June 1, June Birthdays. David Fink Angela Coullias Ann Joslin Jodi Godfrey Joel Volinski Lucy Gonzalez Steve Polzin Steve Reich

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1 June 1, 2015 WELCOME After the departure of Mr. Lucas Cruse, the ITS, Traffic Operations and Safety Program desperately searched for an individual with intensive knowledge, experience, passion and dedication to pedestrian and bicycle safety to take over the responsibilities and duties of Lucas in the Comprehensive Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program grant. Mr. Jason Jackman has 7 years of extensive experience on safe routes to school grant and Walk- Wise Tampa Bay project at CUTR. He is very passionate about pedestrian and bicycle safety. Jason decided to take on more responsibilities, challenges and duties to help improve pedestrian and bicycle safety in Florida. He has just transferred from the Transportation Demand Management Program to the ITS, Traffic Operations and Safety Program. Jason, we wish you the best to take your career to the next level. Congratulations! June Birthdays David Fink Angela Coullias Ann Joslin Jodi Godfrey Joel Volinski Lucy Gonzalez Steve Polzin Steve Reich June CUTR Anniversaries Mariann Abrahamsen is a graduate student in the Urban and Regional Planning program at USF. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Sustainability from Arizona State University in She will be working with Kristine Williams Planning and Corridor Management team and USF's Office of Community Engagement and Partnerships to integrate local planning projects into existing curriculum across multiple fields of study at USF. The overarching goal of this project is to establish a lasting relationship between USF and its surrounding communities while integrating sustainability initiatives throughout. Her interests lie within transportation, particularly enhancing livability by way of walkable and bikeable communities. Nevine Georggi 22 yrs Jennifer Flynn 13 yrs Arunima Bagui 11 yrs Lisa Ravenscroft 7 yrs Oana McKinney 4 yrs Donald Skelton 3 yrs Welcome, Mariann!

2 WELCOME Lucy Gonzalez will be joining the Transportation Demand Management team. She will be working on the Safe Routes to School Walking School Bus Program; she previously worked with the Florida Department of Health providing Safe Routes to school presentations and policy changes at the school district levels in five counties. She attended the University of South Florida undergraduate program in Psychology and the College of Public Health. Her area of interest is integrating health objectives into modes of transportation. Welcome, Lucy! Jo Pena is currently an undergrad student at USF studying Environmental Science & Policy and Sociology with plans to graduate in December She has been accepted into the Fall 2016 Master s degree program in Urban Planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is an intern with Kristine Williams Planning and Corridor Management team. She will be assisting them with a research project under NITC entitled Integrating Freight into Livable Communities. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, biking, and reading. Welcome, Jo! UPCOMING EVENTS June 1-3 FPTA/FDOT/CUTR Professional Development Workshop Embassy Suites-USF June 9 CUTR Managers Meeting, CUT207, 1:30 pm June 16 CUTR Staff meeting, CUT102, 9:00 am June 21 Father s Day June Risk Assessment for Transit Capital Projects, CUT102 July 3 USF July 4th Holiday AEGIS Timesheets Pay period 5/22/15 to 6/04/15 AEGIS submission date is Tuesday, June 2nd at 10 am. Pay period 6/05/15 to 6/18/15 AEGIS submission date is Tuesday, June 16 at 10 am. Pay period 6/19/15 to 7/02/15 AEGIS submission date is Monday, June 29 at 10 am. Alma Mater Days SHOW YOUR ALMA MATER PRIDE: Wear your favorite college t- shirt, sweatshirt, and the like (must display the College s logo or name) the first Friday of every month. Friendly banter on performance of affiliated sports teams or alumni news is also highly encouraged. If you want to add a banner or anything to your door, that s great too. Dress code restrictions on sleeveless shirts, shorts or sandals will remain enforced. Jeans can, of course, be worn (with a reminder that a contribution ($1) is appreciated). GO BULLS!!! Alma Mater Days: June 5 July 2 August 7 September 4 October 2 November 6 December 4

3 KUDOS Congratulations to the new ITE Student Officers! President Nikhil Menon Vice President Trang Luong Treasurer Matthew Kessler Secretary Don Skelton Event Coordinator - Md Mokaddesul Public Outreach Rupender Dahiya Webmaster Crystal Pollock Rob Gregg and his team wrapped up a feasibility study that Chatham Area Transit (CAT) requested earlier this year. They consulted with staff and elected officials and conducted two public meetings with residents about the transit center s future. Recommendation was made to consider a van pool program along with three new bus routes that could provide service to west Chatham. Sara Hendricks was interviewed by Bay News 9 in regards to the Cyclovia event in Temple Terrace. See pictures and article on page 5. Chanyoung Lee was interviewed by the Legal Magazine in regards to a CUTR report where Florida motorcycle crashes were analyzed for 10 years and found that Sixty percent of the time motorists in other vehicles are at fault when they collide with motorcycles. Seckin Ozkul published a paper titled, Freight Mobility: Success Factors for Logistics Activity Center (LAC) Growth, in the FLITE Magazine of the Institute for Transportation Engineers Florida Section, May 2015, Volume 56, No.2. Steve Polzin presented the following: The Evolution of Transit Ridership Forecasting Capabilities in Response to Changing Client Needs, Computing Capabilities and Data Availability, at the 15th TRB National Transportation Planning Applications Conference; From Millennials to Uber to Autonomous Vehicles: How Demographics, Economics and Technologies are Impacting Public Transportation, at the 2015 Southeastern Regional Transit Conference,, and also to the Central Florida Transportation Planning Group and a Transtalk Lecture, Intermodal Transportation Student Organization at the University of Minnesota. Steve Reich was interviewed by Florida Trends along with other leaders in various transportation fields in regards to future transportation trends. Transportation Demand Management news: United Natural Foods Inc., in York County was designated one of five local employers as Best Workplaces for Commuters for 2015 by Commuter Services of Pennsylvania, in partnership with the National Center for Transit Research at USF. The Best Workplaces for Commuters designation acknowledges employers who have excelled at implementing green commuter programs. These programs include ridesharing, transit benefits, biking/walking/teleworking, flexible work schedules and other transportation demand management strategies designed to decrease traffic congestion and improve traffic related air pollution levels. By offering these commuter benefits, the recognized employers are committing to regional pollution reduction, greater economical savings related to commuting costs and lessening employee stress caused by single occupant vehicle travel to and from work.

