01091692

Component

Civil engineering has long dominated transportation organizations that utilize engineering expertise to plan, design, and construct transportation facilities. In turn, universities have responded successfully to the call to produce graduates who can perform those tasks. In recent times, however, a multi-disciplinary approach to delivering transportation solutions is being advocated to support the planning and environmental objectives of Federal legislation. One clear need is to educate the transportation workforce about the relationship between transportation infrastructure, communities, and the natural environment. Context sensitive solutions (CSS) address the need to consider the community and environmental inputs for successful transportation projects. Introducing CSS principles into university transportation curricula can enhance the skills and abilities of college graduates entering transportation, although challenges exist. The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCE) at North Carolina State University (NCSU) are finding ways to address these challenges. First, the CCE faculty has integrated CSS into undergraduate and graduate courses within the department. Second, CTE and the CCE Department have partnered with the NC Department of Transportation to establish the CSS Academy, an undergraduate internship program, where students experience real-world CSS applications. Third, under Federal Highway Administration sponsorship, CTE and the CCE Department have developed and pilot-tested a CSS graduate course to be distributed nationwide. These efforts provide a classroom model of the multi-disciplinary approach required for successful CSS implementation. This paper summarizes the CSS curriculum efforts at NCSU and offers ideas on future needs for university transportation education.

01091711

English

17p

2007

3rd Urban Street Symposium: Uptown, Downtown, or Small Town: Designing Urban Streets That Work

CD-ROM

References (8)

Civil engineering; Communities; Context sensitive design; Curricula; Education; Environmental impacts; Multidisciplinary teams; Universities and colleges

Administration and Management; Education and Training; Environment; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration

TRIS, TRB

Mar 31 2008 10:49AM

• A Generalized Model for Analyzing Operational Conditions at Intersections in Urban Areas
• A History of Pedestrian Signal Walking Speed Assumptions
• A Model of Potential Capacity of Right Turn Movement at Signalized Intersections Under Mixed Traffic Conditions
• Analysis of Multifunctional Traffic Environments
• Analyzing Raised Crosswalks Dimensions Influence on Speed Reduction in Urban Streets
• Applying Context Sensitive Techniques to Improve Design and Gain Stakeholder Support
• Benefits and Risks of Urban Roadside Landscape: Finding a Livable, Balanced Response
• Cross Section Width for Parallel Parking
• Design and Traffic Organization for Ultra-Wide Urban Street in China
• Designing Inside the Box - Strategies to Successfully Marry Smart Growth and Context-Sensitive Transportation Initiatives
• Designing Streets for Enhanced Transit Service: The Jerusalem Experience
• Driveway Design Practices, Issues, and Needs
• Estimating Running Time on Urban Street Segments
• Four-Lane to Three-Lane Conversions: An Update and a Case Study
• Geometric Design of Interchange in Urban City
• Improving Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Intersections
• Involving the Public in Redesigning Urban Street Layouts in the UK
• Iowa's Experience with 2-Lane to 3-Lane Conversions
• Iowa's Experience with 4-Lane to 3-Lane Conversions
• Minnesota CSAH 42: A Case Study Illustrating Traffic Signal Removal as an Access Management Strategy
• Pedestrian Crossings Priority for Pedestrian Safety
• Recent Superstreet Implementation and Research
• Responding to the Challenges of Bicycle Crossings at Offset Intersections
• Retrofitting Urban Arterials into Complete Streets
• Review of Guidelines for Establishing School Speed Zones
• Safety Effect of the Skew Angle in Right Turn Maneuvers
• Separation Between Pedestrians and Bicyclists
• Shared-Use Streets – An Application of “Shared Space” to an American Small Town
• Should Direct Left-turns from Driveways be Replaced by Right-turns Followed by U-turns? The Safety and Operational Comparison in Florida
• Speed: How Can We Get What We Want?
• St. Louis Great Streets Initiative
• Study on the Relationship of Intersection Design and Safety of Urban Unsignalized Intersection in China
• Study on the Safety Relationship between Left-turn Gap Acceptance and Waiting Time
• Sustainable Urban Street Design and Assessment
• Synthesis of the Median U-Turn Intersection Treatment, Safety, and Operational Benefits
• Traffic Calming in Slovenia
• Urban Street Reconstruction with Cultural Consideration-Research and Case Studies
• Yielding Behaviour and Interaction at Bicycle Crossings