The Engineering News-Record named Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, one of its “Top 25 Newsmakers” for 2019 for coordinating a successful industry-wide push to repeal a $7.6 billion rescission of federal-aid highway contract authority – a budget cut originally mandated by the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface […]
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Fully autonomous cars, trucks, and buses that are able to operate across wide geographical areas without drivers, would “revolutionize ground transportation,” according to a new 34-page research brief issued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But deployment of fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) in significant numbers won’t occur for at least another 10 years, it said. [Above […]
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Podcast: AASHTO’s Tymon Talks National Infrastructure Needs
editor@aashto.org August 7, 2020 0 COMMENTSJim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, recently spoke with the Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition’s latest podcast to provide an “overarching perspective” on the critical need for transportation infrastructure investment in the United States. “I think that this still is a bipartisan issue. Transportation is an area […]
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New case-study research from the Mineta Transportation Institute indicates that a payment of $15 a day would be enough to “incentivize” commuters to accept the minor inconveniences of carpooling – and, in the process, reduce traffic congestion by as much as half. [Above photo by Caltrans.] The MTI’s report – dubbed Congestion-Clearing Payments to Passengers – is […]
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The Federal Aviation Administration awarded $3.3 million in research, education, and training grants to help develop a “greater array of innovative strategies” so unnamed aerial systems – known as UAS or drones – can be more effectively deployed during emergency response situations. [Above photo by the NCDOT.] The agency said that grant money will go […]
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The U.S. Department of Transportation recently disbursed $4.925 million in grants to four new Tier 1 University Transportation Centers or UTCs; money aimed at advancing research and education programs to address critical national transportation challenges. The USDOT noted in a statement that the new UTC research projects being funded by those grants – projects that […]
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The Oklahoma Transportation Commission recently approved a nearly $880 million County Improvements for Roads and Bridges or CIRB plan, updated for fiscal years 2021 through 2025. [Above photo by the Oklahoma DOT.] That plan, managed by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, is set to replace or rehabilitate 313 county bridges – of which 151 are […]
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The New Jersey Department of Transportation recently released $161.25 million in fiscal year 2021 County Aid grants to help fund local infrastructure improvements. Those grants are funded through the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund. “County Aid is just one of many programs [that help] our communities by improving infrastructure throughout New Jersey at every level […]
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Illinois DOT Helps Issue $250M in Local Transportation Grants
editor@aashto.org August 7, 2020 0 COMMENTSGovernor J.B. Pritzker (D) and the Illinois Department of Transportation issued the second of six $250 million grants to counties, municipalities and townships on July 31 to address local transportation needs – funds that come from the six-year, $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital plan established in 2019. [Above photo by the Illinois DOT.] Those grants […]
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The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will work together on a $250 million project to deepen the lower portion of the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico through Baton Rouge to 50 feet; providing deep draft access to the ports at Plaquemines, New Orleans, South Louisiana […]
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JULY 2020 UPDATE TO THE MATERIALS STANDARDS
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COVID-19 “stay-at-home” orders in some states resulted in 50 to 60% decline in motor vehicle travel during the height of the pandemic. This sudden drop caused severe losses in motor fuel tax revenues and other fees, which state transportation programs depend on for funding. “Without those funds, state DOTs have had no choice but to furlough workers and delay or cancel nearly $10 billion in essential transportation projects,” says Jim Tymon, executive director of AASHTO said. “Those project delays will continue unless Congress intervenes. We’re talking about projects that improve roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. Congress has to get this done.”
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Watch the latest "On Time with Tymon": https://bit.ly/30Ty9sc