Transportation Research Board - Call for Abstracts Tools of the Trade

Call For Abstracts

Deadline: November 22, 2024

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) invites you to submit a proposal for presentations and workshops at the National Conference on Tools of the Trade, to be held June 23 – 25, 2025, in Albuquerque, NM.

Tools of the Trade is a national conference providing practical techniques for transportation professionals in small (under 50,000) and medium-sized (50,000 – 250,000) communities. The conference is sponsored by the TRB Committees on Transportation Planning Policy and Processes (AEP10) and Transportation Needs of National Parks and Public Lands (AEP20). The conference provides an opportunity for agency officials from Metropolitan and Rural Transportation Planning Organizations, local municipal governments, state governments, public land management agencies, tribal agencies, private and non-profit sectors to share findings, transferable techniques, lessons learned, and best professional practices.

Topic of interest include, but are not necessarily limited to:

► Agency coordination, decision-making, and project prioritization

Tools and techniques
Leveraging AI
Best practices for effective partnerships
Responding to climate change

► Innovative and emerging mobility

Microtransit and micromobility
Enhancing the transportation user experience
Implementation of innovative technologies
Innovative ways of data collection, use of big data

► Planning for vulnerable road users

Promoting safe, active transportation
Equity concerns
Policy interventions

► Other: We welcome ideas outside these topics, focusing on practical tools and techniques aligned with the sponsoring committees’ scopes. To view sponsoring committee scopes, click the below links:

Workshop Proposals
For workshop proposals, the conference planning committee encourages interactive sessions that respond to the above topics of interest. Examples include hands-on activities and demonstrations of open-source tools, case studies from peer agencies that integrate the above topics of interest into existing frameworks and processes, etc.

How to Submit an Abstract
All abstracts should be submitted by November 22, 2024; they should be no longer than 400 words and should clearly convey the material that will be presented. Submitters will be asked to identify which conference topics of interest best align with their presentation topic. If the topic aligns with multiple focus areas above, please pick one that is most applicable to your content.

Submitters will also be asked to indicate their preferred delivery format (poster, lectern/podium session, workshop). Final designation of the format will be at the discretion of the conference planning committee.

Questions? Please contact Anusha Jayasinghe, Senior Progam Officer