Upcoming Transit ITS Workshop on Data Management

SURTC director Dr. Jill Hough will be facilitating an upcoming Transit ITS Workshop focusing on data management. This workshop is being conducted by the National Transit Institute and will be held July 9-10 in Newark, NJ. The goal of the workshop is to discuss and discover best practices in data management for transit ridership and for open source data, for internal agency consumption and external partner usage.

The workshop will convene three expert panels that will examine "Management of Ridership Data" and "Management of Open Source Data" and will conclude with a roundtable discussion on "Data Management Best Practices." The keynote speaker will be John Inglish, former general manager of the Utah Transit Authority. Additionally, two tour options will provide attendees with access to a special tour of NJ Transit's Newark-Penn Station and the Newark Light Rail Line and Maintenance Facility.

For more details and to register, click on the following link: Transit ITS Workshop – Data Management

National Volunteer Transportation Center Accepting Applications for 2014 STAR Awards

The 2014 STAR Awards application is now open through April 11, 2014. STAR Awards ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 will be given to programs and services that involve volunteer drivers in providing transportation. These annual awards celebrate excellence, innovations, and promising practices in providing transportation services to senior passengers. The STAR Award program is sponsored by the National Volunteer Transportation Center of Washington, DC. 

Find more details and apply for the awards at the following link: 2014 STAR Award Application

March 19 Webinar: Developing Mentorship Programs

Dr. Jill Hough, SURTC director, will be participating in a March 19 webinar hosted by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) on Developing Mentorship Programs: Successful Models and Pilots. See the details below.

Webinar Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Broadcast Time: 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern; 1-2:30 p.m. Central; noon-1:30 p.m. Mountain; 11-12:30 pm. Pacific

Webinar Summary: This webinar features success stories about mentorship programs conducted by the academic community in partnership with the public and private sector and an internal mentor program developed by a public transit agency. Dr. Jill Hough provides insights and lessons learned as North Dakota State University students were mentored by nationally recognized industry leaders. Mr. Patrick “Paddy” Gough, Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA), discusses the successes and lessons learned from OCTA’s internal mentor/mentee program developed and rolled out for their staff. This webinar examines how to organize a working program as well as some best practices with testimonials from experienced industry professionals. We welcome Mr. Robert Prince, AECOM, and Ms. Linda Bohlinger, Parsons Brinckerhoff, who will be featured in this webinar.

Registration: Click here to register

Upcoming Webcast: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Rural and Small Urban Transit

SURTC researchers Ranjit Godavarthy and Jeremy Mattson will be presenting results from their cost-benefit analysis research as part of the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) webcast series. The webcast, titled "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Rural and Small Urban Transit," will be presented March 20 at 11:00 am central time.

This research estimates the benefits of public transit systems in small urban and rural areas in the United States. A framework is developed which focuses on three main areas of transit benefits most relevant to rural and small urban areas: transportation cost savings, low-cost mobility benefits, and economic benefits from transit operations. This study estimates the cost savings from using transit in place of alternative modes and the significant costs that would result from trips foregone in the absence of transit. Estimated benefits are compared to the costs of providing service to derive benefit-to-cost ratios. Results are presented both nationally and by state to demonstrate the impacts of investments in rural and small urban transit.

Information on how to view the webcast can be found at the CUTR website: View Connection Information

Deadline for Student Paper Competition Extended

The deadline for the student paper competition at the National Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation has been extended to March 28. View the recent post on the SURTC blog or the conference website for more information.

Student Paper Competition at National Conference on Rural Public & Intercity Bus Transportation

Competition for Best Graduate Research Paper
and
Best Undergraduate Essay
Deadline for Submission
March 7, 2014

The Transportation Research Board Committee on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation hosts a biennial conference in cooperation with the Federal Transit Administration, Transportation Research Board, National Rural Transit Assistance Program, American Public Transportation Association, and others. The 2014 conference will be held in Monterey, California on October 26-29.

Part of that conference is a student competition that encourages students in transportation and related fields to submit papers that focus on the 2014 theme of “Setting Our Course for the Future.” There are two competitions: the graduate student competition, which requires submission of a research paper, and the undergraduate student competition, which requires an essay addressing a specific challenge statement related to our theme.

Two winning student papers in each category (graduate and undergraduate) will receive awards, a cash prize and travel expenses to the 2014 conference in Monterey, California.

If you are an advisor or administrator of a program in engineering, economics, business, literature, sociology, medicine, social work, science, or any other discipline in which students are interested in addressing the issues of rural mobility, we ask that you distribute the attached flyers (graduate and/or undergraduate) and encourage them to submit an entry by the March 7, 2014 deadline.

Flyers with more information are below:

• Graduate Student Rural and Intercity Bus Research Paper Competition (pdf)
• College and University Rural and Intercity Bus Essay Competition (pdf)

For more information, contact Del Peterson, North Dakota State University (del.peterson@ndsu.edu) or Pat Weaver, University of Kansas (weaver@ku.edu). Additional details about the conference are available at the conference website.

Dr. Ranjit Godavarthy Wins CUTC Award

Dr. Ranjit Godavarthy, associate research fellow with SURTC, won the Wootan Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation in Policy and Planning from the Council for University Transportation Centers (CUTC). Dr. Godavarthy earned this award for his dissertation, titled “Network and Design Guidelines for Accommodating Large Trucks at Roundabouts," which he completed at Kansas State University. He was presented the award at the CUTC Annual Winter Meeting & Banquet, which took place in conjunction with the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2014. Congratulations Ranjit for this prestigious award.

Rob Lynch Joins SURTC as Training Coordinator

Rob Lynch joined the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC) in January, 2014, as its new training coordinator. Most recently, Rob held the position of transportation manager for North Dakota State University (NDSU), where he managed transit, parking, bicycle, and pedestrian functions for a growing campus community of over 16,000. Rob is a member of the Metro Area Transit Coordinating Board for Fargo, ND, and Moorhead, MN, and serves on many local transportation and corridor study groups. Prior to this, he managed two non-profit organizations and worked in the hospitality industry for over 25 years. During this period, he developed and conducted specialized management and team training for two national restaurant chains. Rob was elected to the Fargo City Commission in 2000 and served as chairman of the city’s Parking Commission, Transportation Technical Committee and the Fargo/Cass Board of Health. Rob is a graduate of NDSU earning a B.U.S. in emergency management and industrial engineering. He can be reached at rob.lynch@ndsu.edu.