2004 -2006 Summary Report
AFB50T Context Sensitive Design & Solutions Task Force

Submitted by Scott Bradley, Chair - February 23, 2006

Task Force Scope

The joint committee Task Force mission is to facilitate communication with and coordination of the activities of the Transportation Research Board committees concerned with development and implementation of Context Sensitive Design and Solutions in project delivery. The objectives of the Task Force are to provide a focus and forum within the TRB to address current issues and research needs dealing with all aspects of CSD&S in transportation.
(28 members representing 20 different TRB committees + FHWA + AASHTO)

Papers Solicited & Received in 2004:

Based upon AFB50T "Calls for Papers" and communications with prospective authors, 15 CSD&S papers were submitted to TRB (12 were peer-reviewed by the Task Force and 3 were sent over to the Bridge Aesthetics Committee for review). Of the 15 papers, 12 were presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting and 5 were recommended for publication.

Papers Solicited & Received in 2005:

Based upon AFB50T "Calls for Papers" and communications with prospective authors, 14 CSD&S papers were submitted to TRB (11 were assigned to the Task Force for peer review and 3 were assigned to other committees for peer review). Of these 14 papers, 9 were presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting and 4 were recommended for publication.

2005 TRB Annual Meeting Sessions:

(2 Sponsored Sessions)
(413) Integrating Context-Sensitive Solutions with Planning and Performance Measurement
(Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 8:00am- 9:45am, Shoreham, Empire) (AFB50T & AFB40)
(650) Context-Sensitive Urban Street Design
(Wednesday, January 12, 2005, 10:15am-12:00pm, Shoreham, Palladian) (AFB50T & AFB10)

(4 Co-sponsored Sessions)
(161) Public Involvement Training: Getting People Involved Productively
(Sunday, January 9, 2005, 1:30pm- 5:00pm, Hilton, Military) (ADA60, ADD50T & AFB50T)
(212) Context-Sensitive Bridge Design
(Monday, January 10, 2005, 8:00am- 9:45am, Marriott, Virginia C) (AFF10 & AFB50T)
(821) Context-Sensitive Design Education
(Thursday, January 13, 2005, 10:15am-12:00pm, Marriott, Virginia C) (AFB40 & AFB50T)
(109) Context-Sensitive Design: International Perspectives on Urban Street Design
(Sunday, January 9, 2005, 8:30am-12:00pm, Shoreham, Ambassador) (AFB10 & AFB50T)

Other 2005 Workshops / Conferences:

Overcoming Obstacles to CSD of Urban Streets and Arterials (International)
(Pre-Workshop to 3rd International Symposium on Geometric Design of Highways)

Sponsored By: TRB's AFB50T CSD&S Task Force. The workshop was planned, deployed and facilitated by 5 AFB50T members - Scott Bradley, Kathy Ames, Leigh Lane, Sally Oldham, and Nick Stamatiadis; one AFB50T "friend" - Tim Neuman; who served as the opening and closing keynote presenter; and 3 international presenters - Peter Whitfield (United Kingdom), Dr.-Ing Reinhold Baier (Germany), and Kenneth Kjemptrup (Denmark)
Date: June 29, 2005 (3.5 hour morning session - 1 of 2 selected Symposium Pre-Workshops)
Location: Drake Hotel, Chicago
Attendance: 85 to 90 participants in spite of pre-registration limited to 70 participants.
Workshop Results: The workshop presented and further identified international concerns, ideas, research, and potential best practices associated with geometric design and achieving context sensitive design of urban streets and arterials. This was a "working" workshop designed to help advance the institutionalization and implementation of Context Sensitive Design & Solutions (CSD&S) in transportation project development. Based upon participant feedback, the workshop was very successful in meeting the following intended objectives: 1) identifying challenges, barriers, knowledge gaps and research needs, 2) illuminating new and potentially transferable paradigms, innovations and design practices, and 3) illustrating "what was gained vs. what was lost" in geometric design decisions and compromises made to achieve context sensitivity in specific project examples.
AFB50T will try to publish the proceedings as an E-Circular in 2006?

