When I considered taking on the position of Chair of the Executive Board, I gave much thought to the I-95 Corridor Coalition as an organization – what it has been, what it is today, and what it could or should be in the future.

From its infancy as a grassroots movement to coordinate incident management services in the Northeast, the Coalition has impressively grown and matured into the organization it is today. We extend all the way from Maine to Florida and are very pleased that several Canadian Provinces have chosen to participate. Our program has evolved from studies and technology tests to investing in coordinated deployments and corridor-wide information systems to support movement of people and freight throughout the region. From our initial emphasis on congestion in the Northeast, our program has grown to encompass multimodal and intermodal transportation issues, freight movement, rail and water transportation, rural mobility and access to public modes of transportation, and public safety and security. But while we've grown, we have maintained our organization culture, with its emphasis on the “four C's”: communication, cooperation, coordination and consensus.

Our challenge is to continue to strategically evolve the organization to address how we can best leverage our resources to help advance solutions to multi-state transportation issues, and effectively meet member needs, while protecting our culture. I am very happy to report that our members very actively participated in identifying a set of interesting and challenging issues for the Coalition to address in the coming years.

I believe that the effectiveness of the Coalition's program depends on the active participation of member agency leaders and volunteers from our 16-state region. I am very much impressed with the energy surrounding the work of the Coalition, especially among all that participate in the many Coalition Program Track Committee meetings. I especially want to recognize the good work of all the Coalition's volunteer leaders. Their experience, talent and geographic diversity will further improve the Coalition's program.

I am bullish about the Coalition. By working together on the interesting and important challenges that we've identified, we will "make a difference" in how well we serve travelers and freight shippers who use the transportation system for long distance travel through our region.