PennDOT Secretary Biehler to Address PHIA Annual Meeting

Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler, P.E., has accepted an invitation to address the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Highway Information Association to be held on December 7, 2006, at the AACA Museum in Hershey.

Biehler will give a presentation on the recently-released Transportation Funding and Reform Commission report, which recommended $900 million in additional funding for highways and bridges and $760 million in targeted public transit funding. Biehler was chairman of the Commission which spent the last 16 months studying the Commonwealth’s transportation needs.

Also on the program is Alan E. Pisarski, a highly respected national expert on transportation research, policy and investment. He will be sharing some of the findings contained in his new book entitled, Commuting in America III , which takes a look at changing work travel trends, modes of transportation used, and how workers are coping with congestion.

The program will conclude with a special presentation on Public Private Partnerships (P3) by D.J.Gribbin, division director of Macquarie Holdings, Inc., an Australian firm that has been at the forefront with private investments in Chicago’s Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road. His firm has also had discussions with officials at the PA Turnpike Commission. Gribbin is former chief counsel for the Federal Highway Administration.

The PHIA Annual Meeting, which is open to the general public, will be held from 10:00 a.m. to noon, followed by a luncheon. Attendees are then invited to tour the museum which features a sequential history of our nation’s motoring age, plus a wide array of auto-related memorabilia. Visit www.aacamuseum.org for featured museum exhibits during the month of December.

To register, please download the Registration Form (pdf) and return it to the address or fax number listed by December 1, 2006.