Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell should be commended on a solid win, but Republicans shouldn't get too excited. A fact which can't be ignored is Virginia voters' trend of electing a governor of the opposite party of the sitting President. Whether conscious or not, this trend may point to voters' desire for political balance more than anything.

Now what's ahead is a lot of hard work. And that work cannot be partisan. That's the message all of our lawmakers should take from the elections. We are facing troubling economic times here in the state (though not as troubling as in many other states), and traffic here in Hampton Roads and elsewhere continues to be a nightmare.

The Governor-elect seems to think all the problems we face be fixed without raising new revenue but by trimming "fat" from the state government's budget.

We should be clear what that means… that services will be cut for someone, somewhere. Apparently, for about 60% of Virginia voters, that's okay. We'll see how it works out.

Problems like transportation have been festering for years and years. The same old partisan politics won't work to solve that problem. The Governor-elect will have to stand up, be courageous and possibly consider solutions that go against his party's mantra. Democrats will have to be as courageous and resist the urge to oppose him at every turn just for the sake of opposition. In doing so, we could show national Republicans and Democrats what real public service is all about while actually putting Virginians above party politics.

Log onto the 511 website at 511HamptonRoads.org and you’ll find tons of in-depth, free information about traveling throughout Hampton Roads (and across Virginia). You’ll be able to see live feeds from traffic cameras all across the Hampton Roads region, access driving directions and continuously updated maps showing traffic, construction and incident information as it happens, as well as learn about forms of transportation other than driving alone that's available in Hampton Roads.

One of the best features is the ability to set up your personalized “My 511 Control Room” which includes the option to view up to four of your own pre-selected live traffic cameras and lots, lots more. It’s an all-inclusive look at the many ways to travel in Hampton Roads (and across Virginia).

For a look at what your Control Room could look like, click on the graphic below:

The 2009 MODSIM World Conference & Exposition™ was held October 14-16 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Hampton Roads. The focus of the third annual international Conference and Expo was on 21st Century Decision-Making: The Art of Modeling & Simulation and featured a wide variety of workshops, exhibits and speakers focusing on the unique multi-disciplinary applications of modeling and simulation.

This year’s conference was kicked off by U.S. Senator Mark Warner who held his Virginia Summit on Modeling and Simulation on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 13.

The conference proper started on Wednesday morning with a keynote address by USC Institute for Creative Technologies Director, Dr. William Swartout. Afterward, the six program tracks, with eight sessions of content each, began: Defense & Homeland Security, Education & Training, Engineering & Science, Health & Medicine, Human Dimension, and Transportation & Logistics. There also was a seventh, cross-cutting track of Serious Gaming which had sessions in each of the six core tracks throughout the conference.

Other keynote speakers for the 2009 conference included Astronaut Dr. Charles Camarda of NASA; Dr. Paul Roman of the Royal Military College of Canada; and Doug Whatley, CEO of BreakAway, Ltd.

This year’s conference also featured a heavy focus on student outreach with nearly 300 students attending on Thursday. The student program featured interaction with local colleges and universities with M&S programs and a serious games kiosk where companies could demonstrate and students could play games developed for training. The kiosk, sponsored by SAIC, featured about a dozen different companies and was the highlight for the students.

From left to right: LTC Gerold Sondej, NATO Allied Command Transformation; Wayne Buck, Modeling & Simulation Specialist at NATO Allied Command Transformation; Mrs Anita Sonjej, freelance journalist. Photo credit CP3.

By all measures the 2009 edition of the conference was great success with over 1000 attendees, a 30% increase over 2008. Download the 2009 Conference Brochure with Abstracts.

The fourth annual MODSIM World Conference & Expo will be held on October 13-15, 2010. For more information, contact the Hampton Roads Partnership's M&S Program Manager.

Sea levels to rise faster than expected, scientists say

Excerpts by Cory Nealon of the Daily Press originally posted October 28, 2009

Polar ice caps are melting faster than expected, a phenomenon that could eventually submerge significant parts of Hampton Roads, a panel of scientists said Wednesday (October 28th) at a presentation sponsored by Clean Air-Cool Planet, a New Hampshire-based environmental advocacy group that has staged similar events on the East Coast.

"You are on the front lines," said Jim White, a professor at the University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.

