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January 1998 (Washington, DC) - Meeting Minutes
A1A06: Transportation and Economic Development,
Washington, DC, 12 January, 1998, 7:30 AM
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PRIVILEGED INFORMATION
Minutes of all TRB meetings are regarded as privileged and not for public release without prior approval of the Executive Director
1. Introductions
Chairman Norman Foster nfoster@minn.net opened the meeting by asking each of those in attendance to introduce him/herself. The following committee members were present: Bahar Barami, Michael Bell, Stewart Butler, David Forkenbrock, Norman Foster, James Gillespie, Dennis Leong, Jacqueline Llanos, Sharon Megdal, Elizabeth Pinkston, Wayne Placide, Farideh Ramjerdi, Glen Weisbrod, Jon Williams, and Shmuel Yahalom. Thomas Doyle and Dale Janik represented their absent colleagues Terry Gotts and Michael Sexton. Peter Gerbrands took the place of Marion Gout. Randy Eberts was able to attend the latter part of the meeting. A total of 18 committee members or designees attended the meeting. Two other members were at TRBbut unable to make the meeting and one person was unable to reach Washington due to travel difficulties. Thirteen other people sat in for part or all of the meeting and have been added to the A1A06 friends list.
2. Minutes of Summer Meeting 1997
Norman Foster passed out copies of a packet that included the agenda, the minutes of the committee's summer meeting on 21 July 1997, the Group 1 Committee Self-Evaluation form, a map showing the geographical location of A1A06 members, an obituary for former member Bob Owens, and a draft set of guidelines for paper reviewers. Members' packets also included a draft agenda for the 1998 sumer meeting.
3. Sessions for 1998 and 1997 activities
Norman Foster noted that the committee was sponsoring or cosponsoring five sessions during the course of the 78th Annual Meeting of the TRB. The annual meeting is the culmination of much of the committee's activities over the year and the following were key highlights:
An excellent discussion on the committee's direction took place at the 1997 summer meeting. Many members made fine contributions as the minutes show. Stewart Butler and Glen Weisbrod deserve particular thanks for laying out the issues so well and framing the questions for the debate that followed.
1998 Annual meeting paper presentations
Glen Weisbrod and David Hartgen et al will be presenting papers at session 232. The committee should vote to censure committee secretary Jim Gillespie jsg2e@virginia.edu, who submitted a paper to a lesser committee outside of Group 1. Jim responded unapologetically that A2F05 had "shown him the money."
Five papers were received for review. Reviews were received in a timely manner and showed careful consideration. Thanx to Barami, Bell, Berger, Butler, Eberts, Ellis, Forkenbrock, Gillespie, Gotts, Gout, Hartgen, Leong, Llanos, Megdal, Mirrilees, Perkins, Pinkston, Ramjerdi, Sexton, Weisbrod, and Yahalom.
A draft set of paper review guidelines were assembled for discussion by the committee. Thanx to Jim Gillespie et al for undertaking this task.
1998 Annual meeting conference sessions:
thanx to Bahar Barami for #174, with assistance from Jacqueline Llanos; Michael Bell for #203, also featuring Randy Eberts and David Forkenbrock; Terry Gotts for liasing on the A1A03 mother of all mega sessions; Elizabeth Pinkston for the innovative finance session.
presiding or presenting at sessions are Sharon Megdal at #232, David Forkenbrock at 399, 373, and 428; Wayne Placide at 86, Ralph Erickson at 262 and 453; Glen Weisbrod at 174; and James Gillespie at 347. Ralph Erickson will also preside at the Joint Subcommittee on Pricing
TRB published Circular 477, Assessing the Economic Impact of Transportation Projects, co-authored by committee member Glen Weisbrod and Burton Weisbrod.
Judy Perkins attended the statewide planning committee's meeting in the sumer and acted as liason for A1A06. A more formal set of liasons will be updated this during 1998.
Dennis Leong sent in an update on Wisconsin's activities during the summer; such updates are welcome and can be distributed electronically.
A1C01 is getting a new chair; both the outgoing and incoming chairs are on A1A06, which must prove something.
