Participation in the Mineta Transport Institute Board of Trustees

On 12 January Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, as a new Board Member, had the pleasure to participate in the Board of Trustees of the Norman Y. Mineta International Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies. The Institute, established by the Congress and funded by it through the United States Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, the California Legislature through the Department of Transportation and by private grants and donations, receives oversight from an internationally respected Board of Trustees whose members represent all major surface transportation modes. The Board provides policy direction, assists with needs assessment, and connects the Institute and its programs with the international transportation community. MTI’s transportation policy work is centred on three primary responsibilities: Research, Education and Information and Technology Transfer.

During this meeting, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux had the opportunity to introduce UIC’s activities and in particular to see whether there was any possible complementarity with some of Mineta Transport Institute’s own activities in the fields of development, research and training, and also any possible synergy with security projects studied by UIC at world level.

Invitation as honoured guest to the Council of University Transportation Centers’ Meeting and Banquet

During his Washington trip, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux was also invited as honoured guest to the Council of University Transportation Centers’ (CUTC) annual meeting, to which CUTC members’ students-of-the-year are invited, as well as those who have won awards for their research papers.

During this annual event and banquet, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux had the opportunity to exchange with Mortimer Downey, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation, Michael Melaniphy, CEO of the American Public Transportation Association, Rod Diridon, Executive Director of Mineta Transportation Institute as well as with Flora M. Castillo, 2012-2013 Chair of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and Stephanie Pinson, President of Gilbert Tweed Associates and Vice-Chair of the Mineta Transportation Institute Board of Trustees.

The Mineta Transport Institute works to provide policy-oriented research for all levels of government and the private sector to foster the development of optimum surface transportation systems, with research areas including transportation security, planning and policy development, interrelationships among transportation or land use.

Presentation of the high speed rail worldwide overview in the context of annual TRB Conference

A day-long workshop on the future of high-speed and intercity passenger rail at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) annual meeting was held on Sunday 13 January, with a keynote delivered by U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, followed by six panel sessions featuring the world’s top experts. The program covered the current status of high-speed and intercity rail nationally and internationally, the variety of possible public and private funding sources, design and operational integration, a discussion of the benefits and the status of international programs given by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, who underlined that the new development in terms of high speed projects focuses more on the complementarity of high speed interfacing with other modes of transportation rather than isolated projects per se. In this respect the various experiences of France, Spain, Brazil, and the studies in Canada show all these new approaches in terms of sustainable development and connectivity within a transportation scheme of passenger logistics.

Other speakers and moderators included Federal Railroad Administration Deputy Administrator Karen Hedlund, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation Mort Downey, TRB Intercity Passenger Rail Committee Chair David Simpson, APTA CEO Michael Melaniphy, MTI Executive Director Rod Diridon, Sr, California High-Speed Rail Authority Board Chair Dan Richard and its CEO Jeff Morales, Capitol Corridor JPA Managing Director David Kutrosky, Midwest HSR Association Chair Rick Harnish and Secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation Paula Hammond.

This Washington trip also gave Jean-Pierre Loubinoux the opportunity to meet Michael Melaniphy, CEO of APTA and J. Szabo, Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.

They explored several possibilities to jointly organise some events in 2013, such as

• the idea for APTA to be a relay in the context of the preparation of the UIC Awards 2013
• the possibility to organise several workshops in the Midwest and in California
• the possibility to work together in the security field in the framework of the Mineta Transport Institute
• the possibility to actively participate in the Transport Seminar organised every two years at worldwide level by the World Bank