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TRB official to visit Idaho next week

Tom Palmerlee, associate director of the Technical Activities Division at the Transportation Research Board, will meet with ITD and other transportation officials next week as part of the organization’s regular field visits.

Although TRB officials generally try to visit each state annually, the last trip to Idaho was in 2008, said Ned Parrish, ITD’s research program manager. The meetings enable TRB technical staff to exchange information with transportation professionals.

The objectives are:

To identify specific problems and issues of importance to state departments of transportation and other transportation agencies and organizations;
To offer assistance and information that can help in addressing those potential problems and issues;
To identify topics and emerging issues that might be appropriate for TRB to address in the future in its continuing efforts to support the needs of sponsors and the broader transportation community; and
To assess the quality and value of services provided by TRB and identify other activities or services that might help TRB better serve its sponsors and other constituencies.

Share your thoughts

TRB’s associate director of the Technical Activities Division wants ITD employees to have an opportunity to provide input on transportation concerns and issues. An open house is scheduled in the Headquarters Auditorium Monday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Employees are encouraged to drop by and visit with Tom Palmerlee during the one-hour break in his scheduled meetings with ITD administrative leaders.

Another open house in video conference format with employees in ITD’s district offices is planned Wednesday from 11:15 a.m. to noon (MDT). District employees can go to the following rooms for the video conference link: D-1: EOC (video) conference room; D-2, Main Conference Room; D-3, Regular Large Conference Room; D-4, Video Room; D-5, to be determined; D-6, large conference room with video.

A video conference also is scheduled from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. that will include the University of Idaho’s National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology, the Center for Traffic Operations and Control and the university’s civil engineering department.

The Transportation Research Board administers two major research programs sponsored by other organizations – the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), which is sponsored by the state transportation departments in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, and the Transit Cooperative Research Program, which is sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration.

Both are applied research programs in which the potential users of research results have a direct role in project selection.

TRB produces and maintains Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS), the world’s largest and most comprehensive online bibliographic database of published and ongoing transportation research. For more information about TRB, visit its website.

While in Idaho Monday through Wednesday, Palmerlee will meet with a number of ITD administrative leaders as well as other local transportation officials and education researchers. Among the ITD officials scheduled to exchange ideas with Palmerlee are:

Matt Farrar, Bridge Engineer; Dave Tolman, Division of Administration; Sonna Lynn Fernandez, intermodal manager; Tom Cole, chief engineer; JV DeThomas, Division of Aeronautics; Jon Pope, Enterprise Technology Services; Loren Thomas, assistant chief engineer and Alan Frew, Division of Motor Vehicles.

For more information about Palmerlee’s three-day visit, contact Ned Parrish at 334-2896.