Docs

On August 13-14, 2014, at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Office of Safety Research and Development and the Office of Safety, with support from the Exploratory Advanced Research Program, convened a 2-day workshop. "Breakthroughs in Vision and Visibility for issues, including efforts exploring retroreflectivity and pavement-marking signs, and legibility of fonts; however, much of this work has been tapering off. The objective of this workshop was to identify gaps in highway visibility research, explore innovative tools and techniques to fill these gaps, and determine the role for FHWA.

A critical resource for both internal and external personnel responsible for carrying out stewardship and oversight of the FA highway construction program: contract provisions, administrative procedures, and applicable policies related to FA highway construction contracts.

It is rare to find a transit driver who hasn’t encountered a difficult (and in some cases, damaging) situation with a passenger. Conflict resolution is a tool for you—a process that allows you to work out differences with your passengers before a situation escalates to a more difficult or dangerous encounter.

This guide provides highway officials some basic guidelines for talking with and getting along effectively with the public, their local governing boards, and each other.

This cross-cutting study provides information on major changes that were made to the staff at two metropolitan model deployment initiative sites to facilitate the deployment of ITS.

Tips for achieving a productive board meeting, including how to structure board work and engage your board members.

Examples of agencies that have a marketing component in their public transit / human service coordination plans

This article will introduce the concept of cooperative purchasing, describe the benefits and challenges, and offer some examples of how agencies can cooperate on procurement activities.

This fact sheet provides tips on preparing for leadership or supervisory role in a public works department.

Throughout the course of two days, it was evident that the traffic professionals in the room whether they are from law enforcement, planning, or engineering want to improve the transportation safety culture. Many participants are working to identify the appropriate tools to promote a healthy safety culture within their own organization. Specific key takeaways from conversations, discussions, and insights of participants include: 1. Understanding where to begin developing programs that implement low-cost safety-focused strategies and countermeasures 2. Comprehending and leveraging funding opportunities at Federal and State levels. 3. Effectively messaging to rural America. 4. Collaborating across different government agencies and partnering with outside entities.

Political and policy dynamics associated with local road systems planning, management, and financing merit special attention. This study: 1) analyzes stakeholder attitudes, knowledge, and engagement about financing for local road system management, to identify key gaps and conflicts, and 2) evaluates public communication and engagement methods, to provide practical guidance for improving stakeholder engagement methods. Qualitative research methods were used because they are particularly apt for studying stakeholder attitudes towards policies and outreach methods. Data sources included a survey of 128 local public works leaders; content analysis of 198 articles from local to national media; 30 hours of observation of deliberations in the state and local legislatures; 22 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders; and 4 case studies of local public communication and engagement processes. Analysis of these data support the following recommendations for local policymakers: a) Support rising public attention to local transportation issues with high-quality, accessible information; b) Invest in the high short-term costs of proactive, good quality engagement, to gain substantial benefits over the longer term; c) Use multiple communication channels, including new technologies for targeted outreach; d) Employ a consultative process and thoughtful, timely explanations from local public works leaders, to improve stakeholder satisfaction with project outcomes and the engagement process; and e) Include stakeholders in defining the policy problem and developing options as well as the preferred policy options.

Your mission statement not only says who you are to the world, it says who you are to you and your staff. This article should help you decide whether your mission statement is relevant and what can be done to rewrite it.

The Supervisors' Toolbox is a collection of resources and templates to help public works supervisors in the hiring, onboarding, and coaching public works teammates. These resources provide general reference on a variety of topics but always refer to your organization's policies and procedures, as well as any employment law or regulations, for direction.

Working with its partners in the public and private sectors, academia, industry, and the international community, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) plays a vital leadership role in developing and implementing a coordinated highway research and technology (R&T) agenda that addresses national needs, meets future demands, and maximizes the strengths of all research entities.

This technical brief addresses common time management issues faced by rural transit managers and provides strategies that encourage effective time management.

This research report documents front-line maintenance worker training and certification practices for highway transportation agencies in the United States and Canada. The report includes the types of topics being addressed by training and certification programs, the delivery methods used to provide the training, the sources of instruction, and whether material-sharing relationships are being utilized to access training. In addition, the report captures how training is related to performance and the incentives being used by state and provincial agencies to encourage front-line maintenance workers to complete training.

This synthesis documents how the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) program is accepted and used within the transit bus maintenance community. The ASE program is nationally recognized as the standard industry credential provider for automotive professionals. The report explores how a cross-section of transit bus maintenance personnel view the ASE certification program and summarizes their perspectives to improve ASE certification acceptance and participation.

Describes the typical job responsibilities of mobility managers, discusses an existing mobility management program in southwest Kansas, and provides a set of resources for transit managers considering mobility management for their agencies.