2009 National Highway Data Workshop and Conference

The biennial national Highway Data Workshop and Conference series

Hosted By: California Department of Transportation University of California Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies Technology Transfer Program

September/October, 2009
California
[Specific dates and location to be determined]

WHat is HiDaC?

HiDaC is a conference series focusing on presentations and discussions of highway system inventory and extent, highway system designations, and highway system performance. It is a complement to the biennial North American Travel Monitoring Exposition and Conference (NATMEC) which serves the related traffic monitoring community. NATMEC is planned for the even years, with the next held in Washington, DC, in August, 2008. HiDaC is held in the intervening odd numbered years.

The first HiDaC was held in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 2005 and the second in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2007. The third in this continuing series of highway data workshops and conferences will be in California in 2009.

What is the Purpose of HiDaC?

The intent of HiDaC is to encourage collective discussion of the often subjective and vaguely defined concepts used to track and assess the performance of the public highway system. All States define their highway systems in accordance with Federal Highway Administration guidance and in cooperation with Metropolitan Planning Organizations and other State and local agencies. This guidance is by its nature imprecise and vague, yet funding allocations and measures of performance are based upon the interpretation of the State in question. There is a need for a collective "meeting of the minds" among practitioners to ensure equitable treatment within and between States. Cross border coordination is another issue which would benefit from collective discussion and decision making to ensure a "seamless" highway system across the Nation.

Who is the Target Audience?

HiDaC is intended as a practitioners' conference for new and experienced mid-level analysts and highway data managers involved with the day-to-day activities associated with highway data collection, processing, and analysis from the States, Federal government, and local planning agencies throughout the country.

Who Should You Contact for More Information or Offer to Help?

Development of the 2009 HiDaC is just beginning. Suggestions and ideas for topics of discussion, volunteers to help out with developing the agenda, and offers to serve as potential speakers are eagerly being sought. If you would like to participate in the development of the 2009 HiDaC, are interested in being an exhibitor, or just want more information, please contact:

Brian Domsic
California Department of Transportation
Division of Transportation System Information
(916) 653-3272
(916) 654-6583 fax
brian.domsic@dot.ca.gov

Michael Fay
New York State Department of Transportation
Highway Data Services Bureau
(518) 457-1965
(518) 485-2016 fax
MFay@dot.state.ny.us

Will there be a 2011 HiDaC?

A tentative host for the 2011 HiDaC is now being sought. If you think your State, MPO, or other organization might be interested in hosting, please contact one of the individuals noted above. The hosts of the previous HiDaC sessions are willing to provide whatever information you need about their conferences to help decide (or convince your management). Take advantage of the opportunity to see your pressing issues discussed by hosting the next HiDaC.

Summary of Previous Conferences:

2007 HiDaC

TDOT hosts the 2007 Highway Data Conference

September 18 to 20, 2007
Embassy Suites - Nashville, Tennessee

The 2007 Biennial National HiDaC (Highway Data) Conference held September 18-20th at the Embassy Suites-Airport location was a very successful event.

This is a conference that was hosted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The focus of this meeting was to encourage collective discussion of the concepts used to track and assess the performance of the public highway system highlighting highway system inventories, designations and performance. New and experienced highway data professionals involved in day-to-day activities associated with highway data collection, processing and analysis were invited to attend from around the country.

Commissioner Gerald F. Nicely and FHWA TN Division Administrator Bobby Blackmon participated in the Opening Remarks on Tuesday. Following the Welcome delivered by Steve Allen, TDOT Director of Project Planning, was a Panel Discussion covering topics such as Highway Data: Overview of State Practices, New Initiatives and Technologies and Functional Class. Involved in the discussions were Lynn Humphrey, HPMS Coordinator for TDOT, Rob Robinson, Data Management Chief of Illinois DOT, Rodney Floyd, Highway Data Collection Manager of Florida DOT, David Craig, GIS Data Base Manager of Colorado DOT, Jeremy Freeland, Transportation Planning Specialist Supervisor for Pennsylvania DOT, Peggi Knight, Director of Office of Transportation Data of Iowa DOT, Brian Domsic, Data Base Administrator of California DOT, Michael Fay, Supervisor of Highway Data Section in New York, Mark Berger, Data Resource Manager with the Massachusetts Highway Department, Pat Whittaker, Functional Class Manager of Washington State DOT and Ralph Volpe with the FHWA - GA Division.

