TRB Traffic Signal Systems Committee Workshop

I appreciated the opportunity to participate in the TRB Traffic Signal Systems Committee summer workshop "You Get What You Measure," held in Portland on July 22, 2013. We had an excellent discussion of some of the things we are doing in the Portland region to improve the multimodal transportation system using real time and archived data from multiple sources. It was a great discussion! Thanks to Tom Urbanik and Peter Koonce for the opportunity.

Successful IBPI Workshop on Bicycle and Pedestrian Curriculum

I was very happy to participate and help lead a successful workshop sponsored by the PSU/OTREC Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), focused on Integrating Bicycle & Pedestrian Topics Into University Transportation Curriculum, from July 24-26, 2013. We had more than a dozen faculty members from around the U.S. (and Canada) participate actively in this workshop that focused on best practices in teaching, development of course modules and other curriculum resources. We hope to continue to develop and share resources as we aim to integrate pedestrian and bicycle engineering and planning topics into our courses and curricula. Special thanks to Prof. Jennifer Dill, Hau Hagedorn and Peter Koonce for making this all happen!

ISTTT20 in Nordwijk, the Netherlands

I had the opportunity to participate in the 20th International Symposium on Traffic and Transportation Theory (ISTTT20) held in Nordwijk, the Netherlands from July 17-19, 2913, and hosted by my friends at TU Delft. I spoke about the future of traffic management in the U.S. at a masterclass organized by TrafficQuest, and also chaired a session at the ISTTT meeting. Further, we held a summer meeting of the TRB Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics. All in all a very successful few days, with fantastic organization and hospitality by all of our Dutch hosts and organizers!

Another Successful Study Abroad Course in Delft

From June 29 - July 13 we had another very successful study abroad course in Delft, the Netherlands, in partnership with Prof. Peter Furth from Northeastern University and our friends at TU Delft. A total of 5 students and one TA from PSU participated along with 19 Northeastern students. You can read the student blogs documenting their experiences:

• Josh Capps
• Seth Cool
• Kate Drennan
• Sarah McCrea
• Max Scheideman
• Jesse Boudart (TA)

We had the opportunity to "live" the Dutch transportation experience and get a feel for the lifestyle there with excellent guest lectures and field trips. We hope that our students will continue to bring their experiences into their professional and personal lives moving forward. Special thanks to the students for participating, to Prof. Furth and his students and to all of our hosts for their wonderful hospitality! The course will be offered again in 2014.

Terrific PSU Reunion in Delft

Had a wonderful reunion with two former PSU students - Prof. Ahmed El-Geneidy, now an associate professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and Andrew Byrd, now a PhD student in urban planning at the University of Paris and running a company that leverages public transport timetable and real time data for trip planning and accessibility analyses! Very exciting to see how well both Ahmed and Andrew are doing as leaders in their transportation fields!