COR is a committee of the Transportaiton Research Board
COR serves to increase the quality and effectiveness of transportation research Read More>>
As always, we are interested in expanding this newsletter to include items of interest to researchers, research administrators, and others. Submit ideas and articles to Jason Bittner at bittner@engr.wisc.edu. If you prefer not to receive this newsletter, please email me.
As an organizational tool, here is how this newsletter is divided:
I've just learned about a new resource that's sure to be of interest to the transportation research community. It's called TLCat, the Transportation Libraries Catalog. It's a new online treasure trove of transportation-related research and information designed to complement TRB's TRIS Online. The service has been developed by the National Transportation Library and the Midwest Transportation Knowledge Network (MTKN) in collaboration with the OCLC Online Computer Library Center.
TLCat is a service that combines the library catalogs of the nation's leading transportation libraries including:
As demonstrated to me, TLCat makes these libraries' nearly 300,000 information resources accessible with only a few clicks of your mouse. The contents of the database have been selected by professional librarians, and have been chosen for their importance to the transportation industry, so searches will be faster and easier, and results will be much more relevant than with a broad Internet search.
TLCat is searchable by anyone with Internet access. The search results will either provide you with links to online documents or show you which library owns each item. A growing number of items in TLCat are linked to online, full-text publications that can be downloaded and printed. Most resources listed in TLCat are available for loan to transportation practitioners.
Visit the Web sites of the National Transportation Library (http://ntl.bts.gov) or the MTKN (www.mtkn.org) to access TLCat. Your organization's transportation library may also make it available on its Web site.
I want to offer a special thanks to Arlene Mathison, CTS librarian, for her help in educating me about this new resource. If you'd like additional information, please contact Arlene at 612-624-3646, library@cts.umn.edu.
A summary of the January meeting is posted at http://www.mrutc.org/COR. The committee outlined several components of a strategic plan and committee members and friends volunteered to work on these activities. To review your assignments, please see the meeting summary.
The committee will meet on August 25-27th during the Research and Education Section mid-year meeting in Irvine, California at the National Academies' Beckman Center. Complete details and registration information are available on the website http://www.TRB.org/Conferences/Research.
Key Dates to Remember:
Meeting Registration: Sunday, July 25 for reduced fee
Hotel Registration: Sunday, Aug 1 for reduced rate
Meeting Dates and Time: Weds., Aug. 25 @ 2:00 PM (registration begins at Noon) and concluding Friday, Aug. 27 @ 12:00 Noon.
A related event of interest, Performance Measures to Improve Transportation Systems: Second National Conference, will be held August 22-24 immediately prior to our meeting at the Beckman Center. Members and friends may want to consider attending this along with the section mid-year meeting
Over 9300 people attended the 83rd Annual Meeting in January, making it one of the largest to date. Technical Activities Director Mark Norman reported that the number of papers submitted for the Annual Meeting was at an all-time high and that the acceptance rate for the Transportation Research Record document is between 25-30%. This is a sustainable level and seems appropriate for the volume of papers received. Many papers are now being accepted for poster sessions in lieu of presentation due to the lack of time and space.
The committee sponsored two sessions: Session 506 : Information Bridge Across the Organization: Knowledge Management and Human Resources and Session 547: Communicating the Value of Research: Information Continuum. Several presentations from these sessions are available through this link: http://www.mrutc.org/COR.
The committee also co-sponsored Session 232: Preparing for a Future Strategic Highway Research Program (F-SHRP) and its companion session Session 271: Preparing for a Future Strategic Highway Research Program (F-SHRP), Part 2. Details on these sessions are available through the TRB Website.
In the fall of 2003, the Conduct of Research Committee received 4 papers for review as a result of TRB's annual call for papers. TRB was only able to publish about 25% of all the papers received in the Transportation Research Record. Since we felt that other papers reviewed by our committee included valuable information that could be useful to our readers, our newsletter will be used to disseminate these papers. Below is a summary of one paper that was presented at the Annual Meeting. The full paper can be viewed through our website at http://www.mrutc.org/COR/RizviHoodAlbright.doc.
Rais Rizvi, Jacqueline N. Hood, & David P. Albright
Research can provide direct benefits to Departments of Transportation, the traveling public, transportation policy-makers, and transportation employees. Obtaining value from research is important to Departments of Transportation because the potential outcomes of research are critical for improving service. In an era of scarce resources with increasing pressure for accountability, the importance of developing sound means to determine effective investment in research becomes increasingly critical. This research discusses the data collection and analysis process for determining the efficacy of research projects and the products that are produced from each project. The paper then compares four methods of analysis for research projects, including the payback method, return on investment, net present value, and the real options approach. Each method is fully discussed, with a determination of the benefits and drawbacks of each method. An example is used to illustrate the outcomes of each method for a research product. Recommendations for research managers are also provided.
As always, please forward any leads for new members to Membership Subcommittee Chair Sue McNeil.
Results from the May 2003 workshop were distributed at the midyear meeting. A copy is available at http://gulliver.trb.org/conferences/DIW/. The final product from this workshop was designed to incorporate the May session information with discussions at the September committee meetings for Technology Transfer and Conduct of Research. The resulting Action Plan, developed through the small groups sessions, will be published this summer as an E-circular through TRB.
Michael Bonini was appointed to the Conduct of Research Committee in late 2003. He is responsible for the development, administration, and management of PENNDOT's annual Research program. On average, the annual program is $7,000,000 and contains 40+ projects per year. In this capacity, Michael is responsible for coordinating all of the research requests from each deputy secretary and district executive from across PENNDOT's 11 engineering districts and central office bureaus.
Michael's unit within PENNDOT Research is developing an implementation program geared at deployment and adoption of new technologies generated via the research program.
Michael coaches little league baseball and has managed the past 3 summers in the Harrisburg Suburban Little League, and he conducts year-round workout sessions for the players. When not on the baseball diamond, Michael can be found on a trout stream or in Pittsburgh watching the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. Michael currently resides in Dillsburg, PA, home of the annual New Year's Eve Dill Pickle Drop featuring the world's best (and probably only) chocolate covered pickles!
Michael served as a friend of the committee for 2 years prior to his appointment and is very willing to provide a perspective from one of the larger and more pro-active state DOT's.
COR Committee member Debra Elston has been named the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Director for Research, Technology, and Innovation Deployment within the Office of Research, Development, and Technology. Ms. Elston is currently a Team Leader in the FHWA's Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty (PE&R). In addition to her four years of experience within PE&R, Debra has served as a media specialist in the Resource Center, as a legislative liaison in the Office of Highway Safety, and as a strategic planning/organizational excellence manager and safety investigator in the Office of Motor Carriers. In this position at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, Ms. Elston will provide support to the FHWA Research and Technology Leadership Team in addressing the 26 Agency Commitments in the FHWA Corporate Master Plan for Research and Deployment of Technology & Innovation. Congratulations Deb!!
Communications subcommittee chair Jason Bittner is always looking for items of interest for inclusion in this newsletter. Please forward comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Dave Johnson for coming up with the name for this publication.
Subcommittee chair Sue McNeil is soliciting help from committee members to assist targeting additional new members for the committee. As noted last time, there are currently no private sector partners on the committee membership and there is little modal representation.
Subcommittee Chair Monique Evans is working on a final draft of the strategic plan based on discussions at the Annual Meeting. Thanks to all who expressed interest in working in the many areas.
The Kansas Department of Transportation recently improved its ability to rapidly disseminate and manage its many research documents. KDOT's Research Reports Catalog web site currently includes about 300 full text KDOT reports. This allows many people to have simultaneous access to documents and allows for better communication between the central office and district personnel. Conduct of Research Committee Member Dick McReynolds adds that any COR members who would like to be added to the distribution list announcing new publications should contact him.
KDOT currently sends the quarterly announcements to the National AASHTO Research Advisory Committee (RAC), special libraries association and LIST committee listservs and some others.
KDOT worked over 2002-2003 year to create a digital copy of certain holdings in their Library. The collection is stored on KDOT's agency document management system. A search engine is completed to facilitate access to the Catalog. A direct link to the KDOT web site is at: http://www.ksdot.org/burmatrres/kdotlib2.asp. It is also prominently linked from the KDOT homepage at www.ksdot.org.
McReynolds explored the electronic documentation option after having many requests for such options. The ability to rapidly get information into the hands of those who can use it remains a goal of the Conduct of Research committee.
For more information on the KDOT project, please contact Dick McReynolds.
The reorganization of TRB's committee structure is complete. The Conduct of Research Committee is part of the Research and Education Section under the Policy and Management Group. The Research and Education Section also includes the Committees on Transportation History, Transportation Education and Training, Technology Transfer, and the Library and Information Services for Transportation (LIST). This section is chaired by Conduct of Research Committee Member Wes Lum of California Department of Transportation. Past COR chair Bill Carr is the Vice-Chair of the Section.
From Wes Lum (Section Chair):
Greetings from Caleeforneeya (as Arnold would say),
I'm looking forward to our first Research and Education Section Meeting. We have an important meeting agenda that can facilitate our future committee and professional effectiveness. I hope to see you there.
I'm also sending you additional information for you and your family should you wish to take advantage of the significant tourist opportunities. I was raised in this area (Laguna Beach) and can recommend a variety of fun, interesting and educational activities. Irvine (Beckman Center at the University of California, Irvine) and Newport Beach (Hotel) are in southern Orange County. I recommend you check the city convention and visitor bureaus. Los Angeles and San Diego are to the north and south, respectively, and have many attractions.
I'm looking forward to a productive and enjoyable meeting with you.
Wes Lum, Chair
TRB Research and Education Section
Although both the House and Senate have passed reauthorization bills by large margins (H.R. 3055 and S. 1072), progress on reconciling the two measures through conference committee has been delayed. The administration has reiterated its threat to veto if Congress increases highway and transit investment beyond the flat-line six-year program outlined in the President's FY 2005 Budget. A 2-month extension of the current TEA-21 authorization (already extended 7 months) was passed extending funding through the first 9 months of FY04.
The Senate named conferees in mid-May and the House named conferees on June 3rd. The conference committee met first on June 9th with the next meeting scheduled for June 23rd. It is unlikely that any compromise legislation is available before the June 30th deadline attached to the current 2-month extension.
For the 2005 TRB Annual Meeting, the Committee on Technology Transfer will be co-sponsoring three workshops/sessions. For two of these sessions, the Committee has issued a Call of Papers with submittals due August 1, 2004. Contact the appropriate listed person for more details. The session topics are:
1. Sunday Workshop: "Technology Transfer Strategies for Implementing the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide." Contact: Dr. Kevin D Hall, University of Arkansas, Phone: 479-575-8695, Fax: 479-575-7168, Email: kdh3@engr.uark.edu
2. Session: "Managing Publications and Data on the Web: Intellectual Property, Access, and Preservation." Contact: Arlene Mathison, University of Minnesota, Phone: 612-624-3646, Fax: 612-625-3381, E-mail: amathison@cts.umn.edu.
The Winter 2004 Newsletter for the Office of Research and Development is now posted. The newsletter is available at: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/divplan/research/newsletter/newsletters.htm
July 18-21 , Mystic Hilton, Mystic, Connecticut. For more information: http://www4.nas.edu/trb/scor/SCORmain.nsf/
July 25-27, 2004 , Grand Summit Hotel & Conference Center, Park City, Utah. For more information: http://www.trb.org/Conferences/Midyear/.
August 22-24, 2004 , Beckman Center, Irvine, California. For information: http://www.TRB.org/Conferences/Performance
August 25-27, 2004 , Beckman Center, Irvine, California. For information: http://www.TRB.org/Conferences/Research
3.5 days, Dates TBD , Location TBD.
September 9, 2004 , Marriott-Copley Place, Boston, Massachusetts.
Scientific Approaches to Transportation Research Volumes 1 and 2 , NCHRP Project 20-45 , Available online at http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/nchrp/cd-22/start.htm
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 2003 Summary of Progress , Available online at http://www4.trb.org/trb/crp.nsf/reference/boilerplate/Attachments/$file/NCHRPAnnual2003.pdf.