TRB Conduct of Research Committee Newsletter

Winter 2003 — Second Issue

This is the second edition of the Transportation Research Board Conduct of Research Committee newsletter. We've added a number of new members to the distribution list and we hope that you find the contents worthwhile.

We still are an unnamed publication. Please tell us what you think and feel free to contribute ideas, articles, or other information.

As an organizational tool, here is how this newsletter is divided:

Committee Chair Column
This section features comments from the current chair of the committee, Laurie McGinnis, including her vision for running the committee and other issues.
Committee Activities
This section will feature upcoming events that the Committee has sponsored, meeting information, and other relevant matters to Committee work.
TRB & Other Important Related News
This section will detail important new publications, opportunities for comment on works, and other related information.
Upcoming Events
This section will highlight upcoming Calls for Papers and conferences of interest to the Research community.

From the Chair

Happy Holidays! Within a few weeks, we will be assembling in Washington DC for the TRB Annual Meeting. I look forward to seeing you there and to building on the effort we began at the mid-year meeting to update our committee's strategic goals for the next several years. Details about the annual meeting, including time and location of the Conduct of Research Committee meeting and the four sessions sponsored by our committee are provided below in the Committee Activities section.

I want to offer a special thank you to Monique Evans, Chair of the Strategic Planning Subcommittee, who guided us through a strategic planning exercise at the meeting in Woods Hole. Monique led a lively, participative discussion of our committee's strengths and weaknesses, followed by identification of threats and opportunities facing us. During the second half of our two-day meeting, we brainstormed ideas and strategies for activities that would address those threats and opportunities, utilizing our strengths. Monique is preparing a summary of the work done by the group who attended the mid-year meeting and this will be distributed during the first week in January, prior to the annual meeting.

Some of the strategic goals that emerged from the mid-year meeting include the following: 1) establish formal liaisons to key groups such as AASHTO RAC and the research subcommittees of other TRB committees, 2) expand the Conduct of Research Newsletter to appeal to a broader audience and provide information needed by the research community in areas such as funding sources, communication strategies, etc., 3) provide information on research strategies and 4) develop training related to robust research principles.

Those who were able to attend the mid-year meeting deserve kudos for their hard work in creating the nucleus of the strategic plan. It is important, though, that all committee members and friends have the opportunity to provide input to the plan. So, during the January committee meeting, we will hear a brief presentation of the summary and then allow some time for feedback and discussion. I am anxious to move forward based on a strategic plan that is supported by the full committee and I am optimistic that we will be able to finalize the strategic plan shortly after the annual meeting.

Having a strategic plan is really just the beginning. The committee will want to undertake specific activities to accomplish the goals laid out in the plan. I look forward to tapping into the talents and expertise of committee members and friends to accomplish these activities over the next several years. There will be some hard work ahead, but we'll make sure we have fun, as well.

Have a happy holiday season and we'll see you in the new year.

Committee Activities

Mid-Year Meeting

The Conduct of Research Committee met with the Committee on Technology Transfer at the J. Erik Johnson Woods Hole Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts on September 10, 11, and 12. Meeting materials and a summary are available at www.mrutc.org/COR/.

TRB Annual Meeting

The committee will meet on Monday January 12th in the Hilton State room from 1:30-5:30pm. An agenda will be posted on the website soon and distributed at the meeting.

The committee is sponsoring two sessions:

Session 506
Tuesday, January 13, 2004, 1:30 PM - 3:15 PM, Hilton Monroe East
Information Bridge Across the Organization: Knowledge Management and Human Resources

and

Session 547
Tuesday, January 13, 2004, 3:45 PM - 5:30 PM, Hilton Monroe East
Communicating the Value of Research: Information Continuum

and co-sponsoring:

Session 232
Monday, January 12, 2004, 8:00 AM - 9:45 AM, Hilton Monroe West
Preparing for a Future Strategic Highway Research Program (F-SHRP)

Session 271
Monday, January 12, 2004, 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM, Hilton Monroe West
Preparing for a Future Strategic Highway Research Program (F-SHRP), Part 2

REGISTER NOW for TRB Annual Meeting

Visit http://gulliver.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=1903 for registration material for this years Annual Meeting. The January 11-15, 2004 Annual Meeting program will cover all transportation modes, with more than 2,200 presentations in 500 sessions addressing topics of interest to all attendees--policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions.

Optimizing the Dissemination and Implementation of Research Results Workshop

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 probably be published as an E-circular through TRB.

Subcommittee Report - Communications

Communications subcommittee chair Jason Bittner is always looking for items of interest for inclusion in this newsletter. Please forward comments and suggestions. We're still also looking for a name for this publication.

