One Community: A Grassroots Think Tank And Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Collaborate To Present An Important Transportation Symposium Coined "Regional Transportation 101: Where Do We Go From Here?"

Online, January 12, 2011 (Newswire.com) - PASADENA......One Community: A Grassroots Think Tank in association with Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (METRO) is slated to host a Regional Transportation Symposium on Saturday, January 22, 2011 from 7:30 am to Noon. The highly anticipated event will occur at Marantha High School, Student Hall, located at 169 South St. John Avenue, Pasadena, CA. The event is free to attendees, but they must register at http://regionaltransportation101.eventbrite.com/. A light breakfast and refreshments will be served. The symposium being coined "Regional Transportation 101: Where Do We Go From Here?" will feature several of California's premier transportation professionals.

The symposium will begin with breakfast at 7:30 am. Slated to bring remarks starting at 8 am will be Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard; Assembly Member Anthony Portantino; Duarte City Council Member John Fasana; Pasadena City Council Member Chris Holden and archivists Ann Scheid. The first panel presentation," What Does A Sustainable Transportation Future Looks Like?" features moderator Val Zavala, anchor, vice president news and public affairs, KCET-Los Angeles in addition to panelists Honorable Richard Katz, director, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency; John Fenton, chief executive officer, Southern California Regional Rail Authority and Bart Reed, executive director, The Transit Coalition. Culminating the symposium will be a second panel presentation, "Redefining A New And Improved 710: A Discussion Of Guiding Principles" which will be moderated by Cynthia Kurtz, president and CEO, San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership and include panelists Doug Failing, executive officer, Highways Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency; Ara Najarian, Mayor of Glendale and Dr. Eugene J. Kim, Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Rail LA, Parsons Brinckerhoff, METRO, Bob Hope Airports, Metro Gold Line, The Transit Coalition, Skanska and the City of Pasadena are the event's co-sponsors.

"One Community is thrilled to be able to bring such an extraordinary group of experts to our region for this timely discussion, said Barry Gordon, president of One Community: A Grassroots Think Tank." "We are dedicated to providing the best information to the people on an issue that is often dominated by political agendas and preconceived biases. We know that all sides benefit by bringing the true facts to light," Gordon added.

One Community: A Grassroots Think Tank is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to presenting free forums and other events to educate and connect information vital to the community. The grassroots organization invites experts to speak about issues of local and national importance. They also help facilitate ways to continue the dialogue on issues and find solutions that will move the community forward.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is unique among the nation's transportation agencies. It serves as transportation planner and coordinator, designer, builder and operator for one of the country's largest, most populous counties. More than 9.6 million people - nearly one-third of California's residents - live, work, and play within its 1,433-square-mile service area.

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