The Center for Transportation Studies bridged its 2024 theme "Rural Needs. Statewide Answers." and 2025 theme "Unpacking Freight" through a wide range of sessions at its annual Transportation Research Conference on Nov. 7.
The morning keynote featured a presentation by Natalie Villwock-Witte from Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute about shared rural transportation challenges uncovered through her research across the US.
The midday keynote by Dr. Anne Goodchild of the University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab focused on the explosion in residential freight and wide-ranging implications. Throughout 2025, CTS will be highlighting freight as a topic through research, events, and articles - including several TPEC research contributions.
Also at the conference, TPEC's Frank Douma, Barb Rohde, and Audrey Clark presented "Investigating the Roles and Impacts of Minnesota's Local Airports" as part of a well-attended session on rural infrastructure. A summary of that session was featured in the January edition of CTS's Catalyst publication and will also be shared with aviation professionals in the weeks ahead through the AirTap program's Briefings publication.
With 300 attendees spanning industry, academia, government, and advocacy, the 2024 conference was the most highly attended in recent memory.
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