AASHTO RAC Region 4 Monthly Teleconference
February 19, 2015
Participants:
Present
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Name
Carolyn Morehouse
Jean Nehme
Anne Ellis
Coco Briseno – Vice Chair
Pete Zaniewski
Joe Horton
Aziz Khan
Amanullah Mommandi
Wayne Kawahara
Ned Parrish
Sue Sillick
Mostafa Jamshidi
Ken Chambers - Secretary
Scott McClure
Robert McCoy
Ron Horner
Ron Curb
Gary Hook
Michael Bufalino
Dave Huft
Rocio Perez and Wade Odell (for Dana
Glover)
Cameron Kergaye - Chair
David Stevens
Leni Oman
Rhonda Brooks
Tim McDowell
Organization
Alaska DOT
Arizona DOT
Arizona DOT
California DOT
California DOT
California DOT
Colorado DOT
Colorado DOT
Hawaii DOT
Idaho TD
Montana DOT
Nebraska DOR
Nevada DOT
New Mexico DOT
New Mexico DOT
North Dakota DOT
Oklahoma DOT
Oklahoma DOT
Oregon DOT
South Dakota DOT
Texas DOT
Utah DOT
Utah DOT
Washington DOT
Washington DOT
Wyoming DOT
Agenda Items
1. Welcome – Cameron Kergaye welcomed Rhonda Brooks to her first meeting as a formal
representative. Cameron will be asking for a volunteer to offer mentoring services as Rhonda
needs.
2. Cameron reminded us there was a group who met for dinner at the TRB annual meeting in
January, but it was noisy, there were no action items, and no minutes were taken. The minutes
from the December 18, 2014 RAC teleconference were reviewed and posted on the AASHTO
SCOR/RAC web page . This month the reviewers of the draft minutes will be Ned Parrish and
Pete Zaniewski.
3. RAC Officer’s Meeting Highlights – Cameron Kergaye
 Neil Pedersen has taken over as Executive Director of TRB.
 TRB State Reps survey regarding annual visits was due Feb 13 (Rosa Allen sent an email on February 6). Please respond if you have not done so.
 James Bryant is the representative coordinating TRB sessions at the RAC/TRB summer
meeting.
 TRB attendance up a bit from last year; good reviews except regarding food.
 The theme for the 2016 TRB annual meeting will be Research Convergence: Delivering
on our Connected Multi-modal Future.
 SCOR meeting march 30-31 for NCHRP projects FFY2016.
 Other programs’ problem statements due this month.
 Secretary Foxx’s “Share Your Ideas” link: http://www.dot.gov//beyondtraffic
 Slight increase in the President’s proposed budget.
 Connected Vehicle broad agency announcement out
 FHWA - John Moulden: Research 101 course posted on NHI website. A webinar will be
held next month for FHWA division staff; RAC members can participate at no cost.
 FHWA trying to identify each division’s highest 3 research needs.
 SHRP2 submittals for round 5 were due last Friday.
 RAC Region 2 – seeking vice chair as Elisha Kehner (Arkansas) will become chair this
summer.
 2016 RAC/TRB meeting in Providence RI
 SCOR has formed a task force that will meet February 25th to discuss a strategic plan
draft.
 A plan to enhance NCHRP implementation efforts is under development; a task force
will be formed in April for this purpose with a goal of having a draft plan for review at
the fall SCOR meeting.
 High Value Research due march 31; Missouri DOT librarian Renee McHenry is available
to help; she can be reached at (573) 522-1948.
4. Non-Consent Towing Cost Study in Utah - David Stevens presented study by Douglas
Anderson and David Eixenberger. Utah DOT Motor Carrier Division sets maximum allowable
rates for police-generated and private property impound non-consent tows, and rates have not
increased in about a decade. Researchers collected and analyzed actual-cost data and reported
findings. Suggestions for next steps were also reported and discussed.
5. 2015 RAC/TRB Rep. Summer Meeting Update – Ken Chambers reported that the agenda is
coming together; special thanks to Michael Bufalino, Pete Zaniewski, Joe Horton, and David
Stevens. The agenda has been shared with Skip Paul, and Skip has been invited to the weekly
planning meetings. Ken will share the agenda with RAC4 for input, especially any specifics
about session objectives, speakers, moderators, etc. Michael Bufalino provided an update about
the Ahead of the Curve training that is expected to be presented at or near the summer meeting.
6. High Value of Research Reminder – Cameron reminded us that the nominations are due
March 31, and should be submitted via the RPM web tool again this year. [See last bullet under
#3.] Cameron encouraged us to consider submitting projects completed in the last couple years
that has been valuable and should be shared. Each region identifies four to move forward
7. Topics for Next Month
 Ken Chambers – Can anyone share supercircular specifics? Michael Bufalino reminded
us that a session at the summer meeting will examine the supercircular.
 Ned Parrish asked about an update regarding tuition eligibility under SPR.
 Ned reported that the WASHTO 2015 meeting will be in Idaho in July. Could posters for
the High Value Research projects be shared? Research participation? Dave Huft said
that research sessions have been conducted several times in the past decade or so, but
there was a lot of competition with other sessions.
If anyone has suggestions for topics for next month, please send those to Cameron at
ckergaye@utah.gov
Our next conference call is scheduled for Thursday, March 29th (10:00 Hawaii Time, 11:00
Alaska Time, 12:00 Pacific Time, 1:00 Mountain Time, and 2:00 Central Time)
Please e-mail potential agenda items to Cameron at ckergaye@utah.gov .