Joseph P Schwieterman, Ph.D.
July 2021
In the midst of a busy time for the Transportation Research Forum, I’d to draw attention to some important news, including next week’s “Tolls and Trucking: A Value Proposition” webinar, Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 1 pm ET, featuring the Reason Foundation’s Robert Poole. Scroll down for all the details of this free event.
Secondly, on a personal note, I must say that having our community back together in Saint Louis at the 63rd Annual Forum has generated much excitement. After so many virtual events, the Forum’s timely presentations, vigorous discussion, and fascinating tours reminded us why we greatly value face-to-face offerings. The conference attracted more than 100 people, rekindled relationships, and, propitiously, met our financial targets. We thank the United States Department of Agriculture, the TRF Foundation, the Reason Foundation, our university partners, and many other generous sponsors.
I’d also like to recognize our Forum Award Winners:
Student poster award – Mitra Salehi Esfandarani, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Memphis. “Equitable Distribution of Freight Transportation: A Case Study in Tennessee”
Student paper award. Zakhary Mallett, Ph.D. Candidate in Urban Planning and Development, University of Southern California. “Inequitable Inefficiency – A Case Study of Rail Transit Fare Policies”
Best student agricultural paper. Mohammed Mombarok, Ph.D. candidate, Universtiy of Missouri. “Climate change-induced shifts in precipitation: response of Missouri corn and soybean basis”
Best overall paper. Cesar Rivera Trujillo, Secretaría de Infraestructura Comunicaciones y Transportes. “Establishing the first economic regulation of the Mexican rail concessions”
Three other longstanding contributors also received acclaim:
- Distinguished Researcher, Aisling Reynolds, University of Dublin
- President’s Award, Ray Mundy, University of Missouri – St. Louis
- Whitten Service Award, Baruch Feigenbaum, Reason Foundation
Professors Reynolds and Mundy both made presentations. Baruch remains active on the TRF Advisory Board and Nominating Committee. Kudos to our award winners and conference team, listed below. Check out “Scenes from Saint Louis” below.
We are busy planning the 64th Forum to be held in downtown Chicago on April 20 -21, 2023. Sessions will start midday on Thursday, April 20, and end the following afternoon, with technical tours the day after the conference on Saturday, April. 22. Watch for important program announcements in the coming weeks. If you would like to be notified when the Call for Paper and Poster Abstracts is issued, email [email protected]. Please make plans to join us!
Joe Schwieterman
President, Transportation Research Forum
Professor, DePaul University
