For Immediate Release
Contact:
Virginia Miller
(202) 496-4816
vmiller@apta.com
Experts Converge in Los Angeles to Discuss Light Rail Growth
Public transportation industry experts from across the country will meet in Los Angeles, April 20-21 for the triennial 2009 Joint Light Rail Conference. Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the conference will focus on the demands of rapidly growing light rail systems.
The conference offers state-of-the-art aspects of planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operations involved in running a light rail system. Featuring technical sessions, facility tours, workshops and networking events, this is a must-attend event for public transit industry professionals at all levels of their career.
What: 2009 Joint Light Rail Conference
Where: Millennium Biltmore Hotel
506 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
When: April 20-21, 2009
Events: Some of the conference events are highlighted below.
For a complete listing of sessions, click here:
Monday, April 20
8:30-10:00a.m. Opening General Session
Presiding:
-John D. Wilkins, chair, TRB Light Rail Transit Committee; chair, Joint TRB/APTA Light Rail Conference Planning Committee; and director, capital planning (retired), New Jersey Transit Corporation, Newark, NJ
Welcomes:
-The Honorable Don Knabe, chair, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors; and the first vice chair, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA
-Arthur T. Leahy, chief executive officer, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA
-Dr. Adib K. Kanafani, chair TRB Executive Committee, and Cahill professor of civil engineering, University of California, Berkley, CA
-William W. Millar, president, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Washington, DC
Status of North American Light Rail Systems - 2009 Update:
-John Schumann, senior transportation consultant, LTK Engineering Services, Portland, OR
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Controlling Capital Costs: Design and Delivery
This session explores innovative approaches to help design, construct, and deliver rail expansion projects more cost effectively.
Moderator:
-Winston M. Simmonds, chair, APTA Light Rail Transit Technical Forum; vice chair, Joint TRB/APTA Light Rail Conference Planning Committee; and rail operations/engineering officer, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA
Bringing BIM Horizontal:
-James W. Palmer, senior vice president & director, transportation, Hill International, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
More Sustainable Cut and Cover for Transit Subways:
-Daniel Yavorsky, senior professional associate, structures & structures TRC manager, Southern California, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Honolulu, HI
Reuse or Renew: The Hampton Roads Transit Bridge:
-Lee B. Ehrler, CPE, LEED, Burns Engineering, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Light Rail: A Tool to Improve Regional Transit Ridership
Some metropolitan areas use light rail transit as their regional transit skeletons, around which they organize their local and express bus services. This session examines issues and results of regional light rail applications. Moderator:
-Gregory L. Thompson, professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
The Role of Systems Planning in Light Rail Success:
-Gregory L. Thompson
-Jeffrey R. Brown, assistant professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Combining Regional Rail with Light Rail - Tram Trains:
-Dr. Jean-Claude Ziv, professor, Cnam Paris, and project manager, Veolia Transport, Arpaillargues et Aureillac, Gard, France
Improving Ridership - Extending Boston’s Light Rail:
-Kristine Wickham Zimmerman, senior project manager, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., Boston, MA
-Stephen M Woelfel, manager of statewide transit planning, Executive Office of Transportation, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA
Destinations Matter - Building Transit Success:
-Jeff Wood, program associate/GIS specialist, Reconnecting America, Oakland, CA
1:30 - 3 p.m. Energy, Environment & Transit: Greener/Efficient
This session addresses issues such as changes in polity, technological advances, fluctuating fuel costs, mode comparisons, and changes in development patterns that show how integral transit is in the move for environmental sustainability.
Moderator:
-Jeffrey LaMora, rail service project administrator, Utah Transit Authority, Midvale, UT
Fuel Costs and the Role of Rail Transit:
-Bradley W. Lane, Ph.D., candidate & associate instructor, Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Light Imprint, Light Rail, Intrinsic Green:
-Thomas E. Low, AIA, CNU, LEED, principal, director of town planning, Duany Plater-Zyberk Architects and Town Planners, Charlotte, NC
Energy Efficiency of Light Rail vs. Motor Vehicles:
-Lyndon Henry, data analysis, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Austin, TX
The Role of Transit in Mitigating Climate Change:
-Jodi Ketelsen, environmental project manager, CH2M Hill, Bellevue, WA
Light Rail Transit and Climate Change Policy:
-Anthony Loui, community planner â€" team leader, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC
3:30 - 5 p.m. BRT and Light Rail, What is the Role for Each Mode?
Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail/Streetcar Systems can each play a role. See what experts are saying about the trade-offs between those modes and how a city might employ them most effectively.
