DRAFT MINUTES 2004 ANNUAL MEETING TRB COMMITTEE AHB65 OPERATIONAL EFFECTS OF GEOMETRICS Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Washington, DC January 13, 2004 1:30 to 5:30 pm 1. Call to Order. Chair Doug Harwood called the meeting to order at 1:35. 2. Welcome and Introductions. Members and friends introduced themselves. 3. Announcements. Chair Doug Harwood announced that TRB had reorganized, resulting in, among other things, a new number for the committee. TRB Staff Representative Rich Cunard discussed the TRB reorganization in greater detail during his report (below). 4. TRB Staff Report. TRB Staff Representative Rich Cunard delivered the report. He first discussed the TRB reorganization. The committee s new number is AHB65. The thrust of the reorganization was to eliminate cross-cutting committees. TRB did this by elevating safety and various specific modes to the group level. Consequently, since this committee is in the Operations group but clearly has interests in safety issues, Rich urged us to reach out to the safety-oriented committees in other groups. Rich also encouraged everyone to use the full name of the committee rather than the number to help newcomers adjust more quickly. Rich provided details on this and upcoming TRB Annual Meetings. The Annual Meeting in 2005 will be January 9-13. The Annual Meetings in 2006 and 2007 will be later in January due to conflicts with other events. In 2004 there were about 9400 attendees. There was a 15% increase in submitted papers (up to 2500) over the number submitted in 2003. About 1400 presentations are being delivered. The publication budget remains fixed, at 700 papers, which means that about 28% of submitted papers will be published. Four papers will be published out of this committee. This year, about 500 presentations will be made at poster sessions. Rich noted that the publication rates for papers presented at poster sessions are identical to publication rates for papers presented at podium sessions. Rich stated that the TRB program web site improved this year, and has been well-used and well-received. He also observed that the electronic submission seems to be working well. On behalf TRB, Dan Turner pointed out that the Executive Committee has asked this and all other committees to look for ways to contribute to the 13 cross-cutting issues they have identified. 5. Approval of 2003 Mid-Year Meeting Minutes. Secretary Joe Hummer distributed the minutes from the 2003 Mid-Year Meeting. With title corrected from Agenda to Minutes, the minutes were approved unanimously.
2 Chair Doug Harwood noted that he will cull the roster of committee friends. Friends that attend this or subsequent meetings today will be on the friends roster, while Doug will email the others asking whether they want to stay. 6. Paper Review Activities. Chair Doug Harwood stated that the committee had received 14 papers this year. The response from reviewers was good this year, with at least 3 reviews for each paper. TRB guidelines were to accept 50% of submitted papers for presentation, so we have 7. Two papers submitted for publication only are still being considered. As noted above, we can recommend 4 papers for publication. Doug will make the decision and inform the authors by February 1. The committee embarked on a discussion of the paper review process. In general, committee members are happy with electronic review system. One member commented that authors cannot see line numbers on the paper. Kay Fitzpatrick noted that one can see those line numbers if one prints the paper directly from the TRB web site. Paul Dorothy mentioned that he would like confirmation that his review was submitted successfully. John Nitzel noted that the comment box is limited in size and has no spell check or grammar check. Doug Harwood suggested in response to John that reviewers can type in comments in Word, then paste those into the box provided. Dan Turner stated that TRB will take over the reviewing system from a contractor and will operate it in house. He urged everyone to be patient with new system during the transition. Dan also noted that our committee has a relatively easy reviewing load, as one committee received 120 papers, and one individual on that committee reviewed over 20 papers. Dan expressed appreciation for the excellent TRB staff that keep the system running. 7. Subcommittee Reports. Awards for 2003 papers. 2003 Subcommittee Chair Larry Shannon stated that the subcommittee chose Development of Design Vehicles for the Hang-Up Problem by French, Clawson, and Eck as the outstanding paper for 2003. The Committee presented certificates to the authors. Awards for 2004 papers. 2004 Subcommitte Chair Chris Poe will attend sessions later to view the contenders for the 2004 outstanding paper award and the subcommittee will make a recommendation. One paper submitted for publication only is under consideration for the award. Follow Up on Urban Street Symposium II. Symposium Co-Chair Jim Gattis reported that there were over 200 attendees at the Symposium, up from the first Symposium. He also reported that the Symposium did not run a deficit. A total of 43 papers were presented, and many other activities took place. Four papers named as Greatest Hits at the Symposium were presented at a TRB Annual Meeting session on January 12. Jim thanked Larry Shannon and his awards subcommittee for their work in identifying those four papers. Jim asked for feedback on the Symposium. There were several positive comments and compliments. Members noted that the poster sessions were good, but the workshops were not as well-attended due to good tours being offered at the same time.
