera lenses nearby.  Infrared lasers detect the electronic light sensors in nearby cameras, known as charge-coupled devices. When the system detects such a device, it fires a focused beam of light at the camera, disrupting its ability to record a digital image.   The beams can also be activated manually by security guards if they spot a photographer loitering.

The ThyssenKrupp-built boat, which has reportedly more than doubled in cost to £724m since it was commissioned three years ago, glided out of port in Hamburg last week on its maiden voyage. On board were 150 engineers and maritime experts who will put it through its paces over 10 days. One witness described the boat as “a great white castle on water”.

The yacht — the fourth in Abramovich’s private fleet — drips luxury. It boasts two helipads, two swimming pools — the larger of which doubles up as a dance floor when drained — and 6ft-wide home cinema screens in all 24 guest cabins.

Mindful of a rise in piracy on the high seas, the yacht has a hull and windows capable of withstanding a missile attack and a mini-submarine for emergencies. Once it leaves the Blohm + Voss German shipyard, it will be fitted with a missile defence system in France.

The Sunday Times Rich List reported that last week Abramovich has splashed out £55m on a 70-acre estate on the Caribbean island of St Barthélemy. The exclusive retreat looks out onto Gouverneur Bay, where the oligarch will be able to moor his new yacht.

More details on Times (via Wired).

(Source: NPR’s Talk of the Nation)

This evening I was listening to an interesting piece (click here to listen to the audio) on NPR’s Talk of the Nation hosted by Neal Conan.  The program’s guest was Chris Steiner, author of this book: $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better, who says our lives would be a lot happier and healthier if gas prices rose into the double digits.

Image Courtesy: NPR

Last year, gas prices soared over four dollars a gallon and Americans responded by driving a hundred billion fewer miles than the year before. Right now, at $2.50 a gallon or so, things seem back to normal. But writer Christopher Steiner argues that’s a delusion. He thinks we need to prepare for life at six, 10, even 20 dollars a gallon, prices which will change a lot more than our driving habits. They will transform what we eat, where we live, and how we view the world. And while there will be losers, he believes the airline industry will largely disappear, for example, for the most part, he asserts our lives will be better.

The following excerpt from his book paints a scary (and also good) picture:  Many people, quite understandably, don’t consider the implications of expensive gasoline so grand. The fact remains that the price of oil will inevitably rise, however. Two simple factors are responsible: first, we’re running out of oil (albeit slowly) and second, world demand will continue to rise for decades. We use six barrels of oil for every one we find. Half of the world’s petroleum comes from 3% of its oil fields — and those fields are old. The average age of the world’s 14 largest oil fields: 50 years, the exact age when most fields’ productions start an irreversible ebb. On the demand side, consider this: There are 1 billion people on the globe living what would be considered an American-style life, including ourselves. By 2040, that number will triple. The world’s burgeoning middle class will demand oil and it will get oil. Steady price increases are academic. Economics 101: Supply down, Demand up = higher prices.

The changes to our society will begin at $6 per gallon and continue on from there, affecting things far beyond the kinds of cars we drive and how often we drive them. America’s obesity rate will fall. Mass transit will spread across the country. Plane graveyards will overflow. We’ll lose the option to cheaply travel by plane, but high-speed train networks will slowly snake state to state. Disneyworld will lock its gates, Las Vegas’ strip will shrink to half its size. Our air will be cleaner. Cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee will revive at $12 per gallon, their streets rife with commerce, people and stores. The exurbs of America, where we’ve poured so much of our wealth during the last several decades, will atrophy, destroying the equity of those who held fast. Wal-Mart will go bankrupt at $14 per gallon and manufacturing jobs will return to the U.S. en masse. When gas reaches $16 per gallon, Michael Pollan will get the food world he lobbies for in The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Recently, NY Times has also reviewed Mr. Steiner’s work.  Writing about this NY Times review on his blog, Mr. Steiner says ” The Times neither praised the book nor panned it. The review proceeded as cautious and as neutral as would seem possible, with a bit of skepticism tossed in. It was reviewed in the Business Section, however, not in Styles or Books, so that may explain the stern pragmatism of the reviewer.”

Here is an excerpt from NY Times review:  “The book’s arguments are sometimes overstated in hyperbolic prose. In the chapter about the end of the airline industry as we know it, it says that some companies will be “permanently torpedoed” by high gas prices. It warns that a “giant herd of people” will lose their jobs. And it says that our grandchildren will “undoubtedly gawp in awe” when we recount our childhood trips to Disneyland. Well, that’s something to look forward to in our old age.”

