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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <item>
      <title>Building a KYTC Mentoring Program</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2039852</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has lost considerable institutional knowledge over the past 10 years due to retirements and attrition. This has negatively affected the agency’s capacity to fulfill its mission. As KYTC continues to diversify and becomes increasingly made up of post-Gen X staff, it must devise and implement strategies to facilitate the professional development of young employees and strengthen knowledge management. Agencies in the public sector have found that formal and informal mentoring programs can help attract talented new staff, improve responsiveness to emerging stakeholder and customer needs, and equip staff with the knowledge they need to build sound leadership and decision-making skills. The project will identify mentoring best practices tailored to (1) transportation/public agencies and (2) Millennial and Gen Z staff, identify educational assets and tools which can help staff effectively mentor young professionals from diverse backgrounds, and establish programmatic approaches KYTC can use to institute and update mentoring programs.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Oct 2022 12:57:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2039852</guid>
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      <title>Transportation Workforce Development for State DOTs to Address Congestion for the Southeast Region (Project C4)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1843139</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Transportation state agencies and other public and private sector employers have consistently identified workforce development on the top of the needed capabilities for the advancement and maturity of the programs.  This realization has become even more with the advancement of emerging technologies and strategies and the establishment of associated programs.   These technologies and strategies include connected and automated vehicles, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), micro-mobility, electric vehicles, business intelligence, big data, and other such services.  
The challenges of training the workforce of the future are exacerbated by additional trends in the transportation profession. There is a need for increase in the diversity of the workforce – racial and ethnic, gender, second career professionals, veterans and encore careerists and workers with diverse life skills.  Another trend is the differences in wage scales between the public and private sector, which affect the retention of qualified staff at the public agencies.  
The establishment and maintenance of a workforce with the required knowledge, skills, and abilities require education, training, recruitment, and retention activities that are currently lacking.  The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) University transportation centers (UTCs) and academic institutions including both universities and community colleges can play an important role in the success of these activities. 
The goal of this project is to develop a framework for training and education to support the diverse workforce development needs of the transportation sector in the Southeast region with an emphasis on the role of the academic institutions. The project will identify current and future needs and define the roles of the UTCs, universities, and community colleges in the region in the training and education activities. The proposed effort will build on the national and the Southeast region efforts that have already been done in this regard. 
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Mar 2021 20:47:40 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1843139</guid>
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      <title>Research for AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways. Task 408. Transportation System Management and Operations (TSMO) Workforce: Skills, Positions, Recruitment, Retention, and Career Development</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1465118</link>
      <description><![CDATA[While precise definitions vary among practitioners, “transportation system management and operations” (TSM&O or simply TSMO) comprises generally a collection of technologies, services, and operating strategies aimed at delivering reliable, safe, and efficient transportation and timely information to travelers and shippers to enable them to make informed decisions to minimize their unexpected delay and improve the safety of their travel. As an area of professional practice, TSMO is a multifaceted approach to maintaining and improving the capacity, security, safety, and reliability of our multimodal transportation system. TSMO practice has increased in scope and prominence as practitioners have developed and adapted increasingly sophisticated ways of applying electronics, communication, information management, and data analytics technologies to enhance the capabilities and performance of our transportation infrastructure. State departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies responsible for that infrastructure face growing needs for a fully competent workforce to provide TSMO technical and managerial expertise as staff members and consultants. Recruiting and developing such expertise is complicated by generational shifts within the larger professional and technical workforce and the rapid pace of technological innovation as well as by the particular challenges government agencies face in a competitive labor market. 

The National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) was organized as a partnership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITSA), with support from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The partnership works to provide resources and services to support the TSMO professional community.  Under the NOCoE's auspices, a diverse group of practitioners, agency managers, human resource (HR) specialists, professional education and training specialists, and professional service providers have sought to identify viable actions to encourage and influence development of resources to support rapid evolution of the TSMO workforce.
 
This NCHRP project was undertaken to produce resources and guidance—for DOTs and others (such as educational institutions, consultants)—for development of TSMO capabilities in several specific areas: model position descriptions for describing DOT staff at entry-level and advanced levels of TSMO responsibilities, supporting documentation for characterizing TSMO entry-level and advanced technical and management positions, and guidance on effective and exemplary practices for recruitment, professional development, and retention of TSMO staff.  These materials were provided to the NOCoE.  





