Charles Green and Daniel Kolber were invited to Switzerland by the country’s finance department because of their interest in its financial system.

Upon their return home, they said in a video interview with GlobalAtlanta that they learned a lot about finance in what some consider the banking capital of the world, but added that they were equally impressed with the country’s transportation systems.

Mr. Green recommended Atlantans who are “sick of sitting in traffic” to attend a public forum that is to be held at the Technology Square Research Building, 85 Fifth St., from 1-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 20 and 21.

During their week-long visit in November, Mr. Green, president of the Sunrise Bank of Atlanta, and Mr. Kolber, a securities attorney in the Atlanta office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, traveled in a small group throughout the country of 7.4 million on both its highways and its railways.

The Sunrise Bank is part of Capitol Bancorp Ltd., a national community bank network. It opened in 2006 downtown as a full service bank, primarily for small- to medium-sized companies. Since then it has expanded its services to attract foreign entrepreneurs and firms doing business here.

The group traveled across the country by train over what Mr. Green called “an integrated rail system” that was “seamless” and “smooth,” wistfully contemplating how nice it would be if Georgia had similar services.

Mr. Kolber said that Switzerland’s commitment to eco-friendly, sustainable services is clearly evident, and that from an early age the Swiss are taught to care for their environment.

“Transportation is a key element in their commitment to sustainability,” Mr. Kolber said. In comparison with all the trains that he has traveled around the world, he said that those in Switzerland were the quietest, the most efficient and pollution-free of any he has ever known.

Curious Atlantans and Georgians, who wish to see how the Swiss do it, can attend the forum being put on by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Consulate General of Switzerland for free.

The forum is to pull together regional planners, advocates, policy makers, business leaders and political decision-makers. State officials are joining the Swiss experts in addressing the state’s transportation problems.

“It’s important that one of our foremost business assets in Georgia, our logistics network, remain globally competitive, and Switzerland is known around the world for its highly-developed transportation system,” Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said in a news release.

The Southeast’s regional growth with forecasts of Georgia’s future traffic capacity and demand for transportation services are to be reviewed. Examples of alternative sustainable transportation solutions developed in Switzerland are to be described.

Speakers are to include: Sen. Jeff Mullis, chair of the Georgia State Senate Transportation Committee; Sen. Doug Stoner, ranking minority member on the state’s transportation committee and Doc Eldridge, former mayor and current president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce.

Switzerland’s ambassador to the U.S., Urs Ziswiler; Gregor Saladin of the Swiss Federal Department of Transportation and Michaela Stoeckli, president of the Swiss Rail Industry Association, are to speak as well.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently announced that the Obama administration is to make it easier for cities and states to spend federal money on public transit projects, especially light-rail systems.

Mr. LaHood said that the administration would establish new guidelines that take environmental, community and economic benefits into account and not just evaluate projects by how much they shorten commutes.

To learn more about the conference, go to www.thinkswiss.org

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