NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTERMODALISM: MAKING THE CASE, MAKING IT HAPPEN, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, DECEMBER 7-9, 1994. REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION BY COMMISSION MEMBER ANNE P. CANBY

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) established a National Commission on Intermodal Transportation to study the status of intermodal standardization, intermodal impacts on public works infrastructure, legal impediments to efficient intermodal transportation, financial issues, new technologies, problems in documenting intermodal transfers of freight, research and development needs, and the relationship of intermodal transportation to productivity. This paper presents a report on the work of the National Commission on Intermodal Transportation by Commission Member Anne P. Canby, Delaware Secretary of Transportation. Mrs. Canby points out that a guiding light for the commission was Secretary Pena's remarks on integrating all modes of transportation into a seamless system. She comments on the commission's many discussions, including those on the benefits of intermodalism and on the opportunities available through intermodalism, and remarks on the three basic areas on which recommendations were focused - making efficient intermodal transportation the goal of federal policy, increasing investment in intermodal transportation and strategically focusing any increased investment in that area, and restructuring government institutions to support intermodal transportation. She highlights the commission's recommendations in each of these areas.