Volpe Journal Winter 2000
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C o m m e n t a r y
Welcome to the fourth issue of the Volpe Journal. This issue highlights the potential of innovation and explores ways that the Volpe Center has been using its expertise to support transportation advances. From "smart cards" to strategic planning, the articles here show how the Volpe Center's contributions can help the transportation community use innovation to meet local challenges.
Our cover story describes the Center's role as an emerging resource for state and local agencies exploring ways to use new technologies and systems to improve efficiency and mobility. In a series of recent partnerships, the Volpe Center has helped to develop a multi-use smart card system in Cleveland, a statewide Intelligent Transportation System in Maryland, and an evaluation framework for innovative highway financing in New Mexico. These collaborations, which complement state and local agencies' existing relationships with private industry and other Federal agencies, help state and local officials make informed, comprehensive decisions.
The Center's new role reflects the increasing autonomy and capabilities of state and local agencies as well as a growing appreciation of the value of partnerships. Recent projects have provided excellent opportunities for the Center to share its thirty years of experience, while helping state and local agencies to learn from one another. As those agencies take on a larger role, the Center will prove to be a valuable resource, providing information and facilitating cooperation. The benefits of these partnerships are just beginning to be appreciated.
Our second article, about Stockton, Utah, chronicles the Volpe Center's role in a multi-million dollar emergency response to dangerous levels of lead and arsenic in the town's soil. Working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, engineers in the Environmental Engineering Division managed the removal and replacement of over 40,000 tons of contaminated soil. The Center employed an innovative on-site treatment that saved the EPA over $400,000, and staff members' attention to safety and careful restoration has given the residents of Stockton a hopeful future.
While the Volpe Center has become more involved in the application of new
technologies to meet local challenges, it continues to promote innovation on a national level. The Spirit of Innovation in Transportation Conference, hosted by the Volpe Center in June, was a tremendous success. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, Secretary of Commerce William Daley, and White House Chief of Staff John Podesta met with representatives of industry, labor, and education to explore the potential for transportation technology. The conference's proceedings, "Ideas for Action," will help decision makers in the transportation community to foster an environment for innovation.
This issue of the Journal also features an article about one of the Volpe Center's volunteer programs, a summary of recent Volpe Center publications, and a profile of strategic planner Dr. John Hopkins.
Dr. Richard R. John
Director, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
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