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July 2004 (Park City, Utah) - Meeting Minutes

ADD10: Transportation and Economic Development,
Monday July 26, 2004, 10:15am - 12 noon
Park City, Utah

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1. INTRODUCTIONS AND SIGN-IN

Chairman Glen Weisbrod called the meeting to order at 10:27 and passed around sign-in lists for the members, friends, and others in attendance. He asked that each of those present introduce him/herself.

Those present: (clockwise) (left) Jack Wells, Darren Timothy, Ron Poole, Martin Weiss, Claire Felbinger (came late), (center) Jamille Smith (left early), Amy Zwas, Paul Maxwell (left early), Adjo Amekudzi, Jackie Grimshaw (left early), (right) Pat Pyrus, Amy O'Leary (left early), Lori Kennedy (left very early), Jake Jacoby (came late), Jon Skolnik, Steve Fitzroy, Dave Forkenbrock (left early), Lee Munnich (came late), (center) Nilam Bedi, Glen Weisbrod, Jim Gillespie.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 2004

Glen Weisbrod covered for Jim Gillespie, whose notes from the Winter 2004 meeting were lost somewhere in his office. Glen's substitute summary of the minutes of the Winter meeting: "It was too noisy to hear."

3. TRB STAFF REPORT

Claire asked the committee to follow a few rules when forming subcommittees. Rule One: when a subcommittee was created she, our TRB liaison, would like to be informed! Rule Two: if the subcommittee was to stand indefinitely, the chair [of the subcommittee] must be a member [of the committee]. Rule Three: [?]. She said that the Pricing Subcommittee could become a standing committee, possibly as early as January 2005.

TRB hoped to begin planning the summer meetings a full two years ahead, Claire reported. The marine and data committees, by the way, did plan to come to the upcoming summer meeting in Boston.

Claire reminded the committee of the rule of thumb that each standing committee could sponsor 2.2 sessions at the annual meeting. TRB encourages sessions on cross-cutting topics; in practice, this means that a session that has multiple sponsors may not be count strictly against committee's quota. TRB tries to avoid scheduling conflicts, for example between committee meetings and sessions sponsored by the committee.

Claire reported that Dave Forkenbrock, the first-ever winner of the Vickrey Award, was a finalist for the Wooton Award.

4. PROPOSED SESSIONS FOR 2005 ANNUAL MEETING

Glen Weisbrod observed glumly that five minutes of meeting time remained to cover the last agenda item, preparation for the 2005 Annual Meeting.

(a) It was taken for granted that all members and friends would accept and review papers for the Paper Review Subcommittee, once those papers were submitted to and sorted by TRB. Glen believed that ADD10 needed to form a new Paper Review Decision-Making Subcommittee. He invited those interested in joining to indicate their interest by adding their names and contact information to the list which he circulated.
(b) Vic Kamhi, Paul Maxwell, Michael Sexton, Todd Goldman, and Roberto Agosta were organizing a session on public transportation and urban economic development. Vic was the chairman of this effort. They invited additional volunteers to indicate their interest by adding their names and contact information to the sign-up list which they circulated.
(c) Glen asked for the names of any who were interested in organizing a session on the relationship between disinvestments or closure of facilities and economic development. Jack Wells opined that the committee might want to distinguish between permanent disinvestments or closures, on the one hand, and temporary closures on the other. Jon Skolnik and Martin Weiss volunteered. Jack suggested that Scott Dennis of the BTS would be a good member of this team.
(d) ADD10 and the Land Use Development Committee [?] wanted to organize jointly a session on trade corridors and economic development. Martin Weiss volunteered to help; he would contact Jonathan Gifford.
(e) Pat de Corla-Souza was organizing a session on public-private partnerships in variably-priced facilities. Jim Gillespie would be the committee's liaison to Pat.

Nilam Bedi presented [his recent] research on linkages between research and policy application. (The presentation was somewhat abridged, due to a mishap with his laptop computer.) Nilam also offered to provide links to a synthesis on performance measures of economic development, compiled by the University of Ontario Business School. He related the fact that new federal, provincial, and municipal governments, following election reversals, were all emphasizing infrastructure investment.

