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47 APPENDIX A Preselection Survey Instrument
48 MEMORANDUM TO: Survey participants FROM: Donna L. Vlasak, Senior Program Officer Synthesis Studies SUBJECT: TCRP Synthesis J-07/Topic SG-13, Successful Practices for Utility Coordination in Transit Projects The American Public Transit Association (APTA), through its nonprofit educational and research organization, the Transit Development Corporation, Inc. (TDC), is cooperating in a research project to prepare a Synthesis of Current Practice on the topic noted earlier. This is part of the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), which is managed by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) in cooperation with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the TDC. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is preparing this synthesis report under contract to TRB. Transit projects frequently involve planning, designing, and building infrastructure that affects other modes of transportation and all kinds of utility facilities (both above and below ground) that exist along those corridors. Very little has been documented on the topic of utility issues or the use of successful practices to facilitate utility coordination in transit projects. To address this knowledge gap, Synthesis J- 07, Topic SG-13, Successful Practices for Utility Coordination in Transit Projects, will report on utility coordination practices at transit agencies around the country. The purpose of this survey is to gather basic information about current utility coordination practices at transit agencies, including successful experiences and best practices, challenges, and information gaps. Based on this information, a few transit agencies will be identified for follow-on telephone interviews. Please complete the survey no later than April 4, 2014. As needed, forward the survey invitation to officials who work on capital improvement programs, design, construction, and, in general, officials who
49 deal with issues such as utility coordination and utility conflict analysis/management during project development and delivery. Completing the survey, which should take less than 15 minutes, is voluntary. To ensure confidentiality, all records will be kept private and no respondent identifiers will be included in the report (Note: The report will only include aggregated information). If at any point you decide not to participate in the survey, simply close the browser. Your input is critical to the research. Thank you in advance for participating. Sincerely, Cesar Quiroga, Ph.D., P.E. Senior Research Engineer Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Phone: (210) 321-1229 E-mail: c-quiroga@tamu.edu
50 SURVEY FORM First Name: ______________________________________________________ Last Name: ______________________________________________________ Title: ______________________________________________________ Division, Section, or Office: ______________________________________________________ Agency: ______________________________________________________ Mailing address: ______________________________________________________ Phone number: ______________________________________________________ E-mail address: ______________________________________________________ 1. In what phase(s) of transit project development and delivery, operations, and/or maintenance are you involved? Check all that apply. Planning, feasibility studies, and programming Preliminary/conceptual design Environmental process Right-of-way acquisition Utility coordination and relocation Design Letting Construction Bus or paratransit operations or maintenance Light rail or streetcar operations or maintenance Metro rail operations or maintenance Commuter rail operations or maintenance Communications and other intelligent transportation system (ITS) operations or maintenance Other:
51 2. What is the overall impact of these issues at your agency? Check all that apply. 1 = Least impact 5 = Most impact Issue 1 2 3 4 5 Not identifying utility conflicts during: Planning, feasibility studies, and programming Preliminary/conceptual design Environmental process Design Letting and construction Inadequate utility relocation cost estimates due to: Failure to identify and characterize utility conflicts Not updating utility relocation estimates at regular intervals during the project development process Inadequate identification of utility cost reimbursement eligibility Changes to utility relocation plans due to late project design changes Difficulty hiring and retaining staff with adequate utility coordination experience Difficulty providing training opportunities in utility issues Utility staff turnover Difficulty getting utility owners to participate in discussions during: Planning, feasibility studies, and programming Preliminary/conceptual design Environmental process Design Letting and construction Difficulty conducting utility coordination activities with:
52 Municipality-owned utilities Franchised utilities Other utility operators Difficulty identifying and resolving utility issues for: Design-bid-build projects Design-build projects Lump sum projects Other project delivery methods Other: If other, please specify (provide examples if possible): 3. What utility data collection techniques and practices does your agency use in connection with transit projects? Check all that apply. Note: QLB and QLA are quality levels according to the ASCE 38-02 standard. Utility Data Collection Technique/Practice Always Frequently Rarely Never One Call system marks on the ground Electromagnetic (EM) pipe and cable locators Ground penetrating radar (GPR) locators Electromagnetic induction (EMI) arrays GPR arrays Existing records Survey of visible utility appurtenances Test holes Use of geophysical techniques and certified deliverables at QLB Exposing existing underground facilities and certified deliverables at QLA
53 Other If other, please specify: 4. Traditional project development and delivery relies on 2D information such as plans, profiles, and cross sections. Please provide examples of projects or initiatives that have involved the use of 3D technologies, such as digital terrain models, surface models, 3D models or fully rendered 3D structures in Bentley GEOPAK/InRoads or AutoCAD Civil 3D, LIDAR point clouds, building information modeling (BIM), or 3D animation to support the transit project development and delivery process. 5. What strategies or innovative approaches has your agency implemented or plan to implement to improve or streamline utility coordination activities? 6. What kind of training and professional development does your agency offer to staff members on utility topics? 7. Do you have sample project data including utilities, which you could share with the research team? Yes No
54 8. Please provide names and hyperlinks (if possible) of relevant policies, manuals, specifications, and other documents that describe utility accommodation and coordination practices and requirements at your agency. 9. May we contact you to further discuss your agencyâs utility coordination practices? Yes No No, but you may contact the following: [Submit Survey Button] Submission Acknowledgment Your responses have been submitted. Thank you for your participation! For questions or suggestions please contact Cesar Quiroga at (210) 321-1229 or c-quiroga@tamu.edu.