Subcommittee Report - Membership

Subcommittee chair Sue McNeil is soliciting help from committee members to assist targeting additional new members for the committee. There are currently no private sector partners on the committee membership and there is little modal representation. At the Midyear meeting, the committee identified the National Labs as a good place to look for recruits, especially Oak Ridge. Committee members are encouraged to send information on potential recruits to McNeil.

Subcommittee Report - Strategic Planning

Subcommittee Chair Monique Evans will have a draft of the Committee's strategic plan available for discussion and adoption at the TRB annual meeting.

TRB & Other Important Related News

TRB Reorganization

The reorganization of TRB's committee structure will be officially unveiled soon. New divisions, groups and sections are set up to better encourage cross-cutting issues and dialogue. This vision of the future was detailed in a handout distributed at the midyear meeting and attached here. This reorganization is only a small part of a larger effort . As an overview, in March 2002, a group met to review the structure and this started the reorganization of the committees to foster better communications. In the old format, five main groups based on disciplines were the overarching structure. This led to the case where if you were unfamiliar with TRB it was very difficult to understand the committees and the organizations, let alone participate. The new structure includes 11 groups, the first six of which are disciplinary groups. The hope is for cross-fertilization of ideas and efforts among the groups. Under this reorganization, a new section called Research and Education is created. This is where Conduct of Research, along with Technology Transfer, Transportation Education and Training, Library and Information Services for Transportation (LIST), and Transportation History are now planned to fit. The chairs of these 5 committees are the leadership for the section.

NEW NUMBERS will be assigned for everything but members, staff, and others should rely on name, not numbers for the committees. Staff representatives, hotels, typical session dates will not be changed.

A series of objectives and goals accompany this reorganization. Among these are:

1. Revise the existing organizational structure by supplementing existing Groups with Groups that can more directly represent non-highway modes, planning and environment, policy and organization, and systems uses.

2. Enhance communications tools and linkages among the Groups, Sections, and committees.

3. Employ a variety of mechanisms to address cross-cutting and critical issues.

4. Expand outreach to targeted groups to attract more diverse and young participant in activities.

SAFETEA update

Both the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee issued reauthorization legislation in November. The Senate EPW proposal would authorize nearly $2.70 billion in federal transportation research, technology and education investment for FY 2004 to FY 2009—a cumulative increase of close to $130 million over TEA-21's research funding levels and $110 million more than the Bush Administration's TEA-21 reauthorization proposal.

Several new programs and committees are proposed by the EPW measure, including:

ITS research and technological assistance program that would include a clearing house for ITS information and a national advisory committee to develop a 5-year national plan;
An 11-member clean hydrogen fuel cell research advisory committee that would conduct a comprehensive research effort to examine alternative sources of fuel for fuel cell technology;
A 12-member surface transportation research technology advisory committee to provide guidance to the Secretary;
A new strategic highway research program to carry out research related to highway safety.

The House version also establishes several new programs. Most notably is the National Freight Cooperative Research Program.

The Senate preserves the existing University Transportation Centers program and modifies it somewhat to allow for 40 total centers, 10 regional with the remaining designated. The House establishes 5 National University Transportation Centers, provides 10 regional, and 20 other centers.

The Senate version also created a Centers for Surface Transportation Excellence Program that includes 5 centers in the area of Environmental, Operations, Finance, Asset Management, and Safety.

More details on each proposal are available on the prospective websites. The Administration proposal is at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reauthorization/safetea.htm; the Senate version (S. 1072) is at http://epw.senate.gov/dec03_f79.pdf; the House bill (H.R. 3550) may be viewed at http://www.house.gov/transportation/.

Upcoming Events

83rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board

January 11-15, 2004 Washington, DC. For more information: http://www4.trb.org/trb/annual.nsf.

Transportation Research Forum Annual Meeting

March 21-23, 2004, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. For more information, contact Scott Tarry.

15th Annual Center for Transportation Studies Transportation Research Conference

May 4-5, 2004, RiverCentre, St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information: www.cts.umn.edu.

39th Annual Conference of the Canadian Transportation Research Forum

May 9-12, 2004, Metropolitan Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. For more information: http://www.ctrf.ca/2004.htm

For your Bookshelf

Innovation in Information Technology: Continued Federal Support is Crucial for Progress in Information Technology. National Research Council, 2003. http://www.nap.edu/books/0309089808/html/.

Highway Research: Systematic Selection and Evaluation Processes Needed for Research Program, GAO-02-573, 2002. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02573.pdf.

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