Monty L. Boydwas elected 2012 KBT Chairman on Thursday, January 19, 2012 by the KBT Board of Directors. Boyd is the President, CEO and Chairman of Whayne Supply, one of the nation’s oldest and largest Catepillar dealerships. With its headquarters in Louisville and nine district offices across the Commonwealth, Boyd and Whayne Supply are looking forward to 2013, as it marks a century of service since the company was founded in 1913.

Serving with Boyd on the KBT Executive Committee are: David Haydon (Nally & Haydon) as KBT First Vice Chair, Greg Hensley (Hinkle Contracting) as KBT Second Vice-Chair; Richard Sutherland (Stantec) as KBT Secretary; Crissy Fiscus (Dean Dorton Allen Ford) as KBT Treasurer; Clint Goodin (Vaughn & Melton) as KBT Director-At-Large, and Mark Willis (Stantec) as KBT Immediate Past Chair.

Joining the KBT Board of Directors in 2012 will be five directors, who are: Ted Smith, Director of Innovation for Metro Louisville Government; Bryce Walker of Walker Construction; Jeff Houchin of Intech Contracting LLC; Mike Carter, CEO of Lynn Imaging and John McCarty of Strong-McCarty Global.

Immediate Past Chair Mark Willis, who served as KBT Chairman in 2011, said, “I am very proud of our accomplishments over the last year. First, KBT has experienced record-breaking growth in the number of new members. Secondly, KBT relocated its offices and established an inviting “home” for KBT staff and for KBT members to work and visit. Thirdly, KBT has made many small changes in its structures and practices that, when taken in whole, have energized and streamlined KBT,” Willis stated. “Lastly, KBT commissioned the $60,000 “Four Modes Study”, a study undertaken to determine how other states fund their public transit, airports, rail and waterways agencies within their state governments. All combined, it was a busy and productive year, and I have no doubt that Monty Boyd will continue this growth in 2012,” Willis concluded.

KBT welcomes the City of Frankfort as our newest KBT member!

The town of Frankfort likely received its name from an event that took place in the early 1780s. Native American Indians attacked a group of British-American pioneers while they were making salt at a ford in the Kentucky River. After the pioneer Stephen Frank was killed, the settlers began to refer to that river crossing as “Frank’s Ford”. The name was later shortened to Frankfort.

The City of Frankfort was founded in 1786 and officially incorporated on February 28, 1835. Of course, it’s the Capital City of Kentucky and the county seat for Franklin County. The City of Frankfort has a population of approximately 28,000 residents, but the daily population increases to approximately 50,000 based on the workforce in Franklin County, or commutes into the City from neighboring counties.

The City of Frankfort is governed by the Mayor H. Gippy Graham, the City Commissioners and administered by the City Manager.

Mayor Graham was elected Mayor in 2008 and began serving on January 1, 2009. Previously he served as a State Representative in the Kentucky General Assembly, and also served as an Administrative Assistant to the Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Highways. Mayor Graham has served as a public school teacher, as well as teaching at the college level, where he was an assistant professor and department chair.

You may reach Mayor Graham at ggraham@frankfort.ky.gov or at 502-875-8500. His address at City Hall is 315 West Second Street, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.

Welcome to KBT, City of Frankfort !

Nearly 400 transportation advocates gathered in Lexington on January 19 and 20 to hear some 41 speakers addressing 29 cutting-edge transportation topics.

The two-day Conference was held at the Lexington Hyatt Regency, with meals and a reception being held in the adjacent Lexington Center, due to space considerations. Also, for a first time, 20 exhibitors joined the KBT Conference. In all, conference attendees were able to choose from 19 breakout session topics and attend five breakout sessions of at least 45 minutes, each.

On Thursday morning, State Highway Engineer Steve Waddle attracted an audience over 130 for his topic, “What the 2012 Construction Season Will Look Like”.

At the Thursday Governor’s Luncheon, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshsear told the audience, “ we have achieved a lot, together.” Beshear spoke of the need of all five modes operating in harmony to expand Kentucky’s job market and workforce. He was interrupted several times by applause from the KBT crowd.

