The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) is requesting proposals on behalf of the Joint Program Office (JPO) of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) in the U.S. Department of Transportation from individuals interested in serving as Module Authors for the development of the ITS content of the Road Network Operations (RNO) ITS Web Resource to be published on the World Road Association PIARC website.  The current proposed structure includes seven themes and twenty-five Modules.  Prospective authors are asked to indicate which Module(s) they are qualified for and are proposing to cover in response to this RFP.  Prospective authors may apply to author one or more Modules or all Modules within a Theme. A number of Module Authors may be chosen from this RFP.

ITS America will be accepting proposals until April 5, 2013 at 2 p.m. EDST.

The primary purpose of the World Road Association (PIARC) Road Network Operations ITS Web Resource is to provide the current and future ITS workforce with a web-based reference tool for decision-making regarding investments in ITS and related services, focusing on the needs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The PIARC RNO ITS Web Resource is intended to be a series of up-to-date, web-based modules that provide a basic introduction to key ITS topics, with an international perspective.

Click here to view this RFP.

For questions, contact Sarah Clements of ITS America at sclements@itsa.org

Reference 130316 or search for ‘Sustainability’ on WMATA’s career site

Note the 3/21/13 closing date.

Responsibilities:

This is a high level professional and technical position involving the development and analysis in support of Authority-wide sustainability planning, initiative development, and performance measurement. Incumbent uses innovative analysis, corporate/transit best practices, and in-depth evaluation. The incumbent analyzes current performance, identifies new business models and markets, develops implementation strategies and plans, and provides project management support.

Results provide refined critical information to enable effective organizational decision making, performance management, and leadership. Incumbent communicates regularly with executive staff and other Authority personnel. Incumbent conducts special studies to ensure efficient management of resources. Incumbent produces presentations that communicate Authority¿s stance and leadership in sustainability practice.

English: Washington, DC Metro logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MAJOR DUTIES:

• Develops, evaluates, and supports sustainability initiatives, programs, policies, and procedures for the Authority.
•  Independently conducts analytical studies.
• Serves as a project analyst and provides project management support to resolve problems and to meet PLAN objectives and Authority strategic goals.
• Conducts special studies focusing on life-cycle costing, cost benefit analysis, and return on investment calculations for potential investments.
• Researches and summarizes selected policy areas related to sustainability.
• Prepares reports on transit issues such as sustainability best practices, impacts of transit on regional sustainability, and summarizes selected policy and technical areas related to sustainability innovations in the transit industry.
• Researches and drafts responses to inquiries from members of Congress; federal, state, regional, and local officials; the Board of Directors; and the public.
• Prepares and presents reports and recommendations for a variety of internal and external customers.
• Attends meetings, hearings, high-level planning sessions, and other activities essential to the execution of the functional responsibilities of PLAN.
•  Maintains effective working relationships with individuals and organizations with whom interface and cooperation are required.

The above duties and responsibilities are not intended to limit specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. It is not intended to limit in any way the right of supervisors to assign, direct and control the work of employees under their supervision.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Knowledge of sustainable business practice and sustainable development.
• Knowledge of and experience in leading interdisciplinary teams to facilitate effective policy and initiative planning, development, implementation, and support.
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of strategic business planning, performance metrics, and innovation management.
• Knowledge of financial analysis including: life-cycle costing, cost benefit analysis, return on investment calculation.
• Knowledge of the sustainability and environmental policy context in which transit systems operate. Familiarity with sustainable design, green building, and energy planning in a transit context.
• Knowledge of public transit principles and practices and the application of new technology and other innovations to transit agencies.
• Demonstrated success in completing difficult assignments, displaying innovative solutions to complex problems.
• Ability to acquire and maintain current knowledge of major transit systems and changes in the public transportation field that may be of benefit to the attainment of the Authority’s goals and objectives.
• Ability to effectively analyze and present findings on various assigned studies.
• Ability to prepare concise technical reports and engaging presentations for a variety of internal and external customers.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of management and organizations with who interface and cooperation are required.
• Ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.

The employee performs moderately difficult administrative and office management work assignments for the head of an entity whose staff consists of one or more subordinate branch management level persons who are responsible for key functions and/or programs. Incumbents in this class perform a full range of administrative support duties which affects the efficacy of work processes performed by others. Contacts are maintained with members of other departments with whom the Director level maintains working relationships. Some situations require the use of persuasion and tact to maintain the Director¿s viewpoint. Written guidelines are generally available, but require interpretation.

To be considered for the position, you must meet minimum qualifications. It is, therefore, very important for you to include on your application any education/experience you have had that is described in the minimum qualifications. Incomplete information may delay the assessment process.

Qualifications

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree in planning, public policy, business administration, or related field. A Master¿s degree preferred. A minimum of five (5) years progressively responsible experience in sustainable business practices, sustainable development, or related field.

