Get together with community transit advocates from around the country to talk about the transportation planning process that can build support for projects to make our communities healthy, safe and livable. This introductory breakfast gathering is targeted toward advocates, first time Rail~Volution attendees and Rail~Volution scholarship recipients. Veteran livability advocates will lead this informal gathering that will answer your questions about the conference, get advice on which sessions you might consider attending and meet other like-minded people from across the country.

Moderator: Thomas R. Shrout, Jr., Executive Director Citizens for Modern Transit, St. Louis, Missouri
Mentors: Meeky Blizzard, Advisor for Livable Communities, Office of Congressman Earl Blumenauer, 3rd District, Oregon
Kathleen Osher, Executive Director, Denver Transit Alliance, Denver, Colorado
Gloria Ohland, Vice President for Communications, Reconnecting America, Los Angeles, California
Katherine Perez, Vice President, Development, Forest City, Los Angeles, California
Jacky Grimshaw, Vice President for Policy, Transportation, and Community, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Chicago, Illinois

Overview: Targeted toward policymakers, this workshop will help elected officials learn how to become change agents for livability in their own communities. This introductory breakfast gathering is directed at community leaders and elected officials who may be relatively new to the concepts of livability and using transit to build exceptional communities. This breakfast will present an overview of key livability concepts, how they make communities more vibrant and economically sustainable, and how they can be translated into tangible results such as policies and municipal code changes. A panel of leaders from forward-thinking communities will present strategies for engaging the community, civic leaders and the business community. Also hear about lessons learned and about tools to help implement and fund these strategies.

Moderator: Tommy Wells, Councilmember, DC City Council, Washington, DC
Moderator: Rex Burkholder, Councilor, District 5, Metro Council, Portland, Oregon
Marie York, Director, Florida Public Officials Design Institute at Abacoa, Jupiter, Florida

South Florida literally came into being because of rail, with Henry Morrison Flagler’s train to paradise opening up the entire region for development. Hear from historians, transit advocates, elected officials, developers and planners about how South Florida’s past and present have been shaped by transportation and land-use coordination, and how a regional approach is the answer to accomplishing intelligent growth.

EMCEE: Allen Harper, Former Chair, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Miami Expressway Authority and Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Miami, Florida
Harpal Kapoor, Director, Miami-Dade Transit, Miami, Florida
Jack Stephens, Deputy Executive Director, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Pompano Beach, Florida
Matti Bower, Commissioner, City of Miami Beach, Florida
Kendrick Meek, Congressman, 17th District, Florida
George Gadson, Coordinator-South Florida Regional Resource Center, Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions, Florida Atlantic University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

View Gadson presentation (18 pages / 1.8mb)

The past 13 years have witnessed successes and continued momentum for Rail~Volution -- including a growing number of light-rail systems, an increasing number of TODs, renewed emphasis on community livability, exploding interest in the streetcar, and the recognition that transit not only affects land use (and vice versa) but also shapes critical global issues such as climate change. Hear from APTA President William Millar as he discusses: What are our next challenges? How will our future efforts address demographic changes? How can we fund the increased demand for quality public transportation along with the need to address environmental and sustainability issues? How can we make the next transportation bill, due in 2009, enhance our goal of creating more livable communities?

William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC

The environmental challenges facing the United States – and in fact, the entire world – are enormous. But so are the opportunities to fix them. By far the most significant issue is global warming, with transportation playing a major role in its ability to reduce the existing environmental damage and shape future change for generations to come. As a national expert on this issue, Lehner will discuss the relationship between transportation and global warming and will speak passionately about what your community can do both federally and locally to make a difference.

Peter Lehner, Executive Director, Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, New York

Overview: Hear a recap of Reconnecting America’s three streetcar workshops and the lessons learned. This workshop has convened experts on streetcar planning, design and construction. Some of the participants in the workshops held in Portland, Denver and Charlotte will report on the key themes of their workshops and will discuss the local response of public officials, citizen activists and developers. The possibility of additional workshops also will be explored.

