November 20, 2019
More than 13,000 transportation professionals from around the world will gather at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., January 12-16, 2020. TRB is unlike any other conference, bringing together researchers and transportation professionals from across the world to collaborate on solutions for the biggest issues affecting today’s communities.
It's like drinking from a firehose. There's so much going on and so much to learn, which is partly why Kittelson has such a large presence at the conference.
- Bastian Schroeder, PhD, Principal Engineer
Brandon Nevers, Kittelson Senior Principal Engineer and COO, looks forward to reuniting with people he sees only once a year. “TRB is a time to reconnect with colleagues professionally and personally. It’s oftentimes the only time of the year I see fellow transportation professionals from other organizations in person. It feels like a reunion,” he says.
“I love TRB. I’ve been going for a number of years and I feel very fortunate to be able to do so,” says Brian Ray, Senior Principal Engineer. “I’m excited about seeing my colleagues. These are people I work with throughout the course of the year. We’re involved with different initiatives but it’s a chance to get together in person and re-acquaint those relationships. There’s a common interest and a bond in research and what we’re trying to do within the profession.”
TRB builds connections across agencies and firms. Left: A team made up of DDOT, Conduent Transportation, and Kittelson accepts the 2019 Urban Freight Transportation Committee Award for “Best Applied Paper.” Right: Nelson Gibson, NCHRP Senior Program Officer, recognizes Pete Jenior‘s service as Chair of the Young Member Subcommittee of the Design and Construction Group.
Catch Kittelson at TRB 2020
Kittelson is sending a delegation of 43 team members to TRB 2020, ranging from first-year employees to seasoned staff members. We look forward to hearing presentations from other firms and agencies, and participating in the discussions that will lead to new research questions. Among the 4,000 sessions held throughout the week, we hope you can pop in to a few Kittelson-led workshops, presentations, poster sessions and committee meetings. Here are some of the topics we’re excited to discuss in those sessions:
Workshop 1010
Sunday, January 12th 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Kittelson’s David Reinke and Mecit Cetin of Old Dominion University will moderate a follow-up to the well-attended big data and machine learning workshop at the 2019 TRB Annual Meeting. The 2020 workshop will present a guided tour of the primer on machine learning and transportation published in fall 2019 Standing Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing Applications Committee. Topics include the role of machine learning in big data analysis; supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning methods; and resources for machine learning.
Workshop 1074
Sunday January 12th, 1:30 – 4:30 PM
Moderated by Kittelson’s Marc Butorac, this workshop will provide participants with actionable summaries of the tools in today’s access management toolbox. Kristine Williams of the Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida will overview of the Access Management Manual, 2nd Edition; Karen Dixon of Texas A&M Transportation Institute will overview the Access Management Application Guide; and Kristine Connolly of Kittelson & Associates will overview the Guide for the Analysis of Multimodal Corridor Access Management. Breakout groups will give participants the chance to work through day-to-day challenges and successes using the access management tools.
Lectern Session 1251
Sunday January 12th, 1:30 – 3:15 PM
Bastian Schroeder will provide a summary of current research into planning-level capacity adjustments for connected and automated vehicles. The research is a pooled fund study to investigate how roadway capacities may change by 2045 and beyond due to disruptive technologies. These estimates will help agencies make planning decisions to right-size freeway facilities of the future.
Lectern Session 1253
Monday January 13, 1:30 – 3:15 PM
Zachary Bugg will moderate a session of presentations about the effects of geometric design on traffic operations and safety.
Lectern Session 1258
Monday January 13th, 3:45 – 5:30 PM
Monday afternoon’s lectern session will cover planning processes and planning capacity for livable communities, context-sensitive solutions, multimodal access, and smart mobility. Kittelson’s Jane Lim-Yap, Patty Hurd, and Margaret Kent will join Deborah Chesna, DeWayne Carver, and Jean Parlow of Florida Department of Transportation to explain how FDOT’s context classification system guides planners and designers in understanding each street’s existing and desired future context and transportation characteristics to “put the right street in the right place.”
We always enjoy meeting with students, and anyone interested in career or internship opportunities. In addition to attending Kittelson-led committee meetings and presentations, attendees can connect with us impromptu or reach out beforehand via our website.
If you’ll be attending TRB for the first time in 2020, be sure to check out our advice for first-time attendees!
TRB Annual Meeting 2020 Event Information
The TRB 2020 meeting is a unique one-it will kick off TRB’s Centennial Celebration. You can read more about the history of TRB and what the Centennial Celebration means at our blog post here.
Visit the TRB 2020 website for registration details. We hope to see you there!