Sunday, July 27

Registration

Joint Authorization Task Force & Program Structure Working Group Meeting

Sustainability in Action Tours

Tour 1: Transit Oriented Development – City of Evanston

Tour will travel via Metra Rail and CTA to the City of Evanston, located 12 miles north of Downtown Chicago, along Lake Michigan is a high-density municipality with the best transit service outside of the City of Chicago.  The City is served by nine heavy rail stations and three commuter rail stations, in addition to numerous city and suburban bus routes.  Evanston is currently developing the Evanston Climate Action Plan (ECAP), which will help reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.  This tour, led by a member of the Transportation and Land Use Task Force for ECAP, will highlight the transit connectivity within Evanston and some of ECAP’s recommendations

Tour 2: Transit Oriented Development – Arlington Heights

Tour will travel to the Village of Arlington Heights via Metra Rail, located approximately 20 miles from Downtown Chicago, has undertaken a major downtown redevelopment over the past 20 years.  High-density residential buildings, mixed-use developments, parking structures and a pedestrian-friendly environment have replaced the auto-oriented, low-density suburban downtown environment from the 1980’s.  With over 2,300 daily commuter rail boardings, the Arlington Heights Metra Station has the sixth highest suburban boardings on the Metra system.  This tour, led by municipal staff, will highlight the process by which the village facilitated the successful TOD redevelopment and the future plans for Downtown Arlington Heights.

Tour 3: Inter-City Redevelopment Based on Transit Interface

This tour, via CTA Rail, will highlight the redevelopment of former public housing land into a new mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhood oriented towards public transportation.  The recently renovated CTA Red and Green Line Stations, along with Metra’s planned 35th Street Station, provide high-quality transit access to Downtown Chicago and suburban employment locations.  In addition, the tour will also highlight sustainable features of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus and U.S Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox.

Tour 4: Millennium Station and Park Development

Built on the air rights of commuter railroad tracks and the terminal of the Metra Electric District, Millennium Park has become the jewel of recreational space and public art in the City of Chicago.  This walking tour will highlight the newly redeveloped Millennium Station and Millennium Park.  Opened in 2004, the architecture and public art found in the park were designed by world-class artists and architects, including Frank Gehry, Jaome Plensa, Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf, Robert Isreal and Anish Kapoor. 

Tour 5: Sustainable Projects Completed by CTA

Tour will travel via CTA Bus to various sustainable infrastructure projects by CTA including CTA Bus Garage, CTA Bus Turnaround, and CTA Blue Line.  Thistour highlights sustainable elements of the CTA bus and rail systems that help the CTA reduce energy consumption and waste.  These elements include:  

• Solar Tracking Skylights
• Anti-Freeze Recycling
• Microbial Cleaners
• Storm Water Discharge
• Green Part Washers
• Composting Toilet
• Sustainable Construction
• Sustainable Railroad Ties

Tour 6: Urban Green Design – Center for Green Technology and CTA Headquarters

Tour will travel via CTA Bus and Rail to visit two sustainable buildings within the City of Chicago.  The LEED Platinum Center for Green Technology is a redeveloped industrial facility that has become an incubator for “green” commercial businesses, as well as a training center used by the City of Chicago for furthering sustainable design.  In addition, the tour will travel to the LEED Gold CTA Headquarters for a view of the agency’s green roof. 

Sustainability and Urban Design Standards Policy
Committee

Fred Hansen, chair, APTA Sustainability Task Force; and general manager, Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet), Portland, OR

Welcoming Reception at Hotel

Sponsored by HDR and APTA

Monday, July 28    

Registration

Continental Breakfast

Opening Session

Introduction: Paul Skoutelas, PB

Welcome Remarks:

William W. Millar, president, APTA

Goals and Overview:

Fred Hansen, chair, APTA Sustainability Task Force; and general manager, Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet), Portland, OR

Introduction:

Janette Sadik-Khan, commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation, New York, NY

Keynote Speaker:

Jonathan P. Rose, chair, MTA Sustainability Commission and green planner and developer

General Session: Going Green in Chicago

Sponsored by HNTB

Roundtable discussion on green transit trends in Chicago.

Moderator:

Stephen Schlickman, executive director, Regional Transportation Authority

Panelists:

Ron Huberman, president, Chicago Transit Authority

Philip Pagano, executive director, Metra

Thomas (T.J.) Ross, executive director, Pace Suburban Bus

Joseph Clary, director, division of public transportation and intermodal transportation, Illinois Department of Transportation

Break

General Session: Developing for Sustainable Mobility

The transit and land use connection for reducing the carbon footprint.

Attend this session to see how planning for transit oriented development and regional sustainability can impact your community.  Highlights will be:

• Reducing VMT
• LEED ND: how effective are we
• Successful local partnerships and the green dividend

Moderator:

Randy Blankenhorn, executive director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Chicago, IL

Speakers:

Shelley Poticha, president and CEO, Reconnecting America, Oakland, CA

Paul Farmer, executive director, American Planning Association, Chicago, IL

Janette Sadik-Khan, commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation, New York, NY

Doug Farr, president, Farr Associates, Chicago, IL

Lunch – Chicago’s Sustainability Partnership

Sponsored by Veolia

Speaker:

Sadu Johnston, chief environmental officer, City of Chicago

Making Sustainability a Strategic Objective for Transit: Setting You Up for Success

Strategies and opportunities for sustainable practices.

