Newsletter Vol. 7
September 2017
In This Issue
Upcoming WRTWC Webinar Opportunity
TOPWebinar: Respectful Workplaces and Health & Safety Empowerment for Women in the Highway Construction and other Trades

The West Region Transportation Workforce Center is pleased to partner with the Department of Labor's Women's Bureau to present a webinar on research-based program development.  Transportation organizations and private contractors alike face significant difficulty in recruiting and retaining personnel for highway construction and other infrastructure projects. Lack of diversity within the trades has exacerbated labor shortages. This webinar explores research conducted on the experience of women and minorities in highway construction trades. The research pinpoints issues that specifically affect women on the job site. Webinar speakers will present research results and describe how that research served to inform pilot programs in both Oregon and Washington to foster respectful workplaces, and to improve health and safety for women in the highway construction and other trades.





Register now http://bit.ly/2wStDrl
Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Time: 10 AM Pacific/11 AM Mountain Time

For more information on the webinar topic, click here.

Click here to view the webinar flyer.

Presenters:                              
Maura Kelly, Portland State University
Lea Hegge, Alteristic
Hannah Curtis, University of Washington
Jo Scherer, Washington Women in Trades

Center Activities
National Transportation Career Pathways Initiative Hosts TRB Workshop

Are you planning to attend the 2018 Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, DC this January?  Be sure to mark your calendars and plan to attend a workshop on  Disruptive/Transformational Technologies in Transportation: Their impact on the workplace and workforce , which will be hosted by the National Network for the Transportation Workforce (NNTW). The workshop is scheduled for Thursday, January 11, 2018 from 8:30 am until noon.  
Transportation Safety Training and Professional Development Opportunities
The WRTWC has embarked on a data collection effort to identify professional development training opportunities related to transportation safety. Over the next month, the Center will be adding information on available safety-related courses to its online searchable compendium of transportation education programs. Search for "Professional Development" offerings in any of seven professional focus areas (e.g. "engineering," "planning," or "road construction and maintenance")  here  

See something missing from our compendium?  You can add a program online by clicking  here, or email us the information you want to see added and we will be happy to include it.




2017 MSU Summer Transportation Institute a Success Thanks to Many Contributors

The National Summer Transportation Institute program administered by the Federal Highway Administration is designed to expose middle and high school students to the wide variety of transportation career paths available. This summer, nineteen high school students from across Montana participated in an intensive two-week transportation camp on Montana State University's campus. The camp was a success thanks to the many community partners that donated their time and efforts to share career information with the participants.  Camp highlights included a Crash Scene Investigation re-enactment with NTSB; hands-on roadway design boards, a CADD demonstration, an ADA activity, and lab tours with the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT); a project design presentation with transportation consultants from Sanderson Stewart; an airport tour with Summit Aviation; and a tour of the gravel pit and asphalt mix plant at Knife River. We could not host such a comprehensive program for the students without the contributions and support of our local transportation professionals. Special thanks to Governor Steve Bullock for taking time to visit with the students during their fieldtrip to MDT in Helena. In a demonstration of his transportation know-how, Governor Bullock also piloted the students' ferry on a ride through the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri River later that day. Impressive where transportation careers can lead!


Do you have a success story to share?

Let your peers know what has worked for you. You can now enter details about your workforce development successes online and we will showcase them on our website.

Upcoming Competitions
Competition: SHRP 2 Safety Data Bonanza
Date: October 29, 2017
Organization: Transportation Research Board (TRB)

TRB is sponsoring a Student Paper Competition to solicit innovative ideas for using the SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) database and/or Roadway Information Database (RID) - together known as the SHRP 2 Safety Data. The purpose of the competition is to encourage use of the SHRP 2 Safety Data and to foster the next generation of leaders in surface transportation research.
 
Students are asked to propose how they would use the Safety Data to address a research question. Research topics are not restricted; Topics may be drawn from a wide range of subjects of interest to the driving and road safety research community, such as driver behavior and roadway design, as well as applications that extend beyond road safety such as data modeling, health, planning, and beyond.
 
The competition is open to Master's and Doctoral students. Abstracts will be reviewed by a TRB committee member panel and up to eight will be selected for further development. If selected, in order to conduct their analysis, students will be provided a data export from the NDS or the RID at no cost to the student subject to the competition restrictions* (i.e. InSight only, Dataverse, or RID). Those selected will follow the data request process and work with the NDS and RID data stewards to obtain the data. Students will conduct their analysis, write a paper, and present their results at a special poster session at the TRB 98th Annual Meeting in January 2019 in Washington, DC.

