The Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition (MVFC) has a new facilitator with years of experience in regional freight transportation research. As MVFC completes its third full year serving a 10-state Midwest region, former CFIRE director Ernie Wittwer believes that members must continue outreach and peer collaboration efforts to meet multimodal regional freight needs in the 21st Century.
A new plank in the MVFC platform is a strong emphasis on educating and informing policymakers, industry stakeholders and the general public on the basics of freight, its importance to regional economies and the value of public-private partnerships in balancing economic competitiveness and infrastructure investment with environmental protection and efficient uses of traditional and renewable fuel sources.
“One of my goals for next year is to put more energy into private sector participation in our ongoing activities,” Wittwer told the CFIRE Executive Committee at its August 13 meeting. “They have the most to gain from what we’re doing.”
For 2009, Wittwer believes performance measures for freight could provide an impetus for federal funding reauthorization. “With an uncertain supply of federal dollars, it helps to show how transportation research funds have been used to effectively address current and future issues,” he concluded.