01. TRANSOFT ANNOUNCES WINNER OF ANNUAL CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SURVEY

Transoft Solutions would like to congratulate Markus Eng, the winner of this year’s annual online survey giveaway. For being a survey respondent and providing Transoft Solutions with some user feedback, Mr. Eng has won a Mio Digiwalker P550 PDA navigation system by Mio-Tech.

This year’s online survey, which ran from March 1 to June 30, had the largest number of participants in the survey’s history. The information collected is now in the hands of our development team at Transoft Solutions, so that we can continue to deliver tools that get projects done quickly, properly, and profitably.

Transoft Solutions would like to thank all survey respondents and Mr. Eng for taking the time to provide their feedback. Transoft Solutions is looking forward to receiving your feedback in our next online survey, in early 2008.

02. FY 2008 TRANSPORTATION FUNDING APPROVED

The Senate Appropriations Committee followed the lead of the House Appropriations Committee earlier last week in approving the fiscal year 2008 funding measure for the Department of Transportation.

03. AASHTO CALLS FOR ACTION TO ADDRESS SHORTFALL IN HIGHWAY FUND

Officials of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which represents the state transportation departments in Washington, called for action to address a looming $4 billion shortfall in the federal Highway Trust Fund in Fiscal Year 2009.

04. BUDGET FORECAST POTENTIAL FOR LARGE CUTS IN HIGHWAY FUNDING

The Bush administration released its mid-session budget review which updates the data included in the President's budget released in February. The budget estimate forecasted a $700 million Highway Trust Fund (HTF) shortfall in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. Today's update increases the forecasted shortfall to more than $4 billion in FY 09.

05. ARTBA OPPOSES NEW OZONE STANDARD

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) today urged members of the U.S. Senate to oppose stricter federal ozone standards which could potentially jeopardize transportation funding for over 500 counties. ARTBA instead recommended retaining current ozone standards, allowing the nation to continue to make progress towards cleaner air while at the same time pursuing desperately needed transportation improvements.

06. CALIFORNIA TAKES OVER FEDERAL APPROVALS FOR TRANPORTATION PROJECTS

California this month became the first of five eligible states under the new federal SAFETEA-LU transportation bill to participate in a pilot program allowing Caltrans to take over the lead from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for federal environmental approvals on transportation projects. “This is another important piece of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to streamline government and expedite completion of transportation projects,” said Caltrans Director Will Kempton.

07. ENGINEERING FIRM PROFITS SOAR

Driven by strong labor utilization rates and decreased overhead expense levels, profits for U.S. architecture and engineering firms have soared to an all-time high, a new report shows.

08. URS ACQUIRES WASHINGTON GROUP

Engineering and planning firm URS Corporation agreed to acquire Washington Group International, Inc., an engineering and construction company, in a cash and stock transaction worth approximately $2.6 billion.

09. AUTODESK INTRODUCES ENHANCED GEOSPATIAL SOLUTIONS

Autodesk, Inc. unveiled Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise 2008 and Autodesk Topobase 2008 software products, two advanced geospatial offerings that provide organizations with a platform to share location, design and enterprise information across departments. The products will help drive innovation, cost-effectiveness and competitive advantage at every stage of infrastructure design, construction and management.

10. AEC CIOs FOCUS ON WAYS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY

Farkas Berkowitz & Company and Bentley Systems, Incorporated reported the conclusions reached during their recent Sixth Annual Harnessing Information Technology Workshop held in Washington, D.C. Participants in this invitation-only event included 60 chief information officers (CIOs) from the ENR Top 200 Design Firms, who gathered to discuss "Strategies to Improve Economic Productivity."

11. MIT TOOL DETERMINES LANDSLIDE RISK IN TROPICS

Engineers at MIT have devised a simple yet effective system for determining an area's landslide risk, a tool that could help planners improve building codes, determine zoning and strengthen mitigation measures in mountainous tropical regions frequently hit by typhoons.

12. PARKCAD 3.0 RELEASE

Experience a New Standard in Productivity

If you haven't looked into ParkCAD 3.0 yet, now's the time. From initial site design to the final construction stage, get it all done with the most comprehensive parking design software available.

With all new powerful features, such as Accessibility Parking Standards, Quantity Takeoff Reporting, and the new SmartL.O.T design process, ParkCAD 3.0 will make the design and analysis of parking projects easier, faster, and much more cost effective.

Find out how by:

• Downloading your free demo version: ParkCAD 3.0 DEMO.
• Call 1.888.244.8387 and speak with an account manager.

13. TIP AND TRICK FOR PARKCAD 3.0

Create Entrances inside lots using Exclusions

Exclusions are used in ParkCAD 3 to define areas in the lot where stalls should not be generated. Some common uses for exclusions are to define building walls, curbs, aisles and driveways. Did you know that physical and access exclusions can be combined? Use the Physical Exclusions to define a building and then Access Exclusions to define entrances to that building or landscape features around the building.

14. SEE MORE. DO MORE: ON-DEMAND WEBCASTS AVAILABLE

View one of our recorded webcasts to further your understanding of our software.

These demonstrations give you better insight into our line of innovative and time-saving products. See how to get the most from your software.

View our recorded webcasts now

If you have any questions or comments on our webcast program, email us at webcast@transoftsolutions.com

15. JOIN US AT THE ITE 2007 ANNUAL MEETING

ITE 2007 Annual Meeting and Expo
August 5 - 8, 2007
David L. Lawrence Convention Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Transoft Solutions Booth: 311

2,000 transportation professionals are expected to attend this important event. The meeting, which is divided into 6 tracks, including Land Use/Economic Vitality, Safety, Strategies for Addressing Congestion, Traffic Engineering/Multimodal Strategies, Pricing/ Financing/Policy and Discussion Sessions.