Gov. Rick Perry, Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels have named a 10-member task force to study large-scale evacuations in hopes of avoiding traffic gridlock and other problems that plagued residents fleeing Hurricane Rita. The Task Force on Evacuation Transportation and Logistics plans to hold its first meeting early this month in Houston. It is expected to announce its findings by the end of the year. The members are Jack Little, of Houston, former president and CEO of Shell Oil USA; Gordon Bethune, of Houston, former chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines; Theron Bowman, Arlington police chief; Bill King, lawyer and former Kemah mayor; Bill Klesse, of San Antonio, executive vice president and COO of Valero Energy; Carol Lewis, of Houston, chair of the Houston Planning Commission and director of the Center for Transportation Training and Research at Texas Southern University; Jerry Patterson, of Austin, Texas land commissioner; David Saperstein, of Houston, former chairman and CEO of Metro Media traffic information service; Karen Sexton, vice president and CEO of hospitals and clinic, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston; and Mike Trevino, of Houston, senior vice president, Marathon Oil.

Additional members may be named later.