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Volpe Center Highlights - March 2000Economic Growth and TradeDirector's Notes |
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Volpe Hosts Meeting Addressing Ground Delays (FAA) On February 16, 2000, the Volpe Center hosted a Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) Arrival and Departure subgroup meeting. The CDM program is an effort by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), airlines, the Volpe Center, and others to improve traffic flow management by increasing collaboration and information sharing between the airlines and the FAA's Air Traffic organization. At the meeting, representatives from the FAA, airlines, the Volpe Center, and private sector research organizations exchanged ideas on how the FAA and airlines can work together to reduce the delays associated with aircraft arrivals and departures. The Arrival and Departure subgroup is particularly concerned with ground delay programs. Ground delays occur when a flight's departure is postponed due to congestion at the destination airport. The subgroup discussed the progress of the different tools that are being developed by the Volpe Center and other FAA contractors to make ground delay programs more efficient and equitable. Participation in the CDM program is part of the Automation Applications Division's support to the FAA in the area of traffic flow management. The CDM program is one avenue by which enhancements are added to the Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS), the real-time, operational computer system developed and operated by the Volpe Center that the FAA uses to detect and deal with air traffic congestion problems. Volpe Provides Continuing Support to ONE DOT Initiatives In support of the ONE DOT Education Initiative, the Volpe Center hosted a Region I ONE DOT Education Forum entitled "Transportation Learning Needs for a Transitioning Twenty-First Century New England" on February 1, 2000. The meeting provided an opportunity for the regional ONE DOT team as well as members of the public, private, and academic sectors to examine work force issues impacting New England, to relate those issues to transportation needs, and to examine ways that the regional DOT partners can work together more closely. A proceedings paper will be published shortly to highlight the outcomes and provide future direction. In support of the ONE DOT Port Access Initiative, Dr. Bahar Barami of the Policy and Technology Analysis Division delivered a report in early February on the Proceedings of the Listening Session that was held in Portland, Maine, on October 19, 1999. The Listening Session allowed stakeholders, including state and local government officials, civic representatives, and private-sector business leaders to express their concerns and ideas about transportation access issues related to the Seaport of Portland. Dr. Barami's report reviewed the goals and objectives of the ONE DOT Port Access Initiative, related it to the Marine Transportation System Report to Congress, described the audience's comments and responses, and provided a set of recommendations for collaborative federal, state, and regional implementation. The Listening Session was sponsored by the Access to Ports Committee, which is made up of representatives from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Maritime Administration (MARAD), the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Dr. Barami is the RSPA representative to the Access to Ports Committee and her role in this ONE DOT initiative has been to bring together the occasionally divergent modal perspectives and promote an integrated, cross-modal approach to achieving the partner agencies' shared goals. The Access to Ports Committee's mission is to assess whether the federal DOT agencies, working together as ONE DOT, can help state and local officials advance their port access improvements more efficiently. |
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