Midwest Region CSD&S Workshop (Regional/National)

Sponsored By: Minnesota DOT, FHWA, and the University of MN Center for Transportation Studies. More than 10 members and 15 "friends" of AFB50T participated in the planning and deployment of the workshop.
Date: August 24-26, 2005
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: Slightly more than 200 participants with representation from over 30 states.
Workshop Results: Based upon participant feedback and evaluation forms, the workshop was very successful in addressing: 1) tough CSD&S questions and challenges from around the country, 2) CSD&S best practices and lessons being learned, and 3) CSD&S innovations and ideas being pursued to further excellence in transportation project development processes and outcomes. The workshop also sought to further advance FHWA's strategic objective of imbedding CSS in all state DOTs by the end of calendar year 2007.
Workshop presentations & information posted at www.cts.umn.edu/Education/ContextSensitive/index.html

2006 TRB Annual Meeting Sessions:

(3 Sponsored Sessions)
(103) Context-Sensitive Design and Solutions: Self-Discovery Approaches and Successes
(M) - Nathan Hale, Sunday (1/22), 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
(354) Public Perception and Involvement Methods to Inform CSD&S
(S) - Empire, Monday (1/23), 3:45 PM - 5:30 PM
(687) Efforts Contributing to Institutionalization of Flexibility in Design & CSS
(M)- Salon 3, Wednesday (1/25), 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

(4 Co-sponsored sessions)
(149) Context-Sensitive Design and Liability: Reality or Myth?
(M) - Nathan Hale, Sunday (1/22), 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
(279) Public Involvement and Context-Sensitive Solutions: The Vital Link
(H) - Military, Monday (1/23), 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM
(545) 2005 AASHTO Awards for Context-Sensitive Solutions Best Practices
(S) - Regency Ballroom, Tuesday (1/24), 3:45 PM - 5:30 PM
(737) Land Use and Context-Sensitive Transportation Design
(H)- Military, Wednesday (1/25), 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Further the success of the national CSS.org website by populating it with additional information, best practices, case studies, resources and feedback

Support a 2006 national AASHTO / FHWA CSS Peer Exchange Conference and spin-off CSS action planning initiative for state DOTs

Sponsor or Co-sponsor "calls for papers" and the planning and development of strategic CSD&S sessions for the 2007 TRB Annual Meeting:
(3 or more Workshops) CSD&S: Meeting Needs and Filling Voids in Education, Research Issues and Needs for Mainstreaming CSD&S in Project Development, and CSD&S in Historic Preservation.
(4 or more Paper Presentation Sessions) CSS and Value Engineering, Mainstreaming CSD&S in the Transportation Workforce, and hopefully continued emphasis on CSD&S Contributions to Multimodal Safety and Mobility, CSD&S Integrations in Transportation and Land Use Planning, and New and Emerging CSD&S Case Studies and Successes.

Building upon our recent successes in attaining approvals and funding for National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) proposals...
Sponsor and Co-sponsor development of (and leverage support for) our most critical and strategic Synthesis Project and Research Project "Needs" as NCHRP proposals for 2007 funding consideration:
(NCHRP Synthesis Proposal) Benefits of Landscape Attributes and Variables for Driver Safety and Performance
(NCHRP Synthesis Proposal) Case Studies in Achieving Mutually Supportive Transportation and Land Use Planning and Development
(NCHRP Synthesis Proposal) Early and Continuous Public and Stakeholder Involvement in Context Sensitive Design & Solutions
(NCHRP Synthesis Proposal) CSD&S and Higher Education Needs
(NCHRP Research Proposals..."thru state DOTs and AASHTO Technical Committees") Identifying and Overcoming Challenges to Mainstreaming CSD&S, CSD&S and Safety, AASHTO Guide for Inter-disciplinary and Cross-disciplinary Integration in CSS, and Conducting a Peer Exchange to Identify and Develop Best Practices for CSD&S Training.

NCHRP Project Proposals Approved and Funded for FY 2005 & 2006

(*Just a hair under $1 million in NCHRP funding*)
(NCHRP Synthesis Project 36-04) "Visualization for Project Development"
(contract work essentially complete with final draft awaiting approval for publication)
(NCHRP Research Project 15-32) "Quantification of Benefits and Cost Effectiveness of Context Sensitive Design and Solutions in Transportation" (under contract by March 2006)
(NCHRP Research Project 15-33) "AASHTO Guide for Transportation Landscape and Environmental Design" (under contract by March of 2006)
(NCHRP Synthesis Project 37-01) "Multi-Disciplinary Teams in Context Sensitive Solutions"
(under contract and work just beginning)