Moderator: Keith Jones, Regional Transit Director, West Central Region, URS, Dallas, Texas
Rick Gustafson, Executive Director, Portland Streetcar Inc., Portland, Oregon
Gloria Ohland, Vice President of Communications, Reconnecting America, Los Angeles, California

Overview: This workshop will connect the dots between healthy people and healthy communities. Where and how we live affects our health. This simple concept has been the topic of increasing attention in recent years, especially from public health officials concerned with the alarming increase in obesity in the U.S. This workshop explores how planners, developers, transit agencies and policymakers are working together to create places that encourage people to be more physically active and to eat healthier food. Also learn how the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is engaging policymakers on these important issues.

Moderator: Paul Zykofsky, Director, Center for Livable Communities, Local Government Commission, Sacramento, California
Art Pearce, Project Manager, Office of Transportation, City of Portland, Oregon

View Zykofsky presentation (132 pages / 10.5mb)
View Pearce presentation (49 pages / 2.8mb)

Overview: Learn how to reshape existing communities by blending infill opportunity with transit-shaped codes that encourage TOD. Miami/Dade has an Urban Centers policy as a part of the County’s growth management strategies. Form-Based codes are one implementation tool for this policy, with the goal of creating Transit Oriented Developments. This panel will look at the experience of implementation of the form-based codes from the perspective of the County, an architect and a developer -- each with considerable experience in designing and building smaller projects in the Urban Centers. Learn what works -- and get ideas for overcoming the inevitable regulatory challenges and rigidities.

Moderator: Theresa O’Donnell, Planning Director, City of Dallas, Texas
Subrata Basu, Deputy Planning Director, Miami Dade Planning and Zoning, Miami, Florida
James Brown, President, J. L. Brown Development Corporation, Miami, FL
Maria deLeon-Fleites, President, Fleites deLeon-Fleites Architects Town Planners, Miami, FL

View Basu presentation (23 pages / 1.8mb)

Overview: Hear how some industry leaders around the world have developed innovative approaches to build sustainable transportation futures within the realities of challenging fiscal, social and economic situations. From Dublin to Salt Lake City to Portland ... all of us are facing powerful trends and challenges that require new ways of thinking about our communities’ future. Rapid job and population growth, limited funding, increasing transportation costs, climate change -- these and other major issues are affecting cities and regions around the world. Attend this workshop and learn how to create livable communities in the face of some daunting challenges.

Moderator: Susan B. Keil, Director, Office of Transportation, City of Portland, Oregon
Michael Brown, Senior Transportation Engineer, Wilbur Smith Associates, Salt Lake City, Utah
Alan Jones, Associate, Steer Davies Gleave, London, United Kingdom
Rex Burkholder, Councilor, District 5, Metro, Portland, Oregon

View Brown presentation (36 pages / 2.1mb)
View Jones presentation (63 pages / 2.7mb)
View Burkholder presentation (27 pages / 2.7mb)

Overview: Learn why the agenda for building livable cities should include goods movement as a new emerging urban issue. Cities in the United States with harbors or gateways are encountering major urban transportation problems because of the growing trend of using containers on trucks to move goods. The result is several challenges for these metropolitan cities: (1) land adjacent to the harbors is no longer used for industrial manufacturing, (2) there is a significant increase in goods movement on both roadways and rail lines, and (3) air quality in these cities has declined because of diesel emissions from trucks and container ships.

Moderator: Diego Cardoso, Executive Officer, Transportation Development and Implementation, Metro, Los Angeles, California
Roy Choi, Project Manager, I-710 EIR/EIS, Gateway Cities/Southeast Area Team, Metro, Los Angeles, California
Michelle Smith, Goods Movement Project Manager, Transportation Development and Implementation, Metro, Los Angeles, California
Malcolm Quint, Principal Planner, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, Oakland, California

View Choi presentation (18 pages / 1.5mb)

Overview: Hear firsthand the techniques for using transit as a foundation for creating communities that promote alternative forms of transportation. This introductory session will provide an overview of how rail transit can be a catalyst for creating more livable communities. Attendees will learn by example how cities have created higher density, mixed-use communities where a greater percentage of trips occurs on foot, bike or transit. This workshop will show how barriers such as parking and zoning codes can be overcome and how to convert critics into supporters of livable communities.