3 The Committee presented certificates to Jim and to Co-Chair Kay Fitzpatrick and thanked them for their leadership of the successful Symposium. The discussion turned to a possible 3 rd Urban Streets Symposium. Jim Gattis moved, and Kay Fitzpatrick seconded, that the Committee organize a 3 rd Urban Streets Symposium. Kay noted that the Landscaping Committee, which had been asking this Committee to participate in a joint mid-year meeting, has stated that 2008 would be fine for such a meeting, leaving the summer of 2007 free of other major Committee commitments and available for the 3 rd Symposium. Chair Doug Harwood noted that our events are always well-attended and financially successful. Kay observed that we should invite more TRB committees, including pedestrian and bicycle committees, to co-sponsor the event. Jim agreed that we need more contacts with those committees. After a bit more discussion, a vote was held and the motion passed unanimously. The committee started making suggestion for host cities for the 3 rd Urban Streets Symposium. Members suggested Atlanta, the Twin Cities, Portland (Maine), Madison, Seattle, and Philadelphia as possibilities. Chair Doug Harwood stated that he will name chairs for the 3 rd Urban Streets Symposium after discussions off-line with the candidates. International Symposium on Geometric Design III. Symposium Co-Chair Ray Krammes stated that planning is proceeding. The Symposium will be during the week of June 6 or 13, 2005, in Chicago. A call for papers is circulating, and abstracts are due April 1. The steering committee is looking for volunteers to help review abstracts. Each volunteer would review about 20 one-page abstracts within about 3 weeks. Several persons volunteered. The Symposium will occur in conjunction with several other committee and task force meetings, including our midyear meeting. Ray noted that for the second Symposium, the steering committee received about 120 abstracts and 45 papers were presented. Research Problem Statements. Subcommittee Co-Chair Karl Passetti reported that the Williamsburg meeting in July will incorporate the previous work in this area. He also noted that NCHRP Synthesis topics are due on January 31 and NCHRP research statements through AASHTO are due in late-june or early-july. The deadline to submit an NCHRP research statement through a state DOT is February, while the deadline going through a TRB Group is February 1. Karl continued that the list of more than 200 ideas generated at the 2002 mid-year meeting has been pared down in Chris Poe s handout (later), and will be the basis for the Williamsburg meeting. Karl has not identified any statements to submit for NCHRP this year, and recommended waiting until July. Karl and Co-Chair Dick Stafford agreed to solicit information from the Committee, coordinate with Brian Ray of the Geometric Design Committee, and send a list of possibilities to Chair Doug Harwood by the time of the mid-year meeting. Dick will send an email to Committee members and friends soon asking for ideas. Doug suggested that Dick and Karl can ask for help from any committee member at any point during their work.
4 Reports on Joint Subcommittee Activities. Chair Doug Harwood reported that the Highway Safety Manual Joint Subcommittee has moved up to Task Force status. This Committee no longer has formal contact with the Task Force. Jim Brewer reported that the Joint Subcommittee on Roundabouts is trying to get organized. Their major concern is pedestrian and bicycle use, particularly blind pedestrians. Keith Knapp noted that the Joint Subcommittee is sponsoring a conference in 2005 in Vail, Colorado. Wendel Ruff reported that the Geometric Design Subcommittee on Context Sensitive Design meeting on Sunday was well-attended. 8. Old Business. Plans for 2004 Mid-Year Meeting (Williamsburg, VA). Local arrangements chair Jake Keller of Parsons Brinckerhoff discussed amenities near the meeting site. He urged members and friends to look at the site visitwilliamsburg.com. The meeting will include half-days on the 14 th and 17 th and full days on the 15 th and 16 th. Room rates at the Williamsburg Hospitality House are $99 per night or the current government per diem. The registration fee will be $140 to $170. Jake noted that the Newport News/Williamsburg airport is small but convenient. He recommended renting car to get around in the spread-out area, although the Merchants Square center is within walking distance of the hotel. Jake will coordinate with Larry Sutherland on the final schedule for the meeting. Chair Doug Harwood suggested agenda items for the meeting days other than the Strategic Geometric Design Research Needs Workshop on the 15th. Wednesday afternoon could be the time for the Workshop Steering Committee and the Geometric Design Symposium Steering Committee to meet. The subcommittees of the Geometric Design Committee could also meet then. Friday morning could be a joint meeting with the Geometric Design Committee to examine results from Thursday and look ahead to a Transportation Research Circular reporting the Workshop results. After a comment that the AASHTO Task Force will meet on Friday morning as will, which will cause a conflict with our meetings, Doug responded that his suggestions are not intended to discourage those members of both, but it has been clear from early in the planning stages that Friday is for individual committee meetings. Doug continued that Friday afternoon could be for regular committee business meetings, and Saturday morning could be for a joint session with the Geometric Design Committee. Members commented on Doug s suggestions. Joe Hummer observed that the schedule sounded dry, with three days of no technical content. Members suggested that large FHWA and VDOT projects in the region might make good topics for presentation. Doug and Geometric Design Committee Chair Elizabeth Hilton will look at arranging a presentation or two. Larry Shannon wondered about overlap between the meetings Friday and Saturday mornings. Larry Sutherland suggested getting back together with the AASHTO Task Force Saturday morning. Larry will check with the AASHTO Task Force leadership about that possibility.
