1. Role of TRB Standing Committees in Research
Ann Brach
TRB State Reps Meeting
Wichita, Kansas
July 25, 2018

2. TRB Doesn’t “Do” Research
Cooperative Research Programs
Manage contract research
Publish research results
Publish syntheses of current knowledge and practice
Manage program to support innovators
Consensus and Policy Studies
Uses existing research to frame policy issues and perform analyses in support of expert committees’ development of recommendations
Occasionally fund supporting analyses by outside experts

3. TRB’s “Core Program” Convening to share and advance knowledge:
Develop and Manage Annual Meeting
Develop and Manage specialty conferences
Produce 100 webinars a year (this includes CRP webinars)
Disseminating results of research and implementation efforts:
Manage Transportation Research Record
Create and post E-circulars
Maintain website with extensive information
Publish weekly e-newsletter with information from TRB, sponsors, universities, international research and implementation efforts
Publish bi-monthly TR News magazine for the “lay” reader
“Correlation” services
Manage TRIS/TRID/RIP
Maintain TRB Library with services such as “Snap Searches”
Conduct Field Visit program
Liaise with other programs including CRPs, TRB sponsors, universities, domestic and international associations

4. Standing Technical Committees (TAD)
Generation and review of technical content:
Annual Meeting and conference session
Peer review papers for TRR journal
Produce summaries in e-circulars
Occasional products such as wikis, HCM, etc.
Communication, coordination activities:
Maintain knowledge of advances in knowledge and practice in their areas
Identify knowledge gaps (Research Needs Statements) and encourage research and other activities to fill the gaps
Develop the transportation expert community:
Seek new people to involve; engage committee “friends”
Liaise with other organizations
Mentor younger/newer members of the community

5. Blue Ribbon Committees
Recognition of excellence in fulfilling committee mission
4 areas for awards (new as of this year):
Research (previously Advancing Research): Identifying and advancing ideas for research
Renewal: Attracting and preparing the next generation of professionals and scholars in TRB
Implementation: Moving research ideas into transportation practice
Leadership: Contributing to improving the management and operation of TRB committees
Receive blue ribbon to wear at Annual Meeting and certificates presented to chairs at Sunday lunch

