It’s a quiet morning in DC
I’m early this morning. It’s the 4th day of the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Annual Meeting 2024 and the last day I’ll attend. It’s been a busy agenda for the past 3 days, with 9 lectern sessions, 3 poster sessions and the opening of the exhibit hall attended, the plenary session and 1 more lectern session left to attend. My notes run to 36 pages and the number of photos I’ve taken of slide presentations are too numerous to count at the moment.
But, I’m early. I pick up my coffee at Starbucks at the Marriott Marquis next door to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. This is my 3rd year attending the TRB Annual Meeting, with the first being in 2022, towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. By now, I know the layout and take the connecting tunnel between the hotel and convention center. Normally bustling with attendees coming and going from meetings in the hotel and convention center, it’s just me this morning and when I walk into the convention center, the people are few and far between.
Sipping my coffee, I watch the sun rise over the Washington, DC skyline and reflect on this year’s meeting. Of the 5 committees in the TRB Marine Group , I’ve attended meetings, lectern presentations or poster sessions for all but Ferry Transportation (AP085), and have spent the most time with Marine Safety and Human Factors (AW040), as befits the focus of the Maritime Safety Innovation Lab.
The week began on Sunday afternoon with the Freight Systems and Marine Transportation Unconference. The goal was to identify research needs within these areas, with the following discussed, in no particular order:
- Decarbonization of the supply chain
- Workforce development
- Environmental issues
- Red Sea crisis and it’s effect on the global supply chain
- Cybersecurity
- Cargo safety – namely the carriage and/or use of lithium ion battteries in freight systems
- Supply chain evolution
If any areas of discussion have been omitted, please forgive me, but the near 3 -hour session provided quite diverse discussion that highlighted not only the topics above, but the fact that all or many of these issues are interconnected. These topics emerged time and time again over the next few days in the various sessions and meetings. These challenging issues don’t have easy answers, but as I reflected, I will try to address them in broad strokes over the coming days.
As the sun rose, the streets below slowly filled with TRB attendees making their way to the day’s meetings. It promises to be another busy day.
Join us as we bring the happenings of the TRB Marine Group to you over the next few days.