This session will focus on integrating sustainability into transit objectives.  Highlights will be:

• Establishing a life-cycle approach
• Environmental and sustainable management systems
• Creating an internal sustainability culture
• Bringing in new skill sets

Moderator:

Michael Townes, chair, APTA; and president/chief executive officer, Hampton Roads Transit, Hampton Roads, VA

Panelists:

Susan Borinsky, associate administrator for planning and environment, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC

John Inglish, general manager/CEO, Utah Transit Authority,
Salt Lake City, UT

Joni Earl, chief executive officer, Sound Transit, Seattle, WA

Pam O’Connor, chair, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA

Stephanie Negriff, co-chair-authorization task force, APTA, and director, Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, Santa Monica, CA

Break

“Go Green” Breakout Sessions

Breakout sessions on some of the latest sustainability approaches in planning, environmental design, and
operations/maintenance.

Concurrent Session: Sustainable Transportation Planning

Hear about the sustainable practices in transportation, land use planning and urban design.

Moderator:

Diana Mendes, vice chair, APTA Policy and Planning Committee, and senior vice president, DMJM Harris, An AECOM Company, Arlington, VA

Presenters:

Rex Burkholder, councilor, District 5, Metro, Portland, OR

Timothy Papandreou, transportation planning manager, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA

Mark McLaren, vice president, HDR ENGINEERING, INC., Phoenix, AZ

Jeffrey Boothe, partner, Holland & Knight LLP, Washington, DC

Concurrent Session: Green Design and Construction of Capital Facilities

The session focuses on integrating sustainability into construction projects and mitigating environmental impacts.

Moderator:

Susannah Kerr-Adler, vice president and manager, Architecture & Buildings Resource Center, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Washington, DC

Presenters:

Thomas Abdallah, chief, environmental engineering, Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit, New York, NY

Mike Grisso, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, San Francisco, CA

Peter Varga, chief executive officer, The Rapid, Grand Rapids, MI

Darcy Immerman, vice president, director of business development, DMJM Harris Energy & Power Services, Boston, MA

Concurrent Session: Sustainable Operations –What You Can Do

The session focuses on energy-efficient and environmentally sound practices in transit operations and maintenance.

Moderator:

David Taylor, deputy chair, APTA Land Use and Development Subcommittee; and director, Sustainable Transportation Solutions, HDR Engineering, Inc., Tampa, FL

Presenters:

Timothy Lindholm, director of capital projects, Facilities-Operations, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA

Andrew Brennan, director of environmental affairs, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Boston, MA

Jacob L. Snow, general manager, Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada,  Las Vegas, NV

Rep from Denver Regional Transit District

Buses Depart Hotel, Bring Your Transit Pass

Architectural River Cruise and Reception – Chicago River

Underwritten by North American Technologies
Group/TieTek, LLC

Tuesday, July 29

Continental Breakfast

Business Perspectives on Sustainability

Morning Talk Show

Speakers:

John Marinucci, president and chief executive officer, New Flyer Industries Canada ULC, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Geneviève Dion, director, communications and public affairs, North America, Transportation, Bombardier, Saint-Bruno, QC, Canada

Mitun Seguin, director of marketing services, Veolia Transportation, Silver Spring, MD

General Session: Measuring and Communicating Sustainability

Establishing standards and reporting mechanisms.

APTA Standards work and UITP indicators looking at measuring carbon footprints, establishing checklist and toolkits, operating templates, and sustainability reports will be examined. In addition, speakers will focus on impressions from ENO foundation tour. 

Moderator:

John Inglish, general manager/CEO, Utah Transit Authority, Salt Lake City, UT

Speakers:

Susan Schruth, associate administrator for program management, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC

Kevin Desmond, general manager, King County Metro Transit Division/Department of Transportation, Seattle, WA

Heather Allen, sustainable development manager, International Association of Public Transport (UITP)

Break

General Session: The Endgame for Transit as Sustainable Transport: Mixing Policy and Practice

Setting out the global climate for sustainability.

The session will look at current and forthcoming state, national, and international policies and legislation and how transit can position itself to maximize opportunities for growth (discussing items such as the future of energy, environmental equity, social justice, etc.)

Moderator:

William Volk, chair, legislative, APTA; and managing director, Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, Urbana, IL

Presenters:

David Gardiner, David Gardiner and Associates

Deron Lovaas, vehicles campaign director, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC (invited)

Rex Burkholder, councilor, District 5, Metro, Portland, OR

Lunch Discussion – Establishing a Transit-Wide Commitment on Sustainability

A facilitated working lunch on setting sustainability principles and an action plan for transit.

Facilitators:

Fred Hansen, chair, APTA Sustainability Task Force; and general manager, Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet), Portland, OR

Sustainability and Urban Design Standards Policy Committee

John Inglish, chair, Sustainability and Urban Design Standards Policy Committee, APTA, and general manager/CEO, Utah Transit Authority, Salt Lake City, UT

APTA Standards Program: Climate Change Working Group

Session will continue through Wednesday, July30

APTA Standards Program: Urban Design Working Group

Session will continue through Wednesday, July30

Guest Lecture: Tuesday’s at A merican Planning Association

A free, after work lecture series hosted by APA at APA headquarters: 122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60603

Fred Hansen, TriMet, presents on “Sustainability Through Regional Transit Programs”.