When

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

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Where

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

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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.

Registration Type	Early Bird (Expires 9/17/2009)	Advance(Expires 10/15/2009)	Regular (after 10/15/2009)
General	$225	$275	$325
Speaker & TRB Sponsor1	$175	$225	$275
Student2	$125	$175	$225

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)

(Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, USDOT)

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration has released “A Time Series Analysis of Transportation Energy Use Per Dollar of Gross Domestic Product” (GDP), a report about the decline in transportation energy use relative to GDP.  The statistical analysis shows that transportation energy consumption has been declining relative to GDP since 2000 with a steeper decline beginning in the third quarter of 2007, when the cost of fuel rose dramatically.

Transportation energy use relative to gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining within the past decade. However, the total transportation energy consumed (see figure 1) shows only a more recent decline. To see clearly the long-term decline, the seasonal component first must be separated from the underlying trendline to observe the long-term trend of that energy consumption. Then the ratio of the deseaonalized data and GDP can be taken.

The report is the first in the BTS series titled Transportation Trends in Focus.  The report can be found at http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_transportation_trends_in_focus/2009_06_01/.

Please join us for the upcoming Talking Technology and Transportation (T3) Webinar:  

Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) Summit for Large Cities

Description

Advances in telecommunications mobility and convergence have put the nation’s 9-1-1 emergency call system at a crossroads. The growing market penetration of both cellular and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) telephony, and the increasingly mobile world they reflect, has underscored the limitations of the current 9-1-1 infrastructure. Today’s 9-1-1 system, based on decades-old technology, cannot handle the text, data, images, and video that are increasingly common in personal communications and critical to future transportation safety and mobility advances.

There is consensus within the 9-1-1 community on the need for a new, more capable system surrounding emergency call delivery and response (ultimately a system of systems). There is general agreement on the need to capitalize on advances in information and communications technologies, and develop systems that will enable:

• Quicker and more accurate information delivery to responders;
• Better and more useful forms of information (real-time text, images, video, and other data);
• More flexible, secure and robust Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) operations; and
• Lower public capital and operating costs for emergency communication services.

The US DOT’s Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) Initiative has helped define and document a vision for the future of 9-1-1. The NG 9-1-1 Initiative is a research and development project to define the system architecture and develop a transition plan that considers responsibilities, costs, schedule and benefits for deploying IP-based emergency services across the nation.

USDOT views the NG 9-1-1 project as a transition enabler, to assist the public in making a 9-1-1 call from any wired, wireless, or IP-based device, and allow the emergency responders to take advantage of enhanced call delivery, multimedia data and advanced call transfer capabilities. To accomplish these goals, the ideas and needs of both public and private 9-1-1 stakeholders have been incorporated.

This webinar will provide a briefing on the status of the NG 9-1-1 Initiative and other development efforts and describe the transition to the National E-911 Implementation Coordination Office that is currently underway.

Audience

This summit targets 9-1-1 stakeholders, public safety communications professionals and other interested parties in the future planning of the nation’s emergency call centers.

Learning Outcomes

• What is NG 9-1-1?
• What is the current status of NG 9-1-1 implementation?
• What steps is USDOT taking toward developing the future of 9-1-1?
• What information about NG 9-1-1 is available?

Federal Hosts:

Linda Dodge and Laurie Flaherty, NG 9-1-1 Co-Program Managers, US DOT

Linda Dodge

Linda Dodge has overall 30 years in public safety (firefighter, paramedic, heavy rescue) in the field and administration. Linda’s experience includes instructing at the Maryland Fire Rescue Institute (MFRI), University of MD; a director of a police and correctional officer academy, for the Maryland Dept. of Public Safety – Police and Corrections; 12 years as executive director Colorado Trauma Institute, Denver, CO and the last 10 years at the DOT ~6 of the10 years as regional program manager NHTSA Region 8, in Lakewood and 4 years ITS JPO, FHWA, in DC public safety program manager (NG 9-1-1, WE 9-1-1, Emergency Transportation Operations, etc.)

Laurie Flaherty

Laurie Flaherty is an emergency nurse, who has more than 20 years of clinical experience. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Marquette University, and has a master’s degree in emergency and trauma nursing from the University of California, San Francisco.

Laurie is a Program Analyst in the Office of EMS at NHTSA and focuses on issues related to the application of technology in Emergency Medical Services and 9-1-1 services. She currently co-manages the Next Generation 9-1-1 Initiative for the Office of EMS, and is also directly involved in establishing and staffing the National 9-1-1 Office.

Presenters:

John Chiaramonte, Booz Allen Hamilton

John Chiaramonte, an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, is the deputy program manager leading the NG 9-1-1 Initiative for the US DOT. In 2008, he successfully managed a team of software developers and technical and functional experts that implemented a proof of concept demonstration.

Prior to joining Booz Allen, John was a Senior Project Manager delivering public safety applications to 9-1-1 centers. He has been involved with public safety IT projects both as the end-user and a vendor and throughout the entire implementation process. He is a subject matter expert on Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and 9-1-1 systems and operations and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

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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.Please forward this announcement to colleagues who may be interested in attending this webinar.