Glen Weisbrod pointed out that the Appalachian Regional Commission is one organization that tries to link transport investment, job training, and utilities as tools for economic development. Martin Weiss pointed out the Glen himself recently finished the second phase of a project for the FHWA, a census of economic development projects in the states - "it's on our website." An example of these projects, and of the range of outcomes, was the connector constructed between Toledo, OH, and Lafayette, IN, through Fort Wayne. One firm, a grain processor, experienced a rise in volume which it was able to meet with very few additional hires; it passed the resulting lower average cost on as savings to its suppliers (farmers) and customers. Another firm, a pig slaughterer, experienced a rise in volume which required the addition of a new production line and many new hires. Martin wondered if a workshop on guidance to state and local governments could be useful. [See agenda item 6.] How, asked Glen, does one frame the problem: looking at enhancing B/C analysis? At economic development? At economic impacts? A lot of people have really mixed them up badly. The questions are, (1) what is the right way of measuring the outcomes, and (2) what does one do with the resulting findings?

Ron Poole volunteered that he had developed years ago a matrix of immiscible benefits, that is, benefits of different dimensions that could not be added or compared as apples-to-apples.

Jon Skolnik said that the "Access Ohio" program started with a future travel forecast and derived the predicted transport needs: development planning, in other words, was leading highway planning. When that state hired Jack Faucett Associates, JFA produced "Nexus Ohio", which started with the highway plans and derived the predicted development.

Steve Fitzroy suggested a reprise of the 1995 Tampa conference on B/C analysis. The work in Ontario, he said, showed the importance of explaining analytical findings to politicians. The economists need a newer toolbox. Glen observed that the European Union has adapted "appraisal tables."

6. DISCUSSION OF FUTURE WORKSHOP / SYMPOSIUM

The TED2002 conference brought together a lot of good ideas; maybe, Glen said, it was time to do some training. Since this need transcends Committee ADD10, it would be appropriate to tap a larger pool of volunteers to organize such a conference/workshop. Claire Felbinger suggested that such a workshop could piggyback on either the annual (winter) meeting or the mid-year (summer) meeting. Darren Timothy noted that states often aren't as active as metropolitan planning organizations. This means that a plan that draws in AASHTO wouldn't necessarily reach the appropriate audience. Claire responded that Randy Eberts would say the region is the proper unit of analysis.

Martin Weiss, Darren Timothy, and Steve Fitzroy volunteered to explore the possibility of a workshop or conference on the use of economic analysis in the decision-making process. Steve agreed to lead. What, asked, Jim Gillespie, was the scope of their charge? Glen proposed a tentative scope: (1) training in the use of the new "Red Book"; (2) to contact David Levinson with ideas about the definition and measurement of "benefits"; and (3) a workshop on measuring the economic development effects of the known (or reputed) economic development tools. Martin added that an effort to systematize the vocabulary of economic development should also be part of the scope.

Glen asked Jake Jacoby to say a word about Phase II of NCHRP 2-23, a revision of the AASHTO "Red Book." Jake said that he was uncertain what direction the panel would take.

7. OTHER INITIATIVES

Lori Kennedy, section chair, reported on the outcome of the previous day's Planning and Environmental Group meeting, which Neil Pedersen chaired. Three cross-cutting issues emerged at the meeting:

(a) environmental management systems - a conference session is in preparation;
(b) invasive species - a workshop is in preparation; this is becoming a huge issue;
(c) matching transport systems to the communities they serve.

Lori reported that the meeting also discussed diversity - that is, efforts to recruit minorities and young people into TRB - and listed pointers on running a good workshop.

The planning committee for the 2005 summer meeting was going to meet the next day (Tuesday) at 7:00 PM. The 2005 summer meeting will be in Boston. The 2007 summer meeting will be on the west coast, broadly defined, at a location yet to be determined. Glen asked what the themes for the summer meeting would be, and wondered how the committee could contribute to the planning for it: for example, he suggested, sorting the environmental, social, and economic considerations. Amy O'Leary pointed out wryly that collecting and synthesizing ideas for the meeting from a large number of interested committees is also a public involvement issue. Dave Forkenbrock agreed that it would be desirable, for instance, to confirm meeting locations sooner; the loudest voice tends to have disproportionate influence. Lori requested that those present shoot their ideas to her by e-mail. She would undertake to present the suggestions to the planning committee.

Glen and the other committee chairs were requested to forward the best paper they received during the coming TRB cycle to their section chair, Lori, as possible candidates for the Pike-Johnson Award. Lori in turn would forward the one best of these to group chair Neil Pedersen, and so forth. TRB was also seeking nominees for the Dean Lectureship Award. The winner of this might be the keynote speaker at the TRB lunch next winter. Again, Glen and the other chairs were requested to forward the names of potential nominees to Lori.

8. ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made and approved for the meeting to be adjourned at noon.

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.

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