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January 2006 (Washington, DC) - Meeting Minutes
TRB Committee ADD10, Transportation and Economic Development
Winter Meeting, Washington, D.C., Monday 23 January 2006
1. INTRODUCTIONS AND SIGN-IN
At 7:30 PM members and friends found their meeting room still filled by a previous gathering that was running a little behind schedule. After several members and friends (a.k.a. the “fifth column”) infiltrated the gathering that was running late, chairman Glen Weisbrod led a frontal assault that flushed the attendees of that previous gathering like quail. Glen called the meeting to order at 7:37 PM.
The following TRB Committee members were present: Adjo Amekudzi, Nilam Bedi, Michael Bell, Greg Bischak, David Forkenbrock, Jim Gillespie (committee secretary), Nadia Gkritza, Xiaoli Han, Daniel Hodge, Shirley Loveless, Ron Poole, Darren Timothy, Glen Weisbrod, Martin Weiss. The following Friends of the TRB Committee were present: Bill Anderson, Brian Baird, Khalid Bekka, Maria Bertram, Jason Bullwert, Matthew Chase, Eric Gabler, Jerry Everett, Kumudu Gunasekera, Ilona Kastenhofer, Kazuya Kawamura, Lori Kennedy (section chair), Michael Lawrence, Douglas McLeod, Martine Micozzi (TRB liaison), Melissa Paciulli, Hyeon Park, John Reed, Frederick Treyz, Vincent Yao,
Glen circulated a sign-in list, containing the names and addresses of members and friends and many blank spaces for additional names and addresses. He announced that the committee’s ranks are currently full: twenty-five regular members, two youth members (under age 30), and two foreign members (from outside of the U.S. and Canada), the limit sanctioned by TRB. Glen added, however, that friends of the committee, whose number is not limited, enjoy virtually all of the privileges that members enjoy, insurance on travel to and from meetings being the chief exception. He asked that returning members and friends put a check next to their names on the sign-in list, updating the contact information if necessary, and that first-time visitors add their names and contact information if they would like to become friends of the committee.
2. 2005 SUMMER MEETING
Glen circulated the minutes from the summer meeting, with a request for comments and corrections. The minutes were accepted on a voice vote, with one correction proposed by Martin Weiss.
3. 2006 WINTER MEETING
The committee sponsored a paper session and a panel discussion of trade corridors this morning (Monday). The committee co-sponsored a session on interstate highways that was scheduled for tomorrow morning (Tuesday). ADD10’s “sister” committee, ABE20 – Transportation Economics, was scheduled to meet tomorrow evening.
4. FUTURE 2006 ACTIVITIES
a. TED 2006. Glen passed around copies of the brochure advertising TED2006, the Conference on Transportation and Economic Development scheduled for 29-30 March 2006 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Vince Yao briefly listed highlights of the conference: Rodney Slater is scheduled to speak; some other dignitaries, including the governor of Arkansas, have been invited but have not yet accepted; attendees will take a tour of the Clinton Presidential Library. Martin Weiss mentioned the numerous sponsors of the conference, among them the Transportation Research Board, the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Glen encouraged everyone to look at the conference web site, www.ted2006-littlerock.com.
b. Workshop on Evaluation Methods. A workshop on evaluation methods will follow on the heels of the TED2006 conference, on 31 March in the same location.
c. 2006 Summer Meeting. The 2006 summer meeting will take place at the Hilton Hotel Torry Pines in La Jolla, CA, on 9-11 July. Upon prompting, Greg Bischak, Lori Kennedy, Martin Weiss, and Bryan Baird admitted that they know how to surf. David Forkenbrock (showing the sagacity that we expect from a member emeritus rather than the daring that we expect from a fighter pilot) suggested that the committee meet before surfing. Lori reported that more information about the summer meeting would become available by the end of February. She will be asking Glen what the committee sees as current urgent research needs.
5. REPORTS ON OTHER CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
Glen Weisbrod asked those attending to mention any upcoming conferences. Ron Poole reported that his committee on planning for small and medium size communities was holding its tenth national “Tools of the Trade” conference on 13-15 September in Nashville, TN. Glen said Vic Kamhi had asked him to report that the Transportation Improvement Forum is holding a conference on Economic Development.
Glen reminded those present that the planning meeting for the economic cost-benefit conference would take place tomorrow (Tuesday); did anybody wish to say anything about it? David Forkenbrock responded that, at this point, there was not much to report. The conference was tentatively envisioned for Fall of 2007; the planners had lined up no funding yet; the topics would be “general applied use of economic concepts.”
Martin Weiss reminded everyone that TED2006, the conference on Transportation and Economic Development in Little Rock, AR, was just around the corner.
6. TRB DISCUSSION ISSUES
Lori Kennedy said that everyone should have received a copy of the TRB Critical Issues document with the winter meeting registration materials. She asked that the members and friends please read this document, and try to weave these issues into the committee’s calls for papers and other official pronouncements.
The section chairs met on Sunday afternoon to talk about cross-cutting issues and to help their committees look for others that are handling similar issues. (Dave Forkenbrock mentioned, by way of example, that committees that share a common interest can co-sponsor a session at the Annual Meeting.) Lori had heard on Sunday that attendance was over 9,500; tonight, she heard, the attendance figure had been revised up to over 10,000.
Glen asked everyone to examine the requests for “Feedback on Critical Issues” and “Feedback on Data Needs”, printed on the back of the agenda. A conference on data needs, Glen remarked, was held five years ago; did anyone have specific ideas for a new conference?
