MINUTES
2015 TRB SUMMER MEETING
JOINT MEETING OF
AHB65 — OPERATIONAL EFFECTS OF GEOMETRICS COMMITTEE
https://sites.google.com/site/trbcomahb65/
AFB10 — GEOMETRIC DESIGN COMMITTEE
http://sites.kittelson.com/TRB-AFB10
Sunday, June 21, 2015
5:15 pm to 6:15 pm, Mackenzie II
Vancouver, Canada
1. Call to Order (Fitzpatrick/Donnell)
AHB65 Chair Kay Fitzpatrick and AFB10 Chair Eric Donnell called the meeting to order at 5:25 pm.
2. Welcome and Introductions (Donnell/Fitzpatrick)
3. 5th International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design, 2015 (Harwood)
Doug Harwood recognized the tremendous efforts of Milton Carrasco, his colleagues at Transoft and others who put together the 5th International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design (the Committees gave a great round of applause).
325 people from 37 countries are registered for the Symposium. There have been active discussions for the 6th Symposium; 2 potential hosts have already contacted Doug. Eric Donnell thanked Milton and Doug for their efforts (to another round of great applause).
4. 2016 Summer Meeting jointly with AASHTO (Donnell)
Eric Donnell and Jeff Jones (AASHTO) have discussed meeting jointly in 2016. Rich Cunard has reserved meeting space in Woods Hole, MA from Tuesday 7/12 through Thursday 7/14, with AASHTO then meeting alone on Friday 7/15. Might switch to a different venue, but it would be changed soon, if at all.
Updated: 1/4/2016 2
Roads,” etc.; (3) other research, e.g. performance-based design related; (4) other research outside the guides: e.g., hard shoulder running; bus rapid transit. Need to develop priorities. AASHTO is excited about meeting with us.
Kay asked about the timeline for the next edition of the Green Book. Jim Brewer responded that while there is no deadline, they want it available as soon as possible. There is a lot of good research that could be incorporated. AASHTO will review research and discuss next month (July 2015); after that they will have a better feel for the timeline. They are working towards it now. Researchers working on projects now should consider presenting, if it fits into one or more Green Book chapters.
Eric put in a plug for mytrb.org and suggested that everyone go to the site and register. Identify your interest in a committee(s) and you will be contacted. Rich Cunard noted that in order to submit a paper, one needs to create a mytrb account.
5. 5th Urban Street Symposium, 2017 (Fitzpatrick)
Due to the success with the 4th Urban Street Symposium (USS) in teaming with ITE, we are looking to team with an ITE section on the 5th USS.
The North Carolina section of ITE wants to join and host in Charlotte or Raleigh in 2017. The USS has not been held on the east coast yet. We want a place that is progressive with good examples of alternative/innovative intersections and interchanges - North Carolina qualifies on both accounts. Volunteers are welcome.
6. 2016 Annual Meeting Workshop on “Benefit/cost analysis for informed design decisions at various stages of the project development process (working title)” (Porter/Steyn)
RJ Porter: the deadline was last Friday to submit ideas for the workshop.
The workshop will look at monetizing performance measures to support design decisions. A small steering committee has been established, which includes Keith Knapp, Hermanus Steyn, Kay Fitzpatrick, and Eric Donnell. Can use more volunteers…
Will develop a vision for the workshop in July and extend preliminary invitations to speakers. Then, will refine the scope and finalize based on the speakers.
Discussion:
Kay: in assigning costs for crashes, different assumptions can be made. How influential are they?
Eric: the AASHTO Red Book (“User and Non-User Benefit Analysis for Highways”) looks at user highway analysis in project development
Brian Ray: move beyond just traditional construction costs; reflect beyond the lifecycle to look multi-dimensionally at what benefits and costs are
Jim Brewer: talked with FHWA about updating crash costs, which haven’t been updated in a while. There is a proposal to get the national insurance institute to develop new numbers; need to re-do.
Doug agrees with Kay. He talked with a number of states and got a range of $1M to $9M per fatal crash. Rich Cunard said that the federal government has same issue; FHWA has a different set of crash costs than NHTSA, which is different than what some states use.
Karen Dixon: NHTSA figures are based on injury, FHWA figures are based on crash Eric: Forrest Council wrote a report on this (2004-05?)
Doug: this is timely since the 2nd Edition HSM is in the works; need to update costs Eric: reach out to cross-cutting committees; reach out to ANB25 and others
Kay: remember that the workshop is on B/C, while this discussion has focused just on costs. Seems to be blossoming into a topic on its own.
Howard Lubliner: FHWA promotes cost analysis throughout the design process; giving better tools; evolution through the design process
Jim Brewer: has to be meaningful for the practitioner Kay: value of time could be another presentation
Rich Coakley: another topic is maintenance effects (aspects of design and how they affect the cost of maintenance)
Jim Brewer: sustainability is very important; a 20 year design is not enough in some areas. Performance-based design is not effective if you have to come back in 15-20 years and do it again.
Pete Jenior: all these topics argue for someone on the economic side to be involved (Red Book)
Hermanus: may not have all the answers going into the workshop, but we should identify research needs
Eric: consider a synthesis topic on crash costs and B/C estimation
Rich Cunard: 2 economic-based committees could be involved: (1) Transportation Economics; (2) Social and Economic Factors in Transportation
Hermanus: need to have all speakers lined up by September
RJ: health impact assessments – reduced health care costs resulting from improvements
Eric: have a lot to consider, e.g. safety, operations, environmental, reliability, public health, etc.
