Statewide Data and Information Systems Committee
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Palmerlee Report to Committees

Palmerlee Report to Committees

 

Staff
Annual Meeting
New Web-based Paper Review System
TRB Begins Offering E-Sessions
2004 Meetings and Conferences
Future Projects
2006 Annual Meeting
Committee Activities
Resources
TRB Critical Issues
2005 Midyear Meeting Plans
TRB Joint Summer Meeting Information
Rotations
Triennial Strategic Plans and Annual Reports
Data and Information Technology Section (ABJ00)
New Task Force Joins ABJ00 to Plan the 2006 NATMEC Conference
Section Web Page
Research Subcommittee
Statistical Committee Initiative with Data Committees
Travel Data Users Forum
Publications
Other
Staff

In August Brian Canepa joined TRB to support me and two other senior program officers.  Brian had previously been a research analyst with Multistate Associates, conducting analyses of state/federal legislation, regulations and budgets. He is currently pursuing his Masters Degree in Urban & Regional Planning with a Transportation emphasis at Virginia Tech.  His position is an upgraded one and his presence has helped me and our committees greatly.  We got Brian assigned to the Hilton Hotel so hopefully you may be able to cross paths with him.

Annual Meeting

New Web-based Paper Review System

A new web-based system was used for the collection and review of proposed papers. Developed by TRB staff, this system is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of TRB. The new system is integrated with the software that was unveiled and used for Annual Meeting program development last year. In addition to being more customized and user friendly, TRB will be saving hundreds of thousands of dollars that would have had to be spent over the next few years to outside contractors.

 

TRB Begins Offering E-Sessions

Recordings of key TRB Annual Meeting and conference sessions complete with PowerPoint presentations are being made available on the TRB website. This service is part of TRB's continuing efforts to make valuable information available to members of our community who may not be able to attend our major meetings and conferences.  The service allows users to select sessions, speakers, and even portions of presentations that they are interested in. Audio recordings are matched with the PowerPoint presentations so that slides advance automatically as the speaker progresses. Selected presentations from the Women's Transportation Issues Conference in November were posted on the TRB website in early December. Approximately a dozen sessions from the TRB 2005 Annual Meeting will be recorded and posted shortly after the meeting, including an all day series of sessions on the global supply chain that was the subject of the TRB Executive Committee's policy session discussion last June.  Be alert for data and information systems opportunities in the future.

 

2004 Meetings and Conferences

May 3, 2004

International Trade Data Workshop

Washington, DC

 

June 13-16, 2004

AASHTO Information Systems Conference, including the Information Systems and Technology Midyear Meeting

 

June 27-30, 2004

North American Travel Monitoring Exposition and Conference (NATMEC) 2004

San Diego, California

Presentations posted on the web site, www.natmec.org

 

July 27-28, 2004

Recommending Standards for Personal Travel Surveys Workshop sponsored by Travel Survey Methods (ABJ40)

 

August 25-27, 2004

Research and Education Section Midyear Meeting including the Library and Information Science for Transportation

Irvine, CA

 

November 1-2, 2004

National Household Travel Survey Conference: Data for Understanding Our Nation's Travel

Washington, DC

e-Circular due in January, 2005

 

Future Projects

May 11-13, 2005

Census Data for Transportation Planning: Preparing for the Future

Irvine, California

Preliminary program available at www.trb.org/conferences/censusdata/.  Applications poster proposals due January 21, 2005

 

July 8-9, 2005

Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) Conference

Boston, Massachusetts

Preliminary program available at http://www.TRB.org/Conferences/CFS.  User applications proposals due January 31, 2005.

 

July 10-12, 2005

TRB Joint Summer Meeting, including the Data and Information Technology Section (ABJ00) Midyear

Boston, Massachusetts

 

tbd

Data Requirements in Transportation Reauthorization Legislation:  What is Included and Impacts on the Data Community

We are waiting for a firm date for passage of the reauthorization legislation before scheduling this meeting.

 

2006 Annual Meeting 

The Technical Activities Division Council will choose Spotlight Themes at their meeting Sunday, January 9th.  Previous themes have included:

  • Security (2002)
  • Security/Congestion/Safety/Reauthorization (2003)
  • Security/Funding/Infrastructure Renewal (2004)
  • Customers (2005)
 
Committee Activities

Resources

The TRB Technical Activities Leadership Guide has been updated for 2005 and is now available for your review and use at:

 

TRB Critical Issues

Mark Norman has related the following information to TRB committee chairs.  The critical tasks for our committees that deal with data systems, tools and methodology will be to determine key roles for data is addressing what will be a short list.

