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News Archive A free one-day workshop on creating sustainable communities will be held in Austin July 14, 2011. See the flyer below for a draft program and an RSVP form. 3rd Annual Border to Border Transportation Conference To Be Held in El Paso The 3rd Annual Border to Border Transportation Conference has been scheduled for November 16-18, 2010 at the El Paso Convention Center, and it is being hosted by the El Paso MPO. It is being coordinated and organized by both the El Paso MPO and the Hidalgo County MPO. Below you will find the Call for Papers and Registration form for the conference. Application of Travel and Land Use Forecasting in the NEPA Process Guidance Workshop See the flyer below for information and registration to attend a free training event scheduled for September 21st, 2010 at TxDOT in Austin. Mike Culp, FHWA HEP, will be offering a one-day workshop on implementing the FHWA March 2010 Guidance on the Application of Travel and Land Use Forecasting in the NEPA Process. Space in the class is limited. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, but multiple registrants from one MPO may be wait-listed in order to ensure that all interested MPO and TxDOT offices have representation. Clean Air Through Energy Efficiency Conference (CATEE) set for Aug. 24-26 at UT-Austin The Clean Air Through Energy Efficiency Conference (CATEE) will be held August 24-26 at the AT&T Conference Center on the UT-Austin Campus. The 2010 CATEE Conference is the seventh in a series of air quality and energy efficiency conferences developed to engage stakeholders in a meaningful discussion about making our future cleaner and more energy efficient. See links below for further information. Public Meeting on FTA’s New Starts and Small Starts Programs To Be Held in Dallas An outreach session concerning the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for FTA’s New Starts and Small Starts programs will be held on July 12, 2010, 9am-1pm, at the Hyatt Regency Dallas Hotel, Reunion Ballroom F. The meeting will provide a forum for FTA staff to make presentations and for participants to ask questions regarding possible changes to the way major transit project proposals seeking federal funding are rated and evaluated. Additionally, the sessions are intended to encourage interested parties and stakeholders to submit their comments directly to the official docket. Federal Register Notice
Assessment of Climate Change Effects on Infrastructure: Pilot Candidates Being Solicited MPOs are encouraged to submit proposals to partner with FHWA in piloting approaches to conduct climate change vulnerability and risk assessments of transportation infrastructure. Proposals are due to FHWA Division Offices by July 30, 2010. Further details can be found at the links below.
"Planning for Sustainable Transportation in the 21st Century" Workshop A workshop on sustainability will be held at the NCTCOG offices in Arlington on March 23, 2010. The announcement and agenda can be found at the links below. Workshop Announcement
Context Sensitive Solutions Workshop A workshop on Context Sensitive Solutions will be held October 20, 2009 in Austin. The workshop will include an up-to-date overview of Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) plus presentations on exemplary CSS projects, plans and programs from the surrounding region. For more details, including a preliminary agenda and registration information, please see the links below. Livability Forum - CSS Seminar Series A webinar on Livability will be held Thursday, September 24, 2009 1:00 - 2:30 PM (CST). The Forum will be led by Beth Osborne, USDOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Gloria Shepherd, FHWA Associate Administrator for Planning, Environment, and Realty, and Susan Borinsky, FTA Associate Administrator for Planning and Environment. Further details and registration can be found below.
