The West Region Transportation Workforce Center hosted a one-day regional workshop on the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC) model, which offers an adaptable strategy for integrating public agency projects into multidisciplinary university coursework. EPIC trainers from the University of Oregon, University of Washington, and Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) led the workshop, which was held at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Forty-eight university and public agency representatives attended. The workshop highlighted TriMet's successful partnership with the University of Oregon to address myriad transportation projects through the addition of student and faculty capacity and expertise from architecture, business, product design, law, planning, landscape architecture, historic preservation, journalism, and engineering. The workshop provided an interactive forum for participants to learn the nuts and bolts of establishing EPIC partnerships, the potential benefits of EPIC model partnerships to both universities and public agency participants, as well as tips for launching a pilot year.

The EPIC-Network hosts an annual conference and workshop for university representatives, local government officials, and organizational partners interested in adopting, adapting, and/or enhancing the EPIC Model for their institutions and communities. This year's conference will be held at the University of South Florida in Tampa, April 7-10, 2019. For more information and to register, go to: http://www.epicn.org/2019-epic-network-conference

The WRTWC is encouraging utilization of the EPIC model to enhance university students' exposure to transportation topics and projects and to develop the next generation transportation workforce. Limited travel support is available to regional representatives from transportation agencies, or university faculty interested in partnering with transportation agencies to integrate project-based experiences into coursework. Contact the WRTWC for more information.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) developed the Everyday Lean Innovations & Ideas Program to provide an information sharing mechanism among staff despite the decentralized nature of the DOT&PF across the largest state in the country.

This initiative recognizes that when an easy fix is not at hand, front-line employees are the problem solvers and innovators on the ground. With Everyday Lean, the department can capitalize on that talent and share it across regional and system boundaries. With continued challenges in funding, employees are often confronted to find better, faster, less expensive ways to meet mission critical demands, and the department is focused on rewarding those that "think outside the box". The Everyday Lean Innovations & Ideas Program provides employees with the tools and support they need to be mission successful.

 

Employees are encouraged to submit ideas through various means to the Everyday Lean team. Once a year the ideas are vetted and voted on. Awards include top ideas and innovations that could be acted on in Safety Innovation; Junkyard Dog Innovation, Everyday Lean Idea Facility Efficiency; Environmental Innovation, One DOT&PF Innovation, and the Commissioner's Innovation of the Year. Selected employees receive jackets and recognition awards.

To find out more about the program, visit our website: http://wrtwc.org/success-stories/2018/alaska-dotpf-everyday-lean-program/

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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.

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This webinar will provide a recap of the 2nd National Summit on Rural Road Safety: Bridging the Gap. If you were not able to join us in Savannah, GA in December 2018, then this webinar is for you! Come hear an overview of the most important takeaways from this action-oriented event with interactive sessions to assist attendees on their Road to Zero.

Webinar: Funding and Evaluating Systemic Pedestrian Safety Improvements

Date: March 5, 2019

Time: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm MT/1:00 pm to 2:30 pm ET

Cost: Free

Organization: FHWA Office of Safety

Many transportation agencies recognize the value in proactively treating high-risk locations in order to prevent crashes involving pedestrians. While new tools are available to help agencies quantify risk factors and identify locations for systemic safety improvements, questions remain about implementing and evaluating these projects. What types of funding sources can support systemic safety projects, and how can these investments be prioritized and evaluated? This Federal Highway Administration webinar will showcase examples of how agencies have made the case for proactive, risk-based approaches to improving pedestrian safety. After sharing some of the tools available to conduct systemic safety analysis, our panelists will provide guidance for using Federal funds to support systemic safety projects and showcase examples of project evaluation. Following the presentations, panelists will be available to answer questions from attendees.  

This Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Safety webinar will be delivered by VHB and the UNC Highway Safety Research Center through a contract to provide training and technical assistance to the FHWA-designated Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Focus States and Cities.

Organization: US DOT, ITS Professional Capacity Building Program