"TRB will be reviewing and updating its "Critical Issues in Transportation 2002" during the coming year. This document can be found at: http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/trnews/2002_critical_issues_article.pdf.  Because of the focus given by our Standing Committees on critical and cross-cutting issues over the last few years, the TRB Executive Committee is requesting input from our Standing Committees as the first step in updating this important document.

Specifically, the TRB Executive Committee would appreciate the following input as it relates to the 14 critical issues contained in the 2002 document:

  1. Should any of the 2002 critical issues that directly relate to the scope of your Committee, Section, or Group be dropped, revised, or reconfigured to make them relevant to today?
  2. Are there any new/updated data and/or rationales that should be included in any of the existing critical issues?
  3. Are there any issues that were not included in the 2002 document that your Committee, Section or Group feels should be added?
  • In making suggestions for new critical issues, please note that critical issues are defined as "important, unresolved aspects of transportation that are national or international in scope, on which there are a variety of viewpoints, for which the impacts of possible actions are uncertain, and for which decisions will be made at the policy level."
  • For any new critical issue that you wish to be considered, please include a brief paragraph that summarizes the issue.
  • Also please note that the number of critical issues that will be included in the updated document is expected to be the same or fewer than in the existing document, so it will not be possible to include all suggestions received.

The schedule for providing our input into the update of the TRB critical issues document is as follows: 

  1. January 9-13: Input is solicited and discussed at Standing Committee, Section and Group Executive Board meetings.
  2. January 31: Chairs of Standing Committees, Sections and Groups that wish to provide input for consideration should do so by this date. Input should be submitted to TRB headquarters (further details on submittals will be provided to you).
  3. February: TRB staff provide the input received from the committees in each Section to the appropriate Section Chair to help synthesize the input received.
  4. March: The TRB Technical Activities Council will review and refine the input.
  5. April: The input will be provided to the TRB Subcommittee on Policy and Program Review (SPPR) for their consideration and discussion at the SPPR Spring meeting.
  6. April - December: The SPPR and the TRB Executive Committee will use the input from our Committees/Sections/Groups to help update the TRB critical issues.

 

2005 Midyear Meeting Plans

 

Cm #

Cm Name

Midyear 2005

Location

Midyear Dates

ABG40

Library & Information Science for Transportation

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

ABJ00

Section--Data & Information Systems

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

ABJ10

National Data Requirements & Programs

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

ABJ20

Statewide Transportation Data

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

ABJ30

Urban Transportation Data

Census for Transportation

Irvine

May 11-13

ABJ40

Travel Survey Methods

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

ABJ50

Information Systems & Technology

AASHTO IS Cf

Baton Rouge

May 15-18

ABJ60

Spatial Data & Information Science

tbd

 

 

ABJ70

Artificial Intelligence

na

 

 

ABJ80

Statistical Methodology .

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

ABJ90

Freight Transportation Data

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

ABJ95T

Task Force on Visualization

Joint Midyear Meeting

Boston

July 10-12

AFB80

Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing,

tbd

Orlando

tbd

AFD30

Highway Traffic Monitoring

na

 

 

 

TRB Joint Summer Meeting Information

Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center, Boston. July 10-12, 2004, starting Sunday afternoon and ending with Tuesday lunch

This year more than 40 committees and task forces will participate, including the Ports and Waterways Committees as at they did at the Portland 2003 meeting.  The program will have a similar structure with previous joint meeting.  The content planning is well underway and won't have much directly relevant to data and information technology.  Two hour time blocks are scheduled for committee meeting.  Assignment to time blocks will happen after the annual meeting.  Alan Pisarski has requested the Data and Information Technology Section meeting early in the program.  Soon after the Annual Meeting, I will need your committee preferences and those committees you don't want to conflict with.

Hotel

Make your reservation for the TRB special rate of $130 (per room, per night, plus 12.45% tax) by using the below information. This rate is available until Friday, June 10, or until the block of rooms is sold out. Rooms are subject to availability and may be at a higher rate after this date.

http://www.seaportboston.com/seabos/Home/HomePage.asp

Reservations: 877-732-7678 (ask for the TRB rate)

Registration

The TRB registration fee has not been finalized.  This information will be made available in March and posted on the TRB Conferences and Workshops website (www.trb.org/calendar)

Transportation Research Board (TRB) is conducting the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) Conference immediately preceding the Joint Midyear on the status, uses, and future of the national Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), a survey of domestic freight shipments is conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Census Bureau.

 

Rotations

Eight of the 11 committees I staff and six of the eight Data and Information Technology Section (ABJ00) committees are now rotating.  Four have gotten a jump start on the rotation and are likely to have TRB approved rotation packages.  Kudos to Brian for getting the rotations processed quickly.  The plan is to bring the appointment letters and forms to the committee meetings so the forms can be completed there and turned in immediately to make the membership official.

