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June 2002
Oberstar honored at first-ever forum
A 'galaxy' of transportation leaders mull response to September 11 terror
James L. Oberstar
Governor Jesse Ventura, Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, and Mark Dysart of the High Speed Surface Transportation Association
Norman Mineta
Regional and national transportation officials, policymakers, and professionals honored Congressman James L. Oberstar on April 28–29 by discussing responses to the September 11 tragedy at an inaugural forum named after him and hosted by the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota.
Rep. Oberstar headlined the event, which featured Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. Also participating in by-invitation-only discussions preceding the public portion of the forum were Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura and USDOT administrators Ellen Engleman (Research and Special Programs Administration), Jane Garvey (Federal Aviation Administration), Adm. James Loy (Coast Guard), and Jeffrey Runge (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). In addition, many other state and national leaders attended. CTS director Robert Johns served as master of ceremonies.
"No committee of Congress," Oberstar noted, "has ever had this galaxy of leaders in transportation before them at one time."
Throughout the forum, Oberstar, a recognized transportation expert and national policy leader, reiterated his key priorities for crafting transportation policy in this new century, especially in light of new and pressing concerns raised on and after September 11. Specifically, those priorities focus on harnessing transportation to improve our quality of life, developing intermodal connections for moving people and goods, expanding the role of technology in transportation, and increasing transportation safety, especially on roadways.
Oberstar credited the immediate response of the nation's transportation system on September 11 for saving lives that otherwise could have been lost. But he also challenged leaders and their constituents to think ahead as far as possible to both prevent and cope with such devastating attacks by developing predictive intelligence capabilities as well as a greater ability to understand other languages and cultures. "How can we be proscriptive and think ahead," he pointed out, "if we don't know the mind of the people?"
University researchers led off the program of the two-day forum by introducing participants to their research and discussing the long-term impacts of September 11 on transportation. Geography professor John Adams, a lead researcher with the CTS-sponsored Transportation and Regional Growth Study, noted that a "triple collision" of events – terrorism, tax cuts, and an economic downturn – have added to the challenges facing transportation. Mechanical engineering professor Max Donath, director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute, addressed technological issues. Marketing and logistics management professor Fred Beier, from the Carlson School of Management, observed that the private sector will need government help to ensure a fair distribution of new costs related to security.
The forum also featured an innovative conversation circle with satellite-style seating to facilitate dialogue and an exchange of ideas about the long-term issues, policy implications, and possible near-term actions in response to September 11. The conversation circle, guided by consultant Kathy Stein, included participation from USDOT administrators with other forum invitees. Earlier, the administrators also joined together in an evening roundtable moderated by Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg.
Steve Lockwood, vice president with engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, summarized the key challenges, policy issues, and action items raised by the preceding presentations and discussions. Much of the conversation involved some aspect of security – who's responsible for it, possible and appropriate measures, implementation, potential partnerships, funding and cost allocation, or conflicts with existing business systems and civil liberties. What special considerations, for example, do weapons of mass destruction add to possible responses in an emergency situation? Further, how can we integrate security into the mainstream in ways similar to safety?
Gov. Ventura shared the floor with Oberstar and Jeffrey Shane, the associate deputy secretary at USDOT, on a panel about transportation policy directions. Ventura briefly turned attention to Minnesota's legislative standoff, saying that the state's transportation system has fallen victim to party politics. "Especially in transportation, we must have a vision that goes beyond the next election," he said. "9-11 should have opened people's eyes that we can't depend on one mode of transportation."
Before Secretary Mineta delivered his speech during the public afternoon session, Tinklenberg and Peter Benner, executive director of Council 6 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, led the audience in a moment of silence for transportation workers killed and injured on the job. "After September 11," Benner said, "death in the workplace is not a stranger to any one of us anymore."
Next, Mineta, introduced by Oberstar, outlined government measures to secure the nation's transportation system following the terrorist attacks. Integral to those initiatives, he added, are preparations for the reauthorization of surface transportation programs over the next year. "We must also find ways to build greater security into our transportation system from the ground up," he suggested, "while not losing focus on other important transportation goals."
But Mineta brought each member of the audience to the edge of their seat during a question-and-answer session as he described the events unfolding behind the closed doors of top government in Washington, D.C., on September 11.
Finally, Oberstar joined a panel of top transportation executives to further discuss the implications of September 11 in their respective modes for Minnesota and the nation. The panel included: William Canary, president of the American Trucking Associations; John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association; Davis Helberg, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority; Matthew Rose, president and CEO of Burlington Northern; and Douglas Steenland, president of Northwest Airlines.
"Public transportation in the world, unfortunately, has been through this before," APTA's Millar said, recounting how prior planning helped in the immediate rerouting of 10,000 trips destined for the World Trade Center that day. "We, too, share the concern of how we will respond."
Steenland reported airline losses of $7 billion in 2001 and indicated that $2 billion in losses this year could climb to $3.5 billion. He characterized the dilemma facing the industry, which accounts for 10 percent of the gross domestic product, as a balancing act between security and convenience. If business travelers, who have accounted for 40 percent of the revenues but make up only 15 percent of all passengers, continue to stay home, he said, that could significantly damage the industry and, consequently, the national economy.
Rather than focus on economics, however, Helberg described the daunting task of securing the nation's ports, which daily take in 16,000 containers of freight and four times that in bulk shipments. "It's imperative," he said, "that we find a way to work with trading partners to develop some sort of preclearance system."