On Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2025, the annual Delaware Winter Freight Meeting took place in Dover, Delaware, presented by the Delmarva Freight Working Group, which includes the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Salisbury/Wicomico MPO, University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration (IPA) and WILMAPCO. Troy Mix, acting director of IPA, coordinated the meeting, and Jen Reitz, planning services coordinator at IPA, moderated it. This year’s meeting featured presentations by Bruce Allen, planning supervisor at DelDOT, who led the freight plan updates segment, and Sibtay Haider, senior transit planner at Jacobs, who shared rail plan updates. Cliff Grunstra of Delmarva Central presented on shortline rail trends and updates. While Greg Mand, adviser and consultant at Senior Advanced Air Mobility, led a presentation on drones and freight. To commence the meeting, David Edgell, director of Delaware’s Office of State Planning Coordination; Cooper Bowers of New Castle County Department of Land Use; and Jia Yuan, senior consultant at CPCS, spoke on land use, transportation and freight. This event connected stakeholders through presentations on freight planning programs and current research, building awareness and encouraging partnerships. IPA is a research and public service center in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.

Originally published in UD's For the Record.