Moderator: GB Arrington, Principal Practice Leader, PB PlaceMaking, Portland, Oregon

What are Livable Communities
Meeky Blizzard, Advisor for Livable Communities, Office of Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Portland, Oregon

Understanding the Fundamentals of TOD
GB Arrington, Principal Practice Leader, PB PlaceMaking, Portland, Oregon
View Arrington presentation (58 pages / 3.5mb)

The Economic Importance of Transportation Investments: Current Trends and Initiatives
Art Guzzetti, Director of Policy and Advocacy, APTA, Washington, DC
View Guzzetti presentation (29 pages / 0.6mb)

The Community Perspective
Tom Shrout, Executive Director, Citizens for Modern Transit, St. Louis, Missouri
Ann Becklund, Director, Community Relations, TriMet, Portland, Oregon

The Developer's Perspective
Katherine Perez, Vice President, Development, Forest City, Los Angeles, California
Marilee Utter, President, Citiventure Associates LLC, Denver, Colorado
View Perez presentation (18 pages / 1.3mb)

The Planner and Public Agency Perspective
Laura Harmon, Economic Development Program Manager, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission, Charlotte, North Carolina
Jack Wierzenski, Director, Economic Development and Planning, DART, Dallas, Texas
View Harmon presentation (17 pages / 1.0mb)

#6 Metromover Miami Skyline Tour (1:00 pm-5:00 pm)
#7 Renaissance of the Miami River (1:00 pm-5:00 pm)
#8 Metrorail Tour (1:00 pm-6:00 pm)

Overview: Learn the latest trends in public-private partnerships and how this type of financing structure can be applied successfully in your community.Public private partnerships (PPPs) are gaining popularity in the United States as a mechanism for financing community infrastructure. The Federal Transit Administration, for example, recently introduced its Public Private Parternship Pilot Program -- called Penta P -- to encourage PPPs for certain types of transit projects. This workshop features a panel of experts that discusses the role of PPPs for transit, how these partnerships are being structured for transit, and what role TOD is having in the whole process.

Moderator: Bill Sirois, TOD Manager, RTD FasTracks Team, Denver, Colorado
Martin Robins, Senior Fellow, Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Tom Rousakis, Vice President, Goldman, Sachs, & Company, New York, New York
Art Guzzetti, Director of Policy and Advocacy, APTA, Washington, DC
Richard Steinmann, Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Federal Transit Administation, Washington, DC

View Robins presentation (10 pages / 0.4mb)
View Rousakis presentation (16 pages / 0.2mb)
View Guzzetti presentation (14 pages / 0.1mb)
View Steinmann presentation (18 pages / 0.1mb)

Overview: Experience the relatively new world of blogging – learn how it can boost discussions about, and support for, transit projects in your community.Listen to a panel of experts discuss how to use new media tactics and tools such as blogging to help build momentum for a successful transit project. Hear first hand how two bloggers keep the transit dialogue interesting in their communities. This workshop will help everyone learn how to think outside of the box and create a platform for new methods of talking about livable communities.

Moderator: Cliff Henke, Senior Analyst, BRT and Streetcars, PB Americas Inc., Arcadia, California
Jeff Wood, Program Associate, Reconnecting America, Oakland, California
Steve Patterson, Blogger, Urban Review St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
Effie Stallsmith, C Community Planner, Office of Planning & Environment, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC
Phillip Jacques, Graphic Designer, URS Corporation, Denver, Colorado

View Stallsmith presentation (31 pages / 9.1mb)
View Steve Patterson’s Blog
View Jeff Wood’s Blog

Overview: Explore the benefits of designing LRT stations at the beginning of the concept design process, not at the end. LRT alignment and station location decisions often are made as part of an engineering process that focuses on feasibility, cost and connections to park-and-ride lots. Only later, after station location and platform design are fixed, do planners have the opportunity to explore optimal pedestrian connections and development opportunities. This session will provide lessons learned from Denver’s LRT system and present an approach being used in Portland to assess station locations early in the design process.

Moderator: Sam Adams, Commissioner, Office of Transportation, City of Portland, Oregon
David Knowles, Vice President, Planning and Development, David Evans and Associates, Portland, Oregon
Marcy McInelly, Architect, UrbsWorks, Portland, Oregon
Catherine Cox-Blair, Principal City Planner, City/County of Denver, Colorado

View Knowles/McInelly presentation (30 pages / 0.8mb)
View Cox-Blair presentation (13 pages / 0.8mb)

Overview: Hear how TODs are being used to create reinvestment and market interest in lower-income communities in Austin, Baltimore and Miami. The market for creating communities that are denser, mixed use, and pedestrian oriented is becoming well established. But despite a strong market and demand, building TOD projects sensitively and responsibly in established lower-income neighborhoods continues to face significant challenges. Learn how TOD is being used as part of the toolbox to create a catalyst and to reinvest in lower-income neighborhoods in three very different communities. Can TOD help move these communities forward without losing their history, character and existing affordable housing?

Moderator: Robert Apodaca, Director of Business Development, McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners, Oakland, California
John Spillman, Chief of System Planning, Miami-Dade Transit, Miami, Florida
James Hencke, Senior Urban Designer, PB PlaceMaking, Portland, Oregon
Paul Zaleski, Senior Associate Partner, McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners, Oakland, California
Michael Willis, Principal, Michael Willis & Associates, San Francisco, California

View Hencke presentation (38 pages / 3.0mb)
View Zaleski presentation (40 pages / 4.7mb)
View Willis presentation (20 pages / 2.0mb)

Overview: Get a fascinating look at what may lie ahead in planning for infrastructure and other needs for future “megaregions” around the U.S. By 2050 the U.S. population is projected to grow by nearly 50 percent -- with 70 percent of that growth occurring in 10 “megaregions” of large urban areas. Clustering future growth is expected to give these extended regions an economic competitive edge. But, of course, with the advantages of these megaregions also comes challenges. For example, what kind of transportation infrastructure would be needed to promote the growth of regions that cover 200 to 500 miles? And how can communities muster the political will to launch such a large-scale planning and financing effort, while also dealing with community opposition and environmental impacts? What will be required from a federal perspective when it comes to land-use decisions in these megaregions?

Moderator: Diane Filippi, Director, Urban Center, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, San Francisco, California
Carolyn Dekle, Executive Director, South Florida Regional Planning Council, Hollywood, Florida
Catherine Ross, Director, Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
Petra Todorvich, Director, America 2050, Regional Plan Association, New York, New York

View Ross presentation (18 pages / 0.7mb)
View Todorvich presentation (18 pages / 1.0mb)

Overview: Find out how the principles and implementation of transit-oriented development can be applied effectively on a regional level. This session will take a regional look at TOD – how it can be implemented and what it can accomplish in terms of increasing livable communities. By providing well-planned, well-designed communities and transportation choices, communities can promote pedestrian-friendly design while increasing transit ridership throughout a region. Attendees will learn about TOD implementation solutions, obstacles and new approaches. Moderator: Marsha Kaiser, Urban Policy and Public Policy Practice Leader, PB PlaceMaking, Washington, DC
Tom Boone, TOD Project Manager, Denver Regional Council of Governments, Denver, Colorado
Steve Heminger, Executive Director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Oakland, California

Join us for the conference’s trade show evening reception, where attendees can spend time talking with representatives from the country’s leading firms. Throughout the conference, visit the booths and displays from 24 exhibiting companies.