USDOT PCB Partnership

The Consortium for ITS Training and Education (CITE) and the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program under the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) are pleased to announce a new joint partnership which will enable CITE to offer unlimited FREE access to their courses to U.S. local, regional, metropolitan, and Federal government agencies!

The objective of this partnership is to enhance the state of the practice in ITS through the provision of both online and classroom training related to the latest programmatic, technical and management advances occurring within the ITS community.

1. Introduction to the National ITS Architecture
   • The course is intended to provide students with a broad overview of the National ITS Architecture and the role it plays in ITS planning, designing and implementation processes. It provides some background (what the National ITS Architecture consists of, how it is defined, why it was established, and what its aims and objectives are), and introduces the notion of User Service. The physical architecture is explained using examples of local implementations of the National ITS Architecture. Specific elements of the physical architecture, such as subsystems and terminators, are presented in some detail.  This course is FREE and is only available as a web based course through CITE.  More information about the course click here.
2. Managing High Technology Projects in Transportation
   • This course is designed to improve project management skills of both public and private sector personnel who are responsible for managing the implementation of technology-intensive transportation projects. This course is available as a independent study course and as a blended web based course through CITE.
3. Introduction to Systems Engineering
   • This course is an introduction to systems engineering for ITS project managers and project staff. It provides a high-level view of a broad and rich topic area, introducing basic concepts to individuals who are working on ITS projects. The goal is to allow these individuals to understand the benefits of applying systems engineering approaches as a means of developing quality systems. The course covers technical practices such as modeling, prototyping, trade-off analysis and testing, and management practices such as risk assessment and mitigation, which make up “best practices” in the systems engineering arena.  This course is available as a independent study course and as a blended web based course through CITE.
4. Advanced Systems Engineering
   • This course is intended to cover a broad set of topics in system engineering and system integration. It will provide participants with an appreciation of the principles of systems engineering and its application to ITS projects. It will also introduce participants to the techniques of systems integration associated with regional systems. Regional integration introduces the need for a more detailed understanding of the principles of systems engineering, particularly those associated with the benefits of alternative architectures, and the necessity to consider the principles of system reliability, maintainability and availability.  This course is available as a independent study course and as a blended course through CITE.
5. Principles and Tools for Road Weather Management
   • This course provides transportation professionals in highway maintenance and/or highway operations with training to develop tools and strategies for addressing road weather problems. The course begins with an overview of the types of road weather problems and their associated costs, as well as basic meteorology for non-meteorologists. Through this course, participants are exposed to various strategies for addressing road weather problems, including Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) and the development of crosscutting decision support systems to respond effectively to weather situations. In addition, road weather solutions unique to maintenance management, traffic management, traveler information, and emergency management are discussed. This course is available as an independent study course, and as a blended web based course through CITE and as a classroom course through NHI.
6. Improving Highway Safety with ITS
   • This course aims to increase awareness of the benefits to be gained through the deployment of ITS for highway safety applications. Following a brief introduction, Lesson 2 provides an overview of safety challenges currently facing transportation engineers with particular focus on ten areas in which these challenges can be mitigated using a variety of ITS applications. Discussion of these applications includes a presentation of the nine USDOT ITS Initiatives and their impact on safety. In Lesson 3 deployment of ITS for safety is further illustrated through a case-study (The Big-I Work Zone) in which we see how ITS can be used to produce sound safety benefits in a common hazard. Lesson 4 is focused on fusing the traditional and ITS approaches to develop countermeasures to address safety challenges. Finally Lesson 5 describes the Safety strategic planning process and identifies the basic requirements of the FHWA Rule/FTA Policy for ITS project implementation and a system engineering approach for deploying ITS. Throughout the course a series of “hands on” activities leads participants from identification and prioritization of highway safety priority areas to formulation of organization- and individual-level actions to mitigate the challenges at hand.  This course is available as an independent study course, and as a blended web based course through CITE and as a classroom course through NHI.
7. ITS Project Management Certificate
   • In today’s world, there is a significant need for transportation professionals to understand the most effective ways to manage advanced transportation projects. These projects have unique aspects that make them different from managing a conventional highway project.  This ITS Project Management certificate was developed specifically to address the unique nature of managing ITS projects.  The “ITS Project Management Certificate” is sponsored jointly by CITE and the ITS Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program. One of the advantages of this joint partnership is that you are eligible to take either all web-based courses through CITE or a combination of classroom courses through NHI and web courses through CITE. If classroom courses are taken through NHI, you will need to supply CITE with a copy of your certificate of completion to receive substitution credit. Please note that in order to complete the certificate, the only way to register is through CITE. A total of $105 credit will be taken from the $625 certificate fee for each classroom course that is taken from NHI. This substitution policy was effective as of November 1, 2005. If you have any questions, please contact Denise Twisdale or Kathleen Frankle.