ABJ30 Members and Friends,
Tom Palmerlee would like us to work on developing ideas for
Cross-Cutting Sessions (due by the end of May) - and send them to him to
move forward - I would like to invite all of you to respond to the
listserv or individually with ideas - or if you know of another Group
looking for partners to push on a topic or issue. We need your
help!!!!! THANKS!!
Proposals for Annual Meeting Cross-Cutting Sessions
Proposals for TRB Annual Meeting sessions that cut across more
than one Group are due by May 29. Each proposal should include a
session title, brief description of the session, who will organize the
session, the lead Group, and partner Group(s). Sessions selected by
TAC in June will not count against any committee's allotment.
The key requirement is more than one TRB group participating. It may
also be useful to address one of the Technical Activities Council (TAC)
critical and cross-cutting issues. They are
* Capacity (or congestion) of the transportation system: what does the
future hold?
* Getting rid of the seams (integrating modes and institutions for a
more seamless transportation system)
* Matching transportation systems to the communities they serve (context
sensitivity, land use/sprawl, demographics, environmental justice,
economic impacts, etc.)
* The growing shortage of transportation personnel: outlook,
implications, experiences, and actions
* Making transportation investment decisions - art or science?
* Transportation, energy, and climate change
* Balancing environmental and transportation goals
* Moving the goods: giving freight the attention it deserves
* Show me the money: meeting the long term funding needs for
transportation
* Safety: future options that could make a real difference
* Security: where do we go from here?
* Renewing the aging transportation infrastructure
See the 2006 POG issues at
http://www.trb.org/Committees/AB000/IssueDesc2006.pdf.
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 Members and Friends,
Attached please find a draft copy of our Committee Triennial Strategic
Plan Document --- the final version is due to TRB staff by April 15,
2009 - so please forward your comments, edits, additions, etc. as soon
as possible. I would like to have our final version ready by the end of
March. Thank you for taking the time to review our document. For those
of you who are using the Committee website/wiki at
http://sites.google.com/site/trbabj30/Home - there is a "word" version
and a pdf version available on the Draft Triennial Strategic Plan link.
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,
The TRB 2009 Joint Summer Meeting is being held Sunday, July 19, 2009 -
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel, Seattle,
Washington. Join transportation professionals participating in the
midyear meetings of more than 30 TRB committees. In open committee
meetings, joint collaborative discussions, and general sessions,
transportation professionals specializing in planning, policy,
economics, freight, and data systems will share information on how
transportation agencies are dealing with uncertain times. Plus, attend
optional workshops before and after the meeting.
For a list of TRB committees that will be meeting, details on how to
register for the meeting and to make a hotel reservation, visit the
website below.
2009 Joint Summer Meeting
<http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,ed57e411-12a8-456d-bfba-8f8b3b33b85
1>
(If the link above does not work, please copy & paste
http://TRB.org/Calendar into your web browser.)
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Sincerely,
Transportation Research Board
---
_____________________________
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,
We need some help with updating our list of Member/Friends activities
with Other Committees and Organizations. Please take a minute and let
me know if you are participating as a formal liaison representation with
another TRB Committee and/or if you have been or are able to act as a
liaison representation with outside organizations. Thanks so much for
your help --
6. Interaction with Other TRB Committees, Organizations, and Customers
A. List other TRB committees which your committee maintains a formal
liaison representation.
Members/friends -- please self-identify
B. List outside organizations which your committee maintains ongoing
liaison representation.
Members/friends --- please self-identify
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
I will be out of the office starting 03/09/2009 and will not return until
03/23/2009.
For Ramp Metering and HAR issues, please contact Diana Gomez at
916-651-9054. Thank you.
For Freeway Operations Academy issues, please contact Carol Wilbon at
916-654-4830.
You can also call my cell at 916-969-6189 or left me a phone message at
916-654-6133. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
I am out of the office from Mon 3/2 - Fri 3/6 , returning possibly 3/9
weather permitting. If you have an IT issue, please carbon Bob Curtis
as he will proxy for me in my absence. If you have a GIS issue please
contact Aaron Westcott, I will have limited e-mail access but will be
monitoring my messages. If it is a technical question I'll get back to
you upon my return.
