By Ron Thaniel
November 21, 2005

Led by Conference President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Chair of the Conference of Mayors Transportation and Communications Standing Committee, The United States Conference of Mayors held the fourth in a series of Cities for a Strong America summits November 3. The Denver summit focused on evacuation planning, transit security and transportation investment.

Prior summits focused on education, water, and homeland security policy issues.

O’Neill said, “The purpose of the “Cities for a Strong America” tour is to focus the nation’s attention on the importance of metro economies – made up of cities and their suburbs – the national economy and to draw attention to the need to invest in our cities and suburbs which benefit the entire country.”

“The issue of transportation investment is a vital component of every community,” said O’Neill.

Mayors and key public and private officials discussed significant transportation challenges confronting cities and suburbs including evacuation planning, in light of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, securing bus and rail systems from terrorist attacks, and the deteriorating state of the commercial airlines industry and its impact on local economies.

Joined by Beaumont (TX) Mayor Guy Goodson, who ordered an evacuation of Beaumont as Hurricane Rita approached Southeast Texas and Louisiana in September, O’Neill said, “After seeing first hand the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana and the Gulf Coast area, and talking to mayors from this region, we recognized, more than ever, that an evacuation plan has to be an element of our homeland security preparedness plan – whether the disaster is man-made or natural.”

“We have learned that when it comes to disasters, whether man-made or natural, mayors must have a voice and a seat at the table because we are on the front lines of defense and emergency response,” said O’Neill.

Goodson said, “The local response must be coordinated with regional partners.”

Furthermore, Goodson told the mayors that they “must think about the needs of special population groups beforehand by notifying hospitals and nursing homes to move into crisis mode.” Goodson emphasized that the special needs population should be moved out of a potential disaster area well in advance.

On behalf of Houston Mayor Bill White, Dennis Storemski, Houston Director for Public Safety and Homeland Security, highlighted the role of telecommunications in evacuating people. Storemski told the mayors that, “Reverse 911 was used to call people in English and other languages urging them to leave.” Stressing the role of 311 communications, Storemski said, “Well in advance of Hurricane Rita’s landfall, people without cars were urged to call Houston’s 311 system for bus transportation information.”

Additional evacuation findings:

• First responders must provide clear instruction to the public on who needs to be evacuated;

• Federal government should authorize a mechanism that would allow city-to-city mutual aid agreements to trigger reimbursement procedures and liability protection under the Stafford Act during an emergency;

• Phased/sequenced evacuations based on zones;

• Establish a regional and state-wide transportation evacuation line of authority;

• Increased federal investment in intercity and commuter passenger rail as a viable alternative to move evacuees and first responders – the highway system alone can not support a mass evacuation of a major U.S. metro area;

• Public transportation, including school buses, is critical to the movement of the special needs populations and people without cars;

• Urge employers to dismiss non-essential employees well in advance to reduce road congestion;

• First responders should review community-based organizations’ evacuation plans, such as nursing homes;

• First responders should have access to military assets in the immediate response to the disaster including a redundant telecommunications system;

• Move/store emergency response vehicles out of the disaster area including use of military assets to protect vehicles and equipment;

• Maintain mandatory evacuations until essential utilities such as water and electricity are operational, streets are clear of debris and other hazards, essential businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations are reopened; hospitals and similar emergency response units are operational; and

• Establish agreements with freight railroad, air and port operators to bring in essential equipment such as generators.

On the issue of transportation security, O’Neill said, “Transportation security in this country must be maintained in the air and on the rails, highways, and waterways.”

“Mayors are the owners and operators of many of the major transportation facilities and systems in the nation and securing these systems and protecting users from potential terrorist activity is a high priority. This critical investment is even more apparent following the increasing number of terror attacks on bus and rail systems worldwide and in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said O’Neill.

Hickenlooper reviewed bus and rail security needs identified in the Conference’s 2005 National Action Plan for Safety and Security in America’s Cities. The United States Conference of Mayors is urging the Administration and Congress to provide funding for the following:

• Permanent chemical, biological and explosive detection systems in bus and rail stations;

• Video surveillance and threat detection cameras on board public transportation vehicles and in bus and rail stations;

• Increased surveillance via closed-circuit TV on bus and rail and in stations;

• Automated bus and rail locator systems;

• Redesign of infrastructure to eliminate hiding places; and

• Fencing and barriers, lighting, alarms and access control for tunnels, bridges, interlockings, track, yards and facilities.

“With more than 9.6 billion trips logged on the nation’s public transportation systems in 2004, securing this critical infrastructure and protecting riders from potential terrorist attacks remains a high priority for mayors, public safety officials, and first responders,” said Hickenlooper.

Joining the mayors and highlighting bus and rail security needs were Patrick J. Daly, Chief Security Officer for the Chicago Transit Authority; JayEtta Hecker, Director for the Physical Infrastructure Team with the U.S. General Accountability Office; Tom Yedinak, Senior Legislative Representative with the American Public Transportation Association; and Sonya Proctor, Chief, Police and Security with Amtrak.

Speaking on the deteriorating state of the commercial airlines industry, Hickenlooper said, “As owners and operators of the nation’s commercial airports, mayors have a vested interest in this issue. Due to the continued decline in revenues at most of the major airlines, many airport capital projects are threatened, and the communities they serve, are incurring substantial revenue losses.”

With the mayors for this discussion and addressing the aviation industry challenge, which is passengers are flying in record numbers, while at the same time fuel prices are at record high levels and airfares remain extremely low, were JayEtta Hecker; Jeff Potter, Chief Executive Officer with Frontier Airlines; and Vicki Braunagel, Co-manager of Aviation at Denver International Airport.

Completing the panel discussions, Hickenlooper focused the mayors on the largest infrastructure investment in the nation’s history, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).

Hickenlooper stated that SAFETEA-LU is a major victory for mayors across the nation in that it provides more than $286 billion for the expansion of public transportation systems, as well as portions of large'scale transportation infrastructure projects.

Introducing the final panel of speakers, Tom Norton, Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Transportation and Cal Marsella, Chief Executive Officer for the Denver Regional Transportation District, Hickenlooper said that cities and their suburbs have historically struggled to receive a fair share of transportation dollars from their state government. Given the strategic role of our transportation infrastructure, it is imperative that SAFETEA-LU resources flow to metro areas.

The speakers agreed with the strategic role of metro transportation infrastructure and also noted that with decreasing revenues from the Highway Trust Fund, it will be important that states work with cities on meeting local transportation infrastructure needs.

In closing, O’Neill stated that under her leadership, the Conference will work with the Administration, Congress, governors and state legislators to ensure that metro areas receive an equitable share of funding to make transportation improvements in the air and on the rails, highways, and waterways – thus ensuring the continued economic growth of these metro areas.

“This is the way to sustain America’s global competitiveness,” said O’Neill.