On Thursday, December 15, 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s ITS Joint Program Office will host a “Talking Technology and Transportation” webinar from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT. The free webinar will focus on systems engineering for Adaptive Signal Control Technology (ASCT) and how this technology advances the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Every Day Counts initiative. Experiences implementing ASCT and how system engineering assisted in important decisions that affected technology selection, system operation, and procurement will also be discussed.

On Tuesday, November 29, 2011, the National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) will host a “Planning for Operations” webinar from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT. The free event will provide transportation planners and operators examples of how to develop and apply regional operations objectives and how multiple agencies can work together to accomplish agreed upon regional operations objectives.

On November 16, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations and the Office of Planning will host a “Talking Freight” webinar on measuring freight performance from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT. This free webinar will focus on tools being developed to measure the performance of freight and freight related infrastructure on the transportation system.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASTO) recently launched the System Operation and Management (SOM) Guidance website. The website provides transportation planners and operations program managers tools to evaluate agency capabilities in roadway system operations and management. A self-evaluation is also available to tailor guidance based on individual agency needs and current agency capabilities.

The National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) will host a “Planning for Operations” webinar on the regional concept for transportation operations (RCTO). The webinar will give an introduction to what a RCTO is and will provide real-world experiences of agencies that have successfully developed and implemented an RCTO. The free webinar will take place on November 1, 2011, from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT.

A draft report released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) helps agencies develop systems engineering documents for the evaluation and selection of an effective adaptive signal control technology (ASCT) systems. The report will assist in evaluating the current signal operation, determine if ASCT will correct the issues, and then decide which ASCT system should be deployed. A set of templates are also provided to help to prepare a set of requirements and specifications for ASCT systems or it could identify that the agency is not prepared or capable of operating ASCT systems.

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) released the report “Operational and Institutional Agreements that Facilitate Regional Traffic Signal Operations.” This report provides successful strategies and examples of regional traffic signal operations programs (RTSOPs) around the country. RTSOPs are proven tools to improve traffic flow throughout the region. The report also discusses operational and institutional agreements and how to sustain an effective RTSOP.

A new report by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides examples of validated work zone performance measures and required data for metric calcuation.  The report is designed to assist states’ departments of transportation to understand and use a set of well-defined performance metrics to evaluate the performance of work zones.  The performance measures were created from U.S. work zone projects.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will conduct a free webinar on a proposed rule on compliance dates for the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The webinar will cover information regarding the proposed rule’s definition of standard statements, the use of engineering judgment, and compliance dates for the 2009 edition of the MUTCD. It will take place on September 15,2011, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. CT and the webinar will be repeated September 22 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. CT. Registration is required 24 hours prior to the start of each webinar.

Dynamic message signs (DMS) are used by transportation operating agencies to communicate traffic information to motorists. A webinar, hosted by the Federal Highway Administration’s Traffic Management Center Pooled Fund Study, will focus on the importance of consistent and effective DMS message design for highway traffic incidents and work zones. The webinar will also cover DMS message format, reading time, and legibility. The free webinar will take place on September 14, 2011, from 11:00 a.m. to noon CT.

On September 20, 2011, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will host a workshop, “The Role of Road Pricing in Supporting Funding and Regional Goals: Integrating Pricing in Metropolitan Transportation Plans,” in Chicago at the O’Hare Airport Hilton from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. The workshop will cover many topics regarding road pricing, including funding, environmental, and livability goals. The workshop will also discuss different approaches for advancing public acceptance of road pricing and how to plan for effective road pricing strategies with diverse transportation investment strategies. Registration for the workshop can be found on-line. For more information, contact Myron Swisher (Forrest.M.Swisher@saic.com).

In a recent Chicago Tribune article, Jon Hilkevitch reported on the operation of the Kennedy Expressway’s reversible express lanes. The article discussed some of the data the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) uses to help guide decisions on when to switch the direction of the express lanes, and the issues IDOT faces in its operations. With 343,000 vehicles per day in some locations, the Kennedy Expressway is one of Chicago’s most congested freeways.

The Federal Highway Administration will host a workshop “Managing Traffic Demand to Address Congestion” in Chicago on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. The workshop will focus on new transportation demand management (TDM) strategies such as mode choice, time choice (time of day tolls), location choice (telecommuting), and lane choice (HOT/HOV/Free). The workshop will also provide successful examples of TDM and tools and resources available to help integrate TDM into the planning process. For more information and to register for the workshop, please visit http://mtdworkshopchicago.eventbrite.com.

Tomorrow, the National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) will host a “Planning for Operations” webinar on forming interagency agreements for regional transportation operations. The webinar will help transportation planners and operators at all levels advance collaboration through regional transportation operations agreements. The webinar will also provide real world examples of multi-agency agreements, how they work, and the lessons learned from these agreements. 

The free webinar will take place on August 16, 2011, from noon to 1:30 p.m. central time.

On August 31, 2001, the International Parking Institute (IPI) and the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) will host a summit on parking management techniques and technologies in Chicago. The summit will explore topics on parking management such as optimizing on-street parking, revenue strategies, business development, policy development, and more. For more information, contact Michele Amaya (540-371-7535 or amaya@parking.org).

The National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) will conduct a free “Planning for Operations” webinar on August 2, 2011, from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT. The webinar, “Statewide Opportunities for Integrating Operations, Safety, and Multimodal Planning,” will cover the FHWA’s reference manual on this topic. The webinar will also cover real-world lessons learned of integrating these functions to improve investment decisions. The webinar is expected to help state and local agencies coordinate efforts in a multimodal context.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Offices of Operations and Innovative Program Delivery will host a webinar on dynamic ridesharing and congestion pricing. This webinar is part of a series that cover the challenges of implementing congestion pricing. Advances in technologies are allowing dynamic ridesharing and congestion pricing to be a feasible solution to relieving congestion. The development and implementation of dynamic ridesharing programs from State departments of transportation and other agencies will be shared. Examples of successful practices and lessons learned will also be presented.

The free webinar will take place on July 28, 2011, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. central time.
 

The National Highway Institute (NHI) will sponsor a webinar on the 2011 Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grants program. The TIGER Discretionary Grants program was created to quickly create and preserve jobs and encourage economic activity. The program provides funding to states, cities, local governments, and other partnerships for projects that have a major impact on the nation, a metropolitan area, or a region. The webinar will be a brief introduction to the program, selection criteria, evaluations, and the application process.

The free webinar will take place on July 27, 2011, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. central time.
 

A factsheet, released by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), examines the effect of traffic probe data on traffic signal operations through the concept of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) cooperation. With the growing availability of traffic probe data, transportation professionals can improve mobility, safety, and air quality through the optimization of traffic signals along arterial routes. Mobility along arterial routes can be improved by using real-time information to predict traffic, travel time, and number of stopped vehicles. From this data, traffic operators can create ideal traffic signal timing schemes to reduce the amount of delay a driver experiences along arterial routes. Intersection geometry and the ability to detect other vehicles in the area by using connected vehicle data can greatly improve the safety along arterial routes and intersections. The air quality can improve by optimizing signal phasing and timing to reduce fuel consumption and lower emissions.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will sponsor a free webinar about the Traffic Incident Management Performance Metrics Adoption Campaign. The webinar will give an overview of the campaign and introduce the national Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Performance Measurement Database. It will also provide a demonstration on how to use the database and present example data and reports from participating metro areas.


The free webinar will take place on Thursday, July 14, 2011, at 1:00 p.m. CST.