Photo by Thomas O’Brien

The 14^th World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR) took place in Shanghai, China, on July 10-15, 2016. The program included more than 1,170 articles presented in oral and poster sessions. WCTR 2016 was a truly International event, with authors from 65 different countries. There were eight key themes during this conference, and the aim of the conference was to offer a unique opportunity to bring together experts in all disciplines of transport research from around the world so as to stimulate the exchange of ideas in the broad field of transport research.

METRANS Associate Director of CSULB Programs, Professor Thomas O’Brien, was among those who attended this conference. He spent most of the time in the Freight Transport and Logistics sessions, which is his research area. Professor O'Brien said that he enjoyed this event, as it was a good opportunity to meet and connect with people from around the globe who share his interests.

When asked what impressed him the most during the whole conference, Professor O’Brien noted that while the conference attracted researchers from all over the world, having it in China meant that there was an impressive number of attendees from Asia. He said he appreciated the opportunity to attend  presentations on research work from  different  cities that are often under-represented at other conferences such as the Transportation Research Board.

This was Professor O’Brien’s first time visiting Shanghai, and he was  impressed by its extensive metro system, which made it an easy city to explore. Being an urban planner by training, not surprisingly O’Brien’s favorite stop was the Urban Planning Exhibition Center. There, he learned about the history of Shanghai and saw a model of the city which took up an entire floor of the exhibition hall. He also visited the Port at Yanshan,”I can’t wait to talk about it with my supply chain students,” Professor O’Brien remarked.

When asked if he would attend conferences in China again, he  said, “I would definitely go back, but I think the next time I will try to go in winter when it’s not so hot and humid.”

Thomas O'Brien

Thomas O'Brien is the Director of Research for the Center for International Trade and Transportation (CITT) at California State University, Long Beach. He is also the Associate Director, CSULB Programs for the METRANS Transportation Center, a partnership of CSULB and the University of Southern California. He earned a Ph.D. in Policy, Planning and Development and a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Development from the University of Southern California. His recent policy analysis includes evaluations of chassis pools, a truck appointment system, and extended gate operations at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. He is also the principal author of a report to the CA State Legislature on port opportunities and challenges for the CA Marine and Intermodal Transportation System Advisory Council, and the author of a monthly column on trade related issues for the Long Beach Business Journal.

Nicole (Haichao) Guo

Nicole (Haichao) Guo is a first-year graduate student majoring in transportation engineering at the University of Southern California. Her interests are Intelligent Transportation Systems, High-Speed Rail, and active transportation. She is also an active student member of WTS-Los Angeles, where she volunteers regularly. She can be reached at [email protected].