Inland Navigation Modeling Symposium May 9-10, 2003

Keith Hofseth

May 8, 2003

NETS research guidelines

Corps Planner have planning models which:• Have field ownership, and are designed to be user friendly. • Are acceptable to outside experts. • Are reasonably transparent, with key assumptions and

sensitive variables easily discerned for virtually all applications.

• Are computationally accurate and solidly grounded in both reality and theory.

• Yield results which are nationally consistent, yet are flexible enough to readily recognize and account for unique local conditions.

Background

• Symposium part of Navigation Economic Technologies (NETS) R&D– Develop and field economic evaluation

methods, tools and models– Focus on navigation

• Supports Planning Model Improvement Program

Previous Workshops and Meetings

• Demand elasticity workshop Sept 11-13, 2001.– Specification of problem– Identification of methods to address the

problem• Survey techniques and event studies

• Meeting of Corps Planners, Nov 8,2001 New Orleans

Model Development Objectives

• Based on sound theory• Computationally accurate• Reasonably transparent• Field accepted—models of choice• Peer reviewed and defensible• Transportable and flexible for unique local

conditions.

Symposium Purpose

• The purpose is to coordinate and facilitate a national research effort to improve Corps of Engineer's inland navigation economic evaluation techniques.

Symposium Objectives

• Review current Corps processes, methodologies, and possible improvements.

• Develop shared view of “improved inland navigation economic evaluation techniques”.

• Identify and prioritize a list of research tasks necessary to bridge the gap between current practice and desired future.

• Identify a standard peer review process for all NETS tools and methods.

Who will attend:

• Outside academics:– Dr. Tae Oum, University of British Columbia– Dr.Kenneth Train, University of California, Berkley– Dr.Clifford Winston, The Brookings Institute– Dr.Ken Boyer, University of Michigan– Dr.Wes Wilson, University of Oregon (IWR – IPA)– Dr.Ken Casavant, Washington State University– Dr.Mark Burton, Marshall University

Who will attend:

• Other Agency Personnel– Dr.David Vogt, Oak Ridge– Dr.Frank Southworth, Oak Ridge – Dr.Randy Curlee, Oak Ridge– Dr. Debo Oladosu, Oak Ridge– Dr.Larry Bray, TVA– Dr.George Antle, IWR retired

Who will attend:

• HQ and IWR Personnel– Bruce Carlson, HQ– David Grier, IWR– Dr.David Moser, IWR– Keith Hofseth, IWR– Arlene Dietz, IWR– Susan Durden, IWR– Ken Orth, IWR, IWR– Shana Heisey, IWR

Who will attend:

• District and Division Personnel– Gloria Appell, Galveston district – Dave Weekly, Huntington district– Bernard Moseby, Mobile district– Rich Manguno, New Orleans district– Brian Shenk, Portland district– Dr. Don Sweeney, St. Louis district– Paul Hanley, LRD– Rayford Wilbanks, MVD– Gerald Melton, SAD

Who will attend:

• ASA– Terry Breyman– Marianne Matheny-Katz

Who will attend:

Academics 7

Other Agency 6

HQ & IWR 5 *

District 6

Division 3

ASA 2

Total 29

Agenda Items for Symposium

• Corps practice

• Data requirements & availability

• Waterway system characteristics

• Generic model characteristics

• Peer review

• Model development

Symposium Products

• A prioritized list of task needed to bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to go with navigation economic analysis.

• A first draft peer review process and protocol to be used by the NETS research team to evaluate NETS research products.

Questions?