The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has announced the availability of two positions to help support the use of second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) data. Duties for the Interdisciplinary: Operations Research Analyst/General Engineer include planning, initiating, promoting, coordinating, and monitoring SHRP 2 safety data dissemination and research activities including training, technical assistance, and tool development. Duties for the Interdisciplinary: Operations Research Analyst/General Engineer include creating data extraction specifications; and extracting and exporting datasets from larger databases such as SHRP 2 data. Both position announcements are open until May 27. Additional information on each announcement is available online at www.usajobs.gov or by using the links below. 

Position #1 – Interdisciplinary: Operations Research Analyst/General Engineer, GS-1515/801-13/14 
• https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/368928500 (Merit Promotion) 
• https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/368928200 (Public Notice) 

Position #2 – Interdisciplinary: Operations Research Analyst/General Engineer, GS-1515/801-12/13 
• https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/369270700 (Merit Promotion) 
• https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/369271700 (Public Notice)

via TRB E-Newsletter

An awesome biking infographic from the team at Quicken Loans.

How bad is the road safety problem across the planet? Pretty bad.  The global road death toll has already reached 1.24 million per year and is on course to triple to 3.6 million per year by 2030. In “Roads Kill,” The Washington Post joins with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to bring stories from around the world about this neglected but easily curable public health crisis.

[pageview url="http://roadskillmap.com/#58.53959476664049,89.296875,2" height="500px" border="yes"]

via Journal of Commerce

Did you know?

• Truck driving is the eighth most dangerous occupation in the U.S., based on fatality rates per 100,000 workers.
• For all workers, transportation was dangerous. Transportation incidents accounted for two out of five workplace deaths in 2012.
• Truck drivers had a 22.1 fatality rate in 2012, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Image courtesy: Journal of Commerce

via Huffingtonpost

Apparently this is how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (covers U.S. Customs and Border Patrol) takes care of imported vehicles with falsified documentation.. As Huffingtonpost notes,  this Land Rover Defender reached the Port of Baltimore with falsified identification numbers, claiming to be an older model.  But when the USCBP folks found out that this model is in fact newer and tinkered with to look “vintage”, they decided to junk it because it does not comply with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency regulations.  The seized vehicle — estimated to be worth $25,000 overseas but as much as $150,000 in the U.S. — was considered “illegal and unsafe,” officials said. Such a non-compliant vehicle cannot be imported unless it is at least 25 years old, officials said.   It seems that dozens of similar Defender vehicles have been seized in recent months at ports around the country and one can only imagine the rivers of tears shed by the owners when they learned the fate.

Yeah.. Seems like a sound transportation advice but one that can get you in a lot of trouble with the law..Nevertheless, it is funny and fitting for the environment in which it is spotted.

Sound advice but one you better NOT try. Image Courtesy: Imgur via Reddit

The image below was posted on the Colorado Dept. of Transportation’s Facebook Page with the following note: “Did you know that Colorado experienced a 66% increase in pedestrian fatalities and a 63% increase in bicyclist fatalities from 2011 to 2012? Share the Road folks!”  After seeing the Facebook post, I got curious and paid a visit to the CDOT website and found out they have an awesome campaign “Share the Road, Friend”  underway to create  an awareness about the  shared responsibility for road safety among all road users. They got all kinds of promotional materials made available on the CDOT website and while you are there don’t forget to check out the campaign videos as well. Nicely done, CDOT.

Share the Road, Friend – via Colorado Dept. of Transportation

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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• Iran suggests progress, but no deal, in U.N. atom talks (Reuters)
• International Atomic Energy Agency determined to continue dialogue with Iran

The Research and Innovative Technology Administration seeks a senior executive to serve as the Director of the Center for Safety Management Systems (RVT-30) of the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center). Located in the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Volpe Center plays a unique role in looking across the transportation enterprise by applying its multi-disciplinary capabilities to anticipate future transportation issues and challenges across all modes of transportation. This is a permanent position in the Senior Executive Service, and it is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Reporting to the Deputy Associate Administrator for Research and Innovation, you will lead and oversee the Center for Safety Management Systems comprised of three technical divisions with a combined technical/scientific federal staff of 80 employees; a portfolio of 93 projects; and average annual obligations of $70 million. This Center maintains and applies internationally recognized capabilities in the acquisition, maintenance, distribution, and analysis of transportation safety data to assist transportation entities in taking effective actions to reduce the number and severity of transportation-related deaths, injuries, and property damage. The Director will also collaborate with other Technical Center Directors in overseeing Volpe’s support for safety programs for other DOT organizations in addition to safety management systems for FAA and FMCSA.
To succeed in this rewarding and challenging leadership position, candidates must have expertise leading applied research and technology projects in safety management systems in the transportation field. Candidates must also possess exceptional management, planning and communication skills, and be willing and able to contribute as part of a collaborative management team. Travel is required (30-50%).

The announcement is posted to the Public at http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/311508000

Application deadline: Extended to May 1, 2012

(Source:  CondeNast Portfolio.com)

Turbo-prop planes and regional jets are a crucial part of the airlines’ route strategies and are often the only way a business traveler can easily get to a destination, but road warriors hate flying them.

“I HATE THOSE TINY OLD RJS,” one otherwise rational business traveler I know shouted in his email. “NOBODY SHOULD FLY THEM. THEY’RE NOT SAFE.”

No matter that the aircraft involved in Flight 3407’s fiery end six miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport was not an “RJ,” industry shorthand for regional jet. (It was a Q400, a twin-engine turboprop plane manufactured by Bombardier of Canada.) No matter that the 74-seat Q400 isn’t particularly tiny. (At 107 feet long with a 93-foot wingspan, it is about the size of several early versions of Boeing’s workhorse B737 jet and 20 feet longer than Bombardier’s 50-seat regional jet.) And no matter that the Q400 isn’t old. (The Q400 series didn’t enter service until 2000 and the plane that crashed in Buffalo was less than a year old.)

Safe? That is most definitely in the eye of the beholder—and most business travelers eye commuter airlines with extreme trepidation. They don’t like flying them. They don’t like that the commuter lines wrap themselves in the colors and livery of the major airlines. And they are convinced, rightly or wrongly, that commuter carriers simply aren’t as safe as the major airlines they mimic.

Clich here to read the entire article.