A Look Ahead: Year 2020

TRB Special Report 220 - A Look Ahead: Year 2020 are conference proceedings from a meeting of the same title.

The objective of the conference was "to identify the nature and level of demand for future highway and public transit services and their role in the nation's future transportation system." The conference, one of the first steps in the Transportation 2020 program effort, provided essential background information on the factors influencing transportation requirements for consideration in other 2020 activities. To provide background material for the conference and to stimulate discussion, resource papers were prepared on the following topics: economic growth and vitality; demographics and life style; energy and environment; patterns of future development; commercial freight transportation; personal mobility; new technology and communications; and resources and institutional arrangements. Each paper was presented at the conference, critiqued by a panel of experts, and discussed in an open forum for greater interaction with conference attendees. Nineteen authors, 32 panelists, and a total of 225 attendees participated. Summaries of the primary discussion topics in each of the eight sessions were abstracted from the resource papers and the open discussions at the conference. They present the conference findings from several perspectives.