The first day of the 2010 MVFC Conference and Annual Meeting is now complete. We’ve had a successful day talking about different aspects of freight research, policy, and outreach.
The day started with two parallel sessions devoted to MVFC research projects. Teresa Adams and Kaushik Bekkem talked about the I-90/94 Corridor Resilency project and Peter Lindquist talked about the Midwest FreightView project.
After Teresa Adams and Jason Bittner welcomed the attendees and kicked off the conference, MVFC Facilitator Ernie Wittwer gave an overview of the agenda and got everyone out of their seats to introduce themselves to their neighbors and to mingle with their fellow attendees.
At lunch, OKI Director Mark Policinski gave a keynote address about freight policy from the perspective of a large Metropolitan Planning Organization.
After lunch, Ernie Wittwer and Bob Gollnik conducted a workshop to get feedback about an ongoing project to produce MVFC outreach materials while Jane Lin, Kazuya Kawamura, and Peter Lindquist presented their combined research on commodity profiles in the MVFC.
The last general session of the day was devoted to the national perspective on freight policy. Panelists included Chris Smith from AASHTO, Dennis Faulkenberg from APPIAN, Adrienne Gildea from CAGTC, and CFIRE Director Teresa Adams. The panelists talked about the upcoming reauthorization bill, the need for a well-funded national freight policy, and TIGER grants.
Finally, attendees from State agencies and MPOs participated in a working dinner where they were able to network and generate ideas about working together.
It’s been a full day for the conference attendees and the MVFC/CFIRE staff. We look forward Day 2 of the 2010 Conference and Annual Meeting, which includes three different panel discussions and a keynote address from the Jolene Molitoris, Director of the Ohio DOT.
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