In June 1998 in Detroit, Michigan, transportation officials from the 12 largest cities in the United States, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), several state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, transit properties, and other concerned organizations came together to participate in the Conference on Transportation Issues in Large U.S. Cities to begin to develop a better understanding of the issues and to improve transportation in large U.S. cities. The conference was noteworthy for several reasons. It was the first time the federal government brought together the key institutional stakeholders at the federal, state, and local levels to identify the critical transportation issues facing America's largest central cities. It reinforced the point that these locales face unique issues because of their density, complexity, social and economic composition, political and institutional structures and processes, and other characteristics. The conference provided the opportunity to begin to build important partnerships among national transportation organizations concerned with large city issues, including the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), the newly created organization of the 10 largest U.S. cities; the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO); PTI; the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE); and the American Public Transit Association (APTA). Most important, the conference established a set of research and policy issues and needs that, as they are acted on by the various stakeholders and interested parties, should improve mobility in the large urban centres of America. For a variety of reasons, the issues of large U.S. cities have not been at the forefront of the American transportation agenda. This is not unique to the field of transportation. Nonetheless, the importance of the transportation systems in these cities to the overall health of American life in terms of our economy, environment, and social equity cannot be overstated. If we are not able to ensure the mobility of people and goods in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner in large U.S. cities, it is hard to see how the United States will maintain its competitiveness in the global economy of the 21st century. The construction of the Interstate highway system had major effects on regional economies, demographics, the environment, and political and institutional structures and processes. Some of these were positive and anticipated, and some were not. A major point of the conference was not to dwell on the past, but rather, in the spirit of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, to work together as stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels to make long overdue progress in improving mobility in large urban centres in America. Another major point of the conference was to emphasize the multi modal nature of the problems facing the large cities. Transit has historically been the transportation mode most closely associated with the cities. Yet, even in New York City, the most heavily transit dependent city in the United States, only 50 percent of all trips are carried by transit. Whereas improving transit is crucial to the future of these cities, and there is a clear recognition that they will not survive or flourish without such improvement, all the other modes and systems must be addressed and integrated successfully. The conference proceedings were as relevant to highways, local roads, intercity rail, bicycle and pedestrian, aviation, and ports as they were to transit. Indeed, as the preparations for the conference began, two key facts emerged: (a) a consensus on the key issues facing the central cities did not exist heretofore and (b) there has been a lack of research on these issues, particularly as they relate to the highway and road infrastructure and to the unique institutional characteristics of large cities. The white papers produced for the conference by Regina Armstrong, Peter Drier, Henry Peyrebrune, Joe Giglio, Dave Schulz, and Elizabeth Deakin represent an important beginning in terms of research on transportation issues in large cities. The conference identified nine key areas for future research and policy analysis: (i) Financing for central city transportation systems; (ii) How to make the metropolitan planning process work for central cities; (iii) How to improve maintenance and operations practices in central cities; (iv) How to alleviate congestion in central business districts; (v) How to improve relationships between the central cities and the states and between the central cities and the federal government; (vi) Lack of data for central city transportation systems; (vii) Institutional fragmentation in central city transportation management; (viii) How to make central cities more livable by integrating environmental and social benefits; and (ix) Opportunities for development or redevelopment projects to avoid mistakes of the past. All these areas represent critical and virtually unexplored territory that must be better understood if policy makers are to effectively manage the transportation systems in these cities. DOT, the Transportation Research Board, NACTO, AASHTO, and the other institutional participants in the conference expressed a strong commitment to begin a research and policy agenda that begins to address these subjects. The issues that are involved are complex, challenging, and multidimensional. They will not be easily resolved. Nonetheless, a theme from the conference is that the time has come to address them. An important background theme throughout the conference was the central role large cities play in the economic and social health of the country. There was a recognition of their other attributes and functions: their unique physical beauty, their role as a gate of entry, and their role in American cultural life. Clearly, the transportation community must do its part to ensure the continued success of large cities. As we know, some of the most difficult challenges facing the transportation community are political and institutional rather than technological. This is especially relevant to the large cities, though it is clear that intelligent transportation systems and other technological advances represent tremendous opportunities for the cities. The conference represented a start in bringing together the various institutional players who must work together at the local, regional, state, and federal levels if significant progress is to be made on these issues. One of the first successes of NACTO was to encourage DOT to create joint Federal Transit Administration-Federal Highway Administration working groups in many of the large cities, to strengthen DOT's focus on and understanding of the issues. In discussing the value of this arrangement, Rodney Slater, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, noted that in these cities all the various modal administrations of DOT can come together. The potential of cities to play a unifying role for DOT, in some ways echoing the unique role cities play in unifying large metropolitan areas or geographic regions, underscores the importance of the large city effort. Much interesting work is being done in the large cities. The conference participants described more than 100 "best practices" that they wanted to share with other cities. These practices have been posted on the NACTO Web site, http://wwwnacto.org. Significant progress can be made as large cities begin to establish working relationships between themselves, assisted by such organizations as DOT, NACTO, the Transportation Research Board, AASHTO, ITE, ITS America, and others. Developing a research and policy agenda for the large cities and mustering the support to advance it are not small tasks. Perhaps Frank Francois, Executive Director of AASHTO, said it best in his concluding remarks for the conference: "So let me wind up and say that I think this conference has been a great beginning, but beginning is exactly what it is. Its true value depends on what happens next. And the work that lies ahead will not be easy, but I think it's very important for the American people, and if we work long enough and hard enough, everything's going to be better than it is. And that's why we're all here." (A)
Samenvatting