For those committees still needing to submit rotation packages, that should be done as soon after the annual meeting so as not be slowed down by the last minute rush.  As you may remember, getting the appointment forms back from members has delayed completing the committee rosters.

 

Status

Cm #

Cm Title

Due 2005

 

 

 

ABG40

Library and Information Science for Transportation

 

ABJ10

National Transportation Data Requirements and Programs

Approved

ABJ20

Statewide Transportation Data and Information Systems

Approved

ABJ30

Urban Transportation Data and Information Systems

Approved

ABJ40

Travel Survey Methods

Submitted

ABJ60

Spatial Data and Information Science

 

ABJ70

Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing Applications

 

ABJ80

Statistical Methodology and Statistical Computer Software in Transportation Research (staffed by Rick Pain)

 

AFB80

Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Surveying and Related Automated Systems Committee

Due 2006

 

 

 

ABJ90

Freight Transportation Data

Due 2007

 

 

 

ABJ50

Information Systems and Technology

 

AFD30

Highway Traffic Monitoring Committee

 

Triennial Strategic Plans and Annual Reports

The Technical Activities Division is moving to Triennial Strategic Plans (TSP) for committee.  New procedures for AB000 can be found on the Data and Information Technology Section (ABJ00) web site at http://www.trb.org/committees/datasection/. Annual committee reports will compile routine information for committees.  Brian Canepa is working on testing the new format out in order to prepare reports for committee chairs.  The following is the schedule for TSPs.  While those committees just completing TSEs last year won't have to do plans for several years, implementing a planning process makes great sense.  The idea for the Policy and Organization Group (AB000) is to have all committees conducting planning at the same time in order to identify gaps and overlaps and make appropriate adjustments.

 

Due March

ABJ50

Information Systems and Technology

ABJ60

Spatial Data and Information Science

ABJ80

Statistical Methodology and Statistical Computer Software in Transportation Research

ABJ90

Freight Transportation Data

Due March, 2006

AFB30

Highway Traffic Monitoring Committee

Due March, 2007

AFD30

Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Surveying and Related Automated Systems Committee

Due March, 2008

ABG40

Library and Information Science for Transportation

ABJ10

National Transportation Data Requirements and Programs

ABJ20

Statewide Transportation Data and Information Systems

ABJ30

Urban Transportation Data and Information Systems

ABJ40

Travel Survey Methods

ABJ70

Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing Applications

 

Data and Information Technology Section (ABJ00)

New Task Force Joins ABJ00 to Plan the 2006 NATMEC Conference

A new task force, chaired by Jonette Kreideweis, has been approved to implement planning for the 2006 North American Travel Monitoring Exposition and Conference (NATMEC). Jonette joins Mike Manore of the Task Force on Visualization in Transportation (ABJ95T) as members of the Data Section.

Section Web Page

See the section web site at http://www.trb.org/committees/datasection/.  This web site was implemented in 2004 to help chairs coordinate their Annual Meeting planning and has morphed into a general purpose resource for the committees within the section. 

Research Subcommittee

The section has established a subcommittee composed of the committee research coordinators and chairs or research subcommittee chairs.  Jim Hall of the University of Illinois and the Statewide Transportation Data and Information Systems chair this group.  Representatives from six committees had an initial conference call on December 9th to determine the current practices for research activities.  The Subcommittee will meet on Wednesday morning of the Annual Meeting.  The agenda for that meeting is:

  • Discuss the ideas from the call.
  • Develop mission and plan for what the subcommittee will do, within the section and outside.
  • Report on committee discussions relating to research and roles.

 

Statistical Committee Initiative with Data Committees

The statistics committee is initiating a dialogue with data committees (including the NATMEC conference planning committee) about how they can work together more closely.  Mike Griffith, the statistics committee chair, is hosting an informal breakfast at the Annual Meeting to continue the discussion. 

Travel Data Users Forum

Monday, January 10, 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM, Hilton

The Travel Data Users Forum is a new Annual Meeting activity designed to provide a venue for the presentation and discussion of important or emerging issues regarding passenger travel data. Specific goals include fostering dialogue among all providers and users of passenger travel data; identifying sources of representative and generalizable local and national surveys with passenger travel data; providing a venue to identify and discuss emerging issues in the collection and analysis of travel data including data gaps, technological advancements, data issues, analytic and statistical techniques, and any additional topics related to work with these data; encouraging interaction among the variety of professionals involved with passenger travel data, including academics, governmental agencies, urban planners, and environmental researchers. This first forum will focus on four national data sets: National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP), Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), and FactFinder (Census Bureau).

 

Publications

National Household Travel Survey Conference: Data for Understanding Our Nation's Travel

Proceedings

1/6/05

This summarize the sessions at a November 1-2, 2004 conference that discussed the uses for the 2001 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and provide input on the design of future national household travel surveys.