If you are one of  those people who have already read his book, let us know what do you think.  Worth a buy??

Click here to read the entire transcript from this interview.

(Source: Transportation Research Board E-Newsletter)

TRB News

2010 TRB 89th Annual Meeting: Meeting Registration and Hotel Reservations Now Open

The registration and hotel reservations processes are now open for the TRB 89th Annual Meeting, January 10-14, 2010. Registration is required for all Annual Meeting attendees, including those who register to attend any workshop or take advantage of services provided onsite such as the Employment Opportunities room. [More]

TRB Webinar: Asphalt Emulsions: Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Applications

TRB will conduct a web briefing or “Webinar” on Tuesday October 13, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT that will explore the ability of asphalt emulsion technology to provide a low-temperature, low-energy, and volatile organic compound-free solution for constructing, maintaining, and rehabilitating pavement. Participants must register at least 24 hours in advance of the start of the Webinar, space is limited, and there is a fee for non-TRB Sponsor employees. [More]

2009 Transportation Policy and Finance Summit

Washington, D.C.
TRB is cosponsoring the 2009 Transportation Policy and Finance Summit on December 13-15, 2009, in Washington, D.C. The summit is designed to explore potential solutions to the transportation funding challenges faced by all levels of government and the private sector. [More]

Safety and Mobility of Vulnerable Road Users: Pedestrians, Motorcyclists, and Bicyclists
Jerusalem, Israel

TRB is cosponsoring conference on Safety and Mobility of Vulnerable Road Users: Pedestrians, Motorcyclists, and Bicyclists on May 30 – June 2, 2010, in Jerusalem, Israel. The conference will explore scientific information, best practices, and policies from different countries designed to improve the safety of vulnerable road users.  Interested individuals or groups are encouraged to submit abstracts to be considered for presentation at the conference by October 31, 2009. [More]

Transit IDEA Project Proposal Solicitation
TRB’s Transit IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program has issued a request for proposals for start-up funding for promising, but unproven, innovations in transit. The Federal Transit Administration sponsors the Transit IDEA Program, which promotes innovation beyond the scope of traditional research programs in the area of transit. The program’s goal is to seek out and support new transportation solutions that are unlikely to be funded through traditional programs. Proposals are encouraged in one of the program’s high-priority focus areas-improving transit safety or security, increasing transit ridership, improving transit capital or operating efficiencies, and protecting the environment or promoting energy independence.  Instructions for preparing IDEA proposals and the proposal submission form are available online. Questions about preparing Transit IDEA proposals should be addressed to Harvey Berlin at HBerlin@nas.edu or (202) 334-2441. To be considered during the current award cycle, proposals must be submitted by October 1, 2009. [More]

Comprehensive Analysis Framework for Safety Investment Decisions
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has issued a request for proposals to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive analysis framework for safety investment decisions across engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency medical services that are transferable across federal, state, and local governments. Proposals are due October 28, 2009. [More]

Methodologies to Estimate the Economic Impacts of Disruptions to the Goods Movement System
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has issued a request for proposals to develop and apply one or more conceptual methodologies for identifying and estimating short- and long-term economic impacts due to disruptions to the goods movement system. Proposals are due October 30, 2009. [More]

FY 2010 Airport Cooperative Research Program Synthesis Topics Sought
TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) is soliciting ideas for candidate topics for the fiscal year 2010 ACRP Synthesis Program. The ACRP Synthesis Program initiates approximately seven synthesis studies annually that address concerns of airport operators. A synthesis report is a relatively short document that summarizes existing practice in a specific technical area, typically based on a literature review and a survey of relevant organizations. Potential synthesis topics may be submitted by anyone at any time; however, the closing date for consideration of synthesis topics for FY 2010 is October 30, 2009. [More]

Renewable Energy Guide for Highway Maintenance Facilities
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has issued a request for proposals to identify best practices for the planning, design, and operation of new and retrofitted highway maintenance facilities that are sustainable and energy efficient over their service lives through the use of energy capture technologies. Proposals are due November 5, 2009. [More]

Recent Publications

Precision Estimates of AASHTO T 242
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 142: Precision Estimates of AASHTO T 242 examines precision estimates for AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) T 242, “Frictional Properties of Paved Surfaces Using a Full-Scale Tire.” [More]