MEDICAL GROUP:

Ability to satisfactorily complete the medical examination for this position. The incumbent must be able to perform the essential functions of this position either with or without reasonable accommodations.

High School Diploma or GED and a minimum of 5 years experience in office management activities that involved providing administrative/secretarial services within a diverse organizational entity. Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in word processing on the standard software currently in use by the Authority based on a computerized word processing skills evaluation which measures efficiency at various levels; demonstrate proficiency in communication and clerical skills based on a computerized skills evaluation which measures proficiency in spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation criteria may include one or more of the following:

1. Education, training and experience
2. Personal Interview
3. Medical examination which may include alcohol and drug testing
4. Performance attendance record
5. Background check to include criminal, education, work and driver’s record

Closing Statement

Posted salary ranges and offers are subject to Union contract agreements and Metro salary administration guidelines. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is an equal opportunity employer, and encourages applications from minorities, females and persons with disabilities.

Please apply before: 03/21/2013

Reference 130316 or search for ‘Sustainability’ on WMATA’s career site

WABA Monster Shirts close (Photo credit: Washington Area Bicyclist Association)

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America’s energy security gets a boost from the White House. President Obama proposed the creation of Energy Security Trust during his visit to the Argonne National Research Lab to talk about American energy security. The Energy Security Trust, a$2 Billion investment over 10 years, uses revenue generated by oil and gas development on federal lands to support new research and technology that will shift our cars and trucks off of oil for good.  Below is an infographic that outlines how this works:

Energy Security Trust Infographic via Whitehouse.gov

Here is an excerpt from the White House Blog:

So how does it work? The Energy Security Trust will invest in research that will make future technologies cheaper and better – it will fund the advances that will allow us to run cars and trucks on electricity or homegrown fuels, and on the technology that will enable us to drive from coast-to-coast without a drop of oil.

Over 10 years, the Energy Security Trust will provide $2 billion for critical, cutting-edge research focused on developing cost-effective transportation alternatives.The funding will be provided by revenues from federal oil and gas development, and will not add any additional costs to the federal budget. The investments will support research into a range of technologies – things like advanced vehicles that run on electricity, homegrown biofuels, and domestically produced natural gas. It will also help fund a small number of real-world experiments that try different transportation techniques in cities and towns around the country using advanced vehicles at scale.

If it is worth something, President Obama has indicated his desire to use the executive powers to curb climate change impacts should Congress fail to act.  According to Bloomberg, the president is also thinking of using a Nixon-era law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970, to instruct all federal agencies to consider the impact of climate change when approving “major projects, from pipelines to highways.”  Of course, this can have some serious implications for large scale projects and some constituencies in the business sector are already freaking out over this mandate.

While we are busy discussing this issue, I’d like to share with you an address by President Obama from March 2011 in which he outlined his goals for reducing American energy dependence, heavily emphasizing new technology and alternative sources in addition to “safe and responsible” offshore drilling. A lot of what he outline in his blue print for change is already starting to take effect and I can only say that we are poised for a big change in the way we power our vehicles and industries.  Fossil fuels are definitely beginning to see a slow demise (but it will be decades before they are completely phased out in the transportation sector).

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(via Wall Street Journal)

The U.S. spending on transportation (and infrastructure in general) has flatlined (or some argue that it has declined considerably) over the decades while other countries around the globe, especially in Asia, have ramped up their investment in large-scale infrastructure projects such as building highways and railroads.  So, how does it look when we match our spending versus the other nations.  This chart from Wall Street Journal shows show you how badly we are behind in this race to stay competitive. Recommend reading the related article on WSJ that shows how funding for infrastructure projects may be coming from new sources as ‘wealth advisers are steering clients into infrastructure deals. Let’s not forget that we have already a crazy amount of things to fix and on top of that we have to spend on projects that can cater to the growing need for transportation as the population explodes.  But do we really have the money to fix the broke and embark on starting new projects? With a dwindling highway trust fund account and a political gridlock in Washington, even the basic of needs for keeping the country economically superior seems to be a bigger challenge than ever.

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via WUSA9

The latest transportation bill from Virginia legislature (HB2313), signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell has got a lot of Hybrid vehicle owners miffed. Under the new regulations, drivers of hybrid vehicles would have to pay a $100 annual fee.  So, the irate hybrid owners and other opponents of this measure have have started an online petition urging the governor to veto the fee now has more than 4,000 signatures (hoping to get to 10,000 by end of March) .  WUSA9’s Monika Samtani has done a nice report covering this issue. Check it out.

Critics are pointing out that :

Just as the nation watches nervously about the impacts of sequestration (while the political blame game rages unabated), the satirists at The Onion have profiled one of the biggest critics of this manufactured crisis – U.S. Department of Transportation’s Secretary Ray LaHood – and how he is dealing with the sequestration. Quite a funny one.

