Wednesday, June 9, 2010 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EDT

In December 2009, an international scan was conducted to identify new ideas and practical, workable models for integrating variable road pricing approaches into state, local, and regional policies, programs, and practices.  Scan team members interacted with host city and country experts from Stockholm, Sweden, London, England, Singapore, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. Specifically, the scan team explored the political, institutional, and technical factors that contributed to the successful implementation of road pricing and, in some cases, to their rejection.

Panelists will present the findings of the scan and will address the potential for road pricing to be a part of a sustainable twenty-first century transportation system.  The scan was conducted under the auspices of the International Technology Scanning Program, which is conducted by the Federal Highway Administration in cooperation with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program.

Session presenters:

• Robert Arnold, Federal Highway Administration
• Vance Smith, Georgia Department of Transportation
• Patrick DeCorla-Souza, Federal Highway Administration

Moderated by: John Doan, SRF Consulting  (Questions may be posed any time during the Webinar, and are answered at the end of the session).

Registration: Participants must register 24 hours in advance. There is no fee for Chairs of TRB Standing Committees, Sections, or Groups.  There is also no fee for employees of TRB Sponsors: http://bit.ly/9tduwj. TRB Sponsors: Please use your work email to register for the session. Others must pay $99 per site.

There may be situations where a webinar may need to be rescheduled due to unforeseen events.  If a webinar needs to be rescheduled, TRB will contact you via email to provide information about rescheduling the session.

Problems signing in? Contact Reggie Gillum at rgillum@nas.edu or 202-334-2382.

Click here to register.

Monday, April 19, 2010 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT

Learn how to conduct transportation research more efficiently and effectively.  TRB will host a free webinar that provides practical tips for using the Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS), Research in Progress (RiP), and Research Needs Statements (RNS) databases.  Panelists will provide an overview of each database, offer tips on how to refine searches, and demonstrate advanced features added to the databases last year.  Learn how to enter records into the RiP Website and find out how agency publications are entered into TRIS.  Panelists from the University of California, Berkeley and the Montana Department of Transportation will discuss ways that they use TRB databases to enhance their research programs.

Presenters for this session include:

• Barbara Post, Transportation Research Board
• Rita Evans and Kendra L Levine, Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley
• Susan Sillick, Montana Department of Transportation

Moderated by: Ken Winter, Virginia Department of Transportation

Questions may be posed any time during the webinar, and are answered at the end of the session.

Registration:  Participants must register 24 hours in advance of the Webinar.  This webinar is free for all participants.

There may be situations where a webinar may need to be rescheduled, due to interruptions in GoToWebinar servers or other unforseen events.  If a webinar needs to be rescheduled, TRB will contact you via email to discuss the situation and will provide information about rescheduling the session.

Click here to register. Problems signing in? Contact Reggie Gillum at rgillum@nas.edu or 202-334-2382

Click the image to access the conference website

The 16th IRF World Meeting will be held in Lisbon from 25 to 28 May 2010, and will be attended by major international players from the road sector.   The aim of the 16th IRF World Meeting is to provide a forum for debates, discussions and proposals leading to tomorrow’s solutions.

The IRF 16th World Road Meeting will bring together top-level representatives of the road construction industries, the engineering companies, the road equipment companies, the concessionaires, the road authorities, the researchers and the interest groups. Their common aim will be sustainable mobility for the 21st century, a multi-faceted issue that will require innovative and elaborate solutions.

With this in mind, World Road Meeting delegates will hear about road safety issues, environmental concerns, financial challenges, educational offers, latest research and applications, and many more topics.

The IRF 16th World Road Meeting offers a unique platform for the Road Infrastructure Community to showcase their latest research and proposals in a friendly, peer group, result-oriented environment. It also offers good opportunities for technology transfer and business development. Road industry leaders from both the public and private sectors from around the world will be in Lisbon for this one-of-a-kind event.

Who should attend?

The 16th IRF World Road Meeting invites people from across the road infrastructure sector, may they come from construction companies, government agencies, funding bodies, research, concessionnaires, ITS and other road furbishing companies.

Exhibitor profile:
Road construction and maintenance, Road equipment, Horizontal and vertical road markings, Street furniture, Vehicle manufacturers, Tyre manufacturers, ITS Technology, Tolling Systems, Traffic Emergency systems, Road Safety material, Engineering companies, Consultancy & research, Education, Publications and any other related industry.