 

55 - Geographic Information Systems Applications in Transit

This report synthesizes the experiences of a variety of transit agencies, with information provided from small-and medium-sized transit operators, as well as from large transit agencies.  It documents current practices, effective applications, and challenges.

 

335 - Pavement Management Applications Using Geographic Information Systems

12/14/2004

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 335: Pavement Management Applications Using Geographic Information Systems examines the state of the practice and knowledge of pavement management systems (PMS) using geographic information systems (GIS) and other spatial technologies, and discusses how the technologies have been combined to enhance the highway management process. The synthesis reviews the principal issues related to PMS data collection, integration, management, and dissemination; applications of spatial technologies for map generation and PMS spatial analysis; and implementation-related issues, including approaches used for integrating PMS and GIS and the different tools used to support pavement management decisions.

 

Geospatial Information Infrastructure for Transportation Organizations

8/12/2004

TRB Conference Proceedings 31: Geospatial Information Infrastructure for Transportation Organizations -- Toward a Foundation for Improved Decision Making summarizes the importance of geospatial information in decision making and the committee's recommendations resulting from three workshops held in 2002.  Also included are selected current practices, trends in decision-making tools, and a detailed discussion of the committee's findings and recommendations related to geospatial information infrastructure.

 

Environmental Spatial Information for Transportation: A Peer Exchange on Partnerships

7/19/2004

TRB Conference Proceedings on the Web 1 -- Environmental Spatial Information Transportation: A Peer Exchange on Partnerships summarizes a June 23-24, 2003, workshop held in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.  The workshop was designed to document lessons learned by early adopters of innovative environmental data-sharing practices.  In addition to a summary of state team presentations and discussions on development of environmental databases, the report includes a short list of workshop follow-on activities and responses to questions designed to help summarize important dimensions of data-sharing.

 

Data Requirements in Transportation Reauthorization Legislation

5/7/2004

TRB's Transportation Research Circular E-C064 -- Data Requirements in Transportation Reauthorization Legislation: What Is Included and Impacts on the Data Community highlights a TRB conference held on November, 19, 2003, in Washington, DC, that examined data issues associated with the programmatic proposals being considered for surface transportation reauthorization legislation, including new and expanded requirements that states and metropolitan planning organizations are likely to face when new legislation is enacted.

 

Transportation Data Research

4/29/2004

TRB's Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 1855 highlights development of a commodity flow database from transearch data, a hybrid model for dynamic travel-time prediction, and a system for collecting loop-detector event data for individual vehicles. An assessment of data-collection techniques for highway agencies and an evaluation of an artificial neural network technique applied to multiple-sensor weigh-in-motion systems also are included.

 

Freight Analysis Framework: Issues and Plans

3/31/2004

A draft plan for updates and improvements to the Federal Highway Administration's Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) is available for comment until the end of April. The plan outlines a series of projects to create a new family of FAF products, enhance underlying data, and establish a research agenda for developing future data sources and modeling techniques.

 

Data Partnerships: Making Connections for Effective Transportation Planning

3/18/2004

TRB Transportation Research Circular E-C061: Data Partnerships: Making Connections for Effective Transportation Planning is the proceedings of a peer exchange held on May 21, 2003, in Duck Key, Florida. The meeting addressed some of the benefits and challenges facing the development of transportation data partnerships.

 

Quality and Accuracy of Positional Data in Transportation

1/26/2004

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 506: Quality and Accuracy of Positional Data in Transportation presents guidance for practitioners on the use of positional, or spatial, data in Geographic Information Systems for transportation applications.

 

Initiatives in Information Technology and Geospatial Science for Transportation

1/2/2004

TRB's Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 1836 includes information on the uses of light detection and ranging technology to speed up highway location and design activities (in conjunction with photogrammetric mapping) and to collect highway intersection safety information. Also examined are approaches to optimize traffic information services and short-term traffic prediction, as well as methods to store and retrieve intelligent transportation system data more efficiently.

 

Other

Pat Hu of Oak Ridge National Lab and chair of the National Transportation Data Requirements and Programs has been selected to serve on the National Research Council (NRC) study Planning for Catastrophe: A Blueprint for Improving Geospatial Data, Tools, and Infrastructure.

The National Academies Geographic Information Center

Decision makers from the federal level to the state level to town engineers and resource managers rely on geographic information to help them make better decisions, and the use of geographic information is increasing as both its availability and ease of use improve.  The National Academies has many activities on the use of geographic information, and introduces its new Geographic Information Center online at http://gi.nationalacademies.org.  The website provides updates on current activities and brings together all of the Academies reports on geographic information, organized by topic area. The site features case studies and other highlights of the reports, which are readable and searchable online for free.