The Thursday afternoon General Session speakers included NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman, General Electric’s Bradford Swann, and AASHTO’s Jack Basso.

Chair Hersman challenged KBT transportation advocates to increase legislative support to improve distracted and drunk driving laws in Kentucky, and enact administrative license revocation, along with strengthened seat belt and child booster seat laws. “You guys know what needs to be done,” Hersman told the audience. “Now is the time to put on a full court press. Now is the time to take a stand. How can we change people? How can we change behavior?” she asked.

Bradford Swann of GE presented a compelling PowerPoint presentation on the efforts of Greenville, South Carolina to accelerate the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EV) there. Thanks to the efforts of a wide variety of governments, employers and civic leaders, Greenville has more than 40 “quick charge” sites to encourage EV purchases.

AASHTO’s Jack Basso, an experienced transportation policy maker in Washington, D.C was the third national speaker. “I went to work in 1964, and until 2008 the HTF always had money in it. But we are falling behind every year now, and the funding gap will continue to grow. If Congress fails to extend SAFETEA-LU, the HTF loses $110 million per day, if it is just shut down for one day!” So, what did Basso’s crystal ball predict in the coming months? “Budget cuts are the order of the day, and the road ahead is, at best, unclear. In the end, the month of February will be very, very interesting,” he concluded.

On Thursday evening, Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate President David Williams shared speaking duties to the KBT crowd.

“We need a workable 6-year Road Plan, not one that’s over programmed. It’s all well and good to have your project in the 6-year Road Plan, but if it’s not going to be funded and built, it shouldn’t be in there,” Speaker Stumbo said.

“Everyone should be interested in the Louisville Bridges Project as it is a daunting task, especially when considering the Brent Spence Bridge needs in Northern Kentucky,” said Senate President Williams. “These are the most important logistical challenges in our state. Let me add that there is no need to criticize; instead we need to review and scrutinize. We need to think about maintenance costs, but everyone should be interested in these projects.” In conclusion, President Williams said “we are going to do an orderly Road Plan. That you can count on. The General Assembly is in session, and we will start focusing on important issues at hand.”

One of the more colorful conference comments was uttered by economist Ron Crouch, Director of Research & Statistics for the Kentucky Education & Workforce Development Cabinet in Frankfort. Crouch’s topic was entitled, “What the 2010 Census Tells Us about Transportation Trends." While discussing the impact of China’s economy on global consumption patterns, Crouch said, “the average Chinese home has four grandparents, two parents and one working adult son or daughter.” His point: China’s workforce is not sustainable, long-term.

Friday’s Closing Luncheon speaker was Peter Rahn, Senior Vice President for HNTB. Rahn, the former leading state transportation official in both Missouri and New Mexico, urged transportation advocates to be more bold on funding issues. “Demand it,” Rahn urged the crowd.

This week, the House- Transportation Committee, chaired by Rep. Hubert Collins (Wittensville) and the Senate – Transportation Committee, chaired by Sen. Ernie Harris (Crestwood) met for the first time, each.

Three bills passed out of the House-Transportation Committee on Tuesday at 12:00 noon. HB 165, sponsored by Rep. Mike Denham (Maysville) requires that motorists have their headlights on if it is misting and raining to the extent that windshield wipers are needed. The penalty carries no fine and no court cost with the first offense. HB 221, sponsored by Rep. Rick Nelson (Middlesboro) will allow veterans to have a designation on their driver’s license stating that they are a veteran at their first application, or when renewed.
Finally, HR 85, sponsored by Rep. Rick Nelson (Middlesboro) urges all corporate railroad officials in Kentucky to require that proper maintenance be conducted at all railroad crossings located in the Commonwealth. Both HB322 and HR85 passed with no dissenting votes and will go to the House floor.
The House Transportation Committee discussed, but took no action, on bills that would require slow-moving horse-drawn carriages to use special reflective tape and lanterns to better illuminate the carriages, because they are a serious safety hazard.

