Category: Past Events

On April 15, Jonathan Gifford was joined by  Lisardo Bolanos (Center GRA), Jeong Yun Kweun (Center GRA), Mike McConnell,  (a graduate student currently enrolled in the Applied Methods in Regional Development and Transportation Analysis class), and Zhou Yang (a graduate student from the Volgeneau School of Engineering) for a tour of the McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center.  The tour was offered by Rob Stalzer (Deputy County Executive-Fairfax County) to better understand the integration of transportation services.

The McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center (MPSTOC) is a model of multi-agency coordination and cooperation. The center is a partnership between Fairfax County and the Commonwealth of Virginia that brings multiple agencies and functions together under one roof to enhance the effectiveness of:

• Public safety response
• Improve traffic congestion management
• Better manage the response to and recovery from major emergencies

In early April, Dr. Jonathan Gifford spoke at the Iowa Public Private Partnerships: Solutions for America symposium. The Journal of Corporation Law at the University of Iowa College of Law and AIAI (Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure) hosted the unique two-day program designed to teach participants about all aspects of P3s, which represent a cutting-edge, innovative project delivery model that offers a potential solution to America’s infrastructure crisis. Dr. Gifford’s presentation was titled, “Transportation Public-Private Partnerships: The Virginia Experience.

Center Director Jonathan Gifford travelled to California in March to present at two universities. On March 10, Gifford spoke to the transportation history class in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California-Berkeley. Click here to download his Powerpoint presentation, “Transit P3s in the US.”

On March 13, Gifford presented on “A New Way of Building, Managing and Financing Transportation Infrastructure” at the University of California-Davis’ Institute of Transportation Studies seminar. Click here to view a video recording of the presentation.

On February 18, Center Director Jonathan Gifford gave a presentation on P3 renegotiations in America, hosted by the World Bank Group’s Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Cross Cutting Solutions Area as part of the Lunch & Learn series. This format combines real-world PPP experiences with pressing questions about how these partnerships are evolving to serve people around the world. All participants can expect to come away with an enriched understanding of how PPPs can effect change and how fresh thinking on these partnerships has the potential to alter the way business is conducted across the globe. Gifford’s presentation, entitled “Renegotiation and Restructuring of Transportation PPP Projects in the US: Evidence and Analysis,” reviewed a series of transportation PPP projects in the U.S. to identify cases of renegotiation and restructuring, the reasons for change, and the results of the change processes. The presentation was followed by an in-depth discussion among the participants.

Professor Jonathan Gifford, Director of the Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy, moderated a panel discussion February 12 at the NCPPP 2015 Summit held in Washington, DC. The panel, titled “Federal Support of Transportation P3s,” included the following experts from the public and private sectors:

Joung Lee, Policy Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

Regina McElroy, Director, Office of Innovative Program Delivery, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation

Parker Williams, Senior Vice President, Xerox State & Local Solutions, Inc.

The speakers shared their views on how the federal government has encouraged P3 transportation projects, the current status of DOT’s efforts and what can be done to facilitate greater use of partnerships.

Dr. Jonathan Gifford presided over a Lectern Session Spotlight Tuesday, January 12 at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. The session, titled “Past as Prologue: What History Tells Us about the High Tech Future of Transportation,” included discussion on connected automated vehicles among many other transportation and policy subjects.