Registration is open for AASHTO’s 2021 Virtual Spring Meeting at www.aashtospringmeeting.org.  

This will be an AASHTO Spring Meeting like no other, with a focus on AASHTO President Victoria Sheehan’s emphasis areas: the value of transportation and transportation workforce challenges. There will be engaging keynote speakers, panels featuring key leaders in the transportation community, knowledge sessions and peer exchanges to learn from and engage with one another. You will also have the opportunity to listen in on the important business of AASHTO through various business meetings, including the Board of Directors, the Council on Highways and Streets, and the Transportation Policy Forum, among others.  

While nothing replaces being together in person, the virtual experience allows us to provide more content and reach a wider audience that wouldn’t typically have the chance to attend in person. I hope you will be able to attend!

The AASHTO Committee on Planning's Subcommittee on Research, in cooperation with the TRB committees on Transportation Planning Policy and Processes (AEP10) and Transportation Planning Analysis and Application (AEP15), are hosting a two-part planning research symposium on May 20 and July 15 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm EASTERN each day.

The purpose of the research symposium is to work collaboratively with both the membership of the AASHTO and TRB committees to generate research ideas that could be funded through the upcoming NCHRP research cycle that begins this fall. The research symposium will look broadly at planning research needed for the transportation industry and not specifically to any one area (e.g., State DOTs, MPOs, locals, etc.).

Registration is required for each session. State DOT personnel and public sector partners are welcomed to participate. With over 70 confirmed participants, we can't wait to see you there too.

Jim Tymon (seen right) – executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials – discussed the need for significant investment in U.S. infrastructure during an interview this week on C-SPAN’s public affairs program Washington Journal.

“We’ve clearly been underinvesting in infrastructure for a number of years,” he explained. “Meanwhile, state and local governments are stepping up – half of the states have increased [financial] resources for infrastructure over the last few years. But it’s been 30 years since the federal government increased the gas tax.”