TRIPTAC – Transit In Parks Technical Assistance Center
To date, after almost four years of providing technical assistance to Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAS), TRIPTAC has responded to over 240 requests from all FLMAs (NPS, BIA, BOR, BLM, USFS, USFWS, Army Corp of Engineers) and multiple state, local, and non-profit partners in 40-states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and for over 150 land units. The technical assistance is focused on supporting work to plan, implement or enhance alternative transportation systems on public lands. Funding for the TRIPTAC will continue through June of 2014, during which time the center will continue to provide technical assistance, training and outreach activities.

Besides technical assistance, TRIPTAC has been successful in providing training and resources to public land managers and their partners. Webinar training sessions have been well received by audiences and continue to be an asset to the program. The 16th training will be held in October. These trainings and other resources developed by the TRIPTAC, such as case studies and tech memos, etc., are long-term resources that will remain available into the future. Work is currently underway to develop a multi-module web based training for the use and management of bicycles on public lands.

Another component of the TRIPTAC is the Transportation Scholars Program. This program works to answer the need for workforce development in the public land agencies. In its second year, the program has been successful in its goals to introduce young transportation and planning experts to work on public lands and address transportation challenges in locations where relevant expertise is not available.

Integral to the success of the TRIPTAC has been the development of the website. The site provides news updates, notifications, a resource center and an information repository. Traffic is frequently driven to the site through regular online communications to a focused audience.

Having the TRIPTAC at WTI over the last four years has been significant in increasing awareness of WTI and MSU around the country and in developing long term partnerships with other universities and consultants. In fact, it is understood that the experience and partnerships developed through TRIPTAC added to WTI’s creditability and was significant in the recent selection for the EFLHD IDIQ.