Marine Transportation and Port Operations 2009
TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2100 includes the 2009 Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lecture by Geraldine Knatz, which explores the evolution of U.S. seaports and the environmental initiatives enabling them to modernize and expand. This TRR also includes 10 additional papers that examine the impacts of climate change at U.S. ports, container terminal berth planning, the Lean Enterprise for improving seaport operations, performance indicators for roll-on/roll-off terminals, truck turn time at marine terminals, marine container terminal gate congestion modeling, modeling collision risks in port fairways, operational development of U.S. Pacific Coast marine highways, inland waterway transportation performance assessment, and simulation-based network maintenance planning and scheduling for the U.S. inland waterway system. [More]

Protocols for Collecting and Using Traffic Data in Bridge Design
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 132: Protocols for Collecting and Using Traffic Data in Bridge Design explores a set of protocols and methodologies for using available recent truck traffic data to develop and calibrate live load models for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) bridge design. [More]

Procedures Guide for Right-of-Way Cost Estimation and Cost Management
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 625: Procedures Guide for Right-of-Way Cost Estimation and Cost Management explores approaches for developing right-of-way (ROW) cost estimates. The report also examines ways to track and manage ROW cost during all phases of project development, including planning, programming, and preliminary and final design. [More]

Influence of Roadway Surface Discontinuities on Safety

TRB’s Transportation Research Circular E-C134: Influence of Roadway Surface Discontinuities on Safety is designed to help highway engineers evaluate roadway maintenance guidelines and priorities. The report addresses safety issues related to roadway roughness, holes, and bumps; the positive effects of road surface discontinuities; pavement edges; friction variations; water accumulations; surface contaminants; and small and large vehicles. [More]

Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation 2009, Volume 2

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2103 includes 13 papers that explore calibration of the Highway Safety Manual’s accident prediction model for a secondary road network, speed and safety, accident modification functions, elementary units of exposure, identifying crash hot spots, and safety of lane and shoulder width combinations on rural roads. This issue of the TRR also examines the effects of pavement marking retroreflectivity on traffic crash frequency, road data aggregation and sectioning for crash analysis, safety evaluation of curve delineation improvements, microsimulation to study a traffic signal incident reduction function, comparison of simulated freeway safety performance with observed crashes, traffic operation measures in the safety analysis of signalized intersections, and different parameterizations of the varying dispersion parameter as a function of segment length. [More]

Implementable Strategies for Shifting to Direct Usage-Based Charges for Transportation Funding
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 143: Implementable Strategies for Shifting to Direct Usage-Based Charges for Transportation Funding explores ways that direct charges to road users, based on vehicle-miles of travel (VMT), could be implemented within approximately the next 5 years. [More]

Federal Research News

Review of Metropolitan Planning Organizations
The Government Accountability Office has released a report that examines the responsibilities of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and the efforts made by the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide oversight to MPOs to improve transportation planning. [More]

The National Infrastructure Advisory Council Framework for Dealing with Disasters and Related Interdependencies: Final Report and Recommendations
The National Infrastructure Advisory Council has released a report that explores the United States’ ability to respond to and recover from a major disaster that results in a prolonged loss of infrastructure services expanding beyond a local area. Through the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, NIAC provides the President with advice on the security of the 18 critical infrastructure and key resource sectors and their information systems. [More]

University Research News

Horizontal Cracking Mechanism in CRCP
The Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas-Austin has released a report that explores the mechanism of horizontal cracking in continuously reinforced concrete pavement. [More]

Guide to the Economic Value of Texas Ports

The Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas-Austin has released a report that examines the local, regional, and national economic impacts of various Texas seaports. [More]

Evaluation of Smart Video for Transit Event Detection
The National Center for Transit Research at the University of South Florida has released a report that examines commercial video analytics systems used to fight crime and terrorism in transit environments. [More]

SORT Clearinghouse Newsletter: August 2009
The Institute of Transport Studies at Monash University, Australia, has released the latest issue of its bimonthly newsletter that highlights new additions to the Social Research in Transport (SORT) clearinghouse research database. [More]

International Research

The Effect of Milled Rumble Strips Versus Virtual Rumble Strips on Sleepy Drivers: A Driving Simulator Study
The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) has released a report that explores in-vehicle warning systems compared to modified infrastructure elements, such as rumble strips, to determine the most effective way to alert sleepy drivers. The report is written in English. [More]

In The Know

Transportation Biofuels in the United States
The Minnesota Project has released a report that examines the status of major developments in the biofuels industry. [More]

