The Public Transportation Group provides technical assistance to state departments of transportation and transit professionals in several states. A long-standing relationship with the Public Transportation Division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation focuses on technical assistance involving the use of new technologies, such as computerized scheduling and dispatching software.
 The Bicycle and Pedestrian Program works closely with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to provide technical expertise. Examples of technical assistance projects include:
- developing and conducting road shows to educate local governments on how to make transportation facilities more bicycle and pedestrian friendly
- developing bicycle maps for local communities
- administering the NCDOT Planning Grant Initiative
- developing booklets such as “A Guide to North Carolina Bicycle and Pedestrian Laws”
- content development for the NCDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Division Web site, www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle/
Information on Bicycle and Pedestrian Workshops, held at ITRE for the NCDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Division can be found at the following Web pages which open in a new window:
Bicycle Workshops: www.itre.ncsu.edu/PTG/education/bikewkshp/index.html
Pedestrian Workshops: www.itre.ncsu.edu/PTG/education/Pedwkshp/index.html
The North Carolina Transit Program provides technical assistance to the 18 fixed-route and 82 North Carolina rural public transportation systems. Over the years, assistance has been in the areas of computer application design, programming, technology support and implementation, and training. Other work includes: route analysis; service planning and design; transportation planning; fixed-route and paratransit operations (maintenance concepts, dispatch, scheduling); and research on relevant topics to transit and North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Public Transportation Division.
With regard to rail technical assistance activities in North Carolina, PTG staff have completed a draft operations manual for the Rail Division's Highway-Railroad Crossing Hazard Elimination Program. PTG also established and is monitoring an intern program that places up to 10 North Carolina State University students with technical skills at the Rail Division office.
Technical Assistance expands to other states. For example, in the past PTG completed a two-year task order contract with the Ohio Department of Transportation. Tasks for this project included:
- developing a guidance document for procuring and implementing technologies;
- assisting three transit systems in developing functional specifications for technology procurements;
- establishing Web sites for several Ohio transit systems
- developing spreadsheet templates for monitoring the progress of demonstration coordination projects;
- evaluating ODOT vehicle specifications and making recommendations for improvements, and;
- conducting a statewide ITS technology inventory.
For general technical assistance available in the public transportation group, contact Debbie Collins or Tom Cook or contact Mary Meletiou for information on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program at ITRE.
Technical Assistance Projects
For a listing of current and past research and technical assistance projects, jump to Research Archives on ITRE's Main Research Page |
