Steep reductions in motor vehicle travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic are adversely affecting state department of transportation budgets – to the point where some agencies are laying off workers and shelving planned transportation projects. [Above photo by the NCDOT.] The North Carolina Department of Transportation noted in an April 21 statement that as it […]
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Annual Work Zone Awareness Effort Emphasizes Motorist Safety
editor@aashto.org April 24, 2020 0 COMMENTSThe annual National Work Zone Awareness Week focused on several areas for 2020: that four out of five work zone fatalities are actually motorists and/or their passengers, that speeding and distracted driving are the leading causes of work zone crashes, and that highway construction crews continue to push forward on transportation projects during the COVID-19 […]
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The Alliance for Automotive Innovation announced on April 23 that the automotive industry will deploying at least five million vehicle-to-everything or V2X devices on both vehicles and roadway infrastructure within the next five years. [Above graphic by SAE International.] That commitment that is predicated on the Federal Communications Commission maintaining the 5.9 gigahertz (GHz) wireless […]
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AASHTOWare, a division of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and Utah-based Numetric, Inc., are joining forces to release a co-branded safety software product that will be available for licensing to customers on July 1. AASHTOWare – which offers a suite of transportation software products delivered through a collaborative business model with […]
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The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Army published a final rule on April 21 defining the scope of waters federally regulated under the Clean Water Act, while adhering to Congress’ policy directive to preserve States’ primary authority over land and water resources. [Above photo by the Delaware DOT.] This is the […]
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The Federal Transit Administration noted on April 23 that it will give transit agencies more time to meet the requirements of the new Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan or PTASP regulation as they cope with ridership falloff and other operational issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. [Above photo by CTransit.] The PTASP regulation requires transit agencies to […]
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The U.S. Maritime Administration awarded $19.6 million in discretionary grants to 24 small shipyards on April 21 through its Small Shipyard Grant Program – funding made available in January that is intended to help modernize America’s small shipyards and thus make them more efficient in constructing commercial vessels. “Small shipyard grants play a significant role […]
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In a notice of funding opportunity issued on April 20, the Federal Railroad Administration made $311.8 million in grants available via its Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements or CRISI program. [Above photo by the North Dakota DOT.] This round of CRISI funding aims to support freight and passenger rail projects that address congestion challenges, […]
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The California Department of Transportation and the Nebraska Department of Transportation are working with their respective state law enforcement agencies to find ways to head off a spike in excessive speeding incidents – a spike that coincides with decreased traffic volumes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [Above photo by the California Highway Patrol.] Caltrans is […]
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Nebraska DOT Says State Traffic Volume Continues to Decline
editor@aashto.org April 24, 2020 0 COMMENTSThe Nebraska Department of Transportation’s new Traffic Count Dashboard that tracks the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on statewide travel recorded a traffic volume decline of 35 percent for the week of April 12 through April 18 when compared to the three-year monthly traffic average compiled between 2016 and 2018. That’s an increase from the […]
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