Xiaoli Han noted that the latest U.S. Congressional reauthorization reduced the budget of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) from $31 million to $27 million. This budget cut threatens the continuing existence of the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) and the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). Glen agreed that the CFS is critical to establishing the connection between transport investment and economic development.
Shirley Loveless mentioned a problem reported at the Freight Summit last October: trade from China is swamping U.S. ports. As a consequence containers from China, which customarily are not returned empty, are stacking up in Philadelphia and other cities. Shirley added that the economics of transport have an unexpected impact on emergency management. Relying on “just-in-time” shipping to keep their inventory costs low, hospitals no longer stock a multi-day supply of insulin and other common medical supplies, as they used to do. In consequence, even a short disruption of freight flow can impair the hospitals’ ability to deal with emergency needs.
The committee agreed unanimously that Glen should send a letter (a short letter) to the powers that be, explaining why funding the CFS is so important. David Forkenbrock, Nilam Bedi, Mike Lawrence, and Martin Weiss volunteered to help.
Martine Micozzi noted that “vulnerability to terrorist strikes and natural disasters” was number two on the “Critical Issues” list, and that commodity flow is relevant to that. Greg Bischak averred that global integration, not homeland security, “is driving this process.”
7. STAFF REPORT
Martine Micozzi, the new TRB staff officer to ADD10, introduced herself. She explained TRB’s decision to schedule the committee’s meeting on Monday evening in the modest-sized Adams Room. The alternative, she said, would have been a mid-day meeting in the International Ballroom. Everyone present who remembered the 2004 Annual Meeting agreed readily that the International Ballroom, where curtains are used to partition the room into four meeting areas and where the din of speech from the other three meetings makes conversation from one end of the table to the other almost impossible, would have been an inferior alternative.
Martine congratulated the committee on “all of the great sessions” they had planned for this year’s Annual Meeting, and on the excellent paper submissions they had received.
The summer meeting of the freight, waterways, planning, and economics committees would be held this year in La Jolla, CA, a suburb of San Diego.
8. INTEREST AREAS
a. Topic Subcommittees. Glen told the committee that they must pick topics for next January’s meeting now. To start the ball rolling, he proposed a session based on TED2006. There was general agreement that this was one good idea.
David Forkenbrock suggested that the effect of congestion pricing on the economy would be a timely topic. Glen noted that a paper presented at one of that morning’s paper sessions would be a useful reference. Darren Timothy, Khalid Bekka, and others mentioned other examples of recent relevant work. Greg Bischak pointed out that the question involves a methodological issue, namely, measuring quantities that are seldom measured and are difficult to measure. Mike Lawrence remarked that the public commonly fails to realize that, in a sense, congestion pricing “creates” capacity: for example, the two toll lanes of SR 91 in California carry as much traffic as the four free lanes. Jim Gillespie volunteered to lead development of the topic; Khalid Bekka, Mike Lawrence, Vince Yao, Bryan Sloboda, and Nilam Bedi volunteered to participate. The group will brainstorm and then put out a feeler to other interested committees.
Greg Bischak pointed out that all of last year's predictions about a budget crunch have come true in spades: perhaps this would be a good time to resume last summer's discussion about the forms and consequences of disinvestment (or underinvestment)? Dan Hodge suggested that this be blended with a look at financing. David Forkenbrock phrased Dan’s question as follows: what are the consequences of alternative financing mechanisms on economic development? Dan Hodge volunteered to lead development of the topic; Mike Lawrence, Greg Bischak, Darren Timothy, Dave Forkenbrock, Khalid Bekka, and Vince Yao volunteered to participate.
Glen Weisbrod volunteered to lead development of a topic pertaining to air and marine ports. Shirley Loveless, Fred Treyz, Mike Lawrence, and Khalid Bekka volunteered to help.
Glen asked each of the topic developing groups to have their idea prepared by the summer meeting.
b. Newsletter and Web Site. Glen announced that Cam Gordon, publisher of the committee’s electronic newsletter, has – quote – “accepted a teaching post in Australia.” As a result of Cam’s “transportation” to the Antipodes, the committee is looking for a new volunteer to resume its newsletter.
9. VOLUNTEERING ASSIGNMENTS
a. TED 2006. Vincent Yao, on the faculty of University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is the committee’s “point man” in organizing the upcoming conference on Transportation and Economic Development. Dan Hodge is leading the planning of sessions. Bryan Sloboda, Chris Mann, Mike Lawrence, and Jim Gillespie volunteered to help with the planning.
b. Membership Subcommittee. Those interested in working on the membership committee should send Glen Weisbrod an e-mail indicating their interest.
c. Paper Review. Practitioners and consultants attend meetings; academics submit papers – technical papers! Glen Weisbrod asked that all members and friends of the committee commit to do paper reviews. TRB standards require a minimum of three reviewers for each paper submitted, and the committee may receive dozens of submissions.
In response to a question from Greg Bischak, Glen admitted that there is an ongoing problem with the way TRB sorts the papers that are submitted. The TRB tend to see the word “economic” and assign the paper to one of the four economics committees without further thought. This leads to time-consuming horse-trading among the committee chairmen; usually the chairmen succeed in shuttling a paper to an appropriate committee, but sometimes we are forced to review a paper on a topic that is really not in our expertise.
d. Summer Meeting Topics. Glen opined that almost all recent cost-benefit studies are flawed because the use, and the quality, and the replacement cost of the facilities under study have changed over time. This, he suggested, would be an interesting summer topic.
10. ADJOURNMENT
After that stimulating point, everyone was ready to leave and the meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote.
