Message from the Managing Director
By Patrick Son

Do you know of any STUDENTS who want to go to #TRB2017??

NOCoE wants to send students to TRB!!! We are launching our competition to send two (2) students from our Young TSMO (#YTSMO) generation on Why TSMO (#YTSMO) is important to their future. We need all of your help to reach out to the students and have them go to our page here with details on how to submit. The competition is simple, we want students to record and post a 30-to-60 second video on social media about why YTSMO is and should be important to everyone in the transportation community.

Our newsletter this week is also jam-packed with opportunities up and down the newsletter. We are looking for consultants to help staff the NOCoE for our Program Coordinator position, we highlight a new web-based training on ITS Procurement, a couple of upcoming webinars, and the Maryland State Highway Administration in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology at the University of Maryland is conducting a survey to explore the potential use of video analytics for extraction of traffic data.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram to follow the #YTSMO competition and keep in the know about everything #TSMO!

RFP For On-Call Support Services

The NOCoE has released an RFP for On-Call Support Services. The services ware to assist the NOCoE staff in the execution of the NOCoE business plan. Questions are due no later than November 21, 2016 and the proposal deadline is November 30, 2016. Questions and proposal should be sent to Mr. Strat Cavros, at scavros@aashto.org 

New Web-Based Training in ITS!

Agency professionals face numerous challenges when procuring intelligent transportation systems (ITS) hardware and software. Hardware and software for these projects may not fit typical procurement strategies, which can create challenges with advancing ITS initiatives.

This course will provide an overview of procurement strategies for successfully deploying ITS hardware and software projects that build on systems engineering principles and practices. This course will present an approach to defining ITS projects and desired outcomes. The focus of this course is on the procurement stage of the overall acquisition process. Please click here for more information. 

Webinar: Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Program Plan Development Roundtable

Date & Time: December 13, 2016, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., EST

Brief description:  Transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) - refers to multimodal transportation strategies to maximize the efficiency, safety, and utility of existing and planned transportation infrastructure. Strategies including but not limited to, traffic incident management, traffic signal coordination, freeway management, transit signal priority and bus rapid transit, freight management,work zone management, special event management, and road weather management.

Agencies that have completed their TSMO Program Plan development will conduct a TSMO Program Plan roundtable. These agencies will provide information on their experiences during the development of their respective plans. Information such organizing to get regional input from stakeholders; Developing Regional, Agency, and Program Plan goals, objectives and strategies in a fashion that links them all together; making the case of TSMO to the decision makers; and lastly, allow time for an open forum discussion with the attendees. 

Please click here to register and here for additional information. 

Survey: Exploring the Potential Use of Video Analytics for Extraction of Traffic Data

The Maryland State Highway Administration, in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology at the University of Maryland, is exploring the potential use of video analytics for extraction of traffic data (volume, speed, congestion, etc.) from real-time video feed of existing CCTV cameras.  Maryland SHA is requesting that agencies/jurisdictions respond to a survey that is designed to identify and gather feedback on any past, present, or planned video analytics technology pilot and/or deployments. Any relevant experience with real-time or post-processed video analytics solutions and services are of interest. Going beyond the standard survey questions, survey participants are encouraged to share any important takeaways and lessons learned with regard to technology selection, procurement, field deployments, maintenance, data quality, coverage and cost aspects of the technology in the spaces provided.  Results of the survey will be shared with survey participants and all NOCoE stakeholders. Please complete the survey by December 9, 2016.

To participate, please click on the following link or cut and past the link into your browser https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CZY2FXN.

Webinar: TRB Annual Meeting Preview 2017-Evolving the Next Generation of TSMO Research

Date & Time: December 13th, 2016, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., EST

Brief Description: NOCoE will host this webinar, which will offer meeting highlights of the following: National Operations Center of Excellence update, AASHTO Subcommittee on TSMO Research Working Group update, TRB Committee Annual Meeting TSMO highlights, FHWA TSMO Research Directions, TSMO Research Directions at ITE and ITSA.

Please click here to register. 

UDOT POP (Project Outreach Planner)

As a department, Utah DOT’s goal is to reduce overall impacts to the public while meeting transportation needs. As such, planning for and executing appropriate strategies to involve and communicate with the public at large and with individual stakeholders throughout the life cycle of transportation project is critical. From the time a project is considered in concept to the stage when it is constructed and being maintained, the public’s needs, concerns and questions must be taken into account and addressed to achieve the goal of reducing impacts. To effectively manage project outreach plans and activities, project managers and project teams need information and tools to analyze the depth and breadth of outreach needs in order to decide how best to meet them. The Project Outreach Planner (POP) is that resource. Please click here to view.