Four regional state department of transportation associations elected new leaders for 2019-2020: Mark Lowe (top left in above photo), director of the Iowa DOT, and Craig Thompson, secretary of the Wisconsin DOT, will serve as president and vice president, respectively, of the Mid America Association of Transportation Officials. Victoria Sheehan (bottom left in above photo), […]
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Transportation Awards Given to Seven Southern State DOTs
editor@aashto.org August 23, 2019 0 COMMENTSSeven southern state departments of transportation won regional awards for 10 transportation projects on August 20 from the Southern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. [Left to right above: Carlos Braceras, AASHTO’s 2018-2019 president; Kevin Thibault, secretary of the Florida DOT; and Jim Tymon, AASHTO’s executive director.] This is the last of four regional […]
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The Georgia Department of Transportation joined a “public-private-philanthropic partnership” or P4 charter on August 19 with the Federal Highway Administration and The Ray – a corporate venture devoted to roadway technology testing – to collaborate on ways to better use an 18-mile-long portion of Interstate 85 The Ray manages as a “living transportation laboratory.” “The […]
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North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) appointed former Wyoming Department of Transportation Director William Panos to head up the North Dakota Department of Transportation starting October 21. Panos replaces NDDOT Deputy Director of Engineering Ron Henke, who has served as the agency’s interim director since former director Tom Sorel retired in April. Panos served as […]
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued more $1.12 million via its public assistance program to the Florida Department of Transportation on August 13 to cover the costs of collecting and disposing of debris left that clogged public rights-of-way in the wake of Hurricane Irma nearly two years ago. [Above photo from the Florida DOT.] Between […]
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Maine DOT Readies Last of VW Settlement Funds for Dispersal
editor@aashto.org August 23, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Maine Department of Transportation is seeking to distribute the last of its Volkswagen environmental mitigation settlement funds – roughly $3 million – to “eligible parties” still operating a vehicle with a diesel engine from 2009 or earlier. If approved, they may receive between 25 percent and 80 percent of the base price of a […]
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AASHTO’s Water Council Gets New Chair, Forms Steering Committee
editor@aashto.org August 23, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials appointed Kevin Thibault (seen above), secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, to a two-year term as chair of its Council on Water Transportation. That council has also created a new steering committee in April to provide input on policy, research, technical, and educational issues, as […]
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AASHTO Appoints New Chair for Security & Resilience Committee
editor@aashto.org August 23, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials appointed Ed Sniffen, deputy director for highways at the Hawaii Department of Transportation (seen above at right), to a two-year term as chair of its Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience – which will be holding its annual meeting August 27-29 in Jackson, Wyoming. The […]
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Survey Finds Consumers “Lack Confidence” in Autonomous & All-Electric Vehicles
editor@aashto.org August 16, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe first in a series of quarterly studies compiled by J.D. Power and SurveyMonkey finds that consumers “lack confidence” in the future of self-driving and all-electric battery-powered vehicles. The inaugural J.D. Power 2019 Mobility Confidence Index Study, which polled 5,749 consumers about self-driving vehicles and 5,270 about battery-electric vehicles or BAVs, gauges “sentiment” in three […]
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Communicating the important role America’s transportation plays in the daily lives of its citizens should be a top priority for state departments of transportation going forward, argued Carlos Braceras (seen above), executive director of the Utah Department of Transportation and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2018-2019 president. “We need to be […]
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