Webinar Overview

Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations:
Introduction and Application Highlights

Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Time: 1:00 P.M. - 2:30 P.M. ET
Cost: All T3 webinars are free of charge.
PDH: 1.0 | View PDH Policy

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T3 Webinars are brought to you by the ITS Professional Capacity Building Program (ITS PCB) at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) ITS Joint Program Office (JPO). Reference in this webinar to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the USDOT.

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Background

Most public agencies and private companies use crowdsourcing, which is the practice of addressing a need or a problem by enlisting the services of large numbers of people through technology. Organizations crowdsource product reviews, idea generation, feature detection, funding, and much more. With the proliferation of location-based technologies, an unprecedented wave of crowdsourced data is available to transportation agencies. Moreover, analytics tools and services make processing and using crowdsourced data a true game-changer for advancing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) solutions and transportation systems management and operations (TSMO).

Since 2019, the FHWA Every Day Counts (EDC) Innovation, Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations, has been supporting the adoption of crowdsourced data and tools to advance transportation operations across 35+ States and their local agencies to improve traffic incident, road weather, work zone, traffic signal, traveler information and emergency management, along with a host of other ITS and TSMO practices.

The Crowdsourcing Innovation Team in collaboration with the ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program is delivering an introductory Crowdsourcing course through a series of five webinars, featuring State and local practitioner perspectives. Webinars will take place the third Tuesday of each month at 1:00 PM EST.

The following highlights webinar dates and topics:

Target Audience

The target audience for this webinar will include transportation professionals with an interest in or responsibility for the management and operations of roadway systems, including local, State, or Federal Departments of Transportation or Public Works as well as consultant, university, or contractor support. No prior experience is required to attend this webinar series; however, participants are advised to attend the first two and the final webinars in this series either during the live delivery or as a recorded event.

Learning Objectives

• Broaden understanding and knowledge about how crowdsourced data can improve transportation operations.
• Consider whether specific applications of crowdsourcing may meet organization’s needs.
• Share peer-to-peer experiences regarding the real-time and archived use of crowdsourced data for TMSO, safety, and investment decision-making.

Host

Greg Jones, FHWA EDC-6 Crowdsourcing Program Co-Lead, FHWA Resource Center
Mr. Jones is a FHWA EDC-6 Crowdsourcing Program Co-Lead and a freeway management and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) specialist at the FHWA Resource Center in Atlanta, GA. He provides technical assistance, training, and promotion of new technologies in the field of freeway operations and transportation management. Before that, Jones was FHWA’s regional ITS specialist for the Southwestern United States and also worked in the Florida, Georgia, and Maryland Divisions. Jones graduated from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Presenters

James Colyar, FHWA EDC-6 Crowdsourcing Program Co-Lead, FHWA Office of Operations
Mr. Colyar is a FHWA EDC-6 Crowdsourcing Program Co-Lead and a Transportation Specialist with the FHWA Office of Operations. He has been with FHWA for over 20 years. He has experience in traffic engineering, traffic analysis and modeling, intelligent transportation systems, and transportation systems management and operations. Mr. Colyar holds a master’s in civil engineering from North Carolina State University and a master’s in Transportation Policy, Operations & Logistics from George Mason University.

Natalie Bettger, Senior Program Manager, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG)
Ms. Bettger is a Senior Program Manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). NCTCOG serves the Dallas-Fort Worth region by developing transportation plans and programs that address the complex needs of the rapidly growing area. Natalie is currently NCTCOG’s Senior Program Manager for Congestion Management and Innovative Project Delivery Program Area. This area includes planning in the areas of TSMO, aviation, congestion management, safety, security, special events, public involvement, and marketing. Her responsibilities also include coordinating with partner agencies to implement congestion management strategies, traffic signal retiming, incident management, safety, and operational projects.

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