[NSJF update: The sessions that A1A06 sponsored were well attended. My estimates are that over 60 people attended session 174 which was in the first timeslot on Tuesday morning, about 100 at session 203 in the late morning, and about 110 (a full room) at our paper session 232 in the early afternoon. The Joint Subcommittee on Pricing session (262) filled a double room and there were over 200 people in attendance. More people probably attended each of these sessions as I counted early on and people were leaving and arriving throughout. Congratulations to all those involved in planning, moderating and speaking at these sessions.]
Norman Foster also thanked the members and friends who reviewed the papers submitted this year.
4. Update on Summer Meeting
The Joint Summer Meeting of the Planning, Data, Economic, Finance, Management, Statistics, and Women's Issues Committees of TRB will take place on 12-14 July at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Seattle, WA. Those who plan to attend the summer meeting are encouraged to pass suggestions for the agenda on to Norman, particularly if they themselves are willing to give a brief presentation of recently completed research, or research in progress, in which they have taken part.
Because projected attendance at the meeting exceeds the number of rooms that the Crown Plaza is willing to reserve, TRB circulated a survey among the members of the participating committees, asking them to declare whether they intended to attend. TRB plans to offer registration to others on a first-come first-served basis after the members who expressed an intention to attend are registered. Norman Foster remarked that, in effect, this ominous plan simply means that members and friends who register later may have to stay at an off-site hotel. David Reinke assured those in attendance the neighborhood of the Crown Plaza included a number of acceptable hotels.
[NSJF update: The summer meeting will have 20 committees in attendance and only 200 hotel rooms are booked. You should have received a notice about the summer meeting in November or December. ONLY THOSE PEOPLE who replied that they would be going to Seattle will get the initial mailing about the meeting and thus will have preference on rooms. Please let me know if you did not receive the mailing from TRB. Please contact Jon Williams jwilliam@Nas.Edu or Pierre-Marc Daggett PDaggett@nas.edu directly if you have any questions regarding this mailing].
5. Report by TRB Staff
Jon Williams jwilliam@Nas.Edu called several features of the this winter's Annual Meeting to the committee's attention. First, no video conferences were taking place; in lieu of this, TRB was videotaping certain sessions for distribution to interested parties unable to attend in person. Second, there were no afternoon sessions on Thursday, the last day of the Annual Meeting.
Jon distributed copies of the brand-new TRB Circular 477, Assessing the Economic Impact of Transportation Projects, co-authored by committee member Glen Weisbrod gweisbrod@edrgroup.com and his father Burton Weisbrod. Kudos to Glen!
TRB has the resources to publish only 600, or about 38%, of the papers submitted by TRB's 1 August 1997 deadline. In deliberating over the guidelines for paper reviews, the committee might want to consider the likely existence of such a budget constraint in future years.
TRB is creating a new "member emeritus" status for committee members who have served for 18 years or more. A vote of two-thirds of the concerned TRB committee would confer "emeritus" status on an eligible person.Members emeriti (like non-U.S. members) would not count against the 25-member limit imposed by TRB. Furthermore, a new member emeritus would be entitled to complimentary registration and a free lunch at the first meeting s/he attends after his exaltation.
Norman Foster added that the four economics committees plan to recommend to TRB that a Group 1 award for an outstanding paper be created and named in honor of the late William Vickrey. A letter was sent to Group 1 recommending this award, signed by all four economics-related committee chairs.
6. Short Presentations and Updates of Current Work
Dale Janik presented an outline of the Latin-American Trade & Transportation Study (LATTS) that Wilbur Smith Associates are performing under contract to an alliance of 13 southeastern states. Dave Forkenbrock david-forkenbrock@uiowa.eduwondered whether the study would find that economies from consolidating shipping activity at fewer ports are possible. Dale referred Dave and other interested listeners to a website, http://www.wilbursmith.com/latts/index.html, where the latest study findings will be available.
Elizabeth Pinkston bethp@cbo.gov distributed a one-page to supplement her overview of the Congressional Budget Office's research into transportation economics and finance. Two of the 230 staffers work more or less full time on transport issues, and another three, available as needed, divide their time between transport and other topics.
