On 28 November 2012, Dominic Marcellino of Ecoligic Institute DC and Max Gruenig of Ecologic Institute Berlin presented at the AICGS workshop "Sustainable Urban and Regional Transportation Systems: Financing and Planning" and compared options and best practices for financing sustainable transportation projects from the US and Germany, with a focus on the Northern Virginia and Stuttgart Regions.

From 26 to 28 November 2012, a delegation led by governmental representatives from Northern Virginia, Guelph, Canada, the Rhein-Ruhr region, and Stuttgart held the third workshop of the Transatlantic Urban Climate Dialogue. The three-day workshop entailed a combination of presentations, panel discussions, and site visits on issues related to regional and local transportation planning and implementation. In addition to focusing on emerging technologies and initiatives (i.e. Pedelecs, electric vehicles, integrated transportation monitoring and planning systems), the participants had the opportunity to see first-hand how innovative strategies and technologies are integrated into public transportation offerings in several towns around the Stuttgart region.

On the final day of the workshop, 28 November, the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) organized two panel discussions on sustainable transportation research. The two studies that result from this research compare transportation planning and financing in the U.S. and Germany, with a focus on Northern Virginia and the Stuttgart region. Max Gruenig and Dominic Marcellino, Senior Fellow Ecologic Institute Berlin and Fellow Ecologic Institute Washington DC respectively, are co-authors with Andrea Broaddus, PhD Candidate at the University of California at Berkeley, of a study on German and American approaches to financing sustainable transportation systems and infrastructure. The co-authors presented interim findings to the audience and solicited feedback from them on how to best finalize the study. Max Gruenig offered the audience a presentation on the German approach to financing transportation, while Andrea Broaddus analysed the U.S. case. Dominic Marcellino highlighted several case studies derived from the two countries that focus on methods and partnerships for financing individual transportation projects. The final policy report [pdf, 1.3 MB, English] is available for downloaded. This research project is sponsored by the Daimler-Fonds im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft.