Resource Needs of Transportation Professionals

1. Resource Needs of Transportation Professionals Transportation Division of the Special Libraries Association July 15, 2012 Erik Cempel, PE

2. Agenda • Typical Needs • Examples of Typical Resources • Example Problems and Resources

3. Typical Needs

4. What are YOUR needs? • Who works at a university-affiliated library? State DOT? Others? • In your experience, what folks in the transportation realm are you dealing with the most? Planners or engineers? Agency staff, consultants, or students? Are there specific modes that are more frequently asked about? • Do folks come to you with a specific resource in mind, or with a question they’re hoping you can help them answer? What are some typical questions?

5. When will I need to find resources? • Various stages of the planning cycle • Planning framework, policy development • Visioning/long range planning • Corridor planning/alternatives analysis • Various stages of the project delivery lifecycle • Environmental review • Design and engineering • Operations

6. Why will I need to find resources? • Different region, state, or country • What planning or design principals do they use? • What are local laws and regulations that may impact the project? • Unknown approach or question I need to answer • Unknown to me • Generally unknown in the region • Data not readily or obviously available

7. Types of Questions I Might Ask • What have other agencies done? Are there examples in practice? Are there before and after data? • How did the other agency get to its final conclusion or result – what was the process? • Any research, papers, presentations that can help formulate an approach?

8. General Types of Needed Content

9. General Types of Formats and Providers • Format • text reports • photographs and video • plans and drawings • geocoded databases • printed materials • spreadsheets • microfilm • maps • raw data (e.g., traffic counts) • Providers • TRB (TRR, CRP) • AASHTO • ITE, ASCE • FHWA, EPA, FTA, FRA • state DOTs, MPOs, county/local • transit agencies • NGOs (CNT) • international: • foreign agencies • development banks • PIARC • European Commission (TRIP)

10. Examples of Typical Resources

11. Project Information • Useful as: • Examples from other regions • Understand a region’s approach to design, modeling, etc. for further work in that region • Build on previous work or utilize data and tools • Every project had a unique set of original data, tools, analyses • Not always easy to track down beyond just the final report

12. System Condition + Inventory • Traffic, Safety, Asset Condition Data – Core of Most Analyses • Some data from national level • Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) • National Bridge Inventory (NBI) • States and regions usually have their own – often more detailed – data as well • Historical data is often important for trends

13. System Condition/Performance Good to Great Strategic Plan and Annual Report New Mexico DOT 2007 Annual Attainment Report Maryland DOT Business Plan 2004 & 2005 Ohio Department of Transportation State of the System 2005 Bay Area Transportation Tracker Missouri Department of Transportation Dashboard Virginia Department of Transportation Measures, Markers and Mileposts Washington State Department of Transportation

14. Socioeconomic Data • Population, Employment – minimum for building a travel model • Economic impacts and freight movement now standard analysis. Need: • Employment by industry • Economic output by industry • Salaries and wages • Commodity flows • Historical and forecasts when available • National sources: Census, BEA, BLS • Some proprietary datasets: Woods & Poole, Global Insight • Many other disparate sources at the state and local level

15. Research • National TRB-sponsored research – cooperative research programs • Other research papers from: • AASHTO • ITE, ASCE, other industry organizations • FHWA, FTA, EPA, and other Federal agencies • Universities • Research centers, think tanks, and NGOs (CNT, CNU, BPC, Reason) • TRR • Conference proceedings

16. Manuals/Textbooks • National design and planning manuals: • Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) • AASHTO Highway Safety Manual (HSM) • ITE Trip Generation Manual • AASHTO A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (Green Book) • Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) • ITE Transportation Planning Handbook • State-specific design manuals • Textbooks on statistics, engineering principals, etc.

17. Manuals/TextbooksHighway Capacity Manual • Integrated multimodal approach to the analysis and evaluation of urban streets from the points of view of automobile drivers, transit passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians • Addresses the proper application of micro-simulation analysis and the evaluation of those results • Examines active traffic management in relation to both demand and capacity • Explores specific tools and generalized service volume tables to assist planners in quickly sizing future facilities

18. Manuals/TextbooksHighway Safety Manual • Methods for developing an effective roadway safety management program and evaluating its effects: • Identify sites with potential for safety improvement • Diagnose conditions at the sites • Identify and prioritize potential treatments • A predictive method to estimate crash frequency and severity • A catalog of crash modification factors (CMFs) for a variety of geometric and operational treatment types

19. Manuals/TextbooksITE Trip Generation Manual • Two data volumes with • land use descriptions(162) • trip generation rates • equations • Useful for: • site impact studies • determining on-site circulation patterns • performing access management studies • determining traffic signal timing • conducting environmental assessments

20. Manuals/TextbooksA Policy on Geometric Design of Highways & Streets • Current design research and practices for highway and street geometric design. • “Provides guidance to highway engineers and designers who strive to make unique design solutions that meet the needs of highway users while maintaining the integrity of the environment.” • Guidelines by functional classification for: • Highway Functions • Design Controls and Criteria • Elements of Design • Cross-Section Elements • Intersections and Interchanges

21. Manuals/TextbooksITE/CNU Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares • Illustrates best practices for the creation and implementation of walkable, mixed-use streets, including: • The importance of integrating the principles of CSS in urban roadway improvement projects • How CSS principles can be used in the transportation planning and project development processes • Specific guidance on thoroughfare cross-section and intersection design • Consistent with the Green Book, which identifies design controls and establishes design criteria

22. Manuals/TextbooksManual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices • “Standards used by road managers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all public streets, highways, bikeways, and private roads open to public traffic.” • road markings • highway signs • traffic signals

23. Manuals/TextbooksITE Transportation Planning Handbook • Basic information • legal framework • urban travel characteristics and modeling • environmental considerations • land use and urban design • evaluation and prioritization methods • asset management • Application in • Statewide, corridor, metropolitan, rural and tribal contexts • activity centers, transportation terminals, and recreational areas. • Strategies for • transit, operations, parking, safety, freight and pedestrians/bicycles

24. Example Problems and Resources

25. Types of Questions I Might Ask - Example • FHWA & AASHTO – National Performance-Based Program • Measures and targets • Process and progression (e.g., legislation, rules, timeframe) • Integration into planning and intergovernmental relationship • Necessary information and sources: • Best practices in the US and abroad • Past FHWA, AASHTO, NCHRP reviews • State/MPO plans and dashboards • Performance management in other sectors • Reports from other government agencies • Business school literature • Actual technical implementation in the US • Data from national datasets like HPMS, NBI, FARS, FPMWeb • Information from research papers like NCHRP reports on asset management or comparative performance measurement

26. Types of Questions I Might Ask - Example • Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority • Develop a new agency, identify structure and powers • In line with new regional transit plan • Necessary information and sources: • Legislation from IN and other states • Board structure of existing agencies and other agencies • Newspaper articles or other media to help track how existing structure came about – e.g., ballot measures • Population, size, and other data from Census to benchmark regions • Transit system extent and usage data from NTD

27. Questions?