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"If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we get him downtown?"

The question was used Monday to frame a panel discussion on trends and challenges facing the nation's transportation system, part of a statewide transportation conference at Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

No question about it, panelists said: this country needs a strong transportation system, and public-private partnerships are the wave of the future. Federal funding accounts for a mere 4 percent toward intercity and freight rail, said Karen Rae, director of Virginia's Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

Even the country's ports, including the one in Norfolk, face severe congestion by 2010, said John Vickerman with TranSystems Corp. in Norfolk. That's because imports and exports help drive the country's prosperity. By 2020 most U.S. container port gateways will double or triple in volume, just to maintain market share.

Norfolk Southern Corp. wants to move some of this cargo, but it needs to improve its Heartland Corridor between Norfolk and Columbus, Ohio. This would allow NS to aggressively compete with truckers and capitalize on the growing market for intermodal transportation, which means transporting goods using trucks, rail and ships.

But NS faces challenges to increasing intermodal revenues, which were 19 percent of the company's revenue this year and one of its fastest-growing sources of income.

NS' desire to "double-stack" containers on rail cars, for example, requires increased vertical clearance at 20 tunnels and several bridges.

NS also wants to build an intermodal yard in the Roanoke Valley, similar to the one it built in Cleveland.