First International Symposium on
Transportation and Development Innovative Best Practices

The First International Symposium on Transportation and Development Innovative Best Practices to be held in Beijing, China, April 24-26, 2008 is shaping up to be the premier event in China for engineering and planning professionals from around the world seeking to present and learn about innovative best practices in transportation and development.  Held in conjunction with Asia’s largest transportation technology exhibition, TRANSPO2008 (www.transpo.com), the event will mark T&DI’s formal entry into the world’s largest developing nation.  High-ranking public officials will be participating, including the China Vice Minister of Communications, who will personally open the program.

The three-day Symposium, the last major international conference to be held in Beijing prior to the Olympics in August 2008, will be hosted by the China Academy of Transportation Sciences and co-sponsored by the North American Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (NACOTA) and the International Chinese Transportation Professionals Association (ICTPA).  English will be the official language of the Symposium, and proceedings of the technical program will be published by ASCE.    

Technical tours will enable registrants to view passenger and freight transportation facilities, operations and maintenance centers for highways, bus, light rail, subway and commuter rail, 2008 Beijing Olympic villages, newly developing suburban areas, Beijing planning exhibition halls, etc.  Receptions, banquets and scenic tours will provide venues for informal dialogue and interaction among symposia participants. 

This symposium will be of interest to government officials in China and other nations seeking new ways to successfully plan and manage the comprehensive and integrated development of transportation and economic systems; it will also be a prime venue for the sharing of innovative best practices by public and private sector transportation engineers, planners and policy makers for highways, waterways, railways, tunnels and turnpikes, public transit, airports, etc.

Honorary Chairman:  Prof. Kumares Sinha, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE

Steering Committee Chair:  Eva Lerner-Lam, M.ASCE, 2006 President, T&DI

Steering Committee Members:

Wei Zhou, President, China Academy of Transportation Sciences

Haiqing Wang, Director, Transportation Technology Exchange Center of the China Academy of Transportation Sciences, China Ministry of Communications

Peter Lai, Immediate Past President, ICTPA
Rongfang “Rachel” Liu, Ph.D., President, NACOTA

Kam K. Movassaghi, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, 2008 President, T&DI

Technical Program Committee Chair:  Louis F. Cohn, P.E., F.ASCE, 2007 President, T&DI

T&DI Staff Contact:  Jonathan Esslinger, P.E., F.ASCE, Director, T&DI

For more information about registration and exhibit hall reservations, see www.tdibp.org.