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NACOTA's first conference in Shanghai on July 16 and 17, 2001 marked a significant milestone for NACOTA's continuing effort in assisting China's transportation development. The conference was jointly organized by NACOTA, Tongji University, China Urban Transportation Planning Academic Committee, and China Road Transport Safety Association, and was attended by more than 100 delegates from China. Most of the participants were university professors and government officials. NACOTA was represented by 16 delegates. The conference featured 30 presentations covering ITS, safety, environmental issues, transportation investment, policies, and transportation development in
Western China, among which 14 were made by NACOTA delegates.

In the evening of July 16, NACOTA held a reception which was made possible through the sponsorship of BooZ-Allen and Hamilton, Inc.
The reception gave NACOTA delegates opportunities to exchange ideas and establish connection with transportation professionals from China.

During the Conference in Shanghai, NACOTA had reached agreements on two major activities. The first is a seminar on traffic/highway safety
and ITS, to be held in May 2002 in Beijing and jointly organized by NACOTA and Beijing Polytechnic University. The second is the Second NACOTA China Conference, to be held in Southeast University in Nanjing. Two technical committees have been established for the preparation of the above two events. Prof. Zhao Fang (Florida International University) has agreed to take a lead for the Second NACOTA China Conference and Prof. Sun Xiaoduan (University of Louisiana) and Sun Wei (Kansas City) have agreed to lead the Beijing Seminar effort.