Dr. C. Michael Walton, Professor of Civil Engineering, Chair in Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

Reform is underway in the ways and means governments throughout the world manage and deliver transportation services and programs. Similarly many of the US states and local governments are experimenting with increased contracting for highway and transportation engineering services outside of the agency in the wake of government restructuring and a reduction in the number of employees. In short, transportation agencies are being required to do more with the same or reduced financial base. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) will place even greater demands on the state and local transportation agencies.

This trend is part of a larger redefinition of government and business practices and is not limited to the transportation sector. A number of countries are at various stages of implementing comprehensive restructuring of their transportation organizations. Their experiences provide valuable input to the formation of similar issues in the US and with policy implications. In order to gain an understanding of the effects of changing relationships of government and the private sector to the delivery and maintenance of transportation services and programs four countries were identified for extensive review. Those selected were New Zealand, Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The governments in each of the selected countries are all undergoing change and have experiences that provide guidance to others in terms of lessons learned and a pathway for consideration.

Dr. C. Michael Walton, P.E. is professor of Civil Engineering and holds the Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). In addition, he holds a joint academic appointment in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He received his B.S. (Civil Engineering) from Virginia Military Institute (1963), and his Masters (1969) and Ph.D. (1971) in Civil Engineering (Transportation) from North Carolina State University. He also held many positions within the transportation profession such as: Member of National Academy of Engineering; National Research Council; Founding member of the Intelligent Transportation Society Council of America; Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Institute of transportation Engineers; past chair of Transportation Research Board Executive committee; Member of the Executive committee and Board of Directors of the International Road Federation and International Road Educationl Foundation.

Dr. Walton has received numerous awards, honors, and has contributed to more than 200 publications in the areas of ITS, freight transport, and transportation engineering, planning, policy and economics, and he has delivered several hundred technical presentations. He has served as senior editor or contributing author for a variety of technical reference books and manuals and as a member of the editorial board for several international journals.