NEPAssist Training for TxDOT Staff and MPOs A TxDOT Statewide virtual training event on EPA's NEPAssist/GIS-ST tool will be held August 14, 2009, 1:00pm - 3:00pm. Each TxDOT District, with the exception of the Houston District, will have access to the training. (The training will be hosted by Sharon Osowski out of the TxDOT office in Austin, 200 Riverside Drive Classroom A.) MPOs are encouraged to attend. Contact information for all MPO attendees needs to be submitted ASAP so that system logins can be created prior to the training. To submit your name for training, please contact Maya Coleman at mcolem2@dot.state.tx.us or 512-416-2578. Microsoft Access Course To Be Held in Weslaco July 27-28 A two-day workshop on using Microsoft Access will be hosted by the Hidalgo County Metropolitan Planning Organization in Weslaco, TX July 27-28, 2009. The following document provides further details. Microsoft Access Training Course Details
Planning and Environmental Linkages Webinars Three webcasts will be conducted this summer on the basics of Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL). "PEL 101: The Tools for Adopting and Implementing a PEL Approach" will provide an overview of PEL, how it works and the associated benefits, and information on the tools and methods for implementing the PEL approach. The webcast is being offered on the following three dates: June 23, July 27, and August 20. The flyer below includes more information and registration information. Flyer for Planning and Environmental Linkages Webinars Context Sensitive Solutions National Dialog: Call for Best Practices The CSS National Dialog is currently seeking submissions of best practices in the application of Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) principles to transportation projects, programs and plans. Selected case studies will be presented at a series of one-day Workshops. Submissions are welcome from transportation agencies, planning agencies, communities and other organizations. The submission deadline has been extended to July 31, 2009. Further Information on CSS Call for Best Practices Shorter 1-page version of flyer (suitable for printing and distribution)
2009 Highway Information Seminar FHWA's annual Highway Information Seminar will be held December 1-3, at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza in Washington, D.C. Individuals interested in attending must apply by submitting their application electronically over the Internet by August 30th. For further information, see details below. Highway Information Seminar memo
2009 National Highway Data Workshop and Conference The biennial national Highway Data Workshop and Conference series will continue with a conference September 22-24, 2009 at the Marriott Oakland City Center in Oakland, California. It will be hosted by the California Department of Transportation and University of California Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies Technology Transfer Program. The conference focuses on presentations and discussions of highway system inventory and extent, highway system designations, and highway system performance. For further details, see the link below. FHWA website on 2009 National Highway Data Workshop and Conference FHWA/FTA Transportation Planning Update Newsletter, Winter 2009 The newsletter below has information on a variety of transportation planning topics, including economic recovery information, climate change, census initiatives, and training/events calendars. CTPP (Census Transportation Planning Products) Newsletter, December 2008 The newsletter below has information related to such topics as TAZ (Traffic Analysis Zone) delineation and ACS (American Community Survey) data. 2008 Border to Border Transportation Conference The 2nd annual Border to Border Transportation Conference was held November 18-20, 2008 at the McAllen Convention Center. Presentations from the conference may be viewed at the website provided below. Website - 2008 Border to Border Transportation Conference
Examples of Current STIP Formats (State of Texas) The presentation below provides examples of STIP formats currently used by MPOs throughout Texas. Listing of Texas MPOs A draft listing of the Metropolitan Planning Organizations In Texas is available below. These are the results of a survey conducted in August 2008. Information for each MPO includes: Metropolitan Area, MPO Region, MPO Name, Designated MPO, Fiscal Agent, Policy Board, and Technical Committee. Eligible uses of MPO PL funds for legal services The following letter, written by FHWA/FTA for the San Antonio MPO in November 2008, provides guidance on eligible uses of MPO PL funds for legal services; a similar letter was written to the CAMPO (Austin MPO) last year. This guidance may be helpful to all 25 MPOs and TxDOT district offices. Letter regarding the use of MPO PL funds for legal services Using Visualization Techniques to Communicate Transportation Planning Data A TMIP webinar on Data Visualization Techniques was held on November 13, 2008. A recording of the session is available on the following page.
Projects of National and Regional Significance The Federal Highway Administration has released its final rule on Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS) Evaluation and Rating. You may retrieve a copy of the final rule at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-25382.pdf The PNRS program was established under Section 1301 of SAFETEA-LU to provide grants to States for critical, high-cost transportation infrastructure facilities that address critical national economic and transportation needs. This rule establishes the required evaluation and rating guidelines for proposed projects. Under this rule, a proposed project would be eligible for funding under the PNRS Program only if the project meets the eligibility requirements. Additionally, projects would be evaluated and rated as “highly recommended,” “recommended,” or “not recommended” based on the results of preliminary engineering, the project justification criteria, and the degree of non-Federal financial commitment. On Friday, November 7 from 1pm to 2:30pm ET, the Federal Highway Administration Office of Freight Management and Operations held a special session of Talking Freight to discuss this final rule. Video and audio ecordings, a transcript, and slides of the session are available at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/freightplanning/talking.htm.
