Minnesota Transportation Conference Contest

This week at Strong Towns we are focusing on Minnesota's transportation funding problem. As we do that, the Minnesota Transportation Conference is happening right now in Bloomington, MN. I had a chance to browse their program and came away a little depressed.

Here's some of the sadder sounding sessions:

  • Session 1: Building Transportation Funding Support in Minnesota (put on by the Ministry of Propaganda) 
  • Session 27: Transportation: A Driving Force for Economic Development (for those who consider Mountain Dew A Driving Force for Physical Development)
  • Session 34: ITS: Improving Traffic Flow and Safety (because there is nothing that makes a place safer than getting those cars moving faster)

At the beginning, attendees are given the self-affirming, "rah rah" talk about why they are so important to the future of America, despite being so under appreciated by miserly taxpayers, and it isn't until the end when those who remain are confronted with a clear challenge to their institutional dogma.

  • Luncheon and Plenary Session: Why Future Trends in Transportation Demand Unlearning

I'm assuming that means unlearning of past practices, not why we should unlearn what we know about future trends (although I would not be shocked if it was a session on how to hold strong in the face of uncomfortable data).

So here's the deal. I'd like our readers to suggest sessions for next year's transportation conference. Use the comments section or post them on our Facebook page. For the best three -- and I'm not sure how I'll judge that, but I suspect it will be clear -- I'm going to give a copy of my upcoming book, MoneyHall. 

We'll collect the suggestions and forward them to the Ministry of Propaganda for their consideration.

If you'd like to follow the proceedings (and maybe offer some friendly feedback), their Twitter hashtag is #MNTC2014.

Charles Marohn