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• T3 Webinars are brought to you by the ITS Professional Capacity Building, a program of the U.S. DOT’s ITS Program.  Visit the ITS PCB website for more information about T3 webinars and other ITS learning opportunities:  http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/default.asp
• Visit the T3 archives to view presentations and to listen to audio transcripts from previous T3 webinars:  http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/res_t3_archive.asp
• Cut and paste links into your web browser if they fail to open the webpage.

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 Important Information for Federal T3 Webinar Participants

Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) requirements are currently being implemented in federal agencies.  Please contact your IT staff to determine if these requirements affect your ability to connect to T3 webinars via Microsoft Live Meeting from your federal PC or laptop.  This link contains information about Live Meeting and can be provided to your IT staff for further reference:  http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/t3/info_requirements.asp

U.S. DOT Requests Public Comments on ITS Program. The Research and Innovative Technology Administration is requesting public comments on the strategic direction of its Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program. Comments will be used to shape the next, multi-year, ITS research agenda. Specifically, the Department seeks comment and insight on a set of proposed goals and objectives for the ITS Program. Additionally, the Department is interested in exploring new opportunities for research and development, technology transfer, and evaluation of next generation ITS technologies. Responses should take into account the critical role of advanced technologies in achieving transformative change in the areas of safety, mobility, environmental stewardship, and deployment policy. A Request for Information along with instructions for submittal can be found athttp://www.regulations.gov under docket number RITA 2009-0001.  Alternatively, you can visit:

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=090000648095e55e

Should you have any questions, please contact Ms. Riddle: 202-366-5128.

Here is a copy of the RFI. Please visit the above links to submit your comment. 

(Source: Washington Post)

Victor M. Mendez, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, is Obama’s pick for administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Mendez worked under former governor Janet Napolitano before she became Obama’s homeland security secretary. In Arizona, Mendez helped implement the state’s multi-billion dollar freeway system and gained extensive experience in transportation funding, technology, infrastructure, research and planning.

Joining Mendez at the Transportation Department will be Peter H. Appel, Obama’s nominee for administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. A principal with the global management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney, Inc., Appel has over 20 years of experience in transportation and infrastructure projects. He has helped organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline and ocean shipping industries, and he previously served as a top aide at the Federal Aviation Administration and at Amtrak.

Below are the brief Bios of the nominees as shown in Washington Post.

Victor M. Mendez, Nominee for Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation

Victor M. Mendez was a member of former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano’s Cabinet as the Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation. He has extensive experience in transportation including innovations in the areas of funding and financing, technology, infrastructure, research, planning and internal operations. Mendez has served as a past President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and in 2008 he was selected as Leader of the Year in Public Policy in Transportation by the Arizona Capitol Times. Previously, Mendez was selected as the Deputy State Engineer to lead the implementation of the Phoenix area’s multi-billion dollar freeway system. Mendez earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University and a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. 

Peter H. Appel, Nominee for Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Department of Transportation

Peter H. Appel is a Principal with the global management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney, Inc. He has led business improvement initiatives for clients in the private and public sectors, with a focus on Transportation and Infrastructure. Appel has over 20 years of experience in Transportation, and has supported organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline, and ocean shipping industries with growth strategy, supply chain improvement, post-merger integration, public-private partnerships, and other key business and policy issues. Previously, Appel served as the Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and as Assistant Director for Pricing and Yield Management at Amtrak. Appel earned his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University in Economics and Computer Science with Highest Honors, and received his Master of Science in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Click here to read more.

The U.S. Department of Transportation today awarded the United We Ride/Mobility for All Americans joint demonstration grants to the following recipients:

1.  Lower Savannah Council of Governments – $680,000 grant to provide enhanced, cost-effective transportation choices for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income populations in Aiken, SC.   The Lower Savannah Council of Governments is using the funding for planning and designing an expanded human service transportation network to include more human service transportation providers and vehicle tracking abilities such as global positioning systems (GPS) and to enable customers to receive information and manage their own trips through a toll-free number and web-based applications.

2.  Camden County Workforce Investment Board – $700,000 grant to provide enhanced, cost-effective transportation choices for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income populations in Camden County, NJ.   The Camden County Workforce Investment Board is using the funding for planning and designing a transportation brokerage system supported by a comprehensive set of transportation modes, and for promoting fixed-route public transportation usage for human service clients through accessibility improvement.

3.  Paducah Area Transit System – $1.4 million grant to provide enhanced, cost-effective transportation choices for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income populations in Paducah, KY.   The Paducah Area Transit System is using the funding for the expansion of an existing call center to cover a larger geographic area and provide around-the-clock access to traveler support.  The strengthened call center will add customer-oriented features, such as automated telephone and Internet-based trip reservations and management.

The United We Ride/Mobility for All Americans joint demonstration adopts a two-phased approach.  Eight sites were selected to in 2007 participate in Phase 1, which is system planning and design.  These three Phase 1 sites are selected to move forward to system deployment, the second phase of the program. 

Funding for the demonstration is provided by the Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration in Partnership with the Federal Transit Administration