Hearing on Hazardous Materials Safety in the United States
On Thursday, September 10, 2009, the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing to explore concerns with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s oversight and management of hazardous materials safety in the United States. Additional background about the hearing, submitted testimony of witnesses, and a video are available online. [More]

School Bicycling and Walking Policies: Addressing Policies that Hinder and Implementing Policies that Help
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has released a tip sheet that explores ways to approach school policies that prohibit walking or bicycling to school. [More]

National Transportation Operations Coalition Newsletter: September 9, 2009
The National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) has released the latest issue of its semi-monthly newsletter that highlights available information and resources designed to help improve management and operation of the nation’s existing transportation system. NTOC is an informal alliance of organizations that are stakeholders in operations, planning, and public safety. Organizations involved in NTOC include the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Federal Transit Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American Public Transportation Association, and TRB. [More]

Note: TransportGooru considers the TRB e-newsletter one of the most comprehensive sources of transportation research information.  The opinions expressed in reports highlighted in TRB’s Transportation Research E-Newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Transportation Research Board.

(Source: Greenwire @ New York Times)

According to a Center for Public Integrity report released yesterday, there are nearly 1,800 special interest groups lobbying Congress on the transportation bill, ranging from local officials and planning agencies to real estate companies, construction firms and universities. In the first half of this year, the groups employed more than 2,000 lobbyists and spent an estimated total of $45 million on their transportation lobbying.

The road to reforming the nation’s transportation systems looks to be a long and winding one.

Once lawmakers decide when to move forward with the sweeping overhauls they promise, they will need to find a way to pay for it. And once that difficult task is accomplished, the debate will only grow more complicated.

Many in the transportation community agree the next multi-year surface transportation bill needs to significantly boost federal funding for the nation’s roads, rails and bridges. But the consensus soon begins to crumble when the issue turns to how to pay for the overhaul — with lawmakers loath to tell Americans they will need to foot the bill and the rest of the transportation community agreeing that is the only option to pay for it (E&E Daily, Sept. 15).

But even off the Hill, where key players agree massive reform is needed to make the system more performance-based and effective, there is no consensus on exactly what that new system would look like and what those performance goals should be.

Many of the goals discussed at the invitation-only event are conflicting by nature. The usual suspects include the funding ratio for highways and transit systems, and the rate of return that individual states see from taxes they pay to finance the nation’s road and rail work.

Robert Atkinson, who chaired one of two congressionally created blue ribbon panels to examine transportation investment needs, said his panel, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, did not even broach the subject of where the increased investment should be spent in its report.

According to government estimates, the transportation sector accounts for roughly a third of U.S. carbon emissions, and Democrats have vowed to recast the nation’s roads and rails in a “greener” light.

But many state highway departments that had previously voiced support for the new environmental focus are now worrying that the emissions goals may grow overly ambitious and threaten to deliver another blow to both the economy and their efforts to repair and replace crumbling roads and bridges (Greenwire, Aug. 27)

Congress must also decide whether or not to welcome the private sector into the transportation field by giving firms long-term leases on public roads and bridges, effectively turning public infrastructure into a private product.

Click here to read the entire article.  For those wondering what is in the minds of our lawmakers drafting the reauthorization bill, here is congressman Oberstar’s handwritten scrap-paper version (pulled right from the House T&I Committee website, which has a lot of interesting materials to read on this subject).  Though it is not very detailed, it offers a general sensing of the direction he is taking (e.g., consolidating the existing behemoth (108 programs) into 4 categories to simplify the mgmt. structure, adding Office of Livability & Office of Expedited Project Delivery to the FHWA, etc.)

(Source: Yonah Freemark @ The Transport Politic)

Projects in Georgia, Pennsylvania get millions; Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Baltimore still waiting to hear.

Image Courtesy: Yonah Freemark @ The Transport Politic

One clear demonstration of the United States’ lack of coherent national transportation policy objectives is its approach to funding magnetic levitation train projects. Rather than making a decision about what to fund, the Congress occasionally appropriates a relatively small pot of money, then the DOT distributes cash for planning studies. Nothing ever gets off the ground.  That, at least, is how it has worked since 1999, when the DOT first awarded $12 million in planning funds to seven proposed projects in California, Nevada, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. By 2001, the agency announced it would pick either a line between Baltimore and Washington or one connecting Pittsburgh and its suburbs for almost $1 billion in construction dollars, eventually deciding on the latter. By 2005, however, all funds had been cut off by an uncommitted congress, despite the fact that $62 million had already been distributed; meanwhile, states and municipalities had contributed virtually nothing to the projects. Maglev seemed dead.

