TAC Tidbits

CITE has a strong partnership with the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC). One of our key contributions to TAC's technical initiatives is participation on a number of TAC councils and committees through CITE Appointees. In this edition of TAC Tidbits, our appointees share updates about their committees from the Spring 2022 TAC Technical Meetings held virtually.

CHIEF ENGINEERS PANEL

Ryan Vanderputten, P.Eng., FITE

Director, Transportation Planning, The City of Calgary & President, CITE

• TAC is excited to return to in-person meetings this fall with the 2022 TAC Conference & Exhibition being held in Edmonton October 2 to 5. Committee meetings will be held on the weekend before the conference. • Spring Meetings will remain online for foreseeable future • Future conferences will be held in Ottawa (2023), Vancouver (2024), Quebec (2025). • 46 organizations have provided funding to ongoing/planned projects. The number of technical projects has dropped in recent years due to COVID • A growing number of publications are being made available for free • A new resource being considered for members: Emerging practice briefing • Progress is being made on Learning Management System. It will launch with Online Road Safety Training.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Carlos Pérez, PMP, M.Sc., P.Eng

Municipal Transportation Lead, CTQ Consultants Ltd.

The Workforce Development Council was busy this past season. Highlights of the work include:

• Discussion on the variety of disciplines involved in transportation and the need for transportation practitioners to be aware of emerging practices and technologies affecting the field. • Seeking collaboration opportunities between TAC and other organizations such as CITE and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE ) to raise student awareness of the transportation professions. The WFD Council also held a panel session on considerations for the recruitment and retention of technical experts in TAC member organizations and discussed opportunities to cover similar topics and practices for hiring and retaining Highly Qualified Personnel for Road Authorities at the 2022 TAC Conference & Exhibition in Edmonton.

MOBILITY COUNCIL

Ryan Martinson, M.Eng., P.Eng., RSP1

Senior Engineer, Toole Design

The Mobility Council had a full agenda for their Spring Meeting. As a reminder, the Mobility Council also has four Committees that are within the Council: Active Transportation Integrated Committee, Mobility Management Committee, Transportation Finance Committee, and Transportation Planning Committee. Highlights of the meeting included discussion of a pooled-fun project proposal on Shared Micromobility Services, a panel presentation on regional transportation planning, and a great discussion on focus issues, which included universal accessible design, mobility service data, critical issues in funding, and incorporating equity in planning.

Active Transportation Integrated Committee

Marian Mithani, P.Eng.

Project Manager, Area Transportation Planning, City of Toronto

The Active Transportation Integrated Committee (ATIC) continues to grow. Over 50 attendees at the Spring meeting learned about the Nanaimo Metral Drive Complete Street project, AT updates from integrated committees and on-going initiatives and volunteer opportunities.

The Active Transportation Snapshot project has completed its jurisdictional survey. ATIC continues to push for AT-related updates in TAC design guidance: 5 requests are already pending with other committees, among which resulted in 2 collaborations with other committees. Two new topics are under development. Topics include design related to continuous sidewalks, accessible needs, protected intersections including smart channels, AT near schools, and more.

ATIC is planning 3 sessions at the TAC conference, related to cycling facility design, universal accessibility, and emerging AT research, and a lunch‘n learn in the coming months.

TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

Bidoura Khondaker, PhD., P.Eng., PTOE

Senior Transportation Engineer, Calgary Transit, City of Calgary

• The council recommended the project for the Technology Achievement award category and the recommendation moved forward. • The CAV task force transitioned into a CAV integrated committee with an approved Terms of Reference. The Chair and Vice-Chair was appointed. The committee will report to Technology Council. • The council presented the strategic framework with three key themes of technical work: 1) Intelligent

Transportation System, 2) CAVs, and 3) Digital application. • Two projects were presented. Raheem Dilgir presented on “Vision Zero and the Safe System Approach” where the focus areas and strategic priorities were highlighted. • Other presentation was on CSA’s group CAV standard Initiatives with an aim to develop requirements to promote safe, secure, and efficient deployment of CAVs in Canada and US.

Connected and Automated Vehicles Task Force

Steven D. Kemp, P. Eng.

Manager - Traffic Engineering and Operations, Regional Municipality of Durham

The Connected & Automated Vehicles Task Force met virtually on April 14, 2022 with 25 participants. There were four presentations as part of the meeting including Developing Highly Qualified Personnel, Cooperative Truck Platooning, CAV initiatives in Ottawa and Planning for Novel AV Business Models.

As part of the reorganization of the TAC committee structure, the CAV Task Force is expected to be disbanded and reformed as the CAV Integrated Committee reporting to the TAC Technology Council. The new Integrated Committee would hold its first meeting at the TAC Annual Conference in Edmonton. ITE members interested in CAV technology should consider attending the conference planned to be held in a hybrid in-person/virtual model on Oct 2-5 2022.

Geometric Design Committee

Marcia Eng, P.Eng.

Senior Transportation Engineer, Urban Systems Ltd.

The Geometric Design Committee (GDC) held their Spring technical meeting virtually on April 4, 2022. Key updates from the meeting included the following:

• The Access Management: Synthesis of Practice project reached funding request and will be launching soon. • A project proposal for the GDG Chapter 4 - Cross Section Element Design Guide Update was submitted and approved to move forward for pooled-fund request. • The Climate Change PIEVC workshops using Chapter 4 as a sample project will be held over four online workshops in advance of the Fall technical meetings in Edmonton, Alberta where a final session will be held in person to discuss the findings. • Round table discussions on initiating sessions for design exceptions to share experience and lessons learned.

Road Safety Committee

Farhad Shahla, P.Eng.

Construction Project Manager, City of Mississauga

The Road Safety Committee met on Apr 6, 2022.

Volunteer projects include Synthesis of Vision Zero and Safe System practices in Canada report, pending approval in Fall meetings, bicycle safety at interchange ramps working paper was approved by the committee as an internal TAC resource; lastly, safety of diverging diamond interchanges in Canada working paper is in-progress, pending approval in Fall meetings.

Other projects underway include online Road Safety Training Program, Road Safety Guide for Canada will be TAC’s third foundational document (MUTCDC and GDG are the others). Chief Engineers were to approve a funding formula for the road safety guide at the spring meetings. Once approved, the project will secure funding and proceed to an RFP.

Traffic Operations and Management Committee

Russell Brownlee, M.A.Sc., FITE, RSP1, P. Eng.

President and Transportation Safety Engineer, True North Safety

Luis Escobar, P.Eng., PTOE

Senior Associate & Discipline Lead, Stantec

Jim Mallett, P.Eng., PTOE

President & CEO, Paradigm Transportation Solutions Ltd

Greg O’Brien, P.Eng.

Atlantic Practice Manager, Traffic Engineering & Transportation Planning, WSP

The Traffic Operations and Management Committee (TOMC) met virtually on Tuesday, April 5. The meeting began with administrative items and an overview of TOMC’s strategic actions. This included discussion on emerging technologies and updates on the American Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and US National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD). In the US, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has legislated that by May 2023, FHWA must issue Final Rule for new (11th) edition of MUTCD and every four years maximum thereafter, FHWA must issue subsequent updates.

The Editing & Publication Subcommittee is recommending that the Canadian Guide to Traffic Calming (2nd Ed.) be sent back to the Project Steering Committee to prepare a list of recommendations/amendments to be considered for approval by TOMC for inclusion in the MUTCDC.

The Committee heard a number of status updates on various projects, many of which are in comprehension testing or awaiting it. See the complete list of projects underway in the meeting minutes here (PDF, 195 KB).