]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Apr 2017 12:38:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1465118</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Moving Transportation Research to Practice: TPID Webinar Series</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1372387</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Transportation researchers frequently struggle to effectively communicate research findings to practitioners, administrators, policy-makers and public officials. At the same time, these decision-makers are constantly seeking more and better information to help them understand the dynamics of transportation questions to design and implement projects and programs. This disconnect is attributable, in part, to the investment in time and training required to understand and interpret the results of technical analyses and to the typical format of research product deliverables. Yet the challenge is also a cultural one: while researchers strive to cultivate objectivity in order to communicate research results, they also must be prepared to recognize and respond to the normative, value-driven, and diverse needs of the audiences who are in a position to inform implementation with research findings. To address this challenge, TPID consortium member North Carolina State University (NCSU) proposes a series of four (4) live presentation and discussion webinars that will provide a high-profile venue for TPID researchers to present selected research findings to a national and international audience, and also will provide the transportation research community with valuable information and insights on how to improve their skills in communicating research findings. The series will align with TPID's proposed technology transfer effort to "develop a technical seminar series featuring investigators at the consortium and invited speakers from other organizations" (National UTC proposal pages 3, 24). The series also will be a step beyond the typical research dissemination webinar to include a unique professional education component with the goal of increasing the relevance and practical impact of transportation research and the effectiveness of researchers in connecting with policy- and decision-makers.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2015 01:00:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1372387</guid>
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      <title>STEM Teacher Professional Development - Transportation Series/Student Outreach and Education - Companion Proposals</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1329711</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The nation is battling a critical global competitiveness void due to the substantial lack of students pursuing Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related degrees. Additionally, few high school students are being prepared to enter the workforce and effectively contribute to the economy in STEM-related career fields. Addressing critical transportation workforce shortages and corresponding recruitment and retention issues requires exposing and educating students to industry opportunities as early as possible.  Teachers are instrumental in creating an educational environment for exposing students to transportation and STEM-related academic and career treks. Equipping K-12 educators through transportation-focused professional development programs is the first step in building a critical pipeline for augmenting the future transportation workforce. This project will focus on the development of continuing education workshops that will present educators with current and emerging transportation infrastructure issues. Topics include highway design, transportation systems, traffic safety, construction materials, climate event impact and the future of surface transportation. Texas Tech researchers from the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering, and a Texas certified teacher will serve as workshop instructors. The project effort will also focus on equipping educators with classroom implementation materials to inform and inspire students about STEM careers in the transportation industry. Development of grade-appropriate teaching modules and projects will be developed for classroom use, such as academically rigorous senior year Capstone research projects. Simple concepts that students learn in high school level physics, math and chemistry classes (e.g. frictional resistance, corrosion) will be used to construct project-based lessons (PBL) and activities that expose students to real-life scenarios. In addition, methodologies for integrating hands-on projects into lessons and developing rubrics to assess student learning and progress will be provided.  Content will be developed by faculty and content master teachers and will cover state academic standards, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, 21st Century Skills, and College and Career Readiness skills.  Lastly, the effort will yield student recruitment and outreach for 6th - 12th grade students enrolled in classes taught by teachers who participate in the Transportation Series workshops.  The goals include sparking student interest, providing faculty-to-student discussion sessions, and solidifying student plans for college and career aspirations in the transportation industry.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2014 01:00:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1329711</guid>
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      <title>Transit Manager Certificate Program</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1290919</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Transit Manager Certificate Program (TMCP) was developed by the Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT) Office of Freight, Logistics and Passenger Operations.  Through FDOT's, insight and innovation, the TCMP offers professional development to Florida's public transportation managers, and provides them with the educational tools and resources necessary to solve today's public transportation challenges. The program, sponsored and directed by FDOT, will be administered by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) and offered in cooperation with the University of South Florida's (USF) Continuing Education's University College and CUTR. The Program will be structured to offer a combination of online courses, self-paced computer based training, traditional classroom courses and peer to peer exchanges.  By being at the forefront of the progressive educational movement and integrating technological advancements, students have easy access to courses that are relevant to today's public transportation professional. TMCP will provide training in various supervisory and management principles including, but not limited, to leadership, law, finance, supervision, ethics, business communications and performance appraisals.  In addition to general supervision and management courses, the TMCP will also include seminars geared specifically to the transit operations, maintenance and administrative challenges within agencies.  The seminars, along with networking opportunities, will challenge students with real-world issues and projects to consider and solve. By presenting contemporary seminars and subsequent group projects, students will be fully-engaged in their education development and apply their newly acquired knowledge.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:00:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1290919</guid>
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      <title>Florida Statewide Transit Training and Technical Assistance Program</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1290917</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Florida Statewide Transit Training and Technical Assistance Program provides training and technical assistance to Florida's transit professionals and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Offices. The purpose of the program is to ensure the highest level of productivity among transit professionals; promote and encourage management and operational efficiencies; promote and ensure safety and security at Florida's transit properties; and ensure the provision of more cost-effective transit services. Training and technical assistance shall be made available to Florida's transit professionals and FDOT District Office staff including those in operations, planning, marketing, and maintenance. The training and technical assistance will be provided in a number of topic areas including  professional development, planning, operations, management, marketing, and other topics when deemed necessary by the FDOT Project Manager. The purpose of this Scope of Work (SOW) is to define the operational and administrative tasks required by a contractor to support the program.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:00:42 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1290917</guid>
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