Abstracts are due by October 28, 2017.
 
For more information about this student paper competition, click here.
Link: http://www.trb.org/StrategicHighwayResearchProgram2SHRP2/SHRP2DataSafetyInitiatives.aspx
Competition: Traffic Safety Scholars
Deadline: November 18, 2017
Organization: Lifesavers Conference, Inc.
 
Ever thought about a career in traffic safety? It's a multi-disciplinary field providing tremendous opportunities for advocates, business/finance/management professionals, communicators, educators, engineers, injury prevention specialists, marketers, planners, police officers, public health practitioners, researchers, scientists, and others who want to make a difference in people's lives. Government agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, and universities employ thousands of professionals who use their expertise to improve safety on our nation's roadways.
 
The 2018 Traffic Safety Scholars (TSS) Program provides awards of up to $1,000 to undergraduate and graduate students to help defray the cost of attending the Lifesavers Conference on Highway Safety Priorities on April 22-24 in San Antonio, Texas. You'll not only learn about highway safety issues from leading experts, but network with the largest gathering of highway safety professionals anywhere in the country.
 
For more information about this opportunity, click here.
Link: http://lifesaversconference.org/traffic-safety-scholars/  

Upcoming Trainings & Events
Webinar: The Role of Connected and Automated Vehicles: How Can Urban Areas Use the Data They Create?
Date: October 11, 2017
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: USDOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office
 
With increasing attention focused on connected and automated vehicles, this webinar will present the opportunities and challenges for their development and deployment. How can connected and automated vehicles transform various processes in the transportation system, especially through the data they generate? Will they have a profound impact on mobility, safety, and the environment? We will present a framework for analysis and demonstrate the use of modeling and simulation techniques. We will discuss work undertaken in a National Science Foundation and U.S. DOT-sponsored project on how higher driving volatility in a connected vehicles environment-such as hard accelerations or hard braking-relates to mobility, safety, and the environment. The implications of our analysis for travel behavior changes, future vehicle use, and transportation system performance will be discussed.

For more information about this training, click  here.
Link: https://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/t3/s171011_Role_of_Connected_and_Automared_Vehicles.asp
Webinar: Friends and Allies of the Walking Movement
Date: October 11, 2017
Time: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: America Walks
 
Champions of the walking movement come from different backgrounds, sectors and viewpoints. By working together, we can create communities that safe, accessible, and enjoyable places to walk and be physically active. Hear from successful examples of policies, programs, and practices that have demonstrated the power of working together and strengthening the walking movement. This webinar is for walking advocates of all backgrounds and knowledge levels.
                                                                                                     
For more information or to register, click here.
Link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4012129304503023619 
Webinar: Implementing Connected Vehicle Technology and Strategies: What You Should Know
Date: October 12, 2017
Time: 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

This webinar will introduce the current status of the Connected Vehicle (CV) technology deployment and ITE's activities in the areas of CV/AV, Smart Communities, and the Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) Challenge.
 
For more information or to register, click here.
Link: https://www.pathlms.com/ite/courses/5296/webinars/2563
Webinar: Making Signals Work for Bicyclists and Pedestrians
Date: October 18, 2017
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC)
 
To create transportation networks that are supportive of bicycling and walking, transportation professionals should make use of existing infrastructure. This includes traffic signals and engineering treatments at intersections that can take advantage of a wide range of strategies to improve crossings.
 
This webinar will focus on how agencies can use their traffic signals to make intersections safer and more comfortable for nonmotorized road users. Peter Koonce, PE, of Portland, Oregon, will share tips and strategies for improving intersections through signal timing, cycle lengths, speed management, protected phasing, and more.
 
For more information or to register, click here.
Conference: 3rd National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference
Date: October 29 - November 1, 2017
Location: Omaha, NE
Organization: National Rural Transit Assistance Program
The National Rural Transit Assistance Program is excited to host our third biennial Technical Assistance Conference: Transportation at the Center.  The conference will continue the great momentum we started in Denver in 2015 with content from FTA's Technical Assistance Centers, workshops, round-tables, and a focus on practical solutions for rural and tribal transportation.
 
Participating and cooperating organizations include the Federal Transit Administration, Nebraska Department of Roads, Nebraska Association of Transit Providers, University of Nebraska, the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center, and the National Center for Mobility Management.
 
For more information about this conference, click  here.
Link: http://nationalrtap.org/conference2017


Please check out our website for the most up-to-date news and activities.

Is your organization hosting an event or opportunity you would like to share with the regional network? Please contact us and we will be happy to help you distribute the information.