Forum at University of Minnesota to Showcase National Transportation Policy Project Innovation and Metric Efforts

Nov. 16, 2009

Washington, D.C. – The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and former Congressman Martin Sabo will convene a forum to discuss upcoming federal transportation policy reform and its effect on Minnesota. The event will be held on Monday, November 23, 2009 from 9:00AM to 1:30PM at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

The event, featured as part of the Martin Olav Sabo Lecture Series, is being held in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies and the Humphrey Institute, with additional sponsorship provided by The McKnight Foundation. It will highlight the BPC’s National Transportation Policy Project’s (NTPP) recently released report, “Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy,” and will feature leading local and regional transportation policymakers, top academics and other key transportation stakeholders from across Minnesota. Keynote speakers and panelists will discuss the local and national impacts of the next transportation authorization, analyze the effects NTPP recommendations will have on the Twin Cities region, and highlight the state’s work on transportation investment accountability.

“Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy” is a blueprint for moving towards a national transportation system that is efficient, effective, and accountable for performance. NTPP is led by its four co-chairs: former Congressman Martin Sabo; former Senator Slade Gorton; former Congressman Sherwood Boehlert; and former Mayor of Detroit Dennis Archer, and is composed of a broad, bipartisan coalition of transportation experts and business and civic leaders.

Forum Speakers and Panelists to Include:

Welcome
Former Congressman Martin Sabo, NTPP Co-Chair
Dean J. Brian Atwood, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

National Transportation Policy Project Recommendations
Joshua Schank, Ph.D., Director of Transportation Research, Bipartisan Policy Center

Response Panel: “Connecting Authorization and NTPP Recommendations to Local and Regional Challenges, Feasibility and Impacts”
Moderated by Mike Erlandson, Vice President, Government Affairs, SUPERVALU
State Senator D. Scott Dibble, Minnesota State Senate
State Representative Mary Liz Holberg, Minnesota House of Representatives
Peter McLaughlin, Commissioner, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Tom Sorel, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Transportation
Peter Bell, Chair, Metropolitan Council

Discussion of “Performance Metrics for the Evaluation of Transportation Programs”
Laurie McGinnis, Acting Director, University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies
Richard Mudge, Ph.D., Vice President, Delcan Corporation

Business Community Response
Charlie Zelle, President, Jefferson Bus Lines

Conclusion
Emil Frankel, Director of Transportation Policy, Bipartisan Policy Center

Luncheon Keynote
Senator Amy Klobuchar (invited)

The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Register here.

Members of the press wishing to attend, please RSVP to aclark@bipartisanpolicy.org. Press set-up begins at 8:00AM. If you are interested in scheduling interviews with any of the participants, please contact Ashley Clark at (202) 637-1456 or aclark@bipartisanpolicy.org.

NTPP was launched with the goal of bringing fresh approaches to transportation policy. Its proposals for transportation reform aim to be bold and pragmatic, while remaining effective and relevant. More information about NTPP and its project members is available here.

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National Transportation Policy Project