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February
7, 2006 Transportation Committee Meeting Summary
Attendees
Frank J. Ambrosio, URS
Corporation
John Armstrong, Corning,
Inc., Committee Chairman
Robert W. Badger Clough,
Harbour & Associates, LLP
Natalie Bernstein, Weingarten,
Reid & McNally, LLC
Robert Bitzberger Lockheed
Martin
Fred Buse, Schwartz
Heslin Group, Inc.
Carla Chiaro, Senate
High Speed Rail Task Force
Peter D. Cohen Amtrak
Garry Douglas Plattsburgh-North
Country Chamber of Commerce
John Egan Senate
High Speed Rail Task Force
Terry Evertts Dresser-Rand
Company
John Griffin, Griffin
, Plummer & Associates, LLC
William Joyce, New
York State Motor Truck Association
Joe Landry New
York Capitol Consultants
Arthur Lucien, United
Parcel Service
Tom Minnick The
Business Council of New York State, Inc.
Robert Moses, Bond,
Schoeneck & King
Maurice O'Connell, CSX
Corporation
Brian Schutz Advance
Testing Company
Janine Simonsen NYS
Department of Transportation
Donald J. Smith, Urban
Engineers of New York, PC
Stephen Spoljaric General
Electric Company
Richard Stack, Albany
Port Railroad Corporation
Steve Stallmer, Associated
General Contractors
John Vandervort, The
Vandervort Group, LLC
Laura Zaepfel (call in) Uniland Development
Bob Zerrillo NYS
Department of Transportation
Meeting Summary
February 7, 2006
1:30 - 4:00 PM
- Call to Order & Welcome John
Armstrong, Corning, Inc.
Committee Chairman
John called the meeting to order shortly
after 1:30 PM at The Corporate Woods offices of The Business Council.
- Guest
Speakers
Bob Zerrillo, director of the Office of Policy
and Performance, New York State Department of Transportation
Janine
Simonsen, director of the Statewide Planning Section of the New
York State Department of Transportation
Bob joined us at the
meeting to discuss the recently released draft of the state transportation
master plan titled, Transportation
Strategies for a New Age: New York’s Transportation
Plan for 2030. Here is a link
to the document. He also briefed us on the upcoming transportation
conference to be held in Albany on March 8, 2006.
He emphasized
that this plan for 2030 is not simply a list of projects.
It is a broad policy document that defines a series of strategies
within a list of five priority result areas. These five areas
are: Mobility & Reliability, Safety, Environmental Conditions,
Economic Sustainability and Security with meeting customer
expectations at the foundation. A new, updated plan is needed
to acknowledge changes in our economy, address congestion
and stresses to the system, improve transportation system
integration, satisfy federal planning requirements and increase
emphasis on customer needs. As to the contents of the plan,
Bob explained that it is statewide and covers all modes of
transportation and all transportation operators. It contains
demographic and economic transportation trends and forecasts
in a series of issues and findings. Recommendations and strategies
are covered, including NYS’s Vision for
the Future.
The master plan was developed from input from
a series of nine statewide public hearings held in 2004 by
the 2025 Advisory Panel. The Panel found that the system
is under stress and will worsen without changes and NYSDOT
must lead efforts to optimize and integrate our transportation
system. The State must develop a new strategy to provide
substantial, sustainable, predictable funding.
The plan aims at
corridor-based transportation management, focusing on planning
and investments in the most critical corridors. These will involve
multi-modal, not just highways. The corridor types identified
include trade, intercity passenger, commuter and tourism.
Major
transportation issues addressed in the master plan include (i)
Preserving the ageing transportation infrastructure, (ii) Alleviating
congestion while travel demand continues to increase, (iii) Strengthening
the economy and supporting citizen’s quality of life through
transportation investment, (iv) Improving transportation safety
for our customers and (v) Ensuring transportation security. Financing
presents a big challenge and the Governor included budget language
for Transportation Development Partnerships. They believe that
public-private partnerships are the future for large infrastructure
projects.
There is a 45 day public comment period which ends on
February 24, 2006. A link to Bob’s powerpoint presentation
can be found here.
Bob
then discussed the upcoming transportation conference scheduled
for March 8, 2006 at the Empire State Plaza in Albany from 10 to
5 PM. A networking reception will follow. The three facilitated
panel discussions will center on policy issues, partnership agreements
and real life project examples. The tentative agenda can be found here.
Business Council members interested in attending the conference
should email Tom Minnick at tom.minnick@bcnys.org .
Tom will be putting a list for DOT invitations.
- John Egan, Executive Director
Carla Chiaro, Administrative
Director
NYS High Speed Rail Task Force
John emphasized that
this study was not going to be shelved like others before it
but rather was done as an action plan with timetables and cost
estimates for all to see. He was proud that his team had put
it together in six months.
In approaching the study, he knew
that he needed to deal with three basic problems; (i) service
is unpredictable and not getting better, (ii) there is no plan
for improvement and (iii) there is a lack of corridor-wide
responsibility. His solutions include a state commitment to
support frequent, reliable fast service; the initiation of
a short and long term improvement plans and the state establishing
partnership arrangements with CSX, MetroNorth and Amtrak. Focusing
on the Empire Corridor, a successful program will assure NYS
economic competitiveness, more goods and services, create businesses,
jobs and growth, revitalize communities and preserve the environment.
He
emphasized unified control of the corridor because of the current
fragmentation of ownership and operation. He also charted out the
cost estimates in each of the six empire corridor program phases,
stressing a federal partnership strategy in both capital cost and
operating cost areas.
The plan demonstrates immediate improvements
in the system to gain momentum for the subsequent phases of the
plan. John will be presenting around the state and will also
be emphasizing the considerable current rail manufacturing capability
around the state as well as existing and potential rail-related
manufacturing jobs. A link to John’s powerpoint presentation
can be found here.
A link to the report and its components can be found here.
The meeting adjourned shortly before 4 PM.
Please contact Tom Minnick at tom.minnick@bcnys.org or
518-465-7511 for meeting questions or further information.
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