7. Research Needs Statements (Brewer)
Marcus Brewer gave a presentation on Geometric Design Research (see attached slides). Discussion included:
Rich Coakley advised that we put on the radar the impact of connected vehicles / automated vehicles on geometric design. Need to develop a RNS on this.
Eric has been looking at connected vehicles, etc. If it can be turned into a RNS, then we will do it.
Updated: 1/4/2016 4
Jim Brewer noted that implementation dates for connected vehicles have a very wide range – from 10 years to 50 years.
Eric said to contact us if you need help with developing a RNS (e.g., if you’ve never done one before). They are not too hard to do.
8. Plans for 2016 TRB Annual Meeting
Kay noted that at the 2015 Annual Meeting we had a joint AHB65-AFB10 meeting on Monday before the subcommittees met. She asked if anyone had any thoughts on whether that worked well or not (i.e., is it good to have a joint meeting to start? Is it better to have the full committee meetings before or after the subcommittees meet)?
Doug likes Tuesday better for the main committee meeting, but is OK with Monday. Kay favors a joint meeting on Tuesday and then breakout to separate meetings. Eric will request Tuesday.
9. Release to separate meetings (Fitzpatrick/Donnell)
1/4/2016
CURRENTSTATUS
PRESENTED BY: MARCUSBREWER
Geometric Design
Strategic Research Program
Purpose of 2011-13 Mid-year Meetings
Presentation of NCHRP projects from Strategic
Research Plan (generate research ideas)
White Papers
Unfunded Research Needs Emerging Research Needs
Documentation of Updated Strategic Research Plan Continue partnership with AASHTO
Updated Research Needs Statements from 2013 Mid-Year Meeting
RNS advanced to AASHTO FY15 ballot – 5 3 approved for funding (15-56, 15-58, 15-59; $1.3 million) RNS completed after ballot deadline – 4
Reviewed and prioritized with AASHTO TCGD for FY16 Synthesis statements completed and submitted – 3 RNS advanced to AASHTO FY16 ballot – 3
2 recommended for funding
Developing CMF for Corridor Access Management (17-74) Understanding and Communicating Reliability of Crash
Prediction Models (17-78)
Updated Research Needs Statements from 2014 Mid-Year Meeting
“Top 3” RNS identified at AII Symposium
Signs and Pavement Markings for Alternative Intersections –
submitted through TCGD; not on NCHRP ballot
“In-Service” Performance Evaluations of Innovative Designs –
draft nearly complete
Pedestrian Accommodation at Innovative Intersections and
Interchanges – update needed
“Next 3” (not developed)
Quantifying Benefits/Costs for Alternative Intersections Queue Spillback at Intersections Adjacent to DDI Surrogate Measures for Safety Evaluation at Innovative
Intersections
Updated Research Needs Statements since 2014 Mid-Year Meeting
Other completed RNS – 3
Guidance for Evaluating and Designing Left-Side Ramps on
Freeways – draft complete 8/11/14; not on NCHRP/AASHTO FY16 ballot
Design of High-Speed Arterial Median Acceleration Lanes –
draft complete 7/3/14; not on NCHRP/AASHTO FY16 ballot
Development of Geometric Design Guidance for Metered
On-ramps – developed/submitted by Caltrans in FY14 cycle but not funded; not on NCHRP/AASHTO FY16 ballot
Other RNS of Interest Recommended for NCHRP Funding in FY16
Access Management and Design Guidelines for Truck Routes (NCHRP 15-62, $500,000)
Design Options to Reduce Turning Motor Vehicle Conflicts with Bicyclists and Pedestrians at Intersections (NCHRP 15-63, $500,000)
Unsignalized Median Openings in Close Proximity to Signalized Intersections (NCHRP 15-64, $325,000)
1/4/2016
2
What’s Next?
Complete ongoing RNS for submission in next
NCHRP cycle or to other sponsors
Work with AASHTO partners to review topics and
set future priorities
Also need to consider new RNS topics based on
current priorities and recent research
Outcome: revised RNS list with leads and volunteers
Will require more offline contacts at/after this meeting
Research Topic Development Timeline
TRB Committees originate research needs statements (RNS) at annual or mid-year meetings
AASHTO Standing Committee on Research (SCOR) solicits RNS in July
AASHTO Members, AASHTO Committees and FHWA Submit Research Needs by September
SCOR/RAC Ballots open December
-February SCOR provides
research results to AASHTO in
March-April TRB solicits panel
nominations in May
TRB issues requests for proposals and
selects research contractors in July
-December
Annual NCHRP Projects Announced
Upcoming RNS Deadlines for NCHRP
July 1: Recommended for new/current RNS in
development to be completed
August 15: Problem statements due to AASHTO subcommittees and technical committees
September 15: Ranked RNS from AASHTO Executive Council, state DOTs, and FHWA submitted to NCHRP
Upcoming RNS Deadlines for NCHRP
November: Evaluations/comments from
FHWA/TRB to submitters
December: Ballot sent to SCOR, RAC Members February: Ballots due