A new TRB report, Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit examines the relationship of public transportation—including paratransit and demand responsive services—to shared modes, including bikesharing, carsharing, microtransit, and ridesourcing services. The research included participation by seven cities: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. The report’s conclusion sets out actions that departments, and other local and regional agencies—can take to promote useful cooperation between public and private mobility providers. It also suggests regulatory enhancements, institutional realignments, and forms of public-private engagement that would allow innovation to flourish while still providing mobility as safely, broadly, and equitably as possible (via FHWA)

via YPTransportation.org

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is currently hiring a Program Manager for Environment & a Program Coordinator for Environment.

Program Coordinator for Environment – NATURE OF THE POSITION:

Reporting to the Program Director for Environment, the Program Coordinator for Environment supports a wide breadth of AASHTO’s environmental programs, projects, and special assignments related to the Center for Environmental Excellence (Center), the Standing Committee on Environment (SCOE), and the Resilient and Sustainable Transportation Systems (RSTS) Steering Committee and Technical Assistance Program.  This position is housed in the Policy and Management Division of AASHTO.

The incumbent coordinates the environmental research program, including maintaining the Transportation and Environmental Research Ideas database, soliciting research ideas for the database, facilitating the SCOE process for rating ideas, developing research statements, and submitting research statements to the appropriate research programs.  The incumbent also maintains the Center and SCOE websites including managing two website consultants. The incumbent ensures regular monitoring of the Center website usage, content updates, and periodic enhancements to the SCOE and Center websites.

Additionally, the incumbent serves as staff liaison to the SCOE Subcommittee on Community and Cultural Concerns. As the SCOE frequently develops comment letters on proposed federal actions related to transportation and the environment, the Program Coordinator assists in coordinating with the member state departments of transportation (state DOTs) to discuss proposed federal actions and electronically submits AASHTO’s comments on the actions.

Under the supervision of the Program Director, the incumbent is responsible for contract negotiation and management, and oversight in performing some of the aforementioned tasks. The incumbent regularly coordinates activities in the environment area of AASHTO through skillful and timely research, analysis, and utilization of a variety of technology and communication platforms. Such duties may include assisting in planning and implementing national conferences, training workshops, webcasts, webinars, and meetings with state DOTs and resource agencies; and receiving and answering inquiries from members and the public about environmental programs.  In addition, the incumbent performs a wide range of technical and administrative support tasks including but not limited to drafting correspondence, conducting surveys and tabulating results, coordinating meeting and teleconferences, filing expense reports, organizing committee mailings, processing invoice requests, and tracking billing against budgeting for accuracy.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Candidate must possess excellent written and oral communication, research, and analysis skills, and the ability to establish work program priorities and carry them out independently. Incumbent must be sensitive to the needs of multiple members and customers and have a general understanding of federal and state environmental policies, regulations, procedures and practices as they relate to transportation. Incumbent must be highly skilled in the use of computers, and proficient in word processing software packages with experience in graphics, spreadsheets, and the operation of conventional business equipment. It is desired that the incumbent be familiar with the fundamentals of project management and budgeting, including consultant selection and oversight, drafting requests for proposals, and negotiating and overseeing consultant scope of work and budgets.

A minimum of two to three years of previous transportation and/or environment program and policy support experience is required. A Bachelor of Arts or Science degree is required, preferably in an environment or transportation related field. Evidence of a higher degree of professional development, such as a postgraduate education, is desirable.

TO APPLY:

Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to recruiter@aashto.org by Monday, June 15. Relocation costs are not reimbursable. For more information, visit http://web.transportation.org/employmentopps/Default.aspx?lid=4221.

AASHTO is also currently hiring a Program Manager for Environment.

Awesome pic of i-10 and i-45 right at the northern edge of downtown Houston. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NATURE OF THE POSITION:

Under the leadership of the Program Director for Environment, the Program Manager for Environment serves as the staff liaison to the AASHTO Resilient and Sustainable Transportation Systems (RSTS) Steering Committee and manages the RSTS Technical Assistance Program (TAP). The Program Manager also serves as the staff liaison to the Standing Committee on Environment’s (SCOE) Air Quality, Climate Change, and Energy Subcommittee (AQ Subcommittee) and the SCOE Natural Resources Subcommittee. Additionally, the Program Manager oversees and directs various activities under the Center for Environmental Excellence (the Center) by AASHTO. Duties are performed with input from the Program Director and oversight groups consisting of state transportation agency representatives.

As liaison to the above committees, the Program Manager’s primary duty is to ensure AASHTO members are cognizant of key technical, legislative and regulatory issues related to climate change, extreme weather, air quality, stormwater, wetlands, endangered species, and other related environmental topics. In addition the incumbent ensures AASHTO members’ awareness of the linkage between general environmental topics and transportation. The Program Manager monitors the legislative, regulatory and technical activities of appropriate Congressional committees, federal agencies and other public interest groups and associations, and provides this information to members to assist them in policy deliberation and development.

In managing the RSTS Technical Assistance Program, the Program Manager is responsible for the development of long-term program and project objectives and strategies; program and project planning and budgeting; contract preparation, negotiation and administration; marketing of RSTS services and products; coordination of activities, programs and projects with governmental agencies, trade associations and public interest groups.

