SAN JOSE, Calif., June 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California State Senator Jim Beall will deliver the keynote address at the Norman Y. Mineta Transportation Finance Policy Summit at the Commonwealth Club of California, 555 Post St., San Francisco, 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Friday, June 26. Continental breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m. Sponsor is the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI). For free registration, go to http://goo.gl/vdxEoG. Reserve early; seating is limited.

During the program's first hour, which will be recorded for NPR broadcast, retired Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta will introduce Senator Beall, who will discuss the state's critical need for transportation infrastructure maintenance, modernization, and expansion, along with the potential funding opportunities.

In the second half of the program, starting at 10 a.m., Asha Weinstein Agrawal, PhD, will present the results from year six of a national survey that asked Americans their opinions about various options for funding transportation infrastructure. She is director of MTI's National Transportation Finance Center.

Dr. Agrawal said of the report, "More than one-half of Americans say they will support a federal gas tax increase if the money is dedicated to improving maintenance, safety, or the environment."

Her presentation will be followed by a panel discussion regarding transportation issues at the local, regional, state, and federal level. Panelists will include Grace Crunican, general manager, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART); Carl Guardino, president and CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group; Steve Heminger, executive director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission; and Michael Melaniphy, president and CEO, American Public Transportation Association. Mineta Transportation Institute executive director Karen Philbrick, PhD, will moderate the panel discussion.

Senator Beall said, "The US and California have fallen far behind the rest of the world in infrastructure investments for maintenance and development. Yet it is known internationally that the nation moving people to work and product to the market most efficiently wins the geo-economic competition. The US is losing that battle. Because of the federal legislature's inability to approve even a basic surface transportation act reauthorization bill, California must step up to support what is the world's eighth largest economy."

Senator Beall is in the center of that debate and understands the immediate need for a rapid and effective remedy.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR JIM BEALL
Hon. Jim Beall, California State Senator, brings a lifetime of experience and understanding in government efficiency, transportation, and human services to the State Senate. In three decades of public service -- first as a San Jose City Councilman, then as a Santa Clara County Supervisor, and as an Assembly member -- Jim Beall has left his mark across Silicon Valley. He spurred the construction of Highways 85 and 87; fought to bring BART to San Jose; and authored bills to ease financing for seismic upgrades for our hospitals and also to grow California's solar industry.

ABOUT THE MINETA TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE (MTI):
MTI conducts research, education, and information transfer programs focusing on surface transportation policy and management issues, especially related to transit. MTI was established by Congress in 1991 as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act and won national re-designation competitions in 2002, 2006 and 2011. The Institute is funded by Congress through the US DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration, by the California Legislature through Caltrans, and public and private grants. In 2006 the US Department of Homeland Security selected MTI as a National Transportation Security Center of Excellence. The internationally respected members of the MTI Board of Trustees represent all major surface transportation modes. MTI is affiliated with San Jose (CA) State University's College of

Business. Go to transweb.sjsu.edu

Contact: Donna Maurillo
MTI Communications Director
831-234-4009 (mobile)
donna.maurillo (at) sjsu.edu

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SOURCE Mineta Transportation Institute

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http://www.transweb.sjsu.edu