The 104th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) in Washington DC (January 5-9) is heralding a new era of diversity in a traditionally male-dominated industry, with three women taking top speaking slots.
On the second day of the event (Monday January 6 at 6pm ET) Sandra Rosenbloom, research professor and director of the Lab for Safe and Healthy Aging at the University of Texas Austin, delivered the Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lecture, having been awarded the honour late last year. Her lecture title is, How Little We Really Know: The Unrecognized Centrality of Marginal Groups in Transportation Planning and Policy.
Then, on Wednesday January 8 at 1:30pm Victoria Sheehan, executive director of the Transportation Research Board was joined in her Chair’s Plenary Session by Sarah Sharples, chief scientific advisor for the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport to discuss R&D priorities. A fireside chat on implementing innovation was also held with international transportation leaders. The full session can be viewed in the video above.
The meeting, which takes place at the Walter E Washington Convention Center and Marriott Marquis in Washington DC, covers all transportation modes with hundreds of sessions and workshops related to a variety of topics including infrastructure and supply chains, multimodal urban transport, energy and the environment, and aviation.
Other highlights across the week included those with US and state DOT officials such as:
USDOT: Beyond the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg will lead a discussion with Amit Bose,administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, and other federal transportation leaders on how USDOT is shaping the nation’s mobility future for the long term.
Monday, Jan. 6, 3:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
State DOT CEO Roundtable: Centering Safety on Every State Department of Transportation Action
The leaders of the Florida, Hawaiʻi, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin departments of transportation will discuss how they are addressing the transportation safety crisis and improving outcomes in their states.
Tuesday, Jan. 7, 10:15 a.m. to noon ET
State DOT CEO Roundtable: Focusing on Infrastructure Law’s Successes and Building Momentum for Reauthorization
The leaders of the Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Utah departments of transportation will discuss how their departments are translating federal resources into tangible safety, mobility, and access improvements, and how to build momentum for the next federal surface transportation bill.
Tuesday, Jan. 7, 1:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. ET
Attendees can download the free annual meeting app to access information on the schedule of events, program participants, exhibitors, and more. To download, search for “TRB 2024” in the App Store or Google Play. To follow online conversations about the annual meeting, use the hashtag #TRBAM and follow TRB on X @NASEMTRB or Bluesky @trb.org.