Visitor Profile:
IRF World Road Meeting’s delegates are coming from all over the world. Most visitors come from construction companies, government agencies, funding bodies, research, engineering forms, research institutes, concessionaires, ITS and other road furbishing companies. The visitors of the exhibition are at decision making level, highly qualified professionals from the road infrastructure and transport industries.

Note: Visitors must hold a valid passport; a visa may be required in some cases. For more information about visas, please consult the nearest Portuguese Embassy.

Click here to Register and click here to download the Preliminary Programme.  For those in a hurry, I’ve attached the Preliminary Progamme below.

Date: April 15, 2010

Time: 1:00–2:30 PM ET

Cost: All T3s are free of charge

PDH: 1.5. — Webinar participants are responsible for determining eligibility of these PDHs within their profession.

Register On-line
Contact the T3 Administrator

T3 Webinars are brought to you by the ITS Professional Capacity Building Program (ITS PCB) at the U.S. Department of Transportation‘s (USDOT) ITS Joint Program Office, Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). Reference in this webinar to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by U.S. Department of Transportation.

Webinar Description

The Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has developed online ITS Knowledge Resources for decision making support. The major objectives on these online tools are to:

• Capture ITS costs, benefits and lessons learned from experiences of stakeholders in their planning, deployment, operations, maintenance, and evaluation of ITS.
• Provide all ITS stakeholders with convenient access to costs, benefits and lessons learned knowledge so that they can make informed decisions in their future ITS actions.

The ITS Knowledge resources include the ITS Benefits Database (www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov), the ITS Costs Database (www.itscosts.its.dot.gov), and the ITS Lessons Learned Database (www.itslessons.its.dot.gov). The U.S. DOT’s ITS Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program is sponsoring a T3 (Talking Technology and Transportation) webinar to show ITS professionals how to use these databases to help stakeholders make better informed decisions.

This webinar will show participants how to use the databases and knowledge resources available through a “live” demonstration that features the websites. Following the demonstration of each of the ITS Benefits, Costs and Lessons Learned databases, participants will engage in interactive exercises where participants will use the knowledge resources to solve test case problems and respond to polling questions.

In addition, presenters will introduce new enhancements to the unit cost database that provide sample project costs. Participants will have an opportunity to provide comments about the new features.

Audience

Anyone involved in planning, implementation, and operation of ITS systems, including Federal, State, and local transportation professionals.

Learning Outcomes

• Ability to use the ITS Knowledge Resources to find information on ITS costs, benefits and lessons learned.
• Understanding how the ITS Knowledge Resources can help stakeholders make informed decisions in planning, deployment, operations, maintenance, and evaluation of ITS.
• Provide comments on the new unit costs enhancements.

Host:

Marcia Pincus, Program Manager, Environment (AERIS) and ITS Evaluation, ITS Joint Program Office

Marcia Pincus is currently the Program Manager, Environment (AERIS) and ITS Evaluation, for the ITS Joint Program Office at USDOT. Marcia joined the ITS JPO six years ago, and has over 15 years experience as an ITS policy analyst and program manager in the public, private, and academic sectors.

Presenters:

Firoz Kabir, Principal, Noblis

Firoz Kabir is a Principal with Noblis in Washington, DC. He has over 24 years of experience in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and transportation engineering. He has been a consultant to public- and private-sector organizations for a wide range of projects that have encompassed regional transportation planning, highway design, ITS architecture, transportation knowledge resource development, and advanced technology implementation planning for traffic and transit systems. He has conducted research for U.S. DOT, the New Jersey DOT, and the Florida DOT in the areas of traffic operations and transportation safety. Firoz holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai), an MS in Civil Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Johns Hopkins University.

Cheryl Lowrance, Principal Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Engineer, Noblis

Cheryl Lowrance is a Principal Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Engineer with Noblis supporting the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), ITS Joint Program Office. She has 25 years of experience in traffic engineering and traffic management including project management, design and implementation of traffic signals, traffic signal systems, and freeway surveillance systems. Cheryl currently provides leadership for the ITS Program Assessment Knowledge Resources, Benefits and Costs databases. Activities include researching and writing content; leading the development of improvements to the websites; making presentations to industry leaders on the resources available for planning, design, and implementation; and responding to quick task assignments from the client pertaining to benefit and cost inquiries. She has a BS in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University.

Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Time: 4:00 – 5:30 PM

Venue : 2167 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Event Host: The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America)

From highways and transit systems to passenger vehicles and freight transportation, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are beginning to transform our nation’s transportation network and provide significant benefits to our communities, businesses and other transportation users.  ITS technologies are already being used in many parts of the U.S. to reduce traffic crashes, congestion, operating costs, and carbon emissions while helping to improve transportation efficiency and spur job growth.  But as a recent report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation highlights, the U.S. is falling behind leading Asian and European nations in deploying ITS technologies (see recent Wired News coverage here and here).

As Congress and the Administration work to spur economic growth and address critical transportation and environmental challenges, this is an opportunity to engage with leading transportation, transit, automotive, and economic policy experts in a discussion about how information and communications technologies are modernizing our nation’s infrastructure, and what steps can be taken to advance the deployment of current and next generation ITS technologies to create a smarter, safer, cleaner, and more efficient transportation system.  Please join ITS Caucus co-chair Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and our distinguished panelists for a discussion about the future of ITS in America, including how smart technologies can benefit your community and how policymakers can help the U.S. reclaim its role as an innovation leader.  Please RSVP to Charlie Tennyson at ITS America at ctennyson@itsa.org or 202-721-4207.

Note:  ITS America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit association that represents several hundred member organizations including public sector agencies, private industry leaders, and academic institutions working to advance the research, development, and deployment of technologies that improve transportation safety, mobility, economic competitiveness, and the environment.  Register here to attend ITS America’s 2010 Annual Meeting and Exposition, which will be held in Houston, Texas from May 3 – 5.  Featured speakers include U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, IBM Chairman, President and CEO Sam Palmisano, and other public sector, private industry, and academic leaders from across the country.

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• Intelligent Transportation Society of America Announces Call for Entries for “2010 Best of ITS Awards” (prweb.com)

Please RSVP to transprt@us.ibm.com

When: Thursday, February 25, 2010

Time: 9:00 – 11:45 a.m.

Where: The Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-318, Washington, DC 20005

The rising trends of globalization, urbanization and exponential population growth are applying pressure on our already stressed transportation networks. Leaders of public and commercial transportation systems face daunting challenges including predicting demand, optimizing capacity, improving the traveler’s experience, and maximizing efficiency – all while reducing environmental impact and continuing to assure safety and security. Fortunately, new approaches and technologies are delivering solutions to meet these challenges.

The need for progress is clear. There are now more than 475 urban areas with more than 1 million people residing in them. That’s an increase of 573% from 1950 when there were only 83. That translates into more than half the world’s population now living in urban areas. Transportation congestion continues to grow, wasting time and money while creating more pollution. Most of the developed world’s transportation infrastructures were designed decades ago and reflect the available technology, population and requirements at that time. Simply, the infrastructure responsible for moving the world’s people and things is inadequate.

Meanwhile, transportation investment remains a hot topic in Washington due to federal stimulus funding and new surface transportation legislation that Congress is working to pass.

Please join IBM on Thursday, February 25, 2010, for an exclusive forum in Washington D.C. which will bring together policy makers, transportation companies, metro planners and academics to discuss the future of transportation and how new innovations and investments can bring about speedier and greener passenger travel.

Hosted at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C., the forum will examine society’s need for updated transportation infrastructures– using technology to predict travel times, manage capacity and promote safer transport. Prominent transportation leaders from government and industry will discuss powerful strategies and solutions to dramatically improve our transportation systems.

Participants will include Congressman Earl Blumenaur from Oregon, Dr. Robert Bertini, Deputy Administrator, US DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration. Janet Kavinocky from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Judge Quentin Kopp, former Chairman of California High Speed Rail Authority, and other distinguished guests.

We value your perspectives and insights on this important topic and look forward to your participation in this collaborative event. Further details will be provided upon your response.

RSVP: transprt@us.ibm.com

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• IBM opens center in Washington (ecombizcenter.blogspot.com)

Tuesday, February 23rd

1:00 to 2:30 PM EST

Please join us for a free Webinar hosted by the National Transportation Operations Coalition on Tuesday, February 23rd from 1:00 to 2:30 PM EST. Click on the URL below to register.