6. Blue Ribbon Examples 2015 ABC40, Transportation Asset Management
Turning research needs statements into NCHRP funded research projects
Focuses on research needs of practitioners and fosters involvement of SDOT practitioners in TRB
Key is partnership AASHTO Subcommittee on Asset Management.
Monthly phone calls with Subcommittee, FHWA, ABC40
ABC40 chair discusses research needs at Subcommittee meetings to get feedback & priorities.
Joint meetings with AASHTO Subcommittee at TRB Annual Meeting to discuss common research needs.
Advancing Research
Transportation Asset Management (ABC40)
Chair: Kathryn Zimmerman
Website:
Policy & Organization Group – Management & Leadership Section
One of the primary roles of a TRB committee is to identify and develop research needs to advance the state of the practice. Other roles involve sharing information about on-going research activities with TRB participants and disseminating research results through workshops, conferences, and other methods.
The Transportation Asset Management (TAM) Committee (ABC40) has experienced phenomenal success over the last several years in turning research needs statements into funded research projects through the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). In the past few years alone, the following Committee Research Needs have been funded:
• NCHRP 08-36, Task 114: TAM for Ancillary Structures
• NCHRP 08-36, Task 116, Development of Transportation Asset Management Plan Templates.
• NCHRP 08-36, Task 125, TAM Knowledge Portal.
• NCHRP 08-69, Supplement to the AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Guide: Volume 2 – A Focus on Implementation.
• NCHRP 08-87, Successful Practices in GIS-Based Asset Management.
• NCHRP 08-90, TAM Gap Analysis Tool.
• NCHRP 08-91, Cross-Asset Resource Allocation and the Impact on System Performance.
• NCHRP 08-93, Managing Risk Across the Enterprise: A Guidebook for State Departments of Transportation.
• NCHRP Project 20-05, Topic 43-01, Use of TAM Principles in State Highway Agencies.
• NCHRP 20-07/Task 315, TAM for Ancillary Structures.
A key to ABC40’s success in advancing research efforts has been the partnership that has been established with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official’s (AASHTO) Subcommittee on Asset Management. This partnership, which has been in place since ABC40 first became a standing committee, includes the following:
• Participation in monthly phone calls with the leadership of the AASHTO Subcommittee, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and ABC40. During the calls, the AASHTO representative often identifies opportunities for research needs statements to be submitted in support of various NCHRP programs. As these opportunities are identified, the Chair of ABC40 either submits a research problem statement already developed by the Committee or reaches out to Committee members for help in developing a problem statement on a topic suggested by the AASHTO Subcommittee or FHWA.
• Opportunities for the Chair of ABC40 to discuss research needs at each AASHTO Subcommittee meeting so that the feedback from Subcommittee members can be incorporated into the research problem statements prepared by the ABC40 Committee members. At one of the AASHTO Subcommittee meetings each year, the ABC40 Chair presents the research needs statements that have been developed by the TRB Committee and asks the AASHTO Subcommittee members to prioritize the topics. A committee is then formed to finalize the problem statements for the top 3 to 5 research topics. The committee is comprised of members of both ABC40 and the AASHTO Subcommittee on Asset Management.
• Joint meetings with the AASHTO Subcommittee each year at the TRB Annual Meetings to discuss common research needs. The partnership that has been established has benefited AASHTO, FHWA, and TRB. Not only has it led to the identification of research statements that address the needs of practitioners, it has also fostered stronger involvement by state practitioners in TRB activities and has contributed to advancing the state of the practice.

7. Blue Ribbon Examples 2016
Regional Transportation Systems Management and Operations (AHB10)
Works with National Operations Center of Excellence and AASHTO Subcommittee on Transportation Systems Management and Operations to identify research needs, develop problem statements, create research framework.
NCHRP problem statements and synthesis topics
TSMO research collaboration across TRB and AASHTO
webinars, research needs survey, virtual peer exchange with TRB & AASHTO committees and NOCoE
Honorable Mention: ADC30, Ecology and Transportation
Bi-annual newsletter: disseminate milestones, announcements, research needs, practice-ready results, case studies, research-in-progress.  

8. Blue Ribbon Examples 2017 AFH10, Construction Management
Collaboration with AASHTO Subcom on Construction on research needs, dissemination, application
AHB40, Highway Capacity and Quality of Service
Highway Capacity Manual since 1950 promotes research to advance state of practice and develop tools used by practitioners, academics, policy makers.
HCM 6th Ed. incorporates travel time reliability (SHRP 2); wide range of traffic, weather, incidents; managed lanes, ramp metering, speed harmonization; combines research to analyze urban street as a multimodal facility (complete streets); long-range planning, travel demand modeling, alternatives analyses, and highway sizing.

9. Blue Ribbon Examples 2018 2018: AT045, Intermodal Freight Transport
Connecting freight research and practice, learn day-to-day challenges of freight community directly from industry personnel ranges from senior executives to front line employees responsible for packing boxes
Mid-year meetings with industry organizations, site visits
Private Sector Applicability Award at TRB Annual Meeting
2018: ABG30, Technology Transfer
Work to join academia, private sector, & public agencies to accelerate research results into implementation
Reviewed Practice-Ready Papers process
Website, news, updates, twitter, T2 tools
Provide resources to standing committees
Dissemination of NCHRP 768 Directed T2 Results

10. “The Matrix”
TRB doesn’t “do” research, but we provide a matrix within which research, innovation, and implementation in transportation is fostered and coordinated, through:
Information exchange
Convening experts
Connecting researchers with practitioners
Providing expert peer review of technical content
Professional development and mentoring
Tools for practitioners