The House of Representatives this week passed a major spending package, HR3055, containing $87.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations for Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, or THUD. This “minibus” package – composed of four other appropriations bills in addition to THUD – was the second of three packages considered by the House for FY 2020, […]
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Senate Commerce Subcommittee Focuses on Transportation Technology
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety this week held a hearing exploring the adoption of technology by transportation agencies and the private sector, and the effects those technologies have on the surface transportation network. Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) opened the hearing explaining that “Technology is already changing how we move people and […]
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IIHS Studies Find Motorists Get ‘Confused’ by Vehicle Automation Technology
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSTwo new studies released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that vehicle automation technology “has limitations that can be tricky for drivers to grasp.” One study revealed how the names manufacturers use for these systems can send the wrong messages to drivers regarding how attentive they should be. Another found that drivers don’t […]
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AAA Survey: Drivers Perceive Impaired Driving as Dangerous, Percentage Do It Anyway
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSAccording to a new AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey released this month, most drivers (95.1 percent) perceive driving after drinking as very or extremely dangerous. However, almost 11 percent admitted to having done so in the past 30 days. Meanwhile, the survey found that 70 percent of respondents consider driving within an hour after […]
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Michigan DOT Using Movie Camera to Improve Bridge Inspection Process
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan Tech Research Institute are experimenting with a new way to conduct “up-close” visual inspections of concrete bridge decking: by using a 3-D “movie camera.” The 3-D optical bridge evaluation system or 3DOBS developed by MTRI and being tested by Michigan DOT uses a vehicle-mounted camera and image […]
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Utility work is often a challenge for local residents, but local electric utility company Pepco – a division of Exelon – and the District Department of Transportation are partnering to ensure that a $500 million DC Power Line Undergrounding or DC PLUG project goes smoothly. The PLUG project will relocate up to 30 of the […]
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California Agencies Join Together for Highway Worker Protection Campaign
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSSince 1921, 189 California Department of Transportation employees have been killed on the job – and one of the biggest hazards to them and anyone working on the roads is from motorists who do not exercise caution. For that reason, Caltrans is joining forces with the California State Transportation Agency, California Highway Patrol, and the […]
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WSDOT Works to Reclaim Land Occupied by Alaskan Way Viaduct
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe January closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown Seattle – also known as State Route 99 – was another step in a long reclamation project that will eventually remove highway and repurpose the land it occupies. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, removing the viaduct will be completed in three stages: […]
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Connecticut Celebrates Anniversary of Passenger Rail Expansion
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Connecticut Department of Transportation recently helped celebrate the first anniversary of the CTrail Hartford Line, which connects multiple stations in Central Connecticut along the I-91 corridor. It was the first rail line to open for service in Connecticut since 1990, the agency noted. During its first year of service, an estimated 634,000 passengers used […]
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Massachusetts Gives Go-Ahead to Five Year, $18.3B Transportation Plan
editor@aashto.org June 28, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe board of directors for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officially signed off on a five-year, $18.3 billion capital investment plan for both agencies that will, among other things, provide $146.5 million in initial start-up funding for the $300 million Hopkinton-Westborough I-495/I-90 Interchange improvement project that’s now in the planning […]
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