4 KUDOS Alex Kolpakov presented Investigating Performance Improvements and True Costs of Alternative Fuel Buses in Florida at APTA s Bus & Paratransit Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 6. He highlighted CUTR s research in the area of alternative fuels, including a current study tracking the costs of operating advanced propulsion buses in Florida s transit fleets. To gain a better understanding of the true costs and performance improvements associated with various advanced propulsion technologies, the Florida Department of Transportation sponsored the study to collect and analyze up-to-date field data on the performance of alternative fuel vehicles. The analysis will assist transit agencies and granting entities in their evaluation of potential technologies to invest in as they consider switching to alternative propulsion technologies. On Monday, May 18, the Tampa Bay Clean Cities Coalition (TBCCC) held a Florida Alternative Fuel Vehicles Expo at the Sarasota County UF/IFAS Extension Services office. This event was one of many held by Florida s Clean Cities coalitions across the state during the year to increase awareness of the alternative fuel and vehicle choices available. AmeriGas, the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, Florida Transportation Systems (FTS), Precision Alternative Fuel Conversions, ROUSH CleanTech, Sarasota County, TECO, Waste Management, and several individuals displayed a variety of electric, CNG, and propane-powered fleet and personal vehicles. Following a welcome and TBCCC update by coalition coordinator Steve Reich, Dr. George Philippidis, who directs the renewable energy concentration efforts at the USF Patel College of Global Sustainability, gave a presentation on the Future of Biofuels. The remainder of the program featured a discussion on the Outlook for Florida by industry panelists from NovaCharge, Tesla Enthusiasts Club, Sharek Solutions, TruStar, FTS, and ROUSH.

5 On May 12, the New North Transportation Alliance (NNTA) hosted a Go Hillsborough public workshop on the USF Tampa Campus. NNTA members and others met representatives of Hillsborough County to learn about the long range planning process and the transportation infrastructure and service development options under consideration for the USF area and beyond. This workshop was one in a series of forums that are being held at various public venues throughout the County. Richard Ranck, P.E. gave a presentation, supported by maps and other illustrations. Workshop participants filled out surveys and submitted their comments relating to infrastructure financing options. Go Hillsborough is an initiative of the Transportation for Economic Development Policy Leadership Group, which includes all seven Hillsborough County Commissioners; the mayors of Plant City, Tampa and Temple Terrace; and the chair of the HART board. NNTA is a transportation management initiative of public and private members. CUTR staff of the TDM Team provide technical support to NNTA. New North Transportation Alliance and the WalkWise and BikeSmart programs managed by CUTR helped organize this Cyclovia event with much help and support from the City of Temple Terrace, FDOT, and others. At the NNTA/Walkwise booth, many people took the pledge to be ambassadors for bicycle and pedestrian safety and walked away with t-shirts and bicycle lights. Many more children and adults were properly fitted by CUTR personnel with bicycle helmets. And two lucky people rode away with cruiser bikes won in the raffle!

6 CUTR AWARDS/CONTRACTS Project Advancing Alternative Fuel Market University of Central Florida Reich Value $10,000 Project Share the Road PSA Campaign FY Florida Department of Transportation Lin/Larsson Value $31,000 Project Grant Workshop/ Grant Review & Decision Making Process Florida Department of Transportation Gregg/Mistretta Value $9,647 Project Florida Transit Planning Network Florida Department of Transportation Joslin/Gregg Value $80,340 CUTR PROPOSALS Project Statewide Transit Technical Assistance and Training Florida Department. of Transportation Gregg/Staes Value $160,614 Project Florida s Bicycle/Pedestrian Focused Initiative Communication and High Visibility Enforcement Implementation-Phase III Florida Department. of Transportation Lin/Kourtellis/Jackman Value $450, 0000

7 CUTR PROPOSALS CONTINUED Project Multimodal Best Practices and Mobility Review Training Florida Department. of Transportation Williams Value $58,757 Project Creating an Alternative Fuel Training Network for Florida University of Central Florida Reich Value: $40,800 Project NITC Executive Committee Member 2015 Portland State University Volinski Value $46,430 Project Transit Planning Network FDOT Joslin Value $80,340 INFORMATION Have a question, check out the wiki site to find your answer: Hiring a new employee? The wiki site is the place to find the form and submit it electronically: NEED TO SUBMIT TO CUTR CONNECTIONS? If you have information that you would like to share and include in the monthly issue of the CUTRConnections CUTR Employee Newsletter, please send an with the information to Grace Hunt at hunt@cutr.usf.edu.