Day: August 15, 2009

Equity Issues in Financing Transportation Symposium

Lisa Schweitzer

Registration is free, but required for attendance. See the link here.

Equity Issues in Financing Transportation Symposium

Keck Center of the National Academies
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Hosted by Committee on Equity Implications of
Alternative Transportation Finance Mechanisms
Preliminary Agenda

8:30am – 8:45am Welcome and Introduction, Joseph Schofer, committee chair

8:45am – 10:15am Talks by authors of expert papers commissioned by the Committee

•Passing the Buck: Who Gains and Who Loses from Taxes and Other

Fund-raising Ideas? Sarah West, Associate Professor, Macalester

College, St. Paul, Minnesota

• Equity Consequences of Current and Emerging Transportation Finance Schemes, Lisa Schweitzer, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles

• Remedies for Problems of Transportation Equity, David King, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Columbia University, New York, New York

10:15am – 10:45am BREAK

10:45am – 11:15am Transportation Financing Mechanisms, Land Use Patterns, and Equity,
John Douglas Hunt, Professor of Transportation Engineering and
Planning, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

11:15am – 11:45am International Experience with Equity Issues in Transportation Finance,
Peter Bonsall, Professor of Transport Planning, University of Leeds,England

Noon – 1:00pm LUNCH

1:00pm – 1:30pm How Do Equity Concerns Influence Public Acceptance of Alternative
Financing Mechanisms? Robert Mitchell, committee member

1:30pm – 2:15pm Equity in Surface Transport Finance: A Political Perspective, Alan
Altshuler, Distinguished Service Professor and Stanton Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, Harvard University, Cambridge,Massachusetts

2:15pm – 2:45pm BREAK

2:45pm – 4:15pm Presentation and Discussion of Case Studies
Four guest presenters will each describe and discuss a transportation
project in which they were involved in the decision-making process. To
the extent that equity issues were a factor in the decision-making
process, these issues will be discussed in the talk.
Presenters:
• Mike Krusee, former chair, Transportation Committee,
Texas House of Representatives
• Senator Bruce Starr, Oregon State Senate, District 15
• James Dinegar, President and CEO, Greater Washington
Board of Trade
• Bruce Schaller, Deputy Commissioner for Planning and
Sustainability, New York City Department of Transportation
Discussant:
• Mortimer Downey, President, Mort Downey Consulting, LLC, and
Senior Advisor, Parsons Brinckerhoff

4:15pm – 5:15pm Open Discussion

5:15pm – 6:15pm RECEPTION


One for the “I don’t get it” column

Lisa Schweitzer

One big trend for this fall is the “boyfriend” blazer. Now, I sat still for the “boyfriend” jean and even the “skinny jeans” which look wretched on anybody who isn’t Mick Jagger circa 1972, but “boyfriend blazer” has me stumped. Blazers have always been menswear in general. Yes, women wear blazers, but it is a clothing item that has been moved over into women’s wear as an adaptation to work clothing, framed as masculine attire.

The fashion industry tends to act like women over a size 4 don’t exist. And while I don’t engage in saying nasty things about women’s bodies at any size, it is a basic fact that women under a size 4 haven’t got much of a reason to require different blazer tailoring, if you understand what I mean. So what this “new” trend is telling me is that we need menswear-inspired menswear. Does this make anybody else’s head swim?