Peer-to-Peer

Recent Activities Executive Summary

Introduction

Data presented in this report reflects services requested during the calendar quarter ending March 31, 2001. Both tabular and graphic formats are used. The ITS Peer to Peer Program commenced serving highway and transit ITS requests in June, 1996.

Technical assistance is delivered at the convenience of the requesting agency, and may be scheduled weeks or months in advance. Requested services included in this report were not necessarily delivered during the period.

A total of 530 requests for technical assistance have been served in 57 months of operation. Forty (40) new requests were received during the reporting quarter.

This is the second quarterly report under FHWA contract number DTFH 61-00-C-00030. Under the previous contract, three 2000, four 1999 quarterly reports and a FY1999 report were delivered to FHWA. Data for prior periods were delivered in other tabular and graphic forms.

This quarter reflects a rebound in total activity, and particularly in CVO, transit and rural categories.

During this quarter, public sector peers were scheduled in all possible cases per FHWA direction. This may contribute to some of the scheduling delays that were seen this quarter, and also to some of the requests being classified as “pending”.

Overall Activity

Program activity to date totals 530 requests, of which 40 were received in the reporting quarter.

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Compared to the same quarter last year (1st calendar quarter of 2000), this quarter received 12 more requests – a 43% increase.

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Stage of ITS Development

The majority of requestors continue to be in the first four stages of developing and implementing ITS systems. In particular, 60%–90% of the requests received over the previous 15 months are concentrated in the first stage of development (Problems and Opportunities Identification).

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Modal Summary

The ITS Peer to Peer Program serves the Federal Highway, Federal Transit and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations. Activity is tracked by mode, with allocations for multi-mode activities. During the 1st quarter of CY 2001, highway and transit-oriented requests constituted 75 and 25 percent of Program activity, respectively. Data for the highway mode includes, by definition, CVO/CVISN activities.

Disaggregated data is presented below. Fractional data reflects requests serving multiple categories.

Metropolitan and Rural ITS Components

Modal activity is further categorized into either the metropolitan or rural ITS elements established by USDOT. For the quarter, 53% of all activities were metropolitan in nature; 47% were rural. The modal breakout is 50% of highway and 60% of transit requests were metropolitan in nature. (CVO requests encompass both metropolitan and rural/statewide categories, and were not included.)

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Activity Classified by ITS Program Areas

Activity for each mode and Metropolitan / Rural Component is further categorized by ITS program area.

Commercial Vehicle Operations

7.00 requests were received in this program area during the quarter. This represents a 133% increase from same quarter last year.

Highway – Metropolitan

11.50 highway metropolitan requests for assistance were received in the quarter, a 28% decrease from same quarter last year. Requests for this quarter fell into seven of the 12 available categories, with the greatest number in the Other category.

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Highway – Rural/Statewide

11.50 requests were received in this category during the quarter. This represents a 360% increase from the same quarter last year. Requests for this quarter fell into five of the eight available categories, with the greatest number in the Statewide / Regional Traveler Information Infrastructure category.

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Transit – Metropolitan

The 6.00 requests in metropolitan transit ITS program areas were distributed across three categories, as shown below. This activity level represents a 100% increase from same quarter last year, as transit activities continue to increase.

Transit – Rural/Statewide

4.00 requests were assigned to this category during the quarter. This is a 14% increase from same quarter last year.

Topic Areas

While program areas represent activities within each of the metropolitan and rural elements, Peer to Peer Program topic areas reflect the nature of the issues addressed.

Highway – Metropolitan

The 11.50 requests in this category during the quarter continued past trends, with the majority of requests focusing on Planning and Programming, Education / Training / Facilitation, and Awareness Outreach.

Highway – Rural/Statewide

The 11.50 rural highway requests were divided amongst efforts in Awareness / Outreach, Education / Training / Facilitation, and Planning and Programming.

Transit – Metropolitan

The 6.00 requests were distributed amongst Planning and Programming, Education / Training / Facilitation, Resource Materials Location, and Awareness / Outreach.

Transit – Rural/Statewide

4.00 rural transit requests were distributed amongst the Planning and Programming, Awareness / Outreach, and Education / Training / Facilitation topic areas.

Program Responsiveness

The ITS Peer to Peer Program remains responsive to customer needs:

• 5% of services were delivered on the same day the request was received.
• 20% of services were delivered within 14 days of the assistance request
• 13% within 1 month of the request.
• 5% within 90 days.
• 58% of requests are pending. The high number of pending requests is due to requestors calling in several months before they actually need the assistance to be delivered. Arrangements are made usually within a week of receiving the initial call, and then the request is categorized as "pending" until the date the assistance is actually provided.

Program responsiveness is measured as the number of calendar days elapsed between the Program's initial receipt of a request for assistance and delivery of the technical assistance.

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Summary of CY 2001 — 1st Quarter

• Requests were fairly evenly distributed between metropolitan and rural / statewide.
• There was a resurgence of Rural Highway and Rural Transit activities.
• CVO/CVISN was once again higher than same quarter last year. This may be attributable to FMCSA and COTR Program promotion in the quarter.
• Activity reflecting a mix of topics and program areas is the norm. This is believed to reflect the systemic, rather than component, focus of transportation agencies.
• The Peer to Peer Program worked with the National Architecture Team on several requests during the quarter. Coordination across the development of assistance plans and delivery of the assistance over time remains a key Peer to Peer Program activity.
• Programmatic efforts to meet ITS technical challenges continue to be concentrated in Planning and Programming, and Education / Training / Facilitation. The E/T/F topic area includes formal and informal presentations and discussions, usually at a customer's site.

Requests were received through all 4 FHWA Service Centers and 5 of the 10 FTA Regions. Assistance was delivered to representatives of at least 20 states and the District of Columbia. State and local representatives receiving assistance included state DOTs, toll way / bridge agencies, transit authorities, metropolitan planning organizations, state police, motor carrier agencies, and other local and regional bodies.

The ITS Peer to Peer Program continues to meet FHWA, FTA and FMCSA objectives of delivering technical assistance to plan, design, procure, implement and operate ITS systems and components. Significant demand exists for technical expertise to assist state and local entities as they try to achieve their ITS goals.

Updated October 9, 2008 4:11 PM