Moderator:
-Thomas G. Matoff, director, transportation planning, LTK Engineering Services, Sacramento, CA
Express Bus Versus Rail Transit â€" How the Marriage of Mode and Mission Affects Performance:
-Jeffrey R. Brown, assistant professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
-Gregory L. Thompson, professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
BRT as a Precursor of Light Rail?:
-Lyndon Henry, data analysis, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Austin, TX
BRT vs. Light Rail â€" A Needless Conflict:
-William Lieberman, AICP, program manager, Jacobs, Oakland, CA
Comparative Performance of Los Angeles’ Transit Modes
-Richard M. Stanger, transportation consultant, Venice, CA
Discussant:
-Vukan R. Vuchic, Ph.D., UPS Foundation professor of transportation systems engineering; and professor of city and regional planning, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
TUESDAY, APRIL 21
8:30 - 10 a.m. Regulations and Standards
This session provides details of ongoing standards development and summarizes new standards recently released that will affect current and future system procurements.
Moderator:
-Martin P. Schroeder, M.S.M.E., P.E., senior program manager - rail programs, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Washington, DC
Track Geometry Comparison for Light Rail Systems:
-Margarita Novales, associate professor of Group of Railways and Transportation Engineering, Coruna, Spain
Adapting Established Safety Outreach to Light Rail Systems:
-Iyon Rosario, safety and security specialist, Office of Safety and Security, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC
Applying New Crashworthiness Standards:
-Philip M. Strong, principal, PS Consulting, Mastic Beach, NY
Development and Application of Structural Design Standards for Safety of Light Rail Cars and Streetcars:
-Stephen Kirkpatrick, Ph.D, principal engineer, Applied Research Associates, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Arema Guidelines on Light Rail/Streetcar Track Design:
-Hugh J. Fuller, P.E., chief engineer â€" rail transit, CH@M Hill, Bellevue, WA
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Streetcar Circulators and the New Urbanism
Several U.S. cities have opened new streetcar lines in the new millennium, and many more are planning such projects. Using case studies, presenters explore streetcar planning and design issues and discuss the compatibility of streetcars as a complimentary part of “new urbanist” development and redevelopment efforts.
Moderator:
-John Schumann, senior transportation consultant, LTK Engineering Services, Portland, OR
The Santa Ana and Garden Grove Streetcar Project Concept - Assessing Viability, Exploring Potential, Evaluating Feasibility:
-Toni Botte Bates, senior planning manager, Parsons Brinckerhoff, San Diego, CA
-Melissa Estrada, transportation planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff, San Diego, CA
-Patrick Blankenship, transportation planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff, San Diego, CA
Best Practices for the Effective Integration of Historic Trolley and Modern Urban Rail Transit Systems:
-Brett P. Wallace, PE, AICP, senior transit planner/engineer, HDR Engineering, Inc., Charlotte, NC
Building Streetcar Projects - What It Really Takes:
-Rick Gustafson, principal, Shiels Obletz Johnson, Portland, OR
Building a Streetcarâ€"and Expanding It into a Networkâ€"Seattle Is Making It Happen:
-Ethan Melone, rail transit manager, City of Seattle, Seattle, WA
1:30 - 3 p.m. The Next Generation Vehicle
This session provides an update of light rail vehicle procurements since the last joint conference three years ago, as well as offering technical presentations on several new vehicle designs and innovative features.
Moderator:
-Thomas B. Furmaniak, P.E., secretary, APTA Light Rail Transit Technical Forum, and vice president, southeast region, LTK Engineering Services, Decatur, GA
North American Light Rail Vehicle and Streetcar Procurements…since we last met:
-Thomas B. Furmaniak, P.E.
Innovations Resulting from Product Customization:
-Bryce Dudgeon, P.E., engineering manager, mechanical, Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc., Sacramento, CA
New LACMTA P2550 Energy Saving LIGHT RAILV:
-David Turner, president, Turner Engineering Corporation, Venice, CA
The Need for a North American Tram-Train Vehicle:
-Pierre Barrieau, planning & environment, Department of Geography, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
3:30 - 5 p.m. Closing General Session
The conference comes to an end with this session that summarizes findings from the sessions, workshops and technical tours.
Presiding:
-Winston M. Simmonds, chair, APTA Light Rail Transit Technical Forum; vice chair, Joint TRB/APTA Light Rail Conference Planning Committee; and rail operations/engineering officer, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA
Panelist:
-Jerome C. Premo, executive vice president, AECOM, Orange, CA
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APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical public transportation services and products. APTA members serve more than 90 percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada.
Virginia Miller
Senior Manager-Media Relations
American Public Transportation Association
Washington, DC
Phone : 202-496-4816
Courtesy FeaturesUSA.com