At the recent meeting of the\u00a0Mid-America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO), the Executive Directors of the ten MAASTO states renewed the\u00a0Mid-America Freight Coalition (MAFC)\u00a0for an additional three years, through 2018.
\n\u201cIt is an honor to work with the ten MAASTO states as they lead the country in freight innovation, policy, and programs,\u201d says MAFC Program Manager Ernie Perry. \u201cThe continuation of the Coalition reflects the leadership, interest, and desire to work cooperatively across the Mid-America region to improve freight transportation and the economy in the Midwest and across the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mid-America Freight Coalition is currently working on a bundle of four freight research projects, including a truck parking synthesis, a review of state freight plans with a view toward alignment and collaboration, an assessment of the cross-modal benefits of multimodal freight transportation investments, and a freight policy analysis of current and upcoming surface transportation legislation. These projects all focus on increased collaboration, sharing best practices, and leadership in regional and national freight program and policy development.<\/p>\n
\u201cStates in the MAFC all have economies based on manufacturing and agriculture, two industries that depend heavily on reliable and efficient freight transport,\u201d says\u00a0Teresa Adams, a UW-Madison\u00a0civil and environmental engineering\u00a0professor and executive director of the\u00a0National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE). \u201cThe MAFC is helping the states coordinate in ways that benefit the economies of each state and the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to these research projects, the Coalition is also coordinating its annual meeting in conjunction with the 2015 Conference on Freight, to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio in September 2015.<\/p>\n
The Mid-America Freight Coalition (MAFC) is a regional organization that cooperates in the planning, operation, preservation, and improvement of transportation infrastructure in the Midwest. The ten states of the\u00a0AASHTO\u00a0Mid-America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO) share key interstate corridors, railways, intermodal connections, inland waterways, and the Great Lakes. The MAFC is funded by CFIRE\u00a0and the DOTs of the ten member states.<\/p>\n