Stuck in a Jam:
The Problems and the Future of Transportation in Houston

Saturday March 13, 2004 Rice University

The Conference is free and open to the General Public.

Speakers and Panelists

Notes (Please read!): Presentations are no longer available online. You may request the presentation files to be sent to you on CD by contacting the webmaster at jyw@rice.edu.


Elizabeth Deakin, JD.  currently serves as Director of the University of California Transportation Research Center and is Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley (UCB). Additionally, Deakin serves as affiliated faculty for UCB's Master of Urban Design Program and the Energy and Resources Group for UCB. She received her SB and SM degrees from MIT (Political Science and Civil Engineering Transportation) as well as a law degree from Boston College. Deakin's research focuses on environmental impacts of transportation and the interaction of transportation and land use policy. She has published over 100 articles, book chapters, and reports on topics such as regional transportation and air quality modeling, policy responses to sustainable development, and street design. Deakin is chair of the National Academy of Sciences' Advisory Board on Surface Transportation-Environmental Research and is on the NAS Committee on Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance. She has also served as Vice Chair of the California Planning Foundation, chair of the City of Berkeley Transportation Commission, and editorial board member of the Alameda County Transportation Commission. "National and Global Issues in Transportation: an Environmental Perspective"

Alan Clark  is the Manager of the Transportation and Air Quality programs for the Houston-Galveston Area Council. He is the Director for H-GAC's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), which is responsible for development of the region's multimodal transportation plans and also coordinates the Houston-Galveston area’s response to mandates contained in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. In 1995 Mr. Clark was awarded the Road Hand Award by the Texas Department of Transportation and currently serves on the Texas Transportation Institute’s Advisory Board. "Transportation in Houston: Now and Then"

Matthew Fraser  is an Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Rice University and is Rice's first air-quality researcher. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from California Institute of Technology. He is the co-principal investigator of a $3.65-million EPA grant together with Dr. David Allen of the University of Texas-Austin, studying atmospheric fine particles in Houston. "The Impact of Transportation on Air Quality in Houston"

Mr. Steven Nini  is a District Retail Trainer for Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (GST). Based in Houston, Steven is responsible for all dealer vehicle training and certification for Southern Texas, Arkansas and portions of Louisiana and Mississippi. Steven joined GST in 1999 as Systems Consultant and also held positions in the eBusiness department before entering retail training. As District Trainer, he helped to launch the 2004 Toyota Prius in the GST region. With both the industrial and environmental changes each year, Toyota and its regions (GST) require each District Trainer possess an extensive knowledge of hybrid technology. "2004 Prius: 'Drive the Future Today'"

Mr. Tim Bailey  is the New Car Merchandising Manager for Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (GST). Based in Houston, Tim is responsible for all new car marketing activities including auto shows, sponsorships and dealer programs in the five-state region of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Tim has been with GST for fourteen years and held positions in various departments including Gulf States Acceptance Company, Dealer Audit Department, Vehicle Distribution and most recently the Marketing Department.

Dan Raine  is the AICP Pedestrian/Bicycle Coordinator for the Houston-Galveston Area Council He spent 10 years consulting on large-scale transportation projects throughout the northeast and selected areas in the Midwest. For the last 6 years, Dan has specialized in the accommodation, design and planning for non-motorizedmodes in a wide variety of transportation planning projects and policies. Dan joined H-GAC in September 2002 as the Pedestrian/Bicycle Coordinator, the mantra of the ped/bike program: (1) build it right the first time (2) retrofit selectively (3) invest strategically to accommodate non-motorized modes. "Update of the H-GAC Regional Bikeway Plan"

Brain Scott Barker  has worked over 6 years with METRO. His projects include: site selection and conceptual design of capital facilities, such as Park & Rides and Transit Centers; as well as the programming of those capital projects. He has worked on the Downtown to Dome (Main Street Light Rail) Major Investment Study, the Southeast-Universities-Hobby Planning Study, and the METROSolutions Transit System Plan. "Future of Transportation in Houston"

Polly Ledvina  has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rice University and an M.S. in Architecture from the University of Houston. Today, she is self-employed as an urban design consultant. Since 2002, she has served as a member of the Mothers for Clean Air Board of Directors. She also currently serves as the Chairperson for the Katy Corridor Coalition Steering Committee. "Katy Corridor Coalition"

David Crossley  is President and founder of the Gulf Coast Institute, which focuses on urban growth issues relating to the economy, community, and environment, as well as leader of the Livable Houston/Smart Growth Initiative. He has served as President of the Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, on the transportation policy panel for the Houston-Galveston Area Council, and as Chair of the Urban Structure Task Force for the City of Houston Planning Department’s City-Wide Committee for Clean Air. "The Path Not Chosen: Smart Growth"

James Blackburn  is an environmental attorney with a M.S degree. in Environmental Science from Rice University. He has practiced environmental law in Houston for thirty years and teaches in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Rice. He is an environmental activist, Chair of the Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association, and a member of the board of the Matagorda Bay Foundation. He received the National Conservation Achievement Award in 2001 from the National Wildlife Federation and the Bob Eckhardt Lifetime Achievement Award for coastal preservation efforts from the General Land Office of the State of Texas in 1998. He was awarded an honorary membership in the American Institute of Architects for legal work associated with urban quality of life issues in 2003.