2006 AFB50T ("Nominal Group") Prioritization of CSD&S Synthesis or Research Needs:

Priority Votes	Topic	Details
11	Institutionalization of CSS	Identify what are the challenges, barriers and methods to remove them. Best practices for mainstreaming CSS. Ensure buy in from upper management and work to remove general resistance to changes.
11	CSS & Safety	Investigate safety assumptions. Analyze safety agenda with regard to safety performance. Can CSS actually support safety features; FHWA criteria for national CSS.
9	CSS Guide	An application, cross-discipline and interdisciplinary specific guide to aid in peer exchange and training for CSS. One example would be the ITE guide.
7	CSS Training	What training is going on for CSS; are there state DOT peer exchanges - how do they work; what are best practices for training.
7	Project Specific CSS Performance	Investigate performance of CSS after completion; i.e.- is the project timeless or 'trendy', did the project meet specific goals established in the project development process; did project meet needs and expectations of stakeholders.
6	CSS Education in Universities	What is the current curriculum and overall CSS effort at the university level.
6	CSS and Consensus	Relationship of community values for 'no change'; reconciling that with facilities that have to meet other values; how to achieve consensus. What is compatible change
3	CSS & Value Engineering	What is the relationship between CSS and value engineering; integration into accepted safety principals; need research to make industry think differently and challenge perceptions; investigate safety assumptions.
3	Integration of Land Use Planning & Transportation	What are the current practices; how are DOTs dealing with this issue.
3	Sustainability of Commitments	Approaches to ensure sustainability of commitments throughout the process; use examples of tracking & follow through - DOTs and other partners.
1	CSS & Alternate Delivery Approaches	How to integrate CSS principles into Design Build, Cmat, DBOM, etc...
0	CSS & Communication	Communication issues - following through and adapting practices.
0	CSS & Maintenance	Maintenance issues - follow through adaptive maintenance practices; preservation of investments, integration up front.
0	Toolbox	Develop a 'toolbox' for translation of technical information to non-technical audiences (eg.- noise measurements) to help communities become full partners.
0	CSS & Community Education	Goals to educate community members on CSS.

2004 AFB50T ("Nominal Group") Prioritization of CSD&S Synthesis & Research Needs:

(Broad Need Categories/Issues Surfaced in a 2004 TRB "Implementation of CSD" Workshop)

Votes	Safety / Legal
8*	1. CSS integration in long-range planning and corridor studies
1	2. Design consistency and expectancy of multi-modal facilities
3	3. Research to practicing community disseminated at a faster rate
3	4. Research to develop substantive safety models
	Project Development / Design
7*	5. Measuring success for CSD projects
2	6. Project time delivery to meet all concerns and stakeholders' needs
2	7. Reducing crashes through speed management
1	8. Factoring values of cultural and natural resources into decisions
1	9. Best practices for the conversation before there is a project
0	10. Coordination of transit needs into CSS projects
	Environment / Construction
3	11. Develop tools for defining project context
9*	12. Discipline specific guide for how to do CSS projects
3	13. Integrating CSS concepts in university curriculum
1	14. Development of better visualization techniques
8*	15. Demonstrate cost / benefit of CSS projects

AFB50T Member Representation

28 members on the Roster representing the following TRB groups or allied organizations:

ABJ95T	Visualization in Transportation Task Force
ADD20	Social and Economic Factors in Transportation
ADD20 (1)	Community Impact Assessment Joint Subcommittee
ADA60	Public Involvement in Transportation
ADA70	Access Management
ADC10	Environmental Analysis in Transportation
ADC50	Historic and Archaeological Preservation in Transportation
ADD50T	Task Force on Environmental Justice in Transportation
AFB10	Geometric Design
AFB10 (1)	Geometric Design's Context Sensitive Design Subcommittee
AFB20	Roadside Safety Design
AFB40	Landscape and Environmental Design
AFF10	General Structures
AFF10 (2)	General Structure's Bridge Aesthetics Subcommittee
AFH10	Construction Management
AFO10T	Design-Build Task Force
ANF10	Pedestrians
ANF20	Bicycle Transportation
AHD50	Roadside Maintenance
ALO70	Tort Liability and Risk Management
FHWA	Central Office CSS & Resource Center Team Leaders
AASHTO	Center for Environmental Excellence