Scientists in recent years predicted that ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica would raise sea levels from 1 to 2 feet by the end of the century. But new research has led White and others to believe that sea levels will likely increase 3.3 feet — more than 1 meter — during the next 100 years.

The impact on Hampton Roads — beach erosion, wildlife extinction, loss of property and infrastructure, such as roads and sewer systems — could be devastating. White and Robert Bindschadler, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, detailed as much Wednesday at Old Dominion University.

The group is lobbying federal lawmakers to create a cap-and-trade system that would slow greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. House approved a bill earlier this year, but it remains under debate in the U.S. Senate.
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Sea levels to rise faster than expected, scientists say

Excerpts by Cory Nealon of the Daily Press originally posted October 28, 2009

Polar ice caps are melting faster than expected, a phenomenon that could eventually submerge significant parts of Hampton Roads, a panel of scientists said Wednesday (October 28th) at a presentation sponsored by Clean Air-Cool Planet, a New Hampshire-based environmental advocacy group that has staged similar events on the East Coast.

“You are on the front lines,” said Jim White, a professor at the University of Colorado’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.

Scientists in recent years predicted that ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica would raise sea levels from 1 to 2 feet by the end of the century. But new research has led White and others to believe that sea levels will likely increase 3.3 feet — more than 1 meter — during the next 100 years.

The impact on Hampton Roads — beach erosion, wildlife extinction, loss of property and infrastructure, such as roads and sewer systems — could be devastating. White and Robert Bindschadler, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, detailed as much Wednesday at Old Dominion University.

The group is lobbying federal lawmakers to create a cap-and-trade system that would slow greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. House approved a bill earlier this year, but it remains under debate in the U.S. Senate.

“We need to get going on an ambitious reduction program,” said Brooks Yeager, a Clinton administration official who is executive vice president of the group’s Climate Policy Center.

Taking a cue from climate change skeptics, Bindschadler acknowledged that the science is based on computer simulations that offer a wide range scenarios. “That one meter has a large range of uncertainty to it,” he said. “It could be a little better, but it could be a lot worse.”

Bindschadler, who has been studying the Arctic for 30 years, said there is no dispute that ice is melting at an unprecedented rate. If it continues unabated, large swaths of Hampton Roads will be underwater.

Old Dominion made note of this earlier this month in its annual State of the Region report. The report states, in part, that because of climate change, “We will see the ocean creep into our backyards and witness increased flooding during rainstorms and at high tide.”

The report calls for a reduction in carbon emissions, tax increases on gasoline and diesel fuel, and the planning for a system of dikes and levees. The report offers a pessimistic view that the latter will happen, noting that a system of dikes and levees is so far removed from the public discussion in Hampton Roads that it’s likely to “elicit a quizzical look.”

Still, significant changes could be on the horizon.

Yeager said private insurance companies are pulling out of the Mid-Atlantic coast. This could force states or localities — in lieu of providing insurance — to adopt more restrictive land use laws, he said.

A study published by the journal Environmental Research Letters found that about 60% of lowest land from Massachusetts to Florida is developed or probably will be. In Virginia, much of the Atlantic coast region is protected, the study, says, but it found development expanding in the low-lying areas around the Chesapeake Bay.

Yeager also urged short-term solutions, such as reducing methane produced from solid waste. At least one regional company, Waste Management, is converting methane into an energy source in several locations in Hampton Roads.

Excerpts by Joe McClain, posted on September 30, 2009

The College of William and Mary and its Virginia Institute of Marine Science have formed a collaborative research initiative to investigate a promising new technology to produce biofuel from the algae growing naturally in rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

The enterprise, called ChAP—the Chesapeake Algae Project—is an integrated research approach to algae-based energy production and environmental remediation. It includes a number of corporate partners, notably StatoilHydro, a Norwegian energy company.

StatoilHydro has seeded the enterprise with an initial $3 million investment. Other key partners are the Williamsburg energy advisory firm Blackrock Energy, the University of Maryland, the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Arkansas and HydroMentia, a Florida company that works with water-treatment technologies.

“This is the kind of collaboration at which William & Mary excels,” William & Mary President Taylor Reveley said. “It is a powerful extension of our own drive toward a more sustainable campus community.”

