More than 12.000 people from more than 70 countries – including policymakers, administrators, practitioners, and researchers from government, industry, and academia – will gather for the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 95th Annual Meeting.  The event is returning to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC, from January 10-14, and will involve more than 5.000 presentations at more than 800 sessions and workshops covering all transportation modes.  TAXIintell will be reporting from TRB.

More than 75 sessions will address one or more of three hot topics: transformation technologies, resilience, and transportation and public health.

For instance:  State Department of Transportation CEO Roundtables

* Mainstreaming Innovative Technology – This roundtable will examine the various factors for state DOTs to consider when developing and implementing emerging technologies that allow them to serve their mission more effectively.

* Optimizing Passenger and Freight Mobility Through Multimodal Solutions – A panel of state DOT leaders will highlight success stories and discuss challenges of creative approaches used to expand travel options and increase efficient movement of people and goods.

* Chairman’s Luncheon – The Chairman’s Luncheon is attended by about 750 leaders in the transportation field from the U.S. and abroad.  This year’s featured speaker is Chris Urmson, director of Google’s self-driving car program, who will discuss his team’s development of technology that has the potential to change the way cars are driven.

In addition, members of the study committees that wrote the following Academies reports will present their findings and recommendations:

* Interregional Travel: A New Perspective for Policy Making, and

Between Public and Private Mobility: Examining the Rise of Technology-Enabled Transportation Services.

The annual meeting also will feature an exhibit hall with more than 250 exhibitors from government agencies, research organizations, and commercial businesses, showing their products and services.

TRB is a program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine.  The Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

• TRB: lots of interest in the shifting boundaries of public and private transport.