ALB30 Members and Friends,
Attached are the meeting minutes from the 2008 Annual and Summer meetings and our final agenda for 2009. For more information on our "Summer in Seattle" Mid-year Meeting see www.TRB.org/conferences/2009/Summer <https://exchange.albany.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.trb.org/co…> -
Safe travels!
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
(518) 209-1155 CELL
lawsonc(a)albany.edu
ABJ30 Members and Friends,
Below is a brief description of the Data Report Card Initiative -- I think this idea now has even more value as we face more concerns about fiscal constraints and increased pressure for the very best data to make important transportation decisions -- let me know what you think -- thanks!
ABJ30 Contribution to the Data Report Card Initiative
On March 19th and 20th, the Data and Information Systems Section held a Retreat to develop a shared "near term vision" - with representatives from each of the Section's 11 committees, two subcommittees, at-large members and invited guests from partnering agencies. Based on the ABJ30 Special Discussion we held at the 2008 Annual Meeting, three priority issues were submitted for discussion at the Retreat. These issues are:
* Stewardship: What guidelines are needed to treat data as an asset?
* What are the urgent needs for urban transportation data?
* Are there new ways of obtaining and serving up data?
All of our priorities will require collaboration with other committees and new partner agencies. In extensive discussions at the Retreat, it was recommended that we work on these prior issues in a new Initiative - a Data Report Card. While a TRB-associated entity cannot produce a document that "grades" databases and data programs, it can provide guidance on how an agency could do this as a self-assessment tool. The data report initiative will be focused on developing the content and process to help improve data at all levels (federal, state and local) by identifying criteria and categories of data, providing best practices for collection and analysis and visualization techniques, and serving as an on-going data improvement strategy. ABJ30 is well-positioned to contribute to this initiative. As a Committee, we can use this opportunity to move forward with our priorities in this comprehensive setting.
We will need to establish an internal process for making our contribution. Do we want to establish a new "working group" or look for contributions from all members/friends? One option for moving forward could be to consider using a "layering" strategy for assessing and improving data (actually used in developing a bike path) where the direction and elements possible today are explicitly laid out - so you can travel the whole system, even if some areas are uneven - you can still follow the path. The layers are planned and implemented as incremental improvements, while the path continues to "work". This process differs from phasing, where normally only portions are completed, from start to finish. This would allow agencies to find their way towards better data - encouraging improvements, while planning changes, etc.
--
______________________
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
(518) 209-1155 CELL
lawsonc(a)albany.edu
ABJ30 Members and Friends,
Another task for our upcoming TSP is a review of our "Identified Areas
of Interest" - below is a retelling of our previously listed areas --
Please confirm your general level of interest, interest in contributing
to the development of research statements, conference or workshop ideas
or special interest (e.g., special e-working group).
Members and Friends are encouraged to respond to this listserv, contact
the Chair directly (lawsonc(a)albany.edu), bring ideas to WDC TRB meeting
and/or respond to post-meeting follow-up --
Original Set of Topics (with some expansions)
1. Using census data in transportation planning (now expanded in our
Subcommittee - combined with Continuous Census Data (American Community
Survey)
2. Monitoring traffic and transit systems
3. Using ITS-generated data in planning
4. Using household travel survey data in describing traveler
characteristics and metropolitan travel patterns
5. Combining data sources
6. Studying issues of privacy and confidentiality (combined with
"Privacy and Data Ownership Concerns")
7. Creating standards for meta-data (data about data) and meta-analysis
(comparative data analyses) - (see
http://www.trb.org/committees/datasection/DataSection-Metadata.pdf -
what should ABJ30 do now?)
8. Continuous Personal Travel Data - surveys
9. Archiving IT Data for Planning and other Applications (now expanded
in our joint ADUS Subcommittee)
10. Use of global positioning systems and other technologies in urban
transportation data (consider approaching Travel Survey Methods - New
Technologies Subcommittee as a joint Subcommittee?)