Integrating operations into a metropolitan transportation plan can lead to important improvements that customers care about: increased efficiency, reliability, safety, security, travel options, and more. The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration have developed a desk reference that can help metropolitan planning organizations and their planning partners meet the challenge of integrating operations into the plan and realize the benefits. The desk reference assists planners and operators in using specific operations objectives and performance measures to plan for operations. It contains an extensive menu of operations objectives and performance measures that planners and operators can draw from for their own plans. Excerpts from a sample plan illustrate the integration of operations into a plan.

This seminar will offer a preview of this new tool. Audiences will have an opportunity to hear how two MPOs are using an objectives-driven, performance-based approach to plan for operations and the desk reference. This is the second in a series of two Talking Operations Webinars on the objectives-driven, performance-based approach. Tune in to hear about the experiences of two more metropolitan planning organizations.

The speakers will be:

• Richard Backlund, FHWA Office of Operations, Egan Smith, FHWA Office of Planning, and John Sprowls, FTA Office of Planning
• Deena Platman, Principal Transportation Planner, Metro, Portland, Oregon
• Lance Wilber, Central Region Director, Alaska Department of Transportation and former Municipality of Anchorage Traffic Director.

To Register, Click this URL: https://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/webconference/web_conf_learner_reg.aspx?webconfid=19485

When

Thursday, November 12, 2009 – Friday, November 13, 2009

Add to Calendar

Where

Keck Center The National Academies 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, District of Columbia 20001 202-334-2003

Get Location Map

Supported by U.S. DOT Research Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)

Many elements of the U.S. surface transportation infrastructure are in deteriorating condition. Facilities are aging, and some are stressed more heavily than ever expected. Traffic volumes have exceeded forecasts, trucks and rail cars are heavier and operate in greater numbers than ever before, and control systems have outlived their functional lives. The burdens of preservation and rehabilitation are growing at a time when revenues from user fees are rising only slowly, and the costs of energy and materials are increasing rapidly.

Because major failures are rare, transportation infrastructure preservation is easily overlooked. But infrastructure components require regular monitoring and management; continuing, fact-driven reinvestment to maintain condition and assure performance, safety, and security; development and application of effective and efficient materials, technologies and tools to meet cost-effectiveness and sustainability goals; and targeted capacity expansion. This conference will bring public and private infrastructure owners and managers together with researchers to discuss infrastructure preservation problems, needs, and achievements, and to identify priority opportunities for both basic and applied research. The conference will encompass a broad range of topics focused on aspects of surface transportation infrastructure preservation. Presentations and posters are invited in these and related areas:

a.      Infrastructure condition assessment, including technologies for intelligent structure health monitoring, remote, automated sensing and reporting, and advanced models of infrastructure deterioration processes.

b.      New materials and methods for preservation, restoration, and construction of transportation infrastructure.

c.       Methods to identify and secure critical transportation infrastructure components.

d.      Strategies for rapid repair and rehabilitation, including contracting, new materials, incentives, and project management.

e.      Methods to estimate costs and benefits of infrastructure preservation and models of deterioration processes.

¹ For TRB Sponsors only (including State DOTs). You must be a Sponsor prior to conference registration. To see if your organization is a TRB Sponsor, you may view a listing of all TRB Sponsors.² Full time students, age 35 or under.  Must present Student ID onsite.

Refunds will be issued, less a $50 cancellation fee, for all cancellations received in writing three weeks prior to the conference start date. No refunds will be issued thereafter.

Click here to register and learn more about the event. (PDF of Final Program for the conference below, courtesy of TRB)

This webinar will explore the findings of Transportation Research Board Special Report 298: Driving and the Built Environment:  Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions.  This congressionally mandated study examines the relationship between land development patterns and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States to assess whether petroleum use, and by extension greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, could be reduced by changes in the design of development patterns.   The study estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make in reducing VMT by 2030 and 2050, and the impact this could have in meeting future transportation-related GHG reduction goals.

Commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop Special Report 298 are available online.  A four page summary of and a press release on the report is also available online.

Image Courtesy: TRB - Click the image to access the report

The committee chair, José A. Gómez-Ibáñez, Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy of Harvard University, will present the study findings.   The report estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make in reducing VMT by 2030 and 2050, and the impact this could have in meeting future transportation-related GHG reduction goals.