On Wednesday, January 25, the Senate Transportation Committee met for the first time and favorably considered SB 75, a measure which also deals with slow-moving horse-drawn carriages, sponsored by Sen. Ken Winters (Murray). Winters bill will go to the Senate floor in the coming days, and will likely be the bill which moves this issue through the 2012 General Assembly. At issue is a religious belief by the Amish sect in Western Kentucky that forbids them from displaying a bright orange slow-moving vehicle sign on the back of their buggies. Currently, a law suit on this issue is heading for the Ky. Supreme Court and expected to be heard this Spring.

KBT also wishes to commend Sen. Ernie Harris (Crestwood) for introducing SB 89, a bill which would expand Kentucky’s seat belt requirement to apply to 12-passenger and 15-passenger vans. This issue was designated as one of five safety priorities by the KBT Board of Directors in September and November. 

The United States is blessed with record supplies of natural gas and plenty of reasons to promote natural gas cars, but so far, individual consumers, manufacturers and fuel suppliers haven’t shown much interest.

But that may be ready to change.

According to the international trade association Natural Gas Vehicles Global, there are 12.7 million natural gas vehicles in the world, but just 112,000 of them in the U.S. Most in the U.S. are fleets.

Lots of natural gas is available. In just a few years, domestic natural gas supply has increased by trillions of cubic feet, through shale finds. In fact, the increase in supply is making some natural gas producers consider plans to export U.S. natural gas in an effort to find new markets for the overflow.

The growth of natural gas vehicles in the United States, so far, has been dominated by public transit buses, taxis and garbage haulers. Only one car company, Honda, is commercially producing a natural gas fueled car, it’s the Honda Civic NG. According to Honda, they have sold about 13,000 units, but it has been available for 13 years!

The reason for lackluster sales of natural gas vehicles are straight-forward: the fuel is only available at a handful of public stations. In fact, there are no public natural gas fueling stations in Kentucky, an issue Kentucky State Representative Steve Riggs (Louisville) brought to the attention of KBT, recently, when he placed a phone call to the KBT office. Another issue with natural gas vehicles is the fact that they can carry a higher purchase price or list price. Even though the pump price for natural gas can run $1 to $2 less per gallon for gasoline, natural gas engines. In most natural gas pumping stations, natural gas is priced in “gge” or gallon gasoline equivalent. Currently, public natural gas stations in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois are selling natural gas for $1.40 per gge to $1.85 per gge. WOW! What a savings!

The focus for the natural gas vehicle industry in the United States has been fuel-guzzlers: commercial vehicles, especially tractor-trailer rigs. Kentucky, it would seem, would be perfectly located for natural gas truck stops ---along I-75, I-64, I-71, I-65, I-24 and I-69. Watch this spot. It’s going to change, and change fast.

The 7-member Kentucky Water Transportation Advisory Board will meet in Frankfort on Wednesday, February 7, 2012 beginning at 2:00 p.m. in Frankfort. The meeting will be held in Room C 106 in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Building at 200 Mero Street. Greg Pritchett (Henderson Riverport Authority) chairs the all-volunteer panel.

Agenda items include presentations by Mark Locker of the Ohio Department of Transportation. Locker will discuss the ODOT Maritime and Freight Program. Chuck Knowles of the Kentucky Transportation Center at UK will discuss waterways research efforts at KTC. KBT President Stan Lampe will brief the Advisory Board on pending legislation in the 2012 Session that has implications for waterways commerce.

The Water Transportation Advisory Board meetings are public meetings, and KBT members with interest in waterways commerce are encouraged to attend.

Two weeks ago, January 13, the KBT newsletter called on President Obama and the 112 th Congress to link their supportive words about transportation funding with real action as the 112th Congress reconvenes in Washington, D.C. following the Christmas holiday break. That article drew this response:

KBT ---

Right on the problems of the economy! Wish the “Stimulus” could have concentrated more on “Highway Engineering” and less on “Social Engineering”. Keep up the good work!

Fletcher Gabbard

UK Professor of Physics (retired)

McKee, Kentucky

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Louisville TV Editorial Hits The Bull's Eye !

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