MARAD Listening Sessions

Published
EDR Group, with assistance from Howard/Stein-Hudson, organized and produced two Panama Canal Expansion Study listening sessions in San Francisco and New York City in late September, presented by the US Department of Transportation and Maritime Administration.

Attendees included shippers, municipal planning organizations, port/logistics operators, supply chain management organizations, port industry associations as well as Federal, State and local government authorities. These listening sessions focused on the issues that attendees believed were important to consider in evaluating the economic impacts of the Panama Canal Expansion on the US economy, including:

  • U.S. Trade Patterns Post-Expansion
  • Anticipated Effects on East/ West/ Gulf Coasts/ Inland Port
  • Infrastructure Development/ Future Bottlenecks 
  • Impacts on the Cost of Doing Business: Who Pays/Who Benefits
  • Conducting Business in the Post-Canal Expansion Economy

EDR Group's Steve Fitzroy presented an overview of the study and also presented a summary of comments and viewpoints developed at the round-table portion of the listening session events.  Introductory remarks in San Francisco were provided by John D. Porcari, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, Cheron Wicker, Director, Office of Strategic Communications and Public Engagement and Keith Lesnick, Associate Administrator for Intermodal Systems Development.  Ms. Wicker and Mr. Lesnick participated in the New York session.