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University-Agency Partnership Building
 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.
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Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) Promotes Innovation and Information Sharing through the Everyday Lean Program
 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.
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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.
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Upcoming Trainings & Events
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Webinar: Bridging the Gap: Safety Summit #2 Recap
Date: February 28, 2019
Time: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm MT/1:00 pm to 2:30 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: National Center for Rural Road Safety
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.
For more information or to register, click
here
.
Link:
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07eg3txykx4b2143a1&llr=ngyyawuab
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Webinar: Leading Future Improvements in Transportation Safety
Date: March 5, 2019
Time: 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm MT/2:00 pm to 3:30 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: TRB and NTSB
TRB and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will cohost a webinar on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM ET. The webinar will cover 2019-2020
NTSB's Most Wanted List
and TRB's Critical Issues in Transportation 2019
report
. Presenters will focus on issues of safety and security across all modes of transportation.
The NTSB Most Wanted List identifies what the NTSB has prioritized as its top safety priorities across all modes to prevent accidents and save lives. This list serves as the NTSB's roadmap for developing multi-modal lifesaving solutions.
TRB's Critical Issues in Transportation 2019 identifies a series of challenging questions to explore issues and opportunities that may arise 10 to 20 years into the future. Changes to the transportation sector are coming rapidly from all directions and have the potential to vastly alter the trajectory of transportation. Webinar presenters will focus on the elements of safety and security.
For more information or to register, click
here
.
Link:
https://webinar.mytrb.org/Webinars/Details/1254
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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.
For more information or to register, click
here
. Link:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8036137370073406211
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Webinar: Vulnerable Road User Safety: Making Travel Safer Using Pedestrian Safety Technologies
Date: March 6, 2019
Time: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm MT/1:00 pm to 2:30 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: US DOT, ITS Professional Capacity Building Program
A major safety concern among transportation professionals across the United States is the growing number of traffic fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists, the vulnerable road users. Recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that 6,827 pedestrians and bicyclists were killed in traffic crashes in 2016, constituting roughly 18 percent of all traffic-related deaths. This fatality rate was a 10.3 percent increase from 2015. The recent surge of connected vehicle technology has led to the development of vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication systems aimed at improving the safety and mobility of vulnerable road users. Given that V2P systems are new to the roadway environment and involve communication technologies that can take many forms, the U.S. DOT is interested in assessing how these emerging safety applications might function in the real world and impact safety for vulnerable road users.
As part of the V2P Test Bed project, the research team conducted a technology scan of the V2P systems available to date, either in the final stages of development or available in the market. A V2P Test Bed was established at the Federal Highway Administration's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) to assess the safety effectiveness of a few selected market-ready V2P systems. This presentation will discuss the results of the V2P Technology Scan and development of an Assessment Plan, as well as present preliminary results from the safety effectiveness evaluation performed on multiple market-ready V2P systems. Research outcomes identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing V2P technologies will be presented, which can be used to guide the development of future pedestrian safety applications to maximize road user safety and mobility.
For more information or to register, click
here
.
Link: https://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/t3/s190306_Vulnerable_Road_User_Safety.aspx
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 Study Abroad Course: Sustainable Transportation in the Netherlands
Dates: June 23 - July 6, 2019
Organization: Portland State University
The course creates an immersive experience to explore the Dutch approach to cycling, transit, innovative mobility and land use. The curriculum will feature material that provides a comparison between U.S. and the Netherlands problems, priorities, and solutions. Specific emphases on planning and engineering principles, policy, and practice will be explored through field trips, tours and guest lectures, while visiting Utrecht, Amsterdam, Delft, and Houten. Students completing this course will develop a broader understanding of sustainable transportation issues and expand their toolkit for context-sensitive solutions.
This study abroad course offered through Portland State University is available to college seniors and graduate students from any university, as well as professionals.
Application Deadline: March 15, 2019
For more information, click
here
.
Link:
http://bit.ly/2VbJMoF
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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.
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