DATE: 5-6 p.m., March 11, 2009.

EVENT: “Sustainable Transportation: A Challenge for the 21st Century,” an exhibit, lecture and panel discussion with:

? Urs Ziswiler, ambassador of Switzerland to the United States;

? Peter Sweatman, director of the University of Michigan Transportation Institute;

? Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation; and

? John Hieftje, mayor of Ann Arbor.

Ambassador Ziswiler will discuss Switzerland’s well-established public transportation system and its commitment to sustainability. Switzerland is building the longest railway tunnel in the world to shift cargo crossing the Alps from road to rail. As the new U.S. administration takes hold, the ambassador will discuss the financing of the Swiss project, as well as lessons learned. The $787 billion U.S. federal stimulus package includes more than $15 billion for commuter transit and passenger rail.

The ambassador’s talk will be followed by a panel discussion about sustainable transportation with Sweatman, Steudle and Hieftje.

On display the evening of this event and the next day will be the Embassy of Switzerland’s traveling exhibit, “ThinkSwiss: The Challenge of Sustainable Transportation for the 21st Century: The Prospects for Switzerland and the U.S.” The exhibit shows the strengths and challenges of the Swiss public transportation system, including its New Rail Link through the Alps. The exhibit will be displayed 4-8 p.m. in the FXB Building’s Boeing Auditorium on March 11, and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. on March 12 in the Duderstadt Connector in front of the Chrysler Center on U-M’s North Campus.

PLACE: The lecture, panel discussion and March 11 exhibit are in Boeing Lecture Hall in the Fran