The news this month that Atlanta and Pittsburgh have received more planning funds — $14 million for the former and $28 million for the latter — and that other projects funded back in 1999 may once again get appropriations in the coming days seems like a continuation of this destructive cycle. If so, these dollars are nothing more than a waste of money, because there is little chance that funds for actual construction will ever appear. Yet the Congress devoted $90 million maglev two years ago, knowing that actually getting big-budget funds for the projects’ completion from Washington would be almost impossible. Nor has there ever been a concerted effort by either Congress or the Department of Transportation to show why maglev projects should be funded at all.

Click here to read the entire article.

Image Courtesy: USDOT

(Source: USDOT Press Release)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the agenda  for the Distracted Driving Summit on Tuesday (shown below), September 30 and Wednesday, October 1. Over 200 safety experts, researchers, elected officials and members of the public will gather in Washington, D.C. to share their experiences, provide feedback and develop recommendations for reducing the growing safety risk that distracted driving is imposing on our nation’s roads.

The Distracted Driving Summit will bring together respected leaders from around the country for interactive sessions on the extent and impact of the problem, current research, regulations, best practices and other key topics. The two day Summit will feature five panels – on data, research, technology, policy, and outreach – with a range of experts discussing each topic.

• The Summit will begin with a context setting panel where participants will examine the scope of the issue and the various distractions that exist, followed by a panel that will review currently available research.
• Day one wraps up with an examination of distractions caused by technology and efforts made to assess and reduce negative effects caused by current and planned devices. Panelists will also consider technology that can prevent the consequences of driver distraction.
• Day two features a review of legislative and regulatory approaches for dealing with distracted driving; evaluations of the impact of such measures; and enforcement issues. Members of Congress and their staff will also have the opportunity to contribute to the discussion.
• Day two concludes with a discussion with teens about their experiences with distracted driving followed by an examination of various public awareness initiatives and research regarding the effectiveness of these efforts.

To accommodate the strong response, the Summit will be available live by webcast and members of the public will be given the opportunity to submit questions online for each individual panel discussion. The complete agenda and additional information about the Summit can be found at http://www.rita.dot.gov/distracted_driving_Summit/ .  Also, you can follow the latest developments via twitter @ distractdriving

————————————————————————————————————————————

Distracted Driving Summit
September 30 – October 1, 2009
Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th Street NW, Washington, DC

Agenda Is Subject to Change

Wednesday, September 30

DOT Welcome and Summit Opening
Peter Appel, Administrator
Research and Innovative Technology Administration

Opening Address
Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Panel: Driver Distractions and Inattention – Definitions and Data
A context-setting panel on the definition of distracted driving (what it is and what it is not), data on the extent of the issue, the types of distractions across surface modes of transportation.

Moderator:       Victor Mendez, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration

Speaker:           Dr. John D. Lee, Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Speaker:           Kristin Backstrom, Senior Manager, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
Speaker:           John Inglish, General Manager, Utah Transit Authority
Speaker:           Bruce Magladry, Director, Office of Highway Safety, National Transportation Safety Board

Panel: Research Results – How Risky is Distracted Driving?

This panel session will review what various research – experimental research, industry self reporting, collision studies, and observational studies– tell us about the nature of the problem of distracted driving.

Moderator:       Rose McMurray, Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Speaker:           Dr. Ann Dellinger, Lead, Motor Vehicle Injury Prevention Team,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center of  Injury Prevention and Control
Speaker:           Dr. Tom Dingus, Director, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
Speaker:           Dr. William Horrey, Chair, Surface Transportation Technical Group,
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and Research Scientist,
Center for Behavioral Sciences, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety
Speaker:           Dr. Key Dismukes, Chief Scientist, Human Systems Integration
Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center

Panel: Technology and Distracted Driving
This panel will focus on distractions caused by technology and on efforts that have been made (or are needed) to assess and reduce the negative impact of distractions caused by current and planned devices.  It will also consider technology that can prevent the consequences of distraction.

