OnTrackNorthAmerica Announces Collaborative Research Relationships
Influential Rail Transportation Scholars to Provide Program and Development Resources
Philadelphia, PA, November 13, 2015
OnTrackNorthAmerica (OTNA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit action think tank, today announced new working relationships with Dr. Pasi Lautala from Michigan Tech University and Dr. Mingzhou Jin, Director of the Logistics, Transportation, and Supply Chain Engineering lab at the University of Tennessee. “We are fulfilling our mission by facilitating intellectual collaboration” said Michael Sussman, OTNA President and Founder. “With our academic partners we are extending the boundaries of knowledge in the field of transportation planning and investment strategy while leveraging our industry experience to guide in-the-field application.”
Dr. Jin’s efforts focus on the formulation of OTNA’s National Transportation Lifecycle Costs and Benefits Project. Dr. Jin summarizes his efforts: “As an author of several papers about transportation performance measurement development and a principal investigator who has conducted more than a dozen projects for US DOT and several state DOTs, I still observe that measures used in practice are very different across transportation modes and government agencies. There is a need to conduct a comprehensive study to provide a unified life-cycle costs and benefits analysis framework for evaluating transportation systems and facilitating performance-based decision making.”
OTNA and Dr. Lautala’s collaboration is based on recognition that for capital investment in infrastructure to be productive and profitable, it is necessary to develop and
agree on a set of measures and values to guide these major investments public and private purposes. As yet, the measures, data, and analytical method have not been gathered and agreed on across agency, community, and sector lines. Therefore, system-level as well as individual transportation project investments are challenging to evaluate in cases where researchers, consultants, and decision-makers are unable to agree on a full set of lifecycle costs and benefits. “It’s OTNA’s mission to bridge these gaps and enable us to make better decisions, with broader positive social impact, in a timelier manner” noted Mr. Sussman.
Founded in 2007, OnTrackNorthAmerica is an action think tank for expanding the capacity and footprint of rail transportation within an optimal system in service to the environment, economy, and quality of life. In partnership with industry, academia, and government, it develops programs for more intelligent, sustainable, and resilient transportation systems
Mike Koontz managed the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program from 2001 until 2014. As program manager, he oversaw an annual investment of more than $2 billion over three transportation authorizations. Mike’s focus on mobile source emissions reduction and highway congestion relief included grant review and assessment for intermodal transfer facilities, port infrastructure projects, and numerous applications for diesel retrofit acquisitions. He also authored detailed program guidance and a number of legislative interpretations involving the $30-billion, 20-year program. Prior to his role as CMAQ manager, Mike was a transportation planner in a number of field offices for the FHWA and served for six years as a transportation network capacity analyst. Since retirement from public service, Mike has been working on transportation network and congestion management/performance issues, including a number of aerial photography analyses throughout the U.S.
Phil Mortimer has been the lead on the 
Leo Penne has over three decades of experience with the development and implementation of public policies and programs in the areas of freight transportation, intergovernmental relations, economic development, public finance, and livability. For over a decade he was the Program Director for Intermodal and Industry Activities at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) where he established and directed AASHTO’s freight transportation program.
Jolene Molitoris is President of US Railcar, the only US owned company in the passenger rail vehicle business. She is also a principal of Molitoris Associates, her own consulting firm. Ms. Molitoris served as the Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) from 2009 to 2011, ODOT’s first woman director. During her tenure, Ohio delivered a $2 billion multi-modal construction program, ODOT’s largest construction program in history. Prior to that, Ms. Molitoris was appointed by President Clinton in 1993, as the first woman to head the Federal Railroad Administration. During her nearly eight years as Administrator, she led agency and industry wide changes to improve safety, resulting in the seven safest years in US railroad history.