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Posted on: Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 12:54PM
Posted by: Anonymous User

Dear COMTO family,

Greetings from Arusha, Tanzania.  

Today we met with many members of the East African Community (EAC) as we commenced the start of the FTA/East Africa Workshop – Developing Sustainable Transportation Systems.

The workshop began with all of the traditional protocol and introductions.  The Honorable Juma Mwapachu, Secretary General of the East Africa Community gave a brief overview of the transportation and infrastructure challenges faced by the region.  Mr. Ron Boenau provided greetings and remarks on behalf of the Federal Transit Administration.  Julie Cunningham, our President /CEO then greeted the conferees, provided an overview of COMTO and introduced all members of our delegation.  She also shared the details of a meeting she had at the Tanzanian Embassy with Ambassador Ombeni Sefue last week in D.C. In that meeting he shared with her the challenges and vision for building a sustainable transportation network including a rail project for the region.

Following all the introductions and greetings, Dr. Adiele Nwankwo of Parsons Brinckerhoff, and I had the privilege of presenting on the morning panel – Relieving Urban Congestion in East Africa. Dr. Nwankwo presented on “Transportation Planning and Design” and I presented” Examples of Successful Projects in the U.S.”   We were joined by Mr. Godfrey Wandera, Commissioner Transport Planning for Uganda and Mr. Cosmas Takule, Planner for Dar-es-Salaam Bus Rapid Transit System. 

There was a high level of interest for both of our presentations and several attendees asked me some very tough questions (relative to financing, community participation, political support, etc) about the success of the Houston Rail project.   It was clear through this panel discussion that the EAC is seeking solutions to their major traffic problems, high accident fatality rate, high volume of emissions due to poor transit systems which consist mainly of thousands of jitneys (small passenger vans) with schedules that are not consistent and poorly run.  

As your Chair, I am particularly proud of the great U.S. delegation that we have participating in this conference.  They will present as follows:

• Ron Boenau (FTA) – The National Transit Institute and Other Transportation Education and Technology Exchange Programs in the U.S.
• Roscoe Brown – Accessible Transportation in the US and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Gary Flounoy – The Importance of Public Participation and Outreach in Project Development
• Kay Nordstrom (FTA) – Technology Transfer Centers in the U.S.
• Dwayne Sampson – Case Examples of Public-Private Partnerships in the U.S.

Debra Carter, on behalf of COMTO and the FTA is serving as the workshop’s official rapporteur.  Murray Montgomery, a long time law enforcement official (having accompanied many foreign delegations) is providing both necessary and welcome security for our entire delegation.

I am encouraged by the opportunities here in Tanzania for COMTO to engage our members in assisting our African counterparts as they face some of the many challenges that we have addressed in the U.S. and other challenges that both of our nation’s still face.  

Please feel free to offer your comments to members of the delegation and me during our time here in Tanzania.

Warm regards, 

Shirley DeLibero