Oberstar Forum envisions the future of transportation in rural America
Regional and national transportation officials, policymakers, and professionals joined U.S. Rep. James L. Oberstar on March 14–15 to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing transportation in rural America. This was the third meeting of the transportation policy and technology forum named after Oberstar, and the first held at the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. This year's forum was co-hosted by the Northland Advanced Transportation Systems Research Laboratory and CTS.
Oberstar headlined the two-day event, which featured USDOT Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy Emil Frankel. Many other state and national leaders also attended, including Larry Naake, executive director of the National Association of Counties.
"To support the evolving rural economy we must continually tune our transportation system to meet rural needs," Oberstar said, framing the forum with a historical context of transportation in rural America. "We have to think about modes of transportation, how they affect rural areas, and what the implications are for the future."
While probing the changing social and economic landscape of rural America, Oberstar cited recent trends in rural demographics and the implications for the rural transportation system, and rural-oriented initiatives in highway and transit funding legislation in Congress. With regard to pending reauthorization of national transportation funding legislation, Oberstar offered a brief status report. "We are challenged to build on the past, to understand dynamics of the present, and to peer over the horizon to the future," he noted.
In his keynote remarks during the public portion of the forum, Frankel also addressed reauthorization. "Transportation in rural America is an important, yet complicated, issue," he said, "and we all must work together for a common goal." He described various components of the reauthorization bill and stated specifically that because rural America bears the brunt of transportation fatalities, the bill will address the unique safety needs of these areas. "One of the main goals of the president's proposal is to include more flexibility in how states can use funds," he concluded. "The Bush administration wants local government to use common sense to solve transportation needs, and rural programs will receive their fair share when included in the formula program."
After Frankel's keynote speech, a panel of top transportation executives shared industry insights and took questions from the audience. Naake said the two major concerns facing rural transportation involve economic development and safety. "Good roads contribute to economic vitality and are essential to safety," he said. "Rural areas have more fatalities but receive less funding, and this is a huge problem. We need to invest more money on rural roads."
Chris Zeilinger, assistant director of the Community Transportation Association of America, called for a national commitment to people even in the most isolated rural areas in a fashion similar to the social policy in which the Rural Electrification Act of 1938 was grounded. "Transportation everywhere is about people, and transportation decisions affect the lives and vitality of people," he added. "We hope there will be a new reauthorization in which the needs of rural transportation are included."
A detailed report summarizing the third James L. Oberstar Forum for Transportation Policy and Technology is available online at: www.cts.umn.edu/oberstarforum. The site also includes a white paper—Transportation in Rural America: Challenges and Opportunities—prepared for forum participants. The paper describes some of the key features of rural transportation and promising strategies to support economic and community development and provide basic mobility.
—Michael McCarthy