The US High Speed Rail Association (USHSR) appointed Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute, as chairman of its advisory board. He will assume his new role at the High Speed Rail Conference in Los Angeles in December.

"We are very proud to have Rod Diridon chair our advisory board and headline our conference," said Andy Kunz, USHSR president/CEO. "Rod is a great leader and one of the strongest advocates for high-speed rail in America. We welcome his participation."

Diridon will give a keynote address at the high-speed rail conference next month in Los Angeles.

"The presidential election affirmed the public's desire to renew the nation's transportation infrastructure," said Diridon, "High-speed rail is this nation's most seriously deficient mode of sustainable transport. Led by California, the nation is about to catch up with the rest of the world. The US High Speed Rail Association and other progressive transportation leaders are guiding the way."

Diridon has been executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute since 1995, a transportation policy research center created in 1991 by Congress. He is known as the "father" of modern transit service in Silicon Valley and has chaired more than 100 international, national, state and local programs, most related to transit and the environment.

He frequently provides legislative testimony on sustainable transportation issues. Diridon was appointed in 2001 and 2005 by Governors Davis and Schwarzenegger, respectively, to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board of which he is chair emeritus. He has also served as president of the national Council of University Transportation Centers.