Questions from the audience will be addressed by Dr. Gómez-Ibáñez and two committee members who also contributed to the report:

• Dr. Marlon Boarnet, University of California, Irvine
• Mr. Andrew Cotugno, Portland METRO

Questions may be posed any time during the webinar, and will be answered at the end of the session.
Registration:  There is no fee to join this webinar. Space is limited, so we encourage participants to register 24 hours prior to the start of the webinar.

For questions about using this software, including webinar audio or visual complications, please contact Reggie Gillum at rgillum@nas.edu or 202-334-2382.

Webinar Overview

Webinar Description

The Architecture provides a common framework for planning, defining, and integrating intelligent transportation systems. It is a mature product that reflects the contributions of a broad cross-section of the ITS community (transportation practitioners, systems engineers, system developers, technology specialists, consultants, etc.). The National Architecture is required on ITS projects receiving funding in whole or in part from the Highway Trust Fund, including the Mass Transit Account.

This T3 will focus on new features found in Version 6.1 of the National ITS Architecture and the new Version 4.1 of the Turbo Architecture Software. This T3 Webinar is not an overview of the National ITS Architecture but will address some history and background. All transportation professionals are welcomed to attend but participants familiar with the National ITS Architecture will benefit most from the content being presented.

Resources for the use of the ITS Architecture will be discussed. Visit the FHWA Office of Operations for ITS Architecture Implementation Program for a list of resources for new and experienced users of the National ITS Architecture.

Audience

Anyone involved in planning, implementation, and operation of ITS systems, including Federal, State, and local transportation professionals, Metropolitan Planning Office staff, systems engineers, system developers, technology specialists, and consultants.

Learning Outcomes

• Ability to identify areas of the National ITS Architecture affected by changes to the framework.
• Understanding of new features available in Version 6.1 of the National ITS Architecture and their affect on the overall Architecture.
• Understanding of the deployment support and resources available to state and local agencies to aid in ITS implementation and support Rule 940 requirements.
• Understanding of new features in Version 4.1 of Turbo Architecture Software.

Host:

Emiliano Lopez, ITS Deployment Program Manager, FHWA Headquarters

Emiliano is currently the ITS Deployment Program Manager for ITS Regional Architectures and Systems Engineering in Washington DC. Prior to his assignment in Headquarters, Emiliano worked in the FHWA Resource Center providing technical expertise and assistance on ITS project development, review, deployment and operations/maintenance. He also provided expertise and assistance on ITS Standards. Before joining FHWA Emiliano worked at both the state and local levels with agencies such as the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, and the Cities of San Diego and Anaheim. Combined public agency work Emiliano brings over 20 years of experience to the agency. He has a Masters in Public Administration from Central Michigan University, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering and minor in Electrical Engineering from San Diego State University.

Emiliano provides training, outreach and technical support for the National ITS Architecture and Systems Engineering programs. He co-chairs FHWA’s Architecture Field Support Team, and FHWA’s Operations Council architecture and systems engineering working group.

Emiliano is a certified instructor for NHI. He teaches courses in ITS Software Acquisition, Systems Engineering and National ITS Architecture.

Presenters:

National ITS Architecture Team:

Cliff Heise, Iteris

Cliff has over 25 years of experience in the areas of project management and systems and software engineering throughout all phases of program development. He has been the Program Manager of the National ITS Architecture Program for Iteris since 1996 and has been involved in all aspects of the program’s outreach, maintenance, and management. Cliff has also managed the development and implementation of ITS Architectures at the state and local levels, most recently in Virginia, and has experience with the challenges and policy issues surrounding the application of the National ITS Architecture. Cliff is the Vice President of Federal and Research Programs for Iteris in Sterling, VA. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Oklahoma State University.

David Binkley, Lockheed Martin

David Binkley is a Senior Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin. He has 19 years experience in all aspects of Systems Engineering for government and commercial projects. He joined the National ITS Architecture Team in 1995 and has served as the program’s Principal Investigator / Chief Engineer for the past 6 years. Today he directs the maintenance updates to the National ITS Architecture. He is currently involved with testing the next release of Turbo Architecture and participating in numerous Deployment Support activities. David has a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech.

Click here to register.