October 2009 Meeting DetailsCAPT General Membership Meeting Charleston, S.C. October 10, 2009 The meeting will feature guest speaker Jeff Burns. Jeff is a senior transportation planner at the Berkelely-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) , which staffs the Charleston Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization (CHATS) MPO. Jeff earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from SUNY (State University of New York) College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a master's in city and regional planning from Clemson University. Jeff previously served as transit planner for the City of Asheville, NC. His primary role at the BCDCOG is to administer the CHATS planning process; other transportation planning; and planning to support the regional transit operators. Mr. Burns will speak to us about developments in the Charleston region to establish commuter rail service and other initiatives to promote intermodal public transportation. The meeting will also include speaker Dan Gurley who works with a national railroad education and advocacy organization called Growth Options for the 21st Century (Go21) . Its primary goal as a public policy non-profit organization is to encourage and expand the use of rail as a means of addressing public policy issues such as economic development, environmental protection, fuel efficiency, and easing highway congestion. While started primarily as an advocacy group for the expansion of freight rail, in the past few years it has also incorporated passenger advocacy into its message. Its outreach focuses on letting local and state government officials, community and civic leaders, economic development professionals, and other stakeholders know of the significant changes that are underway across the country in how we move freight and passengers and the growth demands that will be coming or are already here. We can begin to gather at the Francis Marion Hotel for lunch at 11:00 a.m. in the Rutledge Room. All lunch orders must be received by 11:30 a.m. The meals will be served around 12:30 p.m. The Francis Marion is in peninsular Charleston across from Marion Square downtown. The address is 387 King Street and the hotel is on the corner of King and Calhoun Streets. Remember that King Street is a one-way street at this location so be sure you are headed in the right direction (southeast) when approaching the hotel. There are a number of public parking garages within walking distance from the hotel. Parking may be limited on the street due to a Saturday morning farmer's market going on in the square but the market should be basically over by the time we arrive. The room will be available for our board meeting after lunch up until 5:00 p.m. Meeting agenda for Charleston meeting:
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