IWR Staff Participate in Transportation Research Forum 50th Annual Meeting

ALEXANDRIA, VA — July 31, 2009. IWR navigation specialists Keith Hofseth and David Grier participated in the 2009 Meeting of the Transportation Research Forum (TRF), the organization's 50th annual event, held 15-17 March 2009 in Portland, Oregon. The conference was opened by Mr. Bill Wyatt of the Port of Portland, the event host.

Keith Hofseth of IWR moderated the opening plenary panel on "Trade, Ports, Capacity and Investments". The panel was organized by Dr. Wesley Wilson of the University of Oregon. Dr. Wilson has also been a major research contributor to IWR's Navigation Economic Technologies (NETS) program. David Grier gave a presentation on trade trends and U.S. harbor improvements, both planned and underway. Besides highlighting the status of principal harbor deepening projects, the presentation discussed the challenges facing Corps navigation analysts in projecting future trade patterns and vessel sizes expected to dominate port calls. These assumptions drive the economic feasibility of harbor deepening projects. Heather McLaughlin with the Global Policy Institute in the United Kingdom also participated in the panel.

The opening plenary panel was followed by a series of nine sessions with up to four concurrent panels over the three-day forum. Topics ranged across all modes of transportation and included both passenger and freight movements, supply chain logistics, "green" opportunities, safety, financing, technology, and improved planning tools. Nobel economist Daniel McFadden was a keynote luncheon speaker on "Sociality, Rationality, and the Ecology of Choice". Abstracts for most of the papers presented can be found on the TRF website.

More about the Transportation Research Forum

The Transportation Research Forum is an independent organization of transportation professionals. Its purpose is to provide an impartial meeting ground for carriers, shippers, government officials, consultants, university researchers, suppliers, and others seeking an exchange of information and ideas related to both passenger and freight transportation. The Forum provides pertinent and timely information to those who conduct research and those who use and benefit from research. The exchange of information and ideas is accomplished through international, national, and local TRF meetings and by publication of professional papers related to numerous transportation topics.

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