In support of the Department's Strategic Planning effort in the Office of the Secretary, the Transportation Strategic Planning and Analysis staff of the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center conducted a series of eight one-day seminars during the month of December 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C. and Kansas City, Missouri. The purpose of these meetings was to update and expand the Department's knowledge and understanding of conditions in the overall transportation environment and recent developments affecting transportation in the United States and internationally. Attendees at the seminars included representatives from major transportation users, providers and suppliers; state and local government agencies such as state Departments of Transportation and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs); academics and other transportation experts and analysts; and officials from the Volpe Center, the Office of the Secretary and the various Department of Transportation operating administrations. Four seminars were organized on market areas, and four seminars on cross-cutting themes. For each seminar, participants were sent an "Issue Paper" suggesting topics for the meeting, along with background information and suggested key questions for each of these topics. These Issue Papers were prepared by the Volpe Center staff, solely for the purpose of suggesting important issues which seminar participants might be interested in pursuing during the meeting.