Moderator:       Peter Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration

Speaker:           Dr. David Eby, Research Associate Professor and Head, Social
and Behavioral Analysis, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
Speaker:           Rob Strassburger, Vice President, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
Speaker:           Steve Largent, President and Chief Executive Officer, International Association
for Wireless Telecommunications Industry
Speaker:           Michael Petricone, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Consumer Electronics Association
Speaker:           Rod MacKenzie, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of
Programs, Intelligent Transportation Society of America

Thursday, October 1

Congressional Presentation

Panel: Legislation, Regulation and Enforcement of Distracted Driving
This panel session will review legislative and regulatory approaches for addressing distracted driving; evaluations of the impact of such measures; enforcement issues; and public attitudes towards the issue.

Moderator:       Peter Rogoff, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration

Speaker:           John D’Amico, Representative, Illinois General Assembly
Speaker:           Bruce Starr, Senator, Oregon Senate and Executive Committee Member of the National Conference
of State Legislatures
Speaker:           Steve Farley, Representative, Arizona House of Representatives
Speaker:           Major David Salmon, Director, Traffic Services Division, New York State Police
Speaker:           Vernon Betkey, Chairman, Governors Highway Safety Association
and Director of the Maryland Highway Safety Office

Youth Program

Panel: Public Awareness and Education
This panel will review initiatives to increase public awareness of safety issues such as distracted driving, and will review research regarding the effectiveness of such efforts.

Moderator: Ron Medford, Acting Deputy Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Speaker:           Sandy Spavone, Executive Director, National Organization for Youth Safety
Speaker:           Chuck Hurley, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer,  Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Speaker:           Ann Shoket, Editor-in-Chief, Seventeen Magazine
Speaker:           Janet Froetscher, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Safety Council
Speaker:           Dr. Adrian Lund, President, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Secretary LaHood
Closing Remarks and Action Plan

(Source: New York Times)

The Obama administration issued proposed rules on Tuesday that impose the first nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and that require American cars and light truck fleet to meet a fuel efficiency standard of 35.5 miles a gallon by 2016.

The government projects that the regulations will raise car and truck prices by an average of $1,100, but that drivers will save $3,000 over the life of the vehicle in lower fuel bills. Officials also said the new program, which is to take effect in 2012, would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly a billion tons and cut oil consumption by 1.8 billion barrels from 2012 to 2016.

The 1,227-page regulation will go through a 60-day public comment period before it is completed early next year.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

Today’s WSJ had a nice article about the Korean Automaker, explaining what makes it a successful car in the US.   Worth a read..

….The leading Korean car company’s name rhymes with the first day of the week, as in “Hyundai, Bloody Hyundai.” Which is pretty much what the company’s competitors are saying to themselves these days about Hyundai’s remarkable success over the past few years.

Last year Hyundai’s global sales bucked the industry’s decline and rose 5% to 4.2 million cars and trucks. Even in the U.S., the world’s most competitive car market, Hyundai’s sales rose 0.8% in the first eight months of this year, while Ford’s sales dropped 25% in the same period and GM’s plunged 35%. The major Japanese auto makers suffered declines between 25% and 30%.

Hyundai’s success stems from a sustained corporate effort at reinvention—the very same word General Motors is using to describe its mission these days. The Hyundai story should provide GM with a road map.

For years, Hyundai enjoyed a protected home market in Korea. This ensured its prosperity there, but the lack of competition meant the company didn’t develop the product quality or consistency to compete effectively in international markets. The result: Hyundai’s initial U.S. success in 1986 was undercut quickly by quality problems.

A decade ago, Hyundai acquired Kia, a victim of a mid-1990s shakeout in the Korean auto industry. It also established a new quality-control division charged with boosting reliability by emulating Toyota’s vaunted manufacturing methods. To allay lingering concerns over quality, Hyundai put warranties of 10 years or 100,000 miles on vehicles sold in America.

Their campaign began to show results, and the big breakthrough came in 2004, when Hyundai tied Honda for second place in the prestigious J.D. Power & Co. Initial Quality Survey. Also that year, Hyundai completed its first U.S. assembly plant, near Montgomery, Ala.

On the marketing front, last January the Hyundai division launched an innovative “Assurance Program” in the U.S.: Buyers return their cars if they lose their job within a year after their purchase. The offer generated buzz and resonated with the public, as Hyundai’s recent U.S. sales results demonstrate, even though buyers have turned in fewer than 50 cars under the program, which continues through year-end.

…..Both U.S. companies will have to make their marketing more relevant. Hyundai’s 10-year warranties and the “Assurance Program” succeeded because they addressed specific customer concerns—the former about the brand’s reliability, the latter about the economic environment…….

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