Regional Solutions for a Regional Issue
We all learned at a young age that there is no free lunch, but most Americans seem to have forgotten that simple truism when it comes to public spending on transportation infrastructure. A recent Rockefeller Foundation survey, which was republished in the AASHTO Journal, found that two-thirds of respondents felt that a greater investment is […]
The US Departments of Commerce (DOC) and Transportation have recently broken new ground. They are cooperating on a series of public meetings in which members of the private sector have been asked to come and discuss their concerns and ideas about transportation. This is new ground because the agencies are dealing with a fundamental issue […]
What is the future of freight movements on the Great Lakes? What are some of the challenges facing Great Lakes carriers? These are just two of the questions that representatives of the Federal Maritime Administration (MARAD), including the administrator and deputy administrator, and the consultant working on a review of Great Lakes freight movements asked […]
This article was contributed by Larry Karnes, Michigan DOT With hundreds of public comments and notes from dozens of stakeholder outreach meetings in hand, the Michigan Rail Plan team is rounding the bend toward completing MDOT’s first major rail plan in decades. The lead consultant, HNTB Michigan, Inc. is on-track to deliver the draft document […]
On Thursday, February 17 MAFC Facilitator Ernie Wittwer conducted an informational conference call to discuss and elucidate the process for the MAFC Regional Freight Plan that’s currently underway. Members of the MAFC technical committee and senior policy staff from the ten MAFC departments of transportation attended the call. Here’s the presentation that Wittwer used as […]
Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Deb Miller testified (on behalf of AASHTO) before the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcomittee on Highways and Transit and made recommendations for cutting costs and expediting project delivery on major infrastructure projects. Miller concluded her remarks by saying, “it is essential to find ways to deliver a better product, faster, […]
The Fall 2010 edition of Freight Notes is now available for download. This issue contains articles about the MAFC regional freight plan project, MAFC outreach materials, a student-created freight plan for the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, and MAFC Facilitiator Ernie Wittwer’s take on transportation funding.
The 2011 Mid-America Freight Coalition Conference and Annual Meeting is scheduled for April 26-28, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. The conference will be held at the Marriott St. Louis Union Station. Mark these dates on your calendar and download the conference flyer for distribution to your colleagues.
The National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ) recently announced a series of Making a Difference awards. These awards honor projects that exemplify highway quality, safety, and service. Once again, projects in MAFC states figure heavily in the list of award winners. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) took home three awards: The Michigan Department of […]
During the 2010 AASHTO Annual Meeting, a number of state DOTs and officials were recognized for their contribution to the field of transportation. We’d like to extend our congratulations to all of the award winners–but especially to the three award winners from organizations in one of the ten MAFC states: Thomas H. MacDonald Memorial Award […]