Drum roll please…TRB staff has informed me that it looks like the final attendance at this year’s meeting will be in the neighborhood of about 11,000, which is 100 more people than last year and new record for attendance.

When you take into consideration the current economic situation and the travel restrictions some states are under, this year’s attendance is truly remarkable.

In addition to the record attendance, this year we set a new record in the number of “tweets” that took place about the meeting. In fact, there were so many on Monday that the TRB Annual Meeting was “trending” for twitter users in the area. I’m told this means we were among the most talked-about items that day.

While everyone wants to know how many people are at the meeting, what people remember years after an Annual Meeting is not how many attendees were there, but the people they met and the information they gained.

What I learned this year and will remember for a long time to come is that the future of transportation and transportation research looks bright.

On Sunday I participated in a packed “New and Young Attendees Welcome Session” and I got to see first-hand the future of transportation. Take it from me, that future is energetic, vibrant, diverse, smart, and eager to tackle the challenges ahead.

About a third of the attendees at this year’s meeting were first-time attendees. If you are part of this group, please accept my personal invitation to join us again next year. Mark January 13-17, 2013, on your calendar right now and plan to attend the TRB 92nd Annual Meeting. I expect that your first time at the meeting has been a great experience, but--take it from me--it gets better and better every year.

Also remember, while this meeting is not completely in the rear-view mirror, it’s not too early to begin thinking about next year’s meeting. The whole process will start over again at the beginning of June when TRB opens up the Annual Meeting and Transportation Research Record paper submission website.

There were a number of sessions at the meeting that focused on federal funding for transportation and transportation research. Anthony Perl’s article in the Tuesday issue of the AM Daily, “Are 'Hard Times' the Crucible of Transportation Innovation," got me thinking; there is no arguing that these are uncertain times, but they are also exciting times that have the potential to allow us to do great things.

Anthony suggested in his article that the “primal fear of extinction tends to trigger a survival instinct that can unleash the creative potential of human communities.” If that’s true then look out! Transportation research and the deployment of that research have a critical role to play in helping the industry do things smarter, better, and faster.

The Technical Activities Council picked up on this idea and selected “Deploying Transportation Research - Doing Things Smarter, Better, Faster” as the theme for the 2013 TRB 92nd Annual Meeting.

As you are considering topics for papers for next year’s meeting, please keep this theme in mind.

The Annual Meeting has a grueling pace, with meetings and sessions beginning at 7:30 a.m. and not finishing until 10:00 p.m. At the end of a meeting I’m always tired, but it’s a good tired--the kind of tired that signals that you have accomplished something. At the same time, I’m energized for the opportunities and challenges that we will meet in the year ahead.

Thanks for a great meeting, and I look forward to seeing you again next year.

Katherine Turnbull is an Associate Director at the Texas Transportation Institute. She is Head of the System Planning, Policy, and Environment Research Group. She has held several posts in the TRB Standing Committee structure and currently Chairs the TRB Technical Activities Council.