ABJ30 Members and Friends,
I just received a request from Tom Palmerlee (see below) to forward him
our agenda for the Annual TRB Meeting - (subcommittees - this also
applies to you) - since we won't have our regular opportunity to develop
the agenda at our Mid-Year in time for this request - can I get some
volunteers to help with the preparation? I will plan to include the
review of our Strategic Plan and special attention to the topics that we
currently cover - any suggestions, etc. would be greatly appreciated as
this description of our plans should help bring newcomers to our meeting
- thanks!
>From Tom Palmerlee:
"I would like to post short agendas for the TRB committee and
subcommittee meetings a week before the Advance Registration deadline so
we can make attendees aware of these open meeting. So please send me a
short version oriented to those who don't necessarily attend TRB
committee meeting. Emphasize the programmatic issues to be discussed,
not administrative items. If I get it by next Monday, we can post them
and get an email out about week before the deadline.
I will also put those agendas in the final program."
Regards,
Kate
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_____________________________
Catherine T. Lawson, Ph. D.
Director, MRP Program
Associate Professor
University at Albany
Geography & Planning
AS 218 1400 Washington
Albany, New York 12222
(518) 442-4775
(518) 442-4742 FAX
lawsonc(a)albany.edu
ABJ30 Members and Friends,
I just received another email - this one from David Floyd, referencing
the deadline for registration for NATMEC - I have put in a call to Tom
to clarify that what he needs RIGHT NOW is our agenda for NATMEC (but it
doesn't hurt to get busy with our Annual TRB Meeting agenda as well - so
any ideas for that meeting - please send them along) - meanwhile, we'll
focus on the NATMEC agenda - sorry for the confusion - (my fault for
jumping ahead to January!!) - thanks!
Regards,
Kate
---
_____________________________
Catherine T. Lawson, Ph. D.
Director, MRP Program
Associate Professor
University at Albany
Geography & Planning
AS 218 1400 Washington
Albany, New York 12222
(518) 442-4775
(518) 442-4742 FAX
lawsonc(a)albany.edu
ABJ30 Committee Members and Friends,
We now have the final Data & Information Systems Section Retreat Report
(attached) and it is time to move forward with our combined support for
the Section Initiatives - and to get our own Committee priorities (also
attached) transformed into real Research Statements with funding
possibilities. The Annual Meeting is taking shape (see attached "Plans
in the Works" )- so far - we are supporting an ADUS Applications
Workshop, co-sponsoring the NHTS Workshop and a workshop on practical
ways to improve transportation-related data. We still need to get the
Census Sub Committee and the Joint ADUS Committee scheduled. National
Data is heading up the Travel Data Users Forum - more details soon.
Hopefully, some of the ideas below from Members and Friends will be
addressed in the "Practical Ways" Workshop - but I would encourage
everyone to provide feedback on moving these areas of interest so they
can reach the Research Statement stage - and we can start looking for
sponsors and funding!
Hope to see everyone at NATMEC!!!!!
Kate
Ideas from Committee Members --
Vladimir Livshits, Ph. D, M. Sc
System Analysis Program Manager
vlivshits(a)mag.maricopa.gov
I. Information systems
- GIS as an integration base: development of GIS-T and transportation
multi-year master networks. We are trying to integrate supply data with
TIP/RTP/LCP information; LRS-based systems - might be good for 1/2 day
workshop. The system integrates data flow across MPO business processes
from collection to modeling to Regional Plan.
- Data integration: One direction: supply data counts - travel time -
safety data (we are doing a project on this right now) Another direction
- integration along business processes in metropolitan planning (data
collection / acquisition - data management - data control and analysis -
forecasting/modeling - planning)
- Data accessibility/analysis - we still have a long way to go here.
Looks like private sector is leading now. Might be a good topic for a
workshop or a session. I mean web-based technologies and analytical
tools that will facilitate data utilization. Its related to the previous
two.
II. Possible items for cooperation with ABJ40 - where emerging
problems/issues with travel surveys can be addressed with new
technology:
- household surveys: changes in people's behavior and communication
technology resulted in ever dropping response rates and necessity to
look for different methods of data collection (cell phones surveys, GPS,
progress, issues) - They have some calls for papers on this, but it
seems like some important issues are still not getting enough attention,
how survey methodology affects applicability of the results, etc.
- household surveys: move to bigger samples - should we go back to this
direction? (that is still the approach in Canada, for example)
- Intercept surveys are under fire in some places (there is an excellent
TTI report on this) and we encourage advancements in automated data
collection (cameras, etc.) again, issues: cooperation with DOT on
license plate information, road closure permits for installations,
quality of the data, etc.
- Travel time and speed data: move from floating car technology to an
ongoing data collection by third parties - implications
- Transit surveys - struggle with low completion rates
- Truck travel surveys - low response rates, how new technology can help
us, how we can establish channels of cooperation with private sector,
place for the new collection techniques
- Luck of independent data sets for travel forecasting model validation
(survey data normally used 100% for estimation/calibration), supply data
can be used only for certain final validations
- Data requirements of the Activity-Based Models, how the movement
towards disaggregation and microsimulation in modeling affects data
collection
Ideas from Committee Friends
Ken Dueker (duekerk(a)aol.com)
One data area that Dick Lycan and I have been concerned with is working
(mandates or incentive) with Assessor's to gather accurate counts of
number of units housing units on parcels of land. An accurate count of
HUs is important to many demographic based transportation demand models.
Yet it is not counted with care by assessors and they have not incentive
or mandate to do so.
---
_____________________________
Catherine T. Lawson, Ph. D.
Director, MRP Program
Associate Professor
University at Albany
Geography & Planning
AS 218 1400 Washington
Albany, New York 12222
(518) 442-4775
(518) 442-4742 FAX
lawsonc(a)albany.edu