Quarter 4 2019

June 16, 2020 in Newsletters

Welcome to the November edition of the UFTI T2 Center Newsletter. Feel free to call (352.273.1670) or email (t2assist@ce.ufl.edu) with any ideas, questions, or concerns. Thanks for reading!

In This Newsletter:

Director’s Message

​Here we are, at the end of 2019! It’s been an active year at T2, full of accomplishments.

During this quarter, T2 staff attended the Annual ITE Meeting of the Florida and Puerto Rico District to present on this year’s Transportation Safety Center achievements. We also participated in the 2019 Florida Automated Vehicles Summit in Miami and made many valuable contacts. T2 also supported the 2019 Annual Asphalt Conference in Orlando.

T2 staff is excited to begin working with AASHTO on the development of new curriculum and courses for the Transportation Curriculum Coordination (TC3) program.

Closer to home, the last quarter of the year is always a busy one as annual grants close and open. Two of our larger grants that have statewide stakeholders went smoothly through the cycle of shutting down operations, closing out the grant year, starting the new one, and reopening operations – with many stakeholders ready for materials and services. Other one-year grants closed as well, and new ones began. Of course, T2 staff are always exploring for new ventures for grants and collaborations for educational and outreach at the state and national level.

This was also the last quarter for a long-time member of our fiscal team, Linda Floyd, who many of our readers will have known and worked with over her 20 years at the T2 Center. We’re truly grateful for all Linda’s years of service and wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement (which we understand will involve some travel – we’ll look forward to the stories). Linda’s role has been taken over by Ronnie Barton, and we know you will find him helpful and professional – he’s working hard to master UF’s complex financial systems.

As we come to the end of 2019, T2 Center reflects back and realizes the opportunity we have received to contribute and serve so many students, professionals, and many other stakeholders. We are thankful for the support within the University and from external stakeholders and look forward to continuing in this service role in 2020.

T2 wishes everyone Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year… especially Safe Traveling!

Upcoming Courses and Training

The UF T2 Center Upcoming training course registration are available online!

December 3, 2019 – Advanced Maintenance of Traffic Refresher in Gainesville, Florida

December 4, 2019 – Pilot/Escort Flagging in Gainesville, Florida

December 12 & 13 – Advanced Maintenance of Traffic in Gainesville, Florida

December 14, 2019 – WEEKEND Pilot/Escort Flagging in Dade City, Florida

December 18, 2019 – Pilot/Escort Flagging in Gainesville, Florida

January 4, 2020 – WEEKEND Pilot/Escort Flagging in Dade City, Florida

January 9 & 10, 2020 – Intermediate Maintenance of Traffic in Gainesville, Florida

January 15, 2020 – Pilot/Escort Flagging in Gainesville, Florida

January 23, 2020 – Advanced Maintenance of Traffic Refresher in Gainesville, Florida

January 28, 2020 – Advanced Maintenance of Traffic in Gainesville, Florida

January 30, 2020 – Advanced Maintenance of Traffic Refresher in Gainesville, Florida

Request Exclusive On-Site Training

If you don’t see a class that fits your needs and have a group of interested students, please contact Jasper Masciocchi at j.masciocchi@ufl.edu or (352) 273-1685 to discuss the opportunity to bring a class to your location.  T2 has a pool of qualified, experienced, professional instructors capable of traveling to your location.

Center News

UFTI T2 Center wishes everyone a Happy Holiday Season

Upcoming holiday closures:

            Thanksgiving: November 28 & 29

            Winter Break: December 25 – January 1

Florida Occupant Protection Resource Center (OPRC) Update

The new grant cycle is under way and the OPRC website is open for business!  Visit the site to place orders and find important news.  https://www.floridaoprc.ce.ufl.edu/oprc/default.asp

Scholarships Available for CPS Certification and Recertification Fees

CPS Instructors and Technicians must recertify every two years. Florida’s recertification rate below the national average. The OPRC offers scholarships to help with Safe Kids certification and recertification fees, as well as proxy and instructor candidate fees. Scholarships must be applied for before a class begins.  Visit the OPRC scholarship website to learn more.

CPS Technical Update held in September

A CPS Technical Update was held in Tampa at John’s Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, on September 24, 2019.  The meeting hosted representatives from several child car seat manufacturers and included a hands on session for new child car seats.  Patty Turner, of the FLOPRC gave a talk about the program and made many new contacts with other safety professionals.  For information about future CPS Updates please visit the website. https://www.floridaoprc.ce.ufl.edu/oprc/default.asp

Florida Occupant Protection Coalition in Action

The Florida OP Coalition has several action items in progress for improving occupant protection in Florida. Visit the coalition website’s Meeting Materials page to view previous meeting summaries and action item lists. The coalition recently created the Florida Occupant Protection Fact Sheets.

Florida’s Pedestrian and Bicycling Safety Resource Center (SRC) Update

Safety Resource Center News

The store is open! We recently sent an announcement to all Community Partners announcing the opening of the Safety Resource Center. If you are a Community Partner and did not receive an email announcement please check your spam filter and change the settings to allow these announcements to reach your inbox. https://www.pedbikesrc.ce.ufl.edu/pedbike/default.asp

Bicycle Helmets

We have helmets for shipping! If you have outstanding reporting for events that have happened, you will need to report before we ship any new orders. https://www.pedbikesrc.ce.ufl.edu/pedbike/default.asp

Transportation News

FDOT’s “Alert Today Florida” program has been recognized and awarded a National Roadway Safety Award. The program is run by Trenda McPherson and seeks to reduce the state’s high fatality rate among its pedestrians and bicyclists. The program includes engineering projects, educational outreach events, paid advertising and high visibility enforcement activities. Analysis indicates that 18 lives have been saved, 324 injuries have been prevented, and 338 bicycle and pedestrian crashes have been avoided since the program’s initiation.

Events

The SRC team recently took part in the Orange Park Walk Like MADD event. The event was part of the well know outreach of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization. Terrell Barnhart and Paul Simpson walked on a team with Tracey Hollins of IPTM and others. The IPTM has partnered with the Alert Today program for outreach this grant cycle. The SRC tries to support efforts around the state that fit with the mission of the grant. For support of your outreach efforts see below. 

Event Support

SRC staff are available to assist state safety advocates at events. If you have a safety event that you would like PedBike SRC to support please email pedbikesrc@ce.ufl.edu  with your request. Please make contact as early as possible to avoid conflicts with other events. And, as always, the SRC values your feedback and looks forward to assisting you with your safety needs: http://www.pedbikesrc.ce.ufl.edu/pedbike/Evaluation_Form1.asp  

Center Resources

Searching for Safety or Technical Training?

T2 can work with you to meet your training needs.  Whether it is heavy equipment, project management, Traffic Engineering Fundamentals, or countless other topics, T2 is positioned to help bring the trainings of interest to your location. 

We can also provide an array of webinars geared to provide you with the most relevant information without the need to travel.  Let us know your areas of interest, and we can work with our experts to provide training either in instructor-led or webinar formats.

Many of our courses are approved for Professional Engineer (PE) credits.

Contact Jasper Masciocchi at j.masciocchi@ufl.edu or 352.273.1685 to discuss your training needs.