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Implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks (NCHRP 20-75)

Overview | FAQ

Transportation Knowledge Networks: Shaping the Future of Transportation Information Access

In response to recommendations of a recent TRB Policy Study (Special Report 284) sponsored by the AASHTO Standing Committee on Research, the National Highway Cooperative Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-75 is developing a business plan for Transportation Knowledge Networks (TKNs). TKNs seek to improve how transportation organizations access and share information—utilizing new institutional arrangements and current technology.

Business Plan (Interim)

NCHRP Project 20-75 has developed a business plan for implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks. The plan includes the products and services TKNs should offer, resources that are required, and a feasible and sustainable funding strategy.

This business plan has been through a review and revision cycle based on comments from the NCHRP 20-75 panel, but is an interim document that has not yet been approved for publication.

Comments on the business plan or outreach materials are welcome.

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The Problem

Information Overload – Too much information is available for us to absorb and easily find what we need when we need it. This is a problem that is not unique to transportation, but it is one that can be most effectively addressed by information services tailored to a specific domain area—for example, targeted Web sites and RSS feeds, specialized search engines, and information digests.

Lost Opportunities for Efficiency and Innovation – We don’t have the time to find the information that can help us do things better, faster and cheaper. One agency’s success—if documented, shared, and discovered—can produce substantial benefits for peer agencies. It takes collective effort and commitment to make sure that this kind of information is available in a discoverable and useful form. Without convenient access to information about past experience and current research, significant opportunity costs are incurred.

Brain Drain – Experienced, career employees are retiring or changing jobs, leaving a knowledge void. Increasing opportunities for networking beyond our organizations with peers, and providing access to shared knowledge banks can fill some of this void.

Under-Investment in Transportation Information Infrastructure – Funding for transportation libraries as the backbone of the information infrastructre has been dwindling as the paradigm for information access has shifted from physical libraries to the Web. National leadership and commitment of resources to build and sustain a modern transportation information infrastructure has been lacking. The result is that the transportation sector has only a very basic level of information access that does not meet the needs and expectations of today’s information consumer.

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The Vision

In 2005, the AASHTO Standing Committee on Research (SCOR) asked TRB to undertake a policy study to develop a strategy for improving access to transportation information that would take transportation libraries into the 21st century. The study committee, a distinguished group of transportation research leaders, envisioned a transition from “centralized and managed physical collections” to decentralized “Transportation Knowledge Networks” (TKNs) that “provide information services to users wherever they reside.” Based on successful models from the health and agriculture fields, TKNs would involve both institutional arrangements for resource sharing and coordination across existing libraries and information providers, and technological solutions that provide end users with targeted, “on demand” information access at their desktops. The committee’s findings and recommendations are documented in TRB Special Report 284.

The recommendations of TRB Special Report 284 are intended to achieve the following:

Strong national leadership and support - a strong National Transportation Library that provides leadership and support for preservation and sharing of transportation information.

Taking transportation information access to the next level - A new generation of services and tools for finding and accessing transportation information from a variety of sources and in a variety of formats (documents, plans, maps, photos, videos).

Knowledge Networks providing an efficient and customer focused approach - Transportation Knowledge Networks—consisting of state DOTs, Federal Agencies, MPOs, Regional Agencies, transit providers, academic institutions, professional associations, and engineering/planning/consulting firms—pool resources and collaborate to improve information access based on their collective customer needs. They pursue targeted information sharing initiatives that result in productivity improvements and cost savings. They provide expanded opportunities for informal knowledge sharing across organizations.

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Project Data

Research Team

Principal Investigator

Sponsor

  • National Cooperative Highway Research Program
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