Final TCRP research proposal
john....@metrotransit.org
john....@metrotransit.org
Good news. The TCRP research proposal for “Improving Access and Management of Transit ITS Data” was approved for funding!
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TO: DISTRIBUTION
FROM: Gwen Chisholm Smith
Manager, Transit Cooperative Research Program
SUBJECT: Announcement and Project Panel Nominations for the FY 2019 Transit Cooperative Research Program
Immediate Action Requested
The purpose of this memorandum is to announce the FY 2019 Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) and to solicit nominations to serve on project oversight panels for the new TCRP research projects.
The TCRP is an applied research program that provides solutions to practical problems faced by the public transportation industry. The primary participants in the TCRP are an independent governing board organized by the Transit Development Corporation and designated the TCRP Oversight and Project Selection (TOPS) Committee; the Transportation Research Board (TRB) as program manager and secretariat for the TOPS Committee; the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) as a vital link to the public transportation community; and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as program sponsor.
The TOPS Committee met on October 19, 2018, and approved new research projects for Fiscal Year 2019. The descriptions of those FY 2019 projects for which RFPs are expected to be issued can be found here. We are asking you to nominate individuals with expertise directly relevant to the research proposed, and we would particularly welcome your help in identifying women and minority candidates. Your nominations would be appreciated as soon as possible, but no later than January 25, 2019, so that we may move the program forward in a timely manner. We will begin the panel formation process shortly thereafter. Nominations received after January 25th will not be guaranteed full consideration in the panel formation process.
To ensure proper consideration of your panel nominations, we need information on each nominee's affiliation, title, address, approximate age, and, most importantly, professional qualifications related to the particular project. Contacts to determine an individual's interest in serving will be made from this office after we have matched available expertise with that required by the nature of the project. Those interested in serving on a specific project oversight panel should complete a nomination form and send it along with a résumé to Joseph Snell.
Panels for the new research projects are scheduled to meet during March/April 2019. Panel members are prohibited from submitting or participating in preparation of proposals on projects on which they serve. They serve on the panels without compensation, but are reimbursed for travel and subsistence expenses. Travel insurance is provided at no cost to the members. In many cases, only two meetings are held in the life of a project, and these normally occur in Washington, D.C. The first meeting is to develop a project statement that is used to solicit proposals; the second meeting is to select a research organization from among those submitting proposals. Other meetings may be dictated by project circumstances; however, they are few and usually at least a year apart. Membership for each panel will number approximately eight. Panels operate under the guidance of a permanent chair, and there is liaison representation from the FTA, APTA, and TRB; the TCRP staff serves as the secretariat.
We are grateful for your ongoing support of the TCRP in providing nominees. Typically, nominees for panels in the Cooperative Research Programs outnumber the available positions by about four to one. As a result, we have been able to establish panels truly outstanding in their ability to play a fundamental role in the accomplishment of successful research.
Gwen Chisholm Smith, Esq
Cooperative Research Programs
Transportation Research Board
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 448
Washington, DC 20001