As staff liaison to the SCOE Air Quality, Climate Change and Energy and the SCOE Natural Resources Subcommittees, the Program Manager provides management support to the subcommittees. In this capacity, the Program Manager attends meetings and provides policy and procedural advice; advises on meeting agendas; disseminates informational materials to committee members, provides other assistance as required; and serves as liaison between the subcommittees and SCOE.

As a task manager for the Center, the Program Manager supports the Program Director in developing the annual work plan; long-term environmental program objectives and strategies; environmental program and project planning and budgeting; contract preparation, negotiation and administration; marketing of the Center’s services and products; and coordination of activities, programs and projects with governmental agencies, trade associations and public interest groups. The Program Manager oversees the development of training materials, webinars, websites, workshops, and national conferences that provide AASHTO members opportunities to engage in critical environmental discussions.

The Program Manager represents and promotes AASHTO’s environmental goals and policy positions in meetings, task forces and workshops; prepares and delivers presentations; and performs other functions as needed.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

A broad understanding of federal and state environmental policies, regulations, procedures and practices as they relate to transportation; and sound comprehension of the administrative, legislative and regulatory process at the federal and state levels is required.  The incumbent must have an understanding of state transportation responsibilities, planning and project delivery practices and policy issues. Project planning, budgeting and management skills, experience with contracts administration and financial reporting, and excellent written and oral communication skills are required. The incumbent must be able to travel approximately 30 days per year.

The successful candidate must have a minimum of four to six years of progressively responsible, professional experience in the transportation sector; with a focus on environmental issues or in the environmental field with a focus on transportation issues.  Prior experience in project management is desired.   A bachelor’s of arts or science degree is required, preferably in an environment or transportation related field.  Evidence of a higher degree of professional development, such as a postgraduate education, is desirable.

TO APPLY:

Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to recruiter@aashto.org by Monday, June 15. Relocation costs are not reimbursable. For more information, visit http://web.transportation.org/employmentopps/Default.aspx?lid=4220.

AASHTO is an equal opportunity employer.

via Citylab

This interesting chart was a part of a CityLab article that analyses how Germany is less car dependent than the United States by looking data from comparable cities in each of these nations.  What caught my attention, among the many things, is the difference in the carbon footprint.  In the US, Transport sector alone accounts for 32% of our overall CO2 emissions whereas in Germany it is only 19%.  If we ever get around to implementing a carbon tax, it could fall precipitously but I don’t see that happening anytime soon, given the current political discourse.

The data come from a recent comparison of German and U.S. planning approaches led by transport scholar Ralph Buehler of Virginia Tech. Drilling down to the city level, Buehler and collaborators find more of the same driving trends in an analysis of two large metros from each country: Washington, D.C., and Stuttgart.

(source: Frost and Sullivan)

The chart below came to me via twitter and I felt compelled to share.. As the pace of technology deployment accelerated in the automotive market , one of the directly impacted segments was the carsharing business. What used to be a small segment dominated by ZipCar has now burgeoned into a full blown industry and more new participants are entering the fray with bold new ideas. It is only going to get better in the days ahead as the technology matures and more people decide to ditch their personal vehicles and opt for “renting” by the hour (i.e., sharing).

Related articles

• Carsharing business keeps growing
• The future of the car in the city: Vol. 1., No. 1. Carsharing Policy Guide for local government
• Urban Carshares : Smart, Sustainable, Transportation for City Dwellers
• Presentation of Paris Autolib’ carsharing project: “A new way of getting around in cities”

Source: The Economist

Car-sharing programs have been gaining a lot of popularity and building up momentum over the years, especially in urban environments such as Washington, DC, NYC, etc.  The Economist has done a good coverage of the growing trend and here are some of the interesting nuggets that caught my attention:

• One rental car can take the place of 15 owned vehicles
• By 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users
• Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market.
• A car owner doing 12,000 miles (19,000km) a year can save $1,834 by shifting to a car-sharing service

Car-sharing started in Europe and spread to America in the late 1990s, when the first venture opened in Portland, Oregon, a traditional hangout of tree-huggers. For years it was organised by small co-operatives, often supported by local government. It still has a green tinge. One in five new cars added to club fleets is electric; such cars are good for short-range, urban use. But sharing is no longer small.

Frost & Sullivan, a market-research firm, estimates that by 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users. Outside America, most of the growth is in Britain and other north European countries such as Germany. The market leader is a company called Zipcar, founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is now headed for a public listing. Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market. It recently bought Streetcar, the market leader in London, though competition authorities are still scrutinising that deal.

The sharing trend is now seeping into another prominent area of transportation – the bicycles.  Many cities around the world, including London and Washington, DC,  are beginning to install innovative bike-sharing programs that offer a great advantage for those who prefer to check the city by biking than by driving.   Looks like the “sharing” trend is only going to intensity in the years ahead given the state of our poor economies and shrinking wallets! the societal, ecological and environmental benefits resulting from such sharing schemes are definitely a big plus for many more cities to consider implementing such schemes for car as well as bikes.   After all didn’t we  already know the saying  “Sharing is Caring”.

Click here to read the entire article.

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