BATON ROUGE, La. – The Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) will host the 2009 Louisiana Transportation Conference at the Baton Rouge River Center, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 9-10, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb.11. The biennial conference provides a forum for education, sharing new ideas and methods, and discussing changes in the industry.
"The focus for this conference is addressing transportation challenges through innovation," said DOTD Secretary William D. Ankner, Ph.D. "We have to look at new ways of thinking and the use of technology to address the transportation needs of our state and better serve the public."
Secretary Ankner will be joined by U.S. Senator David Vitter and Executive Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) John Horsley for the opening general session Monday at 9 a.m.
The keynote speaker for the conference, Joseph M. Giglio, will address the attendees at the keynote luncheon that begins at 11:15 a.m. on Monday. Giglio is a professor of Corporate Strategy at the College of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, and author of "Fast Lane to the Future," "Mobility" and "Driving Questions." He has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Intelligent Transportation Society of America and as Chairman of the Public-Private Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.
Following the luncheon, Giglio and Horsley will join Secretary Ankner for a roundtable discussion at 1 p.m., "Transportation Innovation – Solving Tomorrow’s Challenges."
The conference consists of more than 70 presentations, including two noted national presenters:
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Michael J. Savonis of the Federal Highway Administration Office of Natural and Human Environment has been the team leader for air quality since 1996 and has 25 years of experience in transportation, air quality, planning and emerging environmental issues. He will present "Climate Change," a look at how the changing climate will affect transportation issues in the future.
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Jack Schenendorf of Covington & Burling LLP, who recently served as vice-chairman of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. Schenendorf also served on the staff of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 25 years. He will present "Transportation for Tomorrow," a discussion focused on transportation and legislation.
The conference is open to the public to anyone who pays the registration fee. For more information about the conference visit the DOTD Web page, www.dotd.la.gov, and look for the conference link under the "On the Move" section.