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• FAA cuts would delay flights, LaHood warns – Newsday

It should be maddening for any tax payer in the country to see how the public dollars are spent wastefully on projects that are not really benefiting the community. Today’s Washington Post story on one such wasteful spending measure shows how badly the lawmakers manage the money, despite the pressure to not do so from the administrations (incl. current and the previous administration ). It explores an obscure federal program established by Congress in 2000 allows tiny airports to draw $150,000 in federal funds every year.  The article uses Oklahoma’s Lake Murray State Park Airport as a case study. This issue of wasteful spending takes added importance as the public are nervously watching what’s going to happen with the looming sequestration (scheduled to kick in on March 1) as the country is embroiled in a tough political battle to avoid further slide. Brilliant reporting.

And a few interesting nuggets from this Washington Post story:

• 88 shown airports, as reported, have no paying customers and no planes are based there. (check the interactive map that shows the airports and the number of flights each one received)
• The airports receive $150,000/year, as the result of a grant program established 13 years ago ~2000, which the post appropriately calls Congress’s golden age of pork)
• The looming sequester crisis would not touch the airport program. FAA allotted Lake Murray about $1,500 for each of its takeoffs and landings.
• In this particular case Lake Murray State Park Airport there is no control tower, no runway lights and also staff to monitor it. So what makes people visit?  Mostly for using the rest room facilities and occasionally for golf.
• According to local TV affiliate KOKH Fox 25, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism has tried to shut down Lake Murray State Park Airport for years, but Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission (OAC) officials say closing the airport would cost Oklahoma taxpayers $184,000.  Under FAA guidelines, the airport must stay open for 20 years after the OAC spends money on an improvement project.
• Despite pressures from all corners, the program has remained strikingly difficult for anyone.  If it is any surprise, even

  Pres. Bush opposed continuing the program but the Tea Party dominated congress decided to continue with it.

Click here to read more.

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English: Flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an organization of the United Nations Deutsch: Flagge der Internationalen Atomenergieorganisation (IAEO), eine Organisation der Vereinten Nationen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a team leader reporting to the Section Head, the Unit Head develops the IAEA‘s programme on the safe transport of radioactive material and leads the Unit’s activities to ensure the efficacy of the IAEA’s programme on a global level.

The Unit Head has several roles:

1. a programme coordinator in a specialized, multilateral environment with diverse views on the issues, finding practical solutions and presenting arguments that can achieve results;
2. a senior specialist whose extensive experience in and knowledge of the area form the basis for mutual respect vis-à-vis high-level regulators and operators in Member States,
3. a manager ensuring that programmes and tasks are implemented effectively;
4. an adviser/promoter conveying to multiple audiences the IAEA’s vision and mission in this area; and
5. a facilitator of inter-organizational cooperation in transport safety and cooperation with other organizational areas in the IAEA dealing with this area of work.

The Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety develops and maintains standards for radiation protection, radioactive waste safety and safety in the transport of radioactive material that enable the beneficial uses of radiation to be exploited while ensuring appropriate protection of workers, the public and patients. It also assists Member States in the implementation of these standards and provides related appraisals and services.

The Regulatory Infrastructure and Transport Safety Section (RITS) is responsible for developing and providing Member States with safety standards, guidance and tools to foster regulatory infrastructure for the control of radiation sources, for the safe transport of radioactive material, and for managing information on the identification of needs in Member States that would be used to improve radiation, transport and waste safety.

The Transport Safety Unit is responsible for establishing and maintaining safety standards related to the worldwide safe transport of radioactive material, including the IAEA’s Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, and to appraise the application of the safety standards in Member States. This includes efforts to foster the harmonized incorporation of the Transport Regulations and other associated safety standards by international organizations, and dangerous goods and modal organizations. In addition, the Unit manages projects concerned with key aspects of the Transport Regulations, provides training related to the safe transport of radioactive material, and operates and maintains databases relating to transport issues. The Unit convenes meetings to guide its activities, involving experts from Member States and associated international organizations, including the periodic convening of the Transport Safety Standards Committee (TRANSSC). It is also involved in the provision of technical cooperation for Member States, including training activities.

The environment of the Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety is dynamic, participative and interactive with continuous inputs received from internal technical counterparts and external counterparts in Member States, from other international organizations and from the international scientific community.

Click here to learn more.

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Description:

The Department of Transportation is seeking a talented and exemplary professional to join a dynamic work group. The selected individual will need to have exceptional communication skills, be able to provide excellent customer service, and have solid technical and analytical skills. This position will review complex development applications for compliance with County policies and regulations; formulate and communicate transportation recommendations to the staff, appointed and elected officials; scope and review Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA); attend and represent the Department at Planning Commission, Board of County Supervisors, and other transportation related meetings; provide planning and technical solutions to complex problems or situations; work with other County agencies and community groups to achieve County and Departmental vision and goals. The successful candidate will need to be enthusiastic, organized, creative, team-oriented, and have a positive can-do attitude. This position will perform under the direct supervision of the Transportation Planning Manager.