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IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO THE MEMBERSHIP
Of the North Atlantic Transportation Planning Officials (NATPO) Organization

NATPO began in 1947 and its last Annual Conference was in August 2008 at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.

A provision of the NATPO Charter is to hold an Annual Conference during the summer months, a practice which has been followed every year for the past 61 years. A Standing Item on the Conference Agenda is an Annual Business Meeting, at which the Membership reviews the past year’s events, the budget and most importantly, selects a host / organizing team for the upcoming year’s Conference.

As is customary during the Business Meeting, a State or Province (in rotation) typically steps forward with an offer to host, which is then confirmed by a membership vote by those present at the meeting. At the last Conference in 2008 however, a new host did not come forward for 2009, primarily due to the constraints in many states and provinces at the time. In an effort to keep the organization moving forward another year until a new host could be secured for 2010, those in attendance recommended that a Working Group be formed for that purpose. Two States and two Provinces (Maine, Vermont, New Brunswick and Ontario) came forward to volunteer their efforts and to form the Group.

The Working Group organized two Annual Business Meetings for 2010 and 2011 (via teleconference), at which most of the membership was represented. The purpose of the meetings was to approve revisions the NATPO Charter and to attempt to secure a host for 2011. Although the newly revised Charter was agreed to, the Working Group was not successful in finding a Conference Host.

Over three years have passed since the last Annual Conference was held in 2008. During that time, Ontario has continued to move the organization forward through leading the Working Group meetings, updating the Charter, and hosting the website and the two annual business meetings. Due to the lack of dedicated staff in the organization and the resources required to update the Membership List, the Working Group has made the difficult decision to announce that NATPO is no longer active.

Ontario has sponsored the current NATPO website (http://www.natpo.ca) since 2007, and will continue to do so until September 2012 when its annual renewal is due. At that time Maine has offered to assume domain sponsorship at (http://www.natpo.org), pending any Province or State being able and willing to host the Conference.

The organization has stood the test of time for 64 years and the current membership still express a willingness to continue the organization until such as time as a member State or Province can offer to host an Annual Conference in the future.

We encourage those who are interested in hosting a NATPO meeting or conference to please contact either:

Heide Garbot, Ministry of Transportation, Ontario at (905) 704-2213 or email at Heide.Garbot@ontario.ca

Duane Scott, Maine Department of Transportation at (207) 446-7771 or email at Duane.Scott@maine.gov

2008 NATPO Conference

The 61st Annual Meeting of the North Atlantic Transportation Planning Officials is being hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation in beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada,
August 10-12, 2008.

Thank You! to all who attended, participated in and
supported the 2008 NATPO Conference

Now available online: photos from the conference and the NATPO 2008 Balance Sheet

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Transportation planning is a topic of popular interest to us all because it is so fundamental to social well- being. Because of this high level of interest, the negative aspects of congestion and pollution are also receiving increasing attention, not expected to decrease in the near future. The very nature of environmental impacts / concerns associated with transportation begs the question whether sustainability and improvements to environmental quality are even achievable in the context of current / future technological innovations and transportation demand. Many proposed improvements that have the expectation of reducing emissions, can actually lead to increased emissions – either due to more vehicles on the road or longer commuting distances and more suburban development. Because sustainable transportation strategies and any potential benefits they may have on long-range land use planning will have also have long lasting impacts, to be successful, they can only be achieved in cooperation with the users of the transportation system and society in general. These challenges and others have contributed to sustainable transportation policies and practices typically remaining at the ‘proclamation’ or ‘motherhood’ stage.

2008 Highlights:

Workshops, Exhibits and Special Speakers on the theme of sustainable transportation planning
Dinner at Fort George followed by a Ghost tour
Winery tour to Peller Estates including a Wine and Cheese Pairing
Niagara Region Wine Route: many interesting wineries to visit and taste test
Niagara-on-the-Lake walk-about; Historical walk; Angel Inn Pub
Family/Guest activity guide – Maid of the Mist; Whirlpool Jet Boat ride; Clifton Hill, the Butterfly Sanctuary, and much more
Morning walk through the beautiful Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake

Group Photo for NATPO 2008

Photos will be given to all delegates at the conference on Tuesday August 12th. If not attending or did not receive copies, photo will also be uploaded onto the website shortly after the conference.