5 Plans for Strategic Geometric Design Workshop (Williamsburg, VA). Chris Poe is our liaison to the Workshop organizing committee. The Workshop is scheduled for July 15. Chris distributed a draft schedule. The goal is to develop a framework for deciding on a research agenda. Chris is looking for revisions to the handout via email by January 30. Geometric Design Committee Chair Elizabeth Hilton noted that emphasis is at the Workshop should be on fundamental and long-term issues. She suggested that she and Doug should jointly issue invitations to speakers. At the Workshop, we will need to see whether there is research on-going, and what those projects will or will not accomplish. Joe Hummer suggested having on-line capability so people can access the TRB Research-in-Progress (RIP) database. Chris Poe said he will check on that. 9. New Business. Intersection Safety Conference Session. The Committee thanked Keith Knapp for organizing the intersection safety conference session. The session was very well attended. Keith suggested that we should take up this topic at another conference session, and perhaps issue a call for papers on intersection geometry. Jim Brewer asked whether roundabouts would be an appropriate topic for such a session. Keith responded that they are well covered elsewhere. Keith also noted that the ITE Mid-Year Meeting in California in March will be devoted to intersection safety. Plans for 2005 Annual Meeting. The Committee discussed potential topics for sessions at the 2005 Annual Meeting. One suggestion was for presentations of case studies of IHSDM use. Ray Krammes stated that there was one paper on that topic this year, and there may be more by next year. Ray went on to suggest a session on pedestrians and bicycles at intersections. Geometric Design Committee Chair Elizabeth Hilton noted that one of their subcommittees suggested a session on design for multiple modes. Keith Knapp suggested a session on collision models from the UK. Ray noted that there are similar efforts underway in Australia. John Nitzel observed that there are plans for a call for papers on the Highway Safety Manual. John Smart noted that there is interest in the UK on squeezing extra capacity from existing pavement. Joe Hummer suggested that the increased interest in continuous flow intersections might lead to an interesting session. The Committee held a vote on the session topics with the most potential for success at the 2005 Annual Meeting, from among the suggestions listed above. The top three vote-getters were intersection geometry and safety, narrower cross-sections, and intersections and pedestrians. Kay Fitzpatrick will provide liaison with the pedestrian committee to see about joint interest in the latter session. Chair Doug Harwood noted that a call for papers may be a good method for getting papers on intersection geometry and safety since we did an invited session this year. Discussion ensued on a call for papers and possible restrictions in it. Doug suggested a 2005 invited session on narrower cross-section use. Meanwhile, he suggested encouraging the Geometric Design Committee to take the lead on intersection geometry and safety in 2005, and that we will pick up that theme in 2006 in appropriate way. Doug s suggestions were introduced as a motion, seconded and approved by the Committee. Duane Eitel, Karen Schurr, Jim Brewer
6 and Wendel Ruff volunteered to help organize the session on narrower cross-sections in 2005. Eric Donnell volunteered to chair the effort to arrange a 2006 session on intersection geometry and safety with Dick Stafford and Kay Fitzpatrick to help with contacts with pedestrian and bicycle groups and Keith Knapp also assisting. Strategic planning. Chair Doug Harwood observed that TRB encourages committees to look forward, and that we have responded with solid plans for the next four mid-year meetings. However, TRB may expect more from the Committee, perhaps before the next meeting. Doug may consult with committee this spring if more strategic planning is needed. 10. Membership rollover. Chair Doug Harwood noted that 2004 is a committee member rollover year. Current member terms have been extended from January 31 to April 14. TRB rules say to add 1/3 new members every 3 years, so we will need to add 7 new members this spring. Some current members have agreed to step down, but Doug has choices to make. Doug invites those rotating off to stay involved as active friends. Doug is seeking new members and has identified some; he invited the committee to make suggestions. We particularly need new members from public agencies. 11. Liaison reports. Jim Brewer reported that new publications from AASHTO will include a document on design flexibility and a pedestrian guide. Kay Fitzpatrick stated that ITE will hold its Mid-Year Meeting on Intersection Safety in Irvine in March. She will report on that in Williamsburg. 12. Other Announcements. Joe Hummer asked for help identifying state DOT contacts with expertise in the design of curbs. Several members and friends suggested contacts. 13. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.