The RAC Region I teleconference was held on Thursday 04/04/13. The following individuals participated.
Dale Peabody (Call Leader)...... Maine DOT
Allison Hardt (Vice Chair)...... Maryland SHA
James Fallon...... Conn DOT
Colin Franco...... Rhode Island DOT
Stephanie Trainor...... District of Columbia DOT
Minutes from the March 7thcallwere approved.
Old Business:
SCOR/RAC Leadership Update
The March Leadership call was cancelled so there were no updates. The next Leadership Call is on April 11th.
NCHRP
The FY 14 AASHTO SCOR Recommended project selections were sent out on April 2nd. 50 new projects are included and two projects are listed as contingent.
Allison stated that she would like to find out if NCHRP has a process forproviding feedback to the states that had a project that was highly ranked by RAC/SCOR but ultimately was not recommended for inclusion in the program. This year Maryland had a problem statement that had positive reviewer comments and was ranked 35 overall by RAC/SCOR. In the end however, it is not one of the 50 projects recommended by SCOR.
SHRP 2
The majority of those on the call stated that they had submitted applications for SHRP 2 implementation funding (DC, Maryland, Maine, and Rhode Island). DC and RI had the most with five applications for RI and four for DC.
Beginning May 7th, every other Tuesday the SHRP 2 program will host webinars related to SHRP 2 research and the resources that FHWA and AASHTO are making available to implement the products. In each webinar, members of the research team will present and discuss the results of their work and provide a technical overview. Where products have been pilot tested or implemented, the user's experience will be included. Additionally, representatives from FHWA and AASHTO will discuss implementation opportunities.
Every Day Counts
From April 2 – 11, FHWA is holding Every Day Counts virtual summits. The summits are the foundation for the State Implementation Teams, which will serve as the driving force behind the EDC program in each state. The primary role is to foster the exchange of ideas and to help break down institutional barriers, strengthen the EDC vision and foster new, improved and mutually beneficial relationships.
New Business:
High Value Research
Dale reminded everyone that the deadline to submit high value research projects was extended to Friday, April 12th. So far there are a total of five submissions representing four states in Region 1. Everyone is encouraged to submit a project and as a reminder, all submittals must be done in RPM Web.
NASTO
Camille sent out information on a recent NASTO solicitation. The NASTO Board of Directors is making funding available to member states for training and scholarship purposes and applications are due by May 7th. This may be an opportunity to submit a regional idea so everyone was asked to give it some thought. Those on the call were not really clear on what types of proposals NASTO was looking for and how much money was available. Prior to the call Jim Fallon spoke to Phil Scarrozzo, NASTO President and it sounds like there is about $100K total available. If anyone has specific questions related to the solicitation, please e-mail them to Jim and he will follow-up. If you have any ideas for a regional proposal and are willing to work on pulling together an application, please let Camille and Allison know
Regional Issues/Challenges/Opportunities
Data Centralization - Stephanie asked if anyone’s research program is involved in trying to help with data centralization issues. A common issue among transportation agencies is that the same data is collected multiple times/way for multiple purposes. There is no coordinated effort to have it done once and then stored in a way that multiple users can access it. Most of the RAC members have not been involved in this effort within their agency but Colin agreed that it’s an important issue that should be looked at and discussed further.
Research Performance Measures – Colin brought up the challenge of setting and reporting research performance measures despite previous state and national projects. Others agreed that this is still a challenge. To date this topic has been assigned to the Value of Research Task Force. The Region 1 members of this task force are encouraged to provide updates on any related activities.
Guidelines for Using SPR Funds to Develop/Update Standard Operating Procedures – Colin asked if anyone has used SPR funds to develop or update standard operating procedures for DOT managed programs. There is some question as to whether or not this is an SPR eligible activity and in Region 1 the interpretation seems to vary by state and FHWA Division Office. If your state has used SPR for this purpose, please let Colin know.
Other items:
Allison contacted Debra Nelson at the New York State DOT to find out if they plan to appoint a RAC member to replace Gary Frederick. Debra is the TRB State Rep and attended the RAC meeting in Burlington. She is going to follow-up internally and then let Allison know.
Next Call 05/02/13