As part of the District 6 Technical Surveys for 1997, transportation professionals through North America were surveyed regarding their use of the internet and e-mail. Surveys were issued to members of the Traffic Engineering Council and to each District 6 section in February 1997 (see attached form - if you have not fill out this survey, feel free to fax it to me). Surveys were completed by over 130 agencies representing 28 states in the USA, four provinces in Canada and one agency from New Zealand. In addition, 15 consultants and two university/research groups sent in surveys. Responses of the surveys are summarized in the attached Excel spreadsheets for each agency (or choose Adobe Acrobat version of the data). These data (along with last years surveys on traffic signals and neighborhood traffic management) can be viewed and downloaded on the District 6 web page at www.westernite.org. As surveys continue to arrive, the data is updated on the web page.

Transportation agencies are already pioneering the use of the internet for the profession. Over 80% of the agencies and all of the consultants have access to the internet. While most of the transportation departments have immediate access to the internet, only 12% of the agencies allow their employees access to the internet. While consultants generally allow employee access to the internet, this clearly points to concerns about its open and available use.

E-mail is the electronic transfer of messages between various users, similar to mail or voice mail, but done electronically via the internet. Nearly 90% of the agencies use e-mail. Nearly all the consultants responding also use e-mail. While use of e-mail is a growing trend in the transportation, many agencies only use e-mail internally (only 48% have external e-mail). On the private side, nearly all firms have external e-mail access. While agencies may not have external e-mail access, they use their internet link to send and receive files electronically via attachments. Attaching files electronically allows real time transfer of data and information (reports, memos, agendas, ...) between agencies and firms without the past hassles of communication software. The down side of receiving outside files via attachments is the potential for viruses. Most of the agencies/firms have balanced the benefit of real time file transfer with the risk of viruses since nearly 85% of the agencies allow file attachments to be received and all the private firms allow for attached files.

Web pages can be viewed as electronic mini-libraries accessible via the internet focused on a multitude of topics. Anyone can have a web page (for a registration and monthly fee). Web pages can be used to share information, allowing the public to access information, data, notices and reports any time they wish rather than waiting for public notices, a cable television time schedule, a newsletter in the mail or a meeting to occur. Transportation professionals are just beginning to learn the power of this new communication medium and some of the initial applications show significant value. From the survey response, 43 percent of the agencies and 75% of the consultants have web pages. Many of the agencies had web pages under construction at the time of the survey. These web pages are accessed by the public ("hit") hundreds to thousands of times a month for information. The most dramatic example is the Washington State Department of Transportation web pages that includes real time traffic operating conditions - it is hit over 100,000 times a day for information by the public. One thing is very clear, if it is information that people can use, they will find it!

Most agencies are using their web pages for summarizing background regarding their department, on-going projects, facts about local transportation and policies. Agencies view the single most valuable feature of their web page to be the ability to share information with the pubic. This done many ways through noticing public meetings to allowing public input via e-mail linked to their web page to electronic bulletin boards. The public is able to access and retrieve information in a more rapid and standardized manner than telephone calls to various staff members. Information can be developed around common requests and filed for easy access and quick response. By developing web page information on transportation projects, the public can be directed to a single location for data, providing the public with consistent, up-to-the-minute knowledge of the project.

Many of the web page addresses are listed in the attached spreadsheets to allow agencies considering the development of internet access some samples of what others have done so far. The items marked with a "u" indicate items that the agency considered of greatest value/interest for their web page.

This is a rapidly changing arena - what was unique last month is old news this month. With things like real time condition maps and closed circuit television pictures of operating conditions on highways becoming more common, the breadth and value of what is available is increasing. In the near future you will go to a web page on some transportation project, see video of the project site, view visual simulations of the proposals, review a report, comment, exchange e-mail - all electronically, probably in the same day. The opportunities are endless and will transform how we all conduct business. We can learn from the pioneer agencies and firms by just "surfing the web" and talking to one another at conferences like this one. In the future (maybe San Jose) we will have technical sessions on how to best utilize this new tool to advance the transportation profession. 

Ransford McCourt, P.E.
DKS Associates
921 S.W. Washington Street, Suite 612
Portland, OR 97205-2824
(503)243-3500