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Volpe Center Highlights - March 2001MobilityDirector's Notes |
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility |
Human and Natural Environment |
Fast Ferry Transport Analysis (FHWA)The Volpe Center is providing engineering and operations research analysis support to help the Federal Highway Administration meet its intermodal program goals as specified in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). This effort has focused on the assessment of fast ferry transport opportunities, data development and analysis, and public communication of the results. Volpe staff recently completed the development of a comprehensive inventory and database of existing ferry routes and operators - including vessel and terminal characteristics and operating route elements - covering the United States and the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. The database is used by industry and government agencies for a variety of purposes, including market research and public ferry transport policy analysis; it has been distributed on CD to nearly 1500 interested users. Public communication venues include trade magazines and conferences. The next phase of work involves developing a Web site and maintaining the database. On February 13 and 14, 2001, Mr. Michael Dyer of the Technology Applications and Deployment Division and Mr. Robert Armstrong, formerly of the Center, participated in the Annual Meeting of the Passenger Vessels Association in Savannah, Georgia. They presented the database in detail, and conducted a session to solicit input regarding additional data elements and improving the usefulness of the database. Performing ITS Program Reviews (FHWA)As part of its support to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Volpe Center recently completed two program reviews for Dr. Christine Johnson, Program Manager for the Operations Core Business Unit (CBU). The work involved appraising the effectiveness of two programs related to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and proposing recommendations for improvement. The first review investigated how the Interim Guidance for conforming to the National ITS Architecture was applied by federal field offices and state Departments of Transportation. The architecture is a framework for developing and deploying ITS; it identifies relationships among ITS products and services and the requirements for sharing and disseminating information. The second review examined the quality of information disseminated by the ITS Joint Program Office that describes the benefits of ITS, and how this information is used by transportation officials at all levels of government. The reviews were conducted by the team of Mr. Allan DeBlasio, Mr. David Jackson, Ms. Dana Larkin, Mr. Armand Ciccarelli, and Ms. Maureen Luna-Long of the Economic Analysis Division; Ms. Jane Lappin, Ms. Jessica Paddock, and Ms. Katherine Blythe of EG&G Technical Services, Inc.; and Mr. John Mermin of Cambridge Systematics, Inc. The team visited 15 sites and interviewed more than 110 transportation professionals from federal, state, county, municipal, and transit agencies, and metropolitan planning organizations. During the review period, Mr. DeBlasio and Ms. Lappin facilitated two breakout sessions at an ITS America workshop that addressed the ITS community's knowledge of benefits information and future information requirements. The team concluded with two presentations to Dr. Johnson; her management team; representatives from other FHWA groups, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Maritime Administration; and consultants. At a later date, the team will present more detailed recommendations for producing and distributing information on ITS benefits to the FHWA's Operations CBU outreach team. |
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