There were a total of 30 states that participated and attended this conference. The Local Committee that worked on this consisted of Cynthia Allen, Steve Allen, Chris Armstrong, Tom Every, Debbi Howard, Lynn Humphrey, Nermine Nashed and Glenda Tyus. The members of the Transportation Committee were Bill Hart, Brandon Darks, Marketta and Monica Wakefield.

Wednesday was a full day with sessions ranging from Local Roads Inventoried presented by William Frawley, Research Scientist of the Texas Transportation Institute to Indian Reservations and Federal Ownership explained by David Winter, Division Chief with the Office of Highway Policy Information - FHWA-Washington, DC.

The last day featured Tina Hatcher, the HPMS Coordinator from Florida. She discussed Performance Measures using Highway Data as well as a demo on Curvature Extension and Roadway Geometry.

There were 101 participants that attended this event. Evaluations indicated that this was an informative conference that balanced a good dose of southern hospitality with fun.

2007 HiDaC Agenda:

Tuesday, September 18

Wednesday, September 19

Thursday, September 20

2005 HiDaC

Northeast Regional Highway Data Workshop & Conference

September 6-8, 2005
The Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa - Saratoga Springs, New York

The first biennial highway data conference was held at the Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa in Saratoga Springs, New York, from September 6 to 8, 2005. With assistance from staff of the Pennsylvania DOT, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the FHWA NY Division office, and the FHWA Highway Performance (HPMS) Division in Washington, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) hosted a conference which brought together State, Federal, and local officials who deal with highway inventory, highway system designations, and highway performance issues across the country. While originally proposed as targeting the Northeast region, attendees included staff from the transportation agencies of 14 different States and the FHWA Division offices in 9 different States ranging from Rhode Island to California. In addition, there were three FHWA HQ and resource center offices represented, 15 vendors, five MPOs, and one territory (Puerto Rico).

Conference Summary

Michael Fay of the NYSDOT Highway Data Services Bureau opened the Conference on Tuesday, September 6, and was followed by welcoming remarks from Paul Wells, the NYSDOT Chief Engineer, and Robert Arnold, Division Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, New York Division. David Winter, representing the FHWA Office of Highway Policy Information, then spoke on the national perspective with respect to highway data. Tom Kearney, FHWA-NY Division, closed the general sessions with an interactive discussion with the audience to determine who was in attendance and why and thereby elicit the nature of highway data and the highway data community.

Following the general sessions, David Winter and Ralph Volpe of the FHWA Highway Systems Performance Division gave a mini-course on the FHWA Highway Performance Monitoring System for those attendees not familiar with HPMS.

The opening day was concluded with a welcoming dinner and guest speaker Henry L. Peyrebrune, retired NYSDOT First Deputy Commissioner. Mr. Peyrebrune spoke on the HPMS reassessment performed in the late 1990's for which he was the consultant, and compared its goals and intent with that of the upcoming HPMS reassessment in which he will also play a role.

Highway System Extent, Designations, and Performance

The remainder of the Conference was basically divided into four parts: one each covering extent, designations, and performance, followed by sessions on the FHWA Highway Performance Monitoring System which attempts to bring all three together into one common reporting format.

Highway System Extent

Michael Fay of NYSDOT led the Highway System Extent discussion with a description of the type of highway inventory data collected at the Federal (represented by HPMS) and State levels. Mark Berger of the Massachusetts Highway Department followed with a description of the types of data Massachusetts collects at the local highway level and why. All four panel participants, Michael Fay, Mark Berger, Gaye Liddick of PennDOT, and Brian Domsic of CalTrans, discussed the similarities and differences between their State's operations and those described by Mr. Fay and Mr. Berger.

