ABJ30-Friends

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one more time - agenda for the mid-year meeting now -

by Catherine T Lawson

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

17 years, 8 months

ABJ30 Members and Friends

by Catherine T Lawson

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

17 years, 8 months

Meeting Time and Place at NATMEC - August 7th at 7:00 am

by Catherine T Lawson

ABJ30 Members and Friends, The preliminary schedule for NATMEC has the following information for our Committee meeting (room yet to be assigned) Urban Data Committee Meeting Thursday, August 07, 2008, 7:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m. Catherine Theresa Lawson, State University of New York, Albany, presiding Open meeting of the TRB committee 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. I will need to find out the availability of a phone conference set-up - 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

17 years, 10 months

Summer Plans and Beyond

by Catherine T Lawson

ABJ30 Member and Friends, Please plan to join us for the ABJ30 SUMMER MID-YEAR MEETING in WDC! Our Committee mid-year meeting will be held at the 2008 North American Travel Monitoring Exhibition and Conference, August 6-8, 2008, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. Online registration (www.NATMEC.org <http://www.natmec.org/> ) is available ($50 Early Bird savings by registering by May 6, 2008) and TRB special rate of $154 at the Omni (per room, per night, plus state and local tax). This rate is available until Tuesday, July 8, 2008, or until the block of rooms is sold out. Rooms are subject to availability and may be at a higher rate after this date. I will be looking for volunteers prior to August 1st to help organize our strategy for dealing with papers. We all have greatly appreciated Ed Christopher's amazing paper review process and I hope we can replicate his efficiencies - but it will take some planning to keep things running smoothly. We also will need volunteers for the Annual meeting agenda and a final version of our Goals and Objectives. Thinking about an ABJ30 WORKSHOP at TRB?? We will need to prepare any workshop ideas soon as the formal proposal needs to be submitted by June 1st. Here's what we will need to provide: o Workshop Title o Workshop length (Half Day/Full Day) o Description (A paragraph description is sufficient) o Sponsoring and/or Co-Sponsoring committees o Committee Contact I will be posting the summary report from the Data Retreat as soon as it is ready (should be very soon). The excitement from this conference should help us move forward on those areas where ABJ30 Members and Friends have interests - and help us identify funding sources and opportunities to work with other Committees as well. I will be talking with Ed about how best to keep the news flowing to all of you - including reviewing our website strategy - and working with listservs. 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

17 years, 10 months

NHTS Good-News Update

by Ed Christopher

Thought you might be interested some good news floating around regarding the NHTS. NHTS Information Update On February 19, 2008 the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) national sample reached a funding milestone. Sufficient funds have been secured to ensure the continuation of this important national study on the travel and transportation needs of the American public. Interviews with 25,000 households across the United States will begin in March. According to Heather Contrino, NHTS Program Manager in the FHWA Office of Policy, "The information provided by the NHTS is so important to programs, policy, and planning across the transportation community. I cannot thank the entire user community enough for its overwhelming support." NHTS is the nation's flagship survey for obtaining information on how, and why, the American public travels. Over the past four decades the NHTS has grown from a single national level survey to one that allows local areas to buy more data, or add-ons, for their areas. Up until February 19th, it was uncertain that there would be a national survey yet 18 areas were scheduled to be "in -the-field" with their surveys March 1, 2008. The issue for the national sample boiled down to money. During the last transportation reauthorization process which produced transportation funding under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) legislation, the discretionary research funding source for the NHTS was zeroed out and a scramble to find money began. That scramble ended Wednesday, or at least one major hurdle was overcome. The NHTS has had a long history of struggling to get on a fixed operating and revenue schedule. Surveys have been completed in 1969, 1977, 1983, 1990, 1995 and 2001--and now 2008. The issue of funding for NHTS is somewhat ironic given its benefits in relation to its costs. While the country is out debating on how to spend trillions of dollars on transportation infrastructure and what we want our country to look like 50 years from now, we have difficulty spending a few million on the information that would help make wise decisions. To conduct the NHTS a total of $6 million was needed. This represents a bare bones approach to conducting the study. Interviews with 25,000 households allowed for detailed population group analyses (e.g. older drivers, new immigrants, teen safety) and area specific reporting including statewide performance measurement, urban/rural comparisons, and analysis of regional trends. Funding for the study was provided by the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, and the AARP. In terms of the Add-ons, a total of 19 States and Metropolitan Planning Organizations "ponied-up" $21 million for 128,000 additional household samples. "Including state and metro participation, this is the largest national household travel survey in the history of the program. We are so excited to see new data and how recent events like gas prices, hybrid vehicles, new immigrants, and baby boomers leaving the workplace are impacting travel choices and overall transportation demand" remarked Contrino. Additional information about the NHTS can be found at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/nhts/index.htm -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461

18 years

Urban Data Committee Annual Meeting Minutes

by Ed Christopher

Attached are the notes and minutes from our recent annual meeting. I owe Catherine Lawson a special thanks for her efforts in working on the committee's strategic plan. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461

18 years, 1 month

Testing TRB Urban Data Committee list serve

by Ed Christopher

If you are getting this you have been added to the "newly created" TRB Urban Data Committee's "friends and members" list serve. Hopefully by having a list serve we can do a better job getting information out to a wider group of people. In the past, under my chairmanship, I will be the first to admit that I did not do such a good job of keeping the Friends email list up and functioning. The listserve should help with that. To post to the list the email address is ABJ30-friends(a)chrispy.net. The software keeps an archive of all posts which can be found at http://www.chrispy.net/pipermail/abj30-friends/. To subscribe or unsubscribe just go to http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/abj30-friends. If you go to the subscribe/unsubscribe page you will see that to log in you will need your subscribed email address and password. The software passwords will be automatically sent out every month and you will have the ability to decide for yourself if you want a monthly reminder. You can always just email me or Catherine Lawson (our new Chair at lawsonc(a)albany.edu) and we can unsubscribe you. Finally, if you post something over 40 meg, you will get a notice that it is being held until the list administrator clears it. This is part of our spam blocking mechanism. You will also get a held notice if you post from an email address that is different from your subscribed email address. Again this it is part of Spam control process. If you have any questions, etc please give me a call or email. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461

18 years, 1 month

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