Transportation Today and Tomorrow
Paves the Way for the Future
U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton gives the keynote address
If there is any consensus among leading thinkers, researchers and policy makers, it is that what got us here today won’t lead us to tomorrow. Railroads in the 19th century and the interstate highway system in the 20th transformed the American transportation landscape. Finding ourselves at the nexus of innovation and challenge, the 21st century demands a new lens and a different approach. To address “Transportation Today and Tomorrow,” WTS convened its second annual Policy Seminar September 11, in Washington DC.
WTS signaled a new approach to the conversations, drawing presenters from a broad spectrum of transportation practitioners, thought leaders, and industry perspectives and engaging the audience of 150 in the dialogue. “This is an exciting and challenging time for the transportation industry,” noted WTS President Elaine Dezenski. “As we face economic, environmental, demographic, and technological challenges, our collective priorities must be reassessed, and it is even more important to have a multitude of voices and perspectives engaged in the policy process.”
In an opening session designed to explore the industry’s mega issues, Peter Tirschwell, senior advisor at the Journal of Commerce; Robert Puentes, deputy director of the Brookings Institution; and Peter Sweatman, director at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, described major economic, demographic and technological factors framing current and future transportation challenges.
Reflecting the findings in his recently published A Bridge to Somewhere: Rethinking American Transportation for the 21st Century, Puentes cited that the “top 100 metropolitan areas together take up 12 percent of land in the U.S., but they account for 65% of the population, 68% of jobs and 75% of the nation’s output. These largest metro areas handle 72% of the nation’s seaport tonnage, 92% of air passengers and 93% of rail travelers.” Future population trends indicate increases in the aging and immigrant populations, with housing trending toward smaller-sized households and attached units.
“I believe that innovation is the key to solving many of the transportation issues,” said Peter Sweatman. He pointed to new technologies such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, adaptive traffic signals, and Electronic Stability Control, which can reduce car crashes significantly. Looking ahead to the needs for system management strategies, safety and mobility systems and traffic management, Sweatman noted that transportation technology will need an "integrative communication backbone.
In a lively address over lunch, U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia challenged that “the question is not how to rebuild what we have. The question is what kind of transportation infrastructure do we really need?..The lesson of history is that you get what you are willing to give up. With the railroads, it was the investment made by private capital and immigrants who had nothing to offer but their labor and sweat. What are we willing to invest today?”
“Everything is connected within the wireless community, and they’re running ahead of us,” she said. “Why are we not partnering with them as we decide the type of transportation system we need in the future?”
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