A panel of six state department of transportation executives delved into some of the issues surrounding U.S. surface transportation funding during the 2019 Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. [Left to right in above photo: Shawn Wilson (seated), Carlos Braceras (standing), Russell McMurry, Pete Rahn, Brian Ness, Kyle Schneweis.] Sponsored by the American Association […]

New tactics are being deployed by several state departments of transportation to address the growing difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers across a number of disciplines, from engineering and finance to entry-level labor and equipment maintenance positions. [Left to right in above photo: Roger Millar, Mike Patterson, Scott Bennett, and John Schroer.] “One of things […]

Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, highlighted several new drone-related regulatory efforts initiated by the Federal Aviation Administration this week during a speech at the 2019 Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The first of those proposed regulations would allow drones to fly overnight and over people without waivers, if certain conditions are […]

Six states are wrapping up Federal Highway Administration-sponsored projects examining weather resilience strategies for their highway infrastructure, with the agency expecting reports on their research to be filed sometime in February; reports FHWA then plans to publish in a resilience “guidebook” later this year. [Above photo by Elissa Jun from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.] […]

As the partial shutdown of the federal government over border wall funding stretches past 20 days, some state departments of transportation are beginning to curtail planning for new projects while several mass transit systems are scrambling as many rely on federal grants for both operating revenues and capital funding. In his first media briefing as […]

Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, (pictured above) stressed that “infrastructure is integral to opportunity” in order to sustain the current economic growth experienced by the United States and said infrastructure modernization will be a key part of the Chamber’s agenda for 2019. [Above photo by U.S. Chamber] “Our highways, […]

Several new faces are set to take over key Congressional committees in 2019 that affect the transportation industry, especially in the House Representatives, which reverted back to Democratic Party control following the midterm elections on Nov. 6 last year. [Above photo via Pixby] The Democrats officially selected Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., as chairman of the […]

The 98th Annual Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting kicks off Sunday, Jan. 13, in Washington D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and will run through Jan. 17. TRB Executive Director Neil Pedersen (pictured above) explained in a Transportation TV interview that this yearly conference, which attracts more than 13,000 participants from around the […]

The Colorado Department of Transportation and Front Range Community College are teaming up to develop what is believed to be a first-in-the-nation two-year associate’s degree in applied science or AAS as part of a highway maintenance management degree program. [Above photo by Colorado DOT.] The new degree program, which is scheduled to begin in January […]

A survey of 1,300 contractors in 49 states and the District of Columbia found that most are “confident” construction demand will increase in 2019 across most industrial sectors, especially for highway, water and sewer, and transportation facility projects. [Above photo by Utah DOT.] However, that survey – conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America […]