2012 Seminar Series
Moving Our Region: Transportation for the Future
Supported by Metrolinx
IMFG is continuing its series from last year on Moving Our Region with three new lectures. These talks will focus on the importance of transportation infrastructure to the economy of the city-region, the private sector’s role in transportation, and revenue tools for funding transit. The series brings together noted transportation policy-makers, practitioners, and academics to discuss critical issues that will profoundly influence the future growth and prosperity of the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA).
Session 3
Transit Funding: How to get there from here, without going broke!
Keynote Speaker: Richard Katz, Chair, Metrolink, and Board Member, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Moderator: J. Robert S. Prichard, Chair, Bank of Montreal, and Chair, Torys LLP
Drawing on his substantial knowledge of metropolitan Los Angeles’ transit infrastructure and financing, Richard Katz will examine the advantages and disadvantages of different revenue tools for financing transit. He will speak of generating popular support for, and implementing, new forms of financing. He will also address how to ensure that the process of selecting and investing in transit projects is transparent and accountable, so the public knows that taxpayer money is being protected.
Richard Katz is Chair of metropolitan Los Angeles’ regional commuter rail system Metrolink, and serves on the Board of Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He is also the owner of a successful public policy and government relations firm based in Los Angeles, Richard Katz Consulting (RKC) Inc., and previously served in the California State Assembly. During his tenure in the assembly, he served as Chair of the powerful Assembly Transportation Committee and authored Proposition 111, a ten-year Transportation Blueprint passed by the voters. He also created the Congestion Management Plan, requiring cities and counties to measure and mitigate impacts of land use decisions on their streets, highways, and transit systems.
All photos courtesy of Paul Till.