For more, visit the William & Mary News & Events website.

by Andrew Sinclair, Hampton Roads Partnership's M & S Program Manger

On Tuesday, October 13, Senator Mark Warner held his Virginia Summit on Modeling and Simulation at the Virginia Beach Convention Center with over 500 people in attendance. The Summit served as the kick-off for ModSim World 2009 where attendees heard about this burgeoning industry making an impact in Hampton Roads and nationally.

Senator Warner opened the summit with a charge to Hampton Roads:
“What the Internet is to Northern Virginia, what software is to Silicon Valley, modeling and simulation could be to Hampton Roads."

Senator Warner also touted U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) and Old Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) as key hubs of activity which can grow Hampton Roads’ visibility nationally and internationally.

Senator Warner introduced former Virginia Secretary of Technology and current White House Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra who praised M&S as being ideal to meeting President Obama’s goals for innovation. Chopra also gave numerous accolades to NASA Langley Research Center personnel for their leadership in helping add M&S to the high school physics curriculum in Virginia.

Marine Corps General James Mattis, Commander of USJFCOM, spoke on the importance of M&S to the warfighter and the developing needs and capabilities to respond to an ever-changing battlefield.

The Summit was emceed by Hampton Roads Partnership President and CEO, Dana Dickens. Following the keynotes, three panels on Defense & Homeland Security, Education & Training, and Health & Medicine followed. Each panel had a wealth of information from its distinguished speakers, with the medical panel being the highlight of them all, as it painted a picture of opportunity and growth for an industry still very much tied to the defense industry.

Videos of the keynote speeches and panels as well as the agenda is available on Senator Warner’s website: http://warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=modsim.

Sitting on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in totally stopped traffic, while a vehicle is removed from the tunnel.
Photo Courtesy of HamptonRoadsLife.com

by Danae Jones Aicher, a former journalist-turned political communications adviser. She now is a soon-to-be-stay-at-home-mom working on a book about raising biracial children.

Bumper to bumper traffic. Clogged tunnels. Abandoned bridges. Closed rest stops. Canceled road projects. That’s transportation- rather transportation problems- here in Hampton Roads. And it’s precisely what Virginia Beach Vision, “a non-partisan issue-oriented organization of business and civic leaders”, wanted to put on the table at a panel discussion last night (Tuesday, October 27).

The panel included an engineer, a Hampton Roads representative to the Commonwealth Transportation Board and a representative from the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance. And what they had to report wasn’t particularly encouraging. Our rush hour commute, according to Dwight Farmer, Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC), has drivers traveling at an average speed of 15 miles per hour door-to-door. The good news is that’s about average for an urban area. The bad news is travel demand is growing at about twice the rate of our population, which we all know is on the rise in and of itself. Furthermore, revenue from the gas tax is flat and there’s been no new revenue stream or any addition to the current revenue stream for transportation in 23 years. That means there are no new state construction dollars coming to urban areas for non-interstate roadways. And even the federal dollars for interstate work require a state match that the Commonwealth of Virginia may or may not be able to afford over the coming years.

So what do we do? How do we fix the problems? Well there’s the rub. The panelists weren’t there to offer solutions. I’m guessing that’s what they hoped we citizens would push our lawmakers to do. But in order for our lawmakers to fix transportation, we’ve got to get the politics out of the way. In the midst of this governor’s race, we see Creigh Deeds, for instance, being attacked for even suggesting that there might need to be an increase in taxes somewhere. But just to fix the severe congestion problems here in Hampton Roads alone will cost about $30 billion. Clearly the state doesn’t have the money. And as much talk as there is about eliminating inefficiencies within VDOT, experts on the panel seemed to agree that it’s not a silver bullet and won’t get us close to the numbers we need.

What would? An additional dollar more per gallon in gas taxes, according to Farmer. Or a 6% increase in sales tax alone. But the panel also agreed neither of those options is politically viable. Any talk of new taxes is automatically taken off the table for discussion.

There is another option that could put a major dent in solving the problems without spending any money at all. If all of those who commute every day randomly car pooled once every two weeks, we’d eliminate the congestion. I can’t even imagine how we’d accomplish that politically, and even socially that’s a gigantic challenge. We can’t even get widespread recycling.