11. Small Area Land Use and Socioeconomic Data (consider expanding to
include Administrative Data, such as parcel data, building permits,
public works maintenance records for sidewalks, parks and trails bike
path data, etc.)
12. Information from Data (expand to include Data Visualization - and
form joint Subcommittee with ABJ95 Visualization in Transportation)
Additional ideas from Members and Friends to formalize and include as
"Identified Areas of Interest for 2009" - consider Workshop/Conference
to develop research agenda(s) and move forward with ideas for mid-year
and 2010 Annual Meeting -
New Areas of Interest to Consider for 2009
More focus on GIS as an integration base -
Data integration - more than combining sources - consider integration at
the time of data creation
Data accessibility - web-based dissemination that allows user to
interact with raw data sources to acquire exactly what they need,
including visualization of data as a "guided tour" of where the key data
elements or policy issues are located "at a glance"
More cooperation with Travel Survey Methods (including joint
Subcommittee on New Technologies)
New focus on Household Travel Surveys - new technologies for data
collection, analysis and visualization
New formats and panels for Household Travel Surveys that integrate with
existing data systems (e.g., local count programs, weather, public
health community, school systems, etc.)
Intercept surveys, including electronic passive data collection, such as
license plate, road permits, other administrative data sources
Travel time and speed data - floating car program rather than "one-off"
research projects
Transit surveys - new technologies, new formats for gathering
information including GPS
Truck travel surveys - consider formalizing linkage to Freight Data
Committee and Subcommittee on Truck Surveys
Focus on data needs for new generation of activity-based models -
including parcel data for land use models, GPS for validating
microsimulation models, consideration of impact on data needs for
integrating Open Source travel forecasting models with existing
off-the-shelf modeling software
More??????
---
_____________________________
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,
To prepare our Triennial Strategic Plan (TSP) - we need your input on
our draft Goals and Objectives document (see below) - thanks for all
your help!!!!
Confirmation, Edits or Amendments to
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
January 2009
Scope:
This committee is interested in the design, collection, analysis, and
reporting of transportation supply and demand data needed to support
urban and metropolitan transportation planning efforts. In particular,
the committee is interested in developing the data requirements of new
and innovative techniques for measuring and monitoring the performance
of metropolitan transportation systems; and in evaluating changes in
demographic and urban travel characteristics. In terms of household and
other transportation surveys, the committee is concerned with the
analysis, reporting, archiving, and dissemination of results and data
products. The committee is interested in the effective use of census
and other federal, secondary data sources in metropolitan transportation
planning. The committee is concerned with advancements in information
systems and information technology for the improved dissemination and
sharing of knowledge about metropolitan transportation systems and urban
travel behavior.
Committee Goals:
Goal #1: Provide a national forum for the continuing identification and
prioritization of research on urban and metropolitan transportation
"supply and demand" data, inputs needed for and outputs created from
information systems and the dissemination of research findings.
Strategies:
a) Provide active assistance to the National Research Council in
developing a prioritized listing of urban and metropolitan
transportation "supply and demand" data research problem statements that
address the emphasis areas identified for this Committee.
b) Encourage the active participation of Committee members and
friends on national cooperative research councils including NCHRP, TCHRP
and other relevant research panels for studies of interest to the
Committee.
c) Recommend publication of significant urban and metropolitan
"supply and demand" data research papers in the Transportation Research
Records;
d) Conduct at least one paper session at each annual meeting;
e) Task each Committee member with identifying emerging urban
transportation data and information systems issues, future areas of
concern and opportunities for new research, and with sharing this
information through the Committee's communication network;
f) Continue to develop the Committee website devoted to Committee
activities and research in topic areas.
Goal #2: Continue to prepare for and conduct relevant and valuable
gatherings of the Committee members and friends. The Committee shall
meet at least twice per year in association with TRB annual meeting in
January and in a mid-year business meeting. These activities provide a
strong focus for the Committee and should be continued.
