Past Events

When disaster strikes and an emergency notification is issued, people are often unsure how to act. They may spend time “milling,” checking in with friends and neighbors, scrolling through sources and social media—trying to decide whether the alert applies to them. Research has shown this can be life threatening. Looking at how community members responded to alerts during the SCU and CZU complex wildland fires in 2020, experts Dr. Frances L. Edwards and Dan Goodrich examine disaster public communications best practices. How can public agencies collaborate with social media organizations to get the right messaging out? How do we ensure messaging engenders immediate, life-saving action? The researchers have also proposed an app that could assist in eliminating time spent milling by speeding up social media investigation by sorting messages via GIS coordinates, time, and more to ensure community members are reading the messages most relevant to them. This webinar, presented during National Preparedness Month, helped viewers gain valuable insights and explore innovative solutions in disaster communication.

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About the Panelist

Frances L. Edwards, MUP, PhD, CEM, is professor emeritus of political science at San José State University, following 17 years as the Director of the Master of Public Administration program. She is the Deputy Director of the National Transportation Security Center at the Mineta Transportation Institute. A Certified Emergency Manager with over 20 years’ professional experience in California, she has served as acting assistant fire chief for the San José Fire Department, as Budget Analyst for the Irvine, California Police Department, and as Assistant to the City Manager in Florham Park, New Jersey. 

Daniel C. Goodrich, MPA, CEM, MEP is a Senior Transportation Security Scientist with the Mineta Transportation Institute at SJSU, and the instructor for “Security Issues for Transportation Professionals” in the Master of Science in Transportation Management program. He is a Certified Emergency Manager, a Master Exercise Practitioner, a Professional Continuity Practitioner and a Certified Security Specialist. He provides emergency management planning and training support to Caltrans and Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority. 

MTI's 2023 MSTI was held weekdays, July 10-28, 2023, M-F 9am-3pm at San José State University. While engaging in stimulating hands-on STEM activities and venturing on exciting local field trips, students learned about transportation innovation and earned 3 transferable college credits in Environmental Studies from San José State University. This program was completely free and open to high school students. 

This program was delivered in partnership with Caltrans and is a crucial step toward building the transportation workforce pipeline. 

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View 2023 Calendar of Activities

The WTS Capital Summit, a signature program of Transportation YOU, offers students an opportunity to meet transportation industry thought leaders, government and administration officials, and college students beginning their own career journeys in the industry. Historically, the Summit brings high school-aged mentees and transportation professional mentors to the Washington, D.C. area for a 4-day summer program of tours, lectures, and interactive experiences showcasing careers in transportation. Students register to attend the Summit through WTS Chapters.

The Summit provides participants experience in engineering challenges, professional development and leadership skills development, networking events, local tours, and opportunities to learn about core transportation development components, such as accessibility, livable communities, and urban planning. Tours may include the U.S. Department of Transportation; the U.S. Capitol and U.S. Congress, local airports, highway research facilities, the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro), live engineering projects, port operations, and other transportation hubs. The Summit also encourages student attendees to consider a wide variety of future undergraduate and advanced degree opportunities... STEM, engineering, and beyond.

*MTI was a proud co-sponsor of this program.

14th Annual Mineta National Transportation Policy Summit

The United States faces a public health crisis on its roads. In 2021 alone, almost 43,000 people died in traffic crashes and millions more suffered serious injuries. Secretary Pete Buttigieg calls the situation a preventable crisis—one for which we must take responsibility by recognizing that human lives are not a price to pay for modernity. New funding available through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides a significant opportunity to reduce crashes through infrastructure redesign. The Mineta Transportation Institute and a panel of national experts discussed the role of infrastructure redesign in achieving a national goal of zero traffic fatalities.

See here for more information and recordings from past events in the series.

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CM Credit

Featured Speaker	Fireside Chat Moderator
Robin Hutcheson Administrator Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration	Karen Philbrick, PhD Executive Director Mineta Transportation Institute

Keynote Speaker	Keynote Speaker Q&A Moderator
Jennifer Homendy 15th Chair National Transportation Safety Board	Paula Hammond Multimodal National Market Leader, WSP Chair, American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Board of Directors

MTI Safety Survey Presenter	Panelist	Panelist
Asha Weinstein Agrawal, PhD Director MTI National Transportation Finance Center	Ravinder S. Bhalla Mayor City of Hoboken	Beth Osborne Vice President for Transportation and Thriving Communities Smart Growth America

Panelist	Panelist	Panel Moderator
Emily Schweninger Senior Policy Advisor, Transportation Health and Safety U.S. Department of Transportation	Tony Tavares Director California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)	Selika Talbott MTI Research Associate; Founder and CEO Autonomous Vehicle Consulting