Rick Bennett, NYSDOT pavement management supervisor, followed with a discussion of some of the tools used for automated highway data collection, including an Automated Road Analyzer (ARAN) vehicle, photolog, and e-score (an automated tabulation device for visual data collection). Donna Wilson then discussed the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) videolog system. As a data analysis and presentation tool, Johnathan Croft of VAOT demonstrated the power of the straight-line diagram software used by Vermont.

As an illustration of the complexities of highway information, Tom Perreault of the NYSDOT Office of Legal Affairs discussed ownership and jurisdiction issues, especially with regard to State designated arterials and State Highway Law. David Woodin of the NYSDOT Traffic Engineering & Highway Safety Division, in turn, discussed the various highway designations as represented by the signing along the highways, including Interstate, US, and State touring routes as well as county routes, reference markers, and mileposts.

Highway System Designations

Tom Kearney of the FWHA-NY Division led the highway systems designation sessions beginning with a discussion of the rules, regulations, and procedures for designation of Interstate highways (such as the recent conversion of State Route 17 in New York to Interstate 86) and the National Highway System. In conjunction with this discussion, Holly Lisle, FHWA-Iowa Division, gave a brief overview of the events being planned for celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Interstate System.

A discussion of Urban Area Boundaries, and their relationship to designation of highways with urban versus rural functional classifications, was led by Ed Christopher, FHWA Resource Center, with input from Tom Kearney, FHWA-NY, and Rich Peters, a regional planning and program manager for the NYSDOT Hudson Valley Region. Mr. Peters' experience ranges from rural Columbia County whose only city is less than 8,000 people to the well-known, very urban/suburban Westchester County of 1 million residents adjacent to New York City.

Highway System Performance

Gaye Liddick of PennDOT led a discussion of the types of performance data collected as part of highway data. Joining him were Phil Bell of the NYSDOT Office of Policy & Performance to discuss how some of this data is expected to be used in system performance monitoring and Robert Arnold, FHWA-NY Division Administrator to discuss some of the FHWA efforts in this area.

Tim LaCoss, FHWA-NY, and Rick Bennett, NYSDOT, discussed some of the pavement condition and performance data, how it is collected and how it is used. Michael Fay, NYSDOT, and Bernard Byrne, VAOT, discussed some of the traffic monitoring data that is collected and how each State uses this data to estimate travel on roads which are not routinely monitored.

Mike Long, Chief of the PennDOT Roadway Management Division, gave a comprehensive overview of the PennDOT roadway management system and how it developed and evolved since its inception in the 1980's. He provided a comprehensive picture of one State's approach to inventory and pavement condition data collection and management. Continuing with the PennDOT theme, Laine Heltebridle, PennDOT, and Carolyn Carney (formerly Carolyn Renner), Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (the Pittsburgh area MPO), discussed the cooperative State/local efforts in Pennsylvania toward collection and management.

The final highway system performance presenter was Lou Adams of the NYSDOT Office of Policy and Performance discussing Asset Management and its dependence on comprehensive and accurate highway data to use in asset performance analysis and management activities.

The Highway Performance Monitoring System

The Conference closed with two sessions on HPMS. The first was a discussion of current activities within the HPMS function by David Winter, Chief of the Highway System Performance Division of the FHWA. Mr. Winter also discussed the upcoming HPMS reassessment introduced at the welcoming dinner by Henry Peyrebrune.

The second HPMS session and final session of the Conference was a compare and contrast session of how different States, large and small, handle the processing of HPMS data. Involved in the discussion were the FHWA Division representatives from New York (Tom Kearney), Rhode Island (Ralph Rizzo), and Delaware (Paul Lang) and the State HPMS coordinator from CalTrans (Brian Domsic).

Vendor Presentations & Equipment Displays

In addition to the main agenda of the Conference, several presentations were offered by the vendors present at the Conference displaying their products and the work they've done for different State and other transportation agencies. These presentations included demonstrations of various traffic monitoring equipment, GIS-based highway data applications, and mobile and remote highway data collection techniques. In addition to the vendor exhibit tables open throughout the Conference, NYSDOT displayed some of its own traffic monitoring, photolog, and pavement management data collection equipment during the second day of the Conference.