CALL FOR ABSTACT

The 5th NACOTA China International Transportation Conference co-hosted by Chang’an University will be held in Xian China, June 25-26, 2005. The successes of the previous four conferences in Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, and Wuhan have greatly enhanced the ties between NACOTA members and their peers in China, and provided many wonderful opportunities for overseas and mainland Chinese transportation professionals to work together in solving urgent transportation problems in China.

The 2005 conference will cover on a much wide area of transportation issues. Considering the pressing needs in Chinese transportation development, this conference will focus on the following topics:

1. Highway design and construction
2. Pavement structure, materials and evaluation techniques
3. Highway long-term performance
4. Highway construction and environment protection
5. Pavement management and maintenance

6. Transportation and land use
7. Highway safety
8. Transportation demand management
9. Transportation economics
10. ITS
11. Public transportation planning and operation
12. Urban transport policy study
13. Capacity analysis
14. Traffic operation

A peer reviewed conference proceedings will be published by the well-recognized official publisher in China for this conference. The following is the important timeline:

November 15, 2004, deadline for abstract
December 1, 2004, notification of the results from abstract review
February 1, 2005, deadline full paper submission

The review work will be done by two groups under the NOCATA technical committee of the conference. Persons interested in participating in the conference from overseas should submit an abstract about 500 ~ 1,000 words (in English) for review to Dr. Xiaoduan Sun at xsun@louisiana.edu (responding to the above topics 6-14) or to Dr. Zhongjie Zhang at ZZhang@dotd.state.la.us (responding to the above topics 1-5) by the deadline of November 15, 2004. If your abstract is selected for the conference, you will develop a full paper to be considered for publication.

Chang’an University will cover the expenses of lodging and meals for overseas participants during the conference in Xian. Please note that individual participants from overseas are responsible for obtaining international travel fund under the “Chun Hui Plan” from the Chinese consulates in their residing areas. The conference committee will provide the necessary documents for delegates’ international travel fund applications. The delegates may have to pay part or all of the international travel depending on the funding level made available by the respective Chinese consulates, as in the case for most of the delegates from the past four conferences. One0day city-tour will be provided by the host university.