Strategies:
a) Strive to identify important and timely workshop and
presentation topics that advance the Committee's efforts to promote
areas of emphasis.
b) Work with TRB to ensure desired paper sessions are featured in
the annual meeting agenda;
c) Form and task a mid-year Workshop Subcommittee with identifying
a suitable host location and agenda for each mid-year meeting and work
with other relevant committees to increase synergy across topics;
d) To the degree possible, conduct the Committee's mid-year meeting
in a different region of the country each year to gain greater national
exposure and support for the work of the Committee;
e) The Committee Chair shall be responsible for moderating all
business meeting sessions or delegating this responsibility to another
member of the Committee;
f) The Chair shall assign responsibility to a Committee member or
friend for recording minutes for each meeting and submitting an
electronic version to the Chair as soon as possible (preferably within
two weeks of completion of the meeting).
g) The Chair shall be responsible for preparing and transmitting
final business meeting reports to TRB within 45 days of the completion
of each meeting. Copies of the reports shall also be sent to each
member and friend of the Committee.
h) Copies of all reports of the proceedings of the annual and
mid-year business meetings shall be retained by the Section Chair for
use in preparation of the ABJ30 Triennial Self Evaluation Report.
Goal #3: Maintain an active organization that supports the mission of
TRB Section ABJ00 and ABJ30. The Committee shall utilize one or more
subcommittees to carry out its overall functions and responsibilities.
Subcommittees will be created to address ongoing or emerging issues to
the Committee as a whole.
Strategies:
a) The Committee Chair shall be responsible for creating or
dissolving subcommittees with input from the members present at the
annual or mid-year business meeting;
b) The Committee Chair shall appoint a current committee member to
be the chairperson to oversee the activities of each subcommittee;
c) Each subcommittee shall be tasked with creating its own set of
goals and objectives that support the overall goals of the Committee;
d) The Committee Chair shall ensure that the Committee members
conduct Committee and subcommittee business meetings at each annual and
mid-year meeting;
e) Each subcommittee shall be tasked with reporting at the annual
meeting on the accomplishments made through the proceeding year and
activities planning for the succeeding year.
Goal #4: Expand and formalize the Committee liaison program. Many
members of ABJ30 are also members or friends of other TRB Committees (or
similar communities in other organizations). The research and other
activities of these groups can be of valuable assistance to ABJ30 in
achieving out Committee goals and our activities may be of similar value
to them. A closer liaison should be encouraged and formalized to
improve on the existing communications between these groups.
Strategies:
a) A listing of all appropriate TRB and other regional and national
committees and groups shall be established and maintained;
b) To the degree possible, one or more ABJ30 members shall be
assigned as liaisons to each identified group;
c) Liaisons shall be tasked with responsibility for reporting on
important external group activities through the Committee's website or
at mid-year meetings.
d) Liaisons shall actively promote joint activities that support
the Committee's areas of interest and bring these activities to the
attention of the full Committee.
Goal #5: Maintain a geographically and organizationally diverse
Committee membership of well-qualified, highly motivated individuals.
The Committee actively seeks diversity in its organization by striving
to ensure the participation of members drawn form a variety of federal,
state and local government agencies, academia, public interests, private
enterprises (including consultant sector), and the general public.
Broad geographical distribution of members, including international
participation, is an important element in achieving the desired
diversity.
Strategies:
a) Form and task a Steering Subcommittee with annually reviewing
the membership roster and identifying potential problems or concerns
with membership numbers, terms or levels of participation;
b) Task the Steering Subcommittee with reporting on the status of
the Committee membership at each mid-year meeting of the Committee. The
report should include identification of any interest group or
geographical membership gaps, term limit concerns and participation
issues.
c) Task each additional subcommittee with responsibility for
identifying highly qualified potential members and forwarding names and
resumes to the Steering Subcommittee;
d) Charge each member of the Committee with volunteering a minimum
of 40 hours per year toward supporting Committee activities such as
reviewing or preparing technical papers, chairing or serving on a
subcommittee, serving as a liaison to another TRB or similar
organization committee, or actively participating in the annual and
mid-year meeting programs.
---
_____________________________
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