Possible Topic for a Class this Spring

WHY TRAINS CRASH

2017 Séminaire du Rail Américain (Preview 22 February 2017)

The SECF-I3 seminar will meet nine times during the period Tuesday 29 May 2017 through Thursday 8 June 2017 at 292 Rue St. Martin 75003-Paris.


Anticipated topics with links to the preliminary notes and readings are listed below: 

1. Monday 29 May 2017 13:30
Introduction to Freight and Passenger Railroading
Click here for reading

2. Tuesday 30 May 2017 0815

US Freight and Supply Chains

Click here for reading

3. Wednesday 31 May 2017 0815

Transport Capacity and Terminal Design

Click here for reading on capacity
Click here for reading on terminals

4. Thursday 1 June 2017 0815

Intermodal Freight and Containers

Click here for reading

5. Thursday 1 June 2017 1330

Sustainable Transport Networks

Click here for reading

6. Tuesday 6 June 2017 0815

Transportation and Climate Change

Click here for reading

7. Wednesday 7 June 2017 0815

Transit Service Reliability, Scheduling for Connections and Travel Demand

Click here for reading on reliability

Click here for reading secondary reading on reliability

Click here for scheduling

Click here for travel demand

8. Thursday 8 June 2017 0815

Airlines and Package Express 

or a class selected topic such as 

• US Rail Safety, 
• Rail Transport Efficiency, 
• US Rail Transport for Persons with Disabilities, 
• Marine Rail Transport 

Click here for reading

9. Thursday 8 June 2017 1330

Mega Projects and Class Evaluation

Happy New Year:

  Looking forward to returning to Paris in 2017

NJTransactions 2015

Just back from three fascinating days in Atlantic City New Jersey participating in the 39th Annual NJTransactions Conference  More than 2,000 attendees focused on solving transportation infrastructure and management problems for the residents of the State of New Jersey.  Interesting and informative sessions on everything from the Northeast Corridor to modern roundabouts and complete streets. Click here to see the program. 

I worked closely with several of my colleagues to develop a session focused on bringing information concerning passenger rail innovation elsewhere in the nation to practitioners in Jersey.  For details click on the links below.  

Commuter Rail Expansion Projects in Other Regions – Challenges & Successes Session Coordinator J Quinty

Restoring Passenger Rail Service to the Granite State  
D. Nelson, Jacobs Engineering

Bringing Commuter Rail to South Florida’s Urban Cores:  Tri-Rail Coastal Link  J Quinty, SFRTA

Boston Surface Railroad: Exploring the Next Frontier in Commuter Transportation  D. Nelson, Jacobs Engineering and V. Bono, Boston Surface Railroad Company

CODATU 2015 | Energy, Climate and Air Quality: The Role of Urban Transport Policies in Developing Countries

Imagining Complete Streets for Developing Africa

David O. Nelson, Jacobs Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Nels Nelson, The Cecil Group, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Eline Bakker, QUEST-Consult, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

with assistance from Helawie Sewnet, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Kai Hoffman, GIZ Urban Governance and Decentralization Program, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia


Complete Streets is a design and management approach that plans, designs and maintains streets for safe, convenient, inclusive and comfortable travel and access by users of all ages and abilities regardless of their mode of transportation while also reimagining streets as not just a way to get from here to there safely; but also as places, in and of themselves, serving diverse social, economic, and environmental needs. It is a reaction against North America’s excessive concern for automotive mobility to the virtual exclusion of all other modes. Urbanizing Africa (and other rapidly urbanizing
regions) might adapt the Complete Streets approach and thereby leapfrog 20th century automobile-centered street design. 

The authors review key elements of the Complete Streets approach and review possible adaptations and applications for the needs of rapidly urbanizing areas in developing nations. Complete Streets for African cities must respond to local needs. Considerations for the African context and elsewhere in
the developing world include:  

• Informal sector effects pedestrian areas of city streets and can impinge on the space available.
• Unsanctioned and informal settlements  with improvised public services.
• Low levels of motorization and a wide range of non-motorized conveyances create more opportunities for conflict between motorized and non-motorized travelers.
• Minibuses and tuk-tuks place unique demands on streets as stops and terminals use more curb space than less frequent conventional busses.  
• Large numbers of pedestrians increase concerns about safety at crossings. 
• The choice of facility construction and maintenance techniques and materials affects how easily streets can be maintained.

The authors imagine how African transport planners might expropriate the Complete Street approach for application to challenges  faced in rapidly urbanizing areas of the developing world.

Click Here for More Information on CODATU
Click Here for Complete Streets Paper
Click Here for Complete Streets Poster

2015 Annual Meeting of TRB's DMU Subcommittee

2015 Annual Meeting Agenda

AP070(1) Self-Powered Rail Car Technologies Subcommittee

Joint Subcommittee of AP070 and AR020

Monday, January 12, 2015 | 10:15AM - 12:00PM  

Marriott Marquis, Mint (M4), Washington, DC

David O. Nelson, Chairman | Secretary, Vacant

1.   Minutes from Annual Meeting January 15,2014

a.   The subcommittee desperately needs a secretary.  About 8 hours of work per year. 

2.   Subcommittee Management

a.   Chairperson Succession

b.   Secretary

3.   Discussion Topics

a.   Recent Developments involving Compliant Cars

b.   Recent Developments involving European Design Cars

c.    Plans for other systems?

4.   Research Plan and Agenda

a.   Empirical analysis of DMU Economics

b.   How Alternative Compliance has affected fleet decisions of North American transit providers?

c.    Other suggestions

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE AGENDA

In Memoriam