(The Department of Transportation issued the following press release on May 12.)
WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta launches National Transportation Week this year at two events in Washington.
At a May 12 news conference announcing the beginning of a national law enforcement effort to promote seat belt use, the Secretary emphasized the importance of buckling up. At 1 p.m. May 12, he will deliver the keynote address at the National Transportation Defense Association’s 1st Annual National Transportation Week Transportation and Travel Conference and Exposition in the new Washington, DC, Convention Center.
Numerous other transportation-related events are planned throughout the nation. They will involve transportation workers as well as business and industry and federal, state, and local officials.
Every year, since 1962 when President John F. Kennedy declared a permanent date for National Transportation Week (NTW), the week provides an opportunity to recognize the millions of people who keep America moving and the many contributions that our transportation systems make to our economic well being, quality of life and national security. In particular, NTW continues to be a focal point for reaching out to young people to make them aware of the many different careers the transportation field offers and the challenges that lie before us.
This year, NTW (May 11-17) provides a special opportunity for government and industry to look ahead at future transportation needs. Working with Members of Congress and citizens throughout the United States, the U.S. Department of Transportation will address transportation initiatives and needs in all modes, especially those in surface transportation, air and rail.
To explain their vision for the future, senior Department officials in addition to Secretary Mineta will visit cities throughout the country to participate in transportation-related events. In addition to Washington, DC, these visits will take officials to events celebrating National Transportation Week in Pennsylvania, Georgia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, New Mexico, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, Washington, Kentucky, Oregon, Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada.
National Transportation Week is a partnership activity that cuts across modes, across the public and private sectors, and across all regions of the country. The NTW working group is a public/private partnership of transportation organizations that are the backbone of the NTW effort. The NTW website, www.ntweek.org
Numerous activities are planned for NTW 2003. Among them are the following:
Monday, May 12, 2003
At a 9:30 a.m. news conference, Secretary Mineta joined the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D.; Surgeon General Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, M.D.; Gen. William L. Nyland, Assistant Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps; Joseph Samuels, President, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and Chief of the Richmond (CA) Police Department; and Chuck Hurley, Vice President, National Safety Council and the Executive Director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign at a news conference that emphasized the importance of buckling up.
At 1 p.m. in the new Convention Center in Washington, DC, Secretary Mineta will participate in the opening ceremony and delivers the keynote address at the 1st Annual National Transportation Week Transportation and Travel Conference and Exposition. Other Transportation Department officials, including Federal Aviation Administrator Marion C. Blakey and Federal Highway Administrator Mary E. Peters, also will address the May 12-13 conference.
The winner of the National Transportation Week student poster contest will be named at the same conference and exposition.
The department will host the Miami Marketplace at the Miami-Dade Community College, Wolfson Campus. The Miami Marketplace will be a conference for informing small business owners, including minority and women entrepreneurs, about contract opportunities with federal, state and local governments. Speakers will include Sean Moss, Director of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and Dr. Eduardo Pardon, President, Maimi-Dade Community College. Moss will address the Administration’s surface transportation reauthorization bill, expected to be announced soon. Workshops will be held throughout the day on the following topics: DOT Bonding and Lending Programs, USDOT Bonding Assistant, and Marketing to the Federal Highway Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
At 10 a.m., the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Mary Peters, will join former U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater at the DOT Headquarters building (Nassif Building, 400 7th St. S.W., Room 4200) in Washington, DC, to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the National Summer Transportation Institute. NSTI host sites include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority institutions of higher education across the nation, with South Carolina State University serving as the NSTI sites’ National Resource Center.
At 3 p.m. at the 1st Annual National Transportation Week Transportation and Travel Conference and Exposition, Transportation’s Undersecretary for Policy Jeffrey N. Shane will chair an industry leader’s roundtable titled “Issues Impacting the Transportation and Travel Industries Today.”
At 4:15 p.m. in the new Convention Center in Washington, DC, the U.S. Transportation Department’s Chief of Staff John Flaherty will deliver a report on his visit to Iraq and outline a vision for upgrading the U.S. Department of Transportation’s international role.
The Administrator of the Maritime Administration, Capt. William G. Schubert, in Tacoma, WA, will welcome home from service in the Iraq War mariners serving on the Ready Reserve Fleet.
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy Emil Frankel will address the Department’s energy and clean air initiatives at Tour de Sol finish line ceremonies to take place at 3rd Street NW between Constitution and Independence Avenues on the National Mall. 2003 Tour de Sol’s Great American Green Transportation Festival promotes awareness, understanding, and development of non-polluting, renewable energy technologies.
Thursday, May 15, 2003
At the Women’s Transportation Seminar annual meeting in Boston, the Administrators of the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration, Mary Peters and Jennifer Dorn, respectively, will discuss the economic value of transportation in American society.
Jennifer L. Dorn, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, will participate in an 11 a.m. press conference at the Massachusetts State Transportation Building at 10 Park Plaza in Boston, where she will join the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay in announcing the launch of Together We Prepare – Commuters, a collaboration to provide emergency preparedness information to public transportation passengers.
Friday, May 16, 2003
Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy Jeffrey N. Shane and Assistant Secretary of Transportation Policy Emil Frankel will join executives of bus lines and the American Bus Association on a tour of Boston’s South Station; the Portsmouth Transportation Center in Portsmouth, NH; and the Portland Intermodal Facility in Portland, ME. Intermodal facilities like these showcase a goal of the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide travelers a seamless transition from one mode of transportation to another.
At 11 a.m., Federal Transit Administrator Jennifer L. Dorn will announce funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) for the Blue Line extension to the Largo Town Center in Largo, MD. The event will be held at the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant Metro Station in Largo.