PUBLIC HEARINGS Public Hearings will be held in the following areas: (Examples) Identification of National Transportation Goals April 1977; New Jersey, Texas, California, Nebraska Demand for Transportation by the Year 2000 July 1977; Georgia, Pennsylvania, Washington, Ohio Current Transportation Issues September 1977; Indiana, Washington, D. C., Alaska, Colorado ..Financing Urban Mass Transit ..User Charges as a Means of Financing Transportation ..Common Ownership Alternative Transportation Modes Identification of Potential Transportation Policies January 1978; Mississippi, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Missouri April 1978; New York, Kentucky, Oregon, Illinois The purpose of the public hearing is to receive testimony and advice in major transportation policy areas for evaluation and use by the Commission. It is expected that the data received will assist the Commission in its analysis of the impact of alternative policies on the different user groups. In addition, it is clear that each section of our country has its own regional transportation strengths and weaknesses. The hearing process will accentuate these differences and help assure that the Commission does not generate policies that are excessively broad. The hearings are structured so that witnesses can focus on a particular part of our transportation system. This not only aids the Commission, but helps the witnesses to avoid testifying in broad generalities that add nothing to the data base. Shippers and Receivers: All sizes, modes and product classes special problems, size, population, products, Municipal Government: Size, population, Consumers: Urban, rural, regional The purpose of the Advisory Committees is to broaden the base of the Commission by giving formal status to all facets of our transportation system, including those not now represented on the Commission. The committees will be used as evaluators of policy alternatives and issue papers as they are developed. Recommendations by the committees will be seriously considered by the Commission. This continuous influx of information from those who are closely associated with our transportation system will insure that the Commission does not make recommendations that are either based on false assumptions or ethereal in nature. TRANSPORTATION WORKSHOPS At each of four critical stages in the development of its final report, the Commission will hold two transportation workshops. One workshop will be held in Washington, D.C. while the others will be held in a different section of the country. National Transportation Goals June 1977; Washington, D. C. and Western Location October 1977; Washington, D. C. and Southern Location Critical Transportation Issues December 1977; Washington, D. C. and Midwest Location March 1978; Washington, D. C. and Eastern Location The purpose of these workshops is to have an open discussion among the various transportation constituencies and the Commissioners. The purpose of the workshops must be distinguished from the public hearing process. The workshop is more than a data gathering exercise. It is intended to give the Commission an opportunity to use the transportation constituencies as a "sounding board" for various proposals. At the same time, it is hoped that such an open candid exchange will help in expanding the goals of modal representatives beyond their traditional bounds. Participants at the workshop will be representatives of labor unions, state and municipal governments, shippers, transportation companies, and consumer organizations. Participation in the workshop will be limited to fifty participants plus the Commissioners and staff. Each workshop will consist of a series of study groups on key topics. For example, study groups at the first workshop might cover possible goals in areas such as: |