The economic growth and benefits of transportation projects are regional in scope. New ways of integrating the transportation needs of neighboring jurisdictions need to be identified and used. Clearly transportation is about people. It gives support for community development and for business opportunity. It provides a way for people to reach jobs, education, healthcare, and commercial centers.
Transportation is truly the tie that binds.
Let me close on this, I hope today's summit will energize public and private transportation planners in the Appalachian Region to form regional collaborations and partnerships that can develop new and innovative ways to promote economic opportunity. I am delighted to see the students from Kentucky State and the University of Kentucky here with us today. You are the transportation planners who will move the Appalachian region and this nation forward in the new century and the new millennium. You are the technology experts who will design, develop and operate the complex transportation system of tomorrow that will keep America moving from strength to strength. I hope you learn a lot today, we have many challenges ahead of us and we will need your expertise to find 21st century solutions to these complex issues.