There was one other interesting option, although, again, probably not viable: making transportation a private venture, much like our utilities, with government regulation. But it’s difficult for me to think of transportation, as in the access to roadways, as a luxury like a cell phone or cable bill. Sure, many of us feel like we couldn’t live without our cell phones, blackberries and such. But the reality is we’d probably survive. Access to the roadways is a little different.

So back to taxes. It might surprise many of us that the average Virginia driver pays $96.25 per year in state gas taxes. With a one-cent tax increase, the state could collect $50 million. The cost to individual drivers would be an additional $5.50 each year. A 10-cent increase in state gas taxes could raise $500 million for the state. In that case, the cost to individual drivers would be an additional $55 a year.

But no matter how great the need or dire the circumstances, we can’t talk about taxes. Politics always gets in the way. Both parties are guilty. Unfortunately, it’s us taxpayers who foot the bill while lawmakers go round and round debating what other services are so unimportant that we can cut them. Seems rather futile in a time when people are most in need of services and even those cuts won’t pay for all of the things we really need. Where is the political courage to step away from partisan politics and rhetoric, and really find a solution to the problems we face?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting we randomly throw taxpayer dollars around. But I do wonder, with all the talk about not increasing taxes, what we taxpayers ARE willing to pay for. “No taxes” is a fine approach if we also want no services. But we want safe bridges, unclogged tunnels and regular road maintenance. Don’t we? And we’re already paying a high cost for not keeping up with these things, we just aren’t paying efficiently. We pay for it in the gas we use sitting in traffic, extra repair to our cars driving over potholes, medical bills and insurance due to car accidents, and time spent away from our jobs (productivity) and families while we sit in traffic. How much more are we willing to pay? A few more dollars a year in taxes? Or with the loss of lives if- and when- a tragedy occurs on less than safe roadways?

by Andrew Sinclair, Hampton Roads Partnership Program Manager

The 2nd Annual ULI Hampton Roads Urban Marketplace was attended by approximately 200 on October 19th in Norfolk. This year focused on "Roads & Rails to Recovery" with much attention paid to the opportunities of light and high-speed rail in Hampton Roads. The event was sponsored by the Belmont at Freemason, which was touted as the first Transit-Oriented Development in Norfolk.

The purpose of the half-day Urban Marketplace program is to focus on a topic of regional impact, and it is an opportunity for the development community and others to learn more about that topic and network.

The event began with a lunch conversation with Mayors Paul Fraim (Norfolk) and Will Sessoms (Virginia Beach). Both mayors spoke of the Tide light rail, which is scheduled to open on a 7-mile starter line in Norfolk next year, as a starting point of regional importance. Mayor Fraim spoke of the vision of Harbor Park to become a transit hub with access to both light and high speed rail. Mayor Sessoms dismissed concern about the cost of developing light rail in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads by stating that no transportation project pays for itself, noting that investment comes from development, and transit options like light rail will spur more investment than other options.

On Jan 21, 2009 after taking the oath of office, when President Obama spoke to his White House Senior Staff for the first time, his speech included this (excerpted) call to action for the nation:

“Our commitment to openness means more than simply informing the American people about how decisions are made. It means recognizing that Government does not have all the answers, and that public officials need to draw on what citizens know. And that's why, as of today, I'm directing members of my administration to find new ways of tapping the knowledge and experience of ordinary Americans—scientists and civic leaders, educators and entrepreneurs—because the way to solve the problems of our time, as one Nation, is by involving the American people in shaping the policies that affect their lives.”

ODU's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) and the Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP) invite you to attend the launch of M&S Strategy 2020, Hampton Roads' strategic plan for the modeling and simulation industry.

You will not want to miss this great opportunity to hear first-hand the "way ahead" for Virginia’s hottest technology and growth sector. Find out how you, your business, and your community can be a part of this important and growing industry!

Thursday, November 12, 2009
10:00am – 12:00pm
VMASC
1030 University Boulevard
Suffolk, VA 23435
Click for Directions

Congressman J. Randy Forbes,
Founder and Co-Chair of the
Congressional Modeling & Simulation Caucus,
will provide the keynote address.

Where will we be in 2020…
where will you be on Nov 12?

RSVP to Andrew M. Sinclair, M & S Program Manager, at ASinclair@HRP.org
or 757-625-4696 by Friday, November 6.