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Mid-America Regional Council Pilot of the Data Business Plan for State and Local Departments of Transportation: Data Business Plan

Appendix B. Stakeholder Letter

Dear Stakeholders,

The Mid‑America Regional Council (MARC) is excited to announce its selection to participate as a pilot site for a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data business planning initiative. The FHWA Office of Operations and its consultant team, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., will assist the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) in developing a tailored Data Business Plan (DBP) to improve the management and governance of roadway travel mobility data, which, for the purposes of this effort, is defined as volume, speed, lane occupancy, and connected vehicle data for vehicle, freight, bicycle/pedestrian, and transit modes. The DBP will be a living document that addresses the data needs of the MPO and its local partners, tackling technical and institutional needs alike. The pilot effort will involve stakeholder outreach to gather your feedback and input, a data gap assessment, and development of an action plan for improving the management and governance of mobility data in the region.

This initiative is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Roadway Transportation DBP project, whereby the FHWA Office of Operations developed a U.S. DOT roadway transportation data business plan final report (FHWA-JPO-13-084) for State and local transportation agencies. The guide is intended to help these agencies understand what mobility data is being collected within their organizations and at the regional level, how the data supports mobility planning, operations, and performance measure activities, and who is responsible for managing and updating the data. The process will also help solidify working relationships by identifying how various offices/agencies share and exchange roadway travel mobility data to both internal and external stakeholders. Finally, the DBP will help identify potential duplicative data collection efforts, leading to more rapid, targeted data acquisitions that would reduce future data collection/management costs.

In order to have a positive impact in our data processes, commitments are needed not only from MARC, but also from our stakeholders. We hope your offices can engage in a meaningful and collaborative way, including responding to a survey, participating in two onsite meetings, and committing to working with other stakeholders in the creation and implementation of the DBP.

Within the next few weeks, the consultant team will reach out to stakeholders with a survey to gather your input regarding data practices, goals, and issues. Subsequent follow‑up phone interviews are planned.

Should you have any questions on this initiative, please do not hesitate to contact me or Mr. Walter During at his address below.

We look forward to working with you on this exciting initiative!

Jim Hubbell, AICP
Principal Transportation Planner
816-701-8319
jhubbell@marc.org

Walter During
FHWA Office of Operations
202-366-8959
walter.during@dot.gov

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