Time

1:40 p.m. – 3:00 p.m

Location

1605 Tilia, Room 1103, West Village

Speaker(s)

Jolanda Prozzi, Program Manager, Research Scientist, Environment and Planning, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Abstract

Efficient, reliable, and safe freight transportation is critical to the economic prosperity of any region. An efficient multimodal and intermodal freight transportation system reduces transportation and supply chain transaction costs and increases connectivity, mobility, reliability, and accessibility to local and global markets. An efficient freight transportation system, therefore, supports economic development, expansion of international trade, increased employment, growth in personal income, and growth of the gross domestic product of a region—ultimately improving the quality of life of its citizens. But the freight transportation system also imposes externalities in the form of emissions, accident exposure, noise, and congestion. Sound freight policies are critical to capitalize on the benefits of freight transportation while minimizing the negative impacts. This presentation provides an overview of the freight policy research that has been conducted in Texas and discusses the challenges in implementing sound freight policies.

Biographical Sketch

Ms. Jolanda Prozzi holds a Master of Science in Transportation Technology and Policy from the University of California (Davis) and a Master of Commercial Sciences from the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa), with specialization in transportation economics.

Ms. Prozzi has more than 20 years of professional and research experience in freight planning and freight policy analysis. She manages the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI) Environment and Planning Program and leads the Freight Area of TTI’s Policy Research Center. Since coming to Texas in 2001, Ms. Prozzi has been collaborating on and managing more than 50 research projects and studies.

Prior to joining TTI, Ms. Prozzi was the Assistant Director at the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin, a Transportation Analyst at Cambridge Systematics, Inc., a Consultant Transportation Economist at the World Bank, and a Project Leader at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR):  Division of Roads and Transport Technology (in South Africa). Ms. Prozzi also served as a consultant for the PEW Foundation on Global Climate Change, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, US Agency for International Development, and the CSIR (South Africa). Finally, Ms. Prozzi has been the primary and contributing author of almost 100 publications. She has made numerous presentations of her work in both conference and academic settings.