[NSJF update: Beth's report on Innovative Financing of Highways is now available. Check CBO's web site for a copy
The report title is "Innovative Financing of Highways: An Analysis of Proposals" and it was published in January 1998.
http://www.cbo.gov/ or go to http://www.cbo.gov/reports.cfm and look for the section under Transportation, Telecommunications, and Infrastructure.]
Peter Gerbrands peter.gerbrands@senc.minvenw.nl presented some results of an International Study on Intermodal Transport, undertaken by the Netherlands Ministry of Transport. This study included time and cost comparisons between road (the fastest), rail, and inland waterway (the cheapest) for the transport of an average container load over 500 km. It also compared the levels of government financial support for transport in nine European countries. Peter noted that development of incompatible systems is a danger in Europe; even among railways interoperability is a problem. [NSJF update: Marion Gout has very kindly provided a number of copies of a book she co-edited on "Mainports in the 21st Century"]
Glen Weisbrod gweisbrod@edrgroup.com presented a quick update on NCHRP Project 2-21, "Economic Implications of Congestion", about which more could be heard at a TRB session the following day. The first pass at this topic surveyed existing urban businesses, who professed little inconvenience from congestion; the research team concluded however that this self-selected sample, which included only businesses that had chosen to locate in CBDs despite the current state of congestion, probably failed to capture the impact that congestion relief could have on business relocations. The second pass at this topic involves modeling the business impact (i.e., the value) of improves accessibility; the high-level zonal models are being calibrated now. Mike Lipsman inquired what sort of cost function the model embodied: the Krugman model, he knew, assumed constant elasticity of substitution (CES) technology, which might rule out some of the interesting interactions that are believed possible between transportation and other cost factors.
David Forkenbrock remarked that Harry Cohen had recently sent him a copy of a new paper on the relationship between incident rates and congestion.
7. Short Updates
David Forkenbrock david-forkenbrock@uiowa.edu reported that a preliminary planning meeting for a future conference on data needs took place on Sunday night. So many issues were raised at this meeting that those in attendance had determined that a multiply-tracked conference, with some plenary sessions, would be needed to address all of them.
Glen Weisbrod gweisbrod@edrgroup.com noted that Ron McCready of Apogee Research (newly merged into Hagler-Bailey) is working on an NCHRP project on economic development effects.
The committee resumed a discussion, from the last summer meeting, about the most efficacious ways to keep members and friends aware of all the research that is underway at a given time. No conclusions were reached.
8. Paper Review Process
Norman Foster introduced the next item on the agenda by recalling Jon Williams' earlier statement that TRB would be able to publish at most some 600 of the 1600 papers that were submitted this year.
Jim Gillespie jsg2e@virginia.edu presented a draft set of paper review guidelines on which he had worked with David Forkenbrock david-forkenbrock@uiowa.edu, Michael Sexton nomad@wilbursmith.com , and Beth Pinkston bethp@cbo.gov. Their efforts focused in two areas: (1) to relate the reviewer's responses to the checklist on Paper Review Form A systematically to the reviewer's recommendation that a paper be published, presented or rejected, and (2) to seek a consensus on the meaning of the "Definitely" , "Somewhat", and "Not at All" responses corresponding to each item in the checklist. They also addressed what sort of comments the reviewer could most usefully write on Form B.
Glen Weisbrod gweisbrod@edrgroup.com opined [and several others whose names I did not record agreed] that the TRB review forms provide insufficient scope for distinguishing a "publishable" paper from a "presentable" one. Norman Foster noted that the quality can vary from year to year: of the five papers submitted in 1996 (for the January 1997 Annual Meeting), one was accepted for presentation and four were rejected; of the five submitted in 1997 (this year's crop), two were accepted for publication and three for presentation. He suggested also that the award criteria from the TRB Guide be added to A1A06's paper review guidelines. Stew Butler butlers@volpe1.dot.gov spoke in favor of adopting double-blind reviewing, which he believed would be regarded with favor in the professional community. Jim recalled that one of the other committees, A1C02, debated double-blind reviewing at some length at their 1997 winter meeting; the minutes of that meeting might contain something of interest for A1A06.