New Guidance Document on MPO Public Participation Available The FHWA Resource Center recently developed a guidance document on MPO public participation. The "Public Involvement / Public Participation Transportation Planning Process Resource Guide" has been developed to briefly review key issues in public involvement, summarize key requirements, and highlight a variety of notable practices, tools, and techniques. TMIP Special Report No. 288 "Metropolitan Travel Forecasting: Current Practice and Future Direction" The National Academy of Sciences Special Report 288 was published in August 2008. Based on interviews at five MPOs, the report analyzes how travel demand models and the resulting travel forecasts have been used in the regional planning process, and how the travel demand models are used to address emerging issues. Links to the report and a cover letter from FHWA are given below. TEMPO Meeting Materials Presentations related to the August 2008 TEMPO meeting can be downloaded here.
Hosts Sought for "Linking Conservation and Transportation Planning" Workshops The Federal Highway Administration is soliciting interest in hosting conservation and transportation planning workshops during 2008 and 2009. The workshops, titled "Linking Conservation and Transportation Planning," are designed to assist States Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and State and Federal resource agencies better coordinate and integrate transportation and conservation planning data and activities. Additional information about the workshops can be found in the January 2007 "Successes in Stewardship" Newsletter, and on the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Planning and Environmental Linkages training website: http://environment.fhwa.dot.gov/strmlng/newsletters/jan07nl.asp http://environment.fhwa.dot.gov/integ/resources_training.asp FHWA has played a very proactive role in these workshops, as they provide a great forum for building relationships and forming partnerships. The workshops also help identify ways in which transportation and environmental agencies can work together in meeting SAFETEA-LU Section 6001 environmental consultation and mitigation requirements, better accomplish linking planning and NEPA objectives, and work towards a more effective and efficient environmental review process. Interested Division Offices will be expected to serve as a co-lead with state and local partners in coordinating the workshops. Divisions will help lead a workshop planning committee which will customize the agenda to state/local needs, and ensure broad participation and smooth logistics. Please contact Becky Lupes, Rebecca.lupes@dot.gov or 202-366-7808, to express interest or for more information. Transportation Planning Requirements and Their Relationship to NEPA The following slides were presented by FHWA / FTA as part of a "Let’s Talk Planning" Videoconference held March 19, 2008. Census Bureau message regarding the TAZ/Block/Tract updates for the 2010 Census The following posting is to alert interested parties to the current status of the expected timeline related to the creation of Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs) for CTPP products.
Let's Talk Planning Video Conference: Fiscal Constraint, Focusing on Year of Expenditure (YOE) and Cost Banding The following presentations, materials, and links are from the FHWA/FTA Let's Talk Planning Video Conference on October 16, 2007.
Indirect and Cumulative Impact Assessment for NEPA Process (8 Steps) The following presentation was made by Jack Gilbert, FHWA at the TxDOT Environmental Coordinators' Conference (September 2007 in Austin).
ATRI Highway Trust Funding Shortfalls and Potential Options An executive summary of the ATRI report Defining the Legacy for Users: Understanding the Strategies and Implications for Highway Funding is available below. The objective of this research is to "define and understand the current state of transportation needs and finance in the United States, with particular attention paid to the financing of highway infrastructure maintenance and expansion." Now Available: Guidebook for Identifying, Measuring and Mitigating Environmental Justice Impacts of Toll Roads Published by the University of Texas at Austin's Center for Transportation Research, this guidebook presents an approach for the identification, measurement, and mitigation of disproportionately high or adverse impacts imposed on minority and low-income (EJ) communities by toll roads relative to nontoll roads. 80th Texas Legislature Focuses on Transportation The 80th Texas Legislature adjourned in May 2007, and the session highlighted transportation issues. Major topics included toll roads, public-private partnerships, the Trans-Texas Corridor, red light cameras, and air quality. The North Central Texas Council of Governments has prepared a summary of many transportation related bills affecting the entire state and the Dallas-Fort Worth area in particular. Presentation developed by FHWA/FTA concerning the Final Rule on Metropolitan and Statewide Transportation Planning The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the revised Federal Regulations governing the development of metropolitan transportation plans and programs, statewide transportation plans and programs and regulations for Congestion Management Systems. These revisions result from the passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59, August 10, 2005), which also incorporates changes initiated in its predecessor legislation, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) (Pub. L. 105-178, June 9, 1998) and now makes the regulations consistent with current statutory requirements. The last time these sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) were updated was October 1993. The Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2007, and became effective on March 16, 2007.
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