The Statistical Methodology and Statistical Computer Softwarein Transportation committee (A5011) has offered to provide any statistical assistance we might need during the paper review process. Olga Pendleton, chair, can be reached at 906 486 9538 with any requests for assistance.
The committee decided not to issue any formal requests for papers in 1998.
9. TRB Triennial Committee Review
The committee will make its triennial self-evaluation in about two years' time, near the end of Norman Foster's (first) term as chair. Copies of the self-evluation form were available to encourage the members and friends to begin mulling answers to the questions in advance. Among other topics, the self-evaluation invites comments on the committee's goals, on specific needs for subcommittees, if any, and on the make-up of the membership.
On the subject of membership, Norman Foster noted that Bob Owens, a longtime member who had only recently retired, passed away in November. Gary DeCramer has accepted a new job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has regretfully left the committee. Andrew Isserman, isserman@ppic.org who had changed jobs and feared he might have to give up membership, will probably stay. Patricia Bass Ellis p-bass@ttiadmin.tamu.edu of TTI has joined the committee. Sharon Megdal smegdal@azstarnet.com speculated that the lack of West Coast members, noticeable in A1A06, may be a TRB-wide problem caused in part by the location of the meetings: the summer meetings alternate between the eastern and western sides of the U.S., and the winter meeting is always in DC. [Peter Gerbrands said later, after the meeting's official conclusion that although Marion Gout had accepted a new post where transportation would no longer be her primary focus, she was interested in maintaining her membership on the committee.]
Discussion on committe's future activities and goals
The committee had a roundtable discussion on possible future activities. These notes are sketchy and we apologize if we did not catch everyone's specific comments very well.
Michael Bell MEBAssociates@worldnet.att.net thought that work remains to be done in terms of defining benefits from transportation investments and that those looking at performance measures may have useful conceptions of benefits that should be examine.
Stewart Butler butlers@volpe1.dot.gov felt that A1A06 is still in the process of defining its role vis-a-vis the other economics comittees, especially in terms of how benefit-cost analyis and economic development relate to one another.
Bahar Barami barami@volpe1.dot.gov thought we needed to be thinking of expanding the area of what we consider transportation investments, into freight and non-highway related areas and questions of network density and agglomeration effects.
Beth Pinkston's question of the day was what would we spend an extra billion dollars on in transportation on, should such an unlikely happening transpire (answers to her on the back of a twenty dollar e-bill).
Jacqueline Llanos jllanos@poly.edu suggested that cost/benefit analysis of ITS investments, a current "hot topic", deserves the attention of A1A06.[NSJF update: there will be a presentation on this topic at one of the sessions in Seattle at the summer meeting.]
Shmuel Yahalom yahaloms@aol.com, touching on a comment made earlier by David Forkenbrock, suggested studying NAFTA's impact on the east coast ports of the U.S, especially in terms of exploring which ports will become hubs as world trade is made more and more free.
Farideh Ramjerdi fr@infra.kth.se felt that micro level evaluations can be performed by benefit-cost analysis but macro level analysis is different and requires different approaches
Glen Weisbrod gweisbrod@edrgroup.com observed that the distributive impacts of transportation investment, long recognized but seldom modeled, are attracting more and more interest; what, he wondered, is the perspective of the developers, those who make the land use and employment decisions, and how could it be studied?
Wayne Placide wplacide@firstsw.com thought that reauthorization or extension of the federal aid program would have important effects on economic development, especially in the area of public-private partnerships.
David Forkenbrock pointed out that we need to be looking at more cross-modal comparisons, not just highway projects
Dennis Leong dleong@mail.state.wi.us felt it was important to focus on a very action-oriented agenda Many agencies are active in trying to use transportation to support economic development and concrete case studies and actions are important to disseminate.
Shirley Loveless suggested specifically that the interactions between highways and other public investments - for instance, port access for trucks carrying containers for 'fast' ships - deserved study.
10. Other Business
No other business having been put forward, the meeting concluded shortly after 9:00pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Norman Foster
Chair
Recorder
James Gillespie
February 6, 1998
Note: This information is provided for the use of committee members and friends and is not endorsed by the Transportation Board TRB or the National Research Council.
