More Grants Aim to Spur Solutions to Highway Trust Fund Solvency Issues
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSStates are being encouraged to submit applications for the last two years of a grant program designed to test “alternative revenue mechanisms” built upon a user-fee structure to maintain the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. A Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives or STSFA program issued August 8 […]
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Public Outreach Key to State DOT Winter Operations Planning, Panel Says
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSA panel discussion held at the 2019 TransComm meeting in Indianapolis in late July stressed that more public outreach on the part of state departments of transportation regarding snow and ice removal operational needs is critical to creating a safer and more efficient highway system during the winter season. “Weather impacts travel-time reliability; and we […]
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Experimental Highway Joins with Georgia DOT to Test V2X Technology
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Ray in Georgia – a corporate venture devoted to technology testing along an 18-mile-long strip of Interstate 85 – is joining forces with the Georgia Department of Transportation and Panasonic to test a vehicle-to-everything or V2X data “ecosystem” designed to improve roadway safety, reduce traffic congestion, and improve organizational efficiency. By leveraging the “CIRRUS by […]
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Bill Aims to Address Local Crude-By-Rail Shipment Safety Concerns
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSLegislation proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Aug. 1 would provide $40 million in grants and “financial assistance” to “local communities” per year to address “safety concerns” posed by the derailment of trains carrying crude oil and hazardous materials. The Crude Oil Advanced Tracking Act would require railroads to share information regarding oil shipments with state […]
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The Maritime Administration added nine Marine Highway Projects and a Marine Highway Route to the America’s Marine Highway Program on July 30, encompassing waterways located in: Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington State and American Samoa. [Above photo by the Missouri Department of Transportation] MARAD noted that such “designation” makes projects and […]
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FMCSA Wants to Make Crash Preventability Program Permanent
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration launched a rulemaking effort on August 5 to permanently establish a crash preventability determination program for commercial vehicles; a program that aims to reduce commercial vehicle crashes on the nation’s highways. [Above photo by the Missouri Department of Transportation] The agency has been pilot testing a crash preventability program […]
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A new “cost-share” program created by the Missouri General Assembly this year provides $50 million to the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Missouri Department of Economic Development to build “partnerships” with local entities in support of local road and bridge projects. [Above photo by the Missouri DOT] The Governor’s Transportation Cost-Share Program provides financial […]
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Wisconsin Governor Signs Bill Creating New State DOT Office
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSA transportation bill signed into law on Aug. 6 by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) (seen above) will, among other things, create a new office within the Wisconsin Department of Transportation; an office responsible for “facilitating” faster delivery times for infrastructure projects. The bill, 2019 Wisconsin Act 18: Creates a new office within the Wisconsin […]
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Oregon DOT Launches Transportation Funding Outreach Campaign
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Oregon Department of Transportation launched a public outreach campaign on Aug. 6 that will run through 2020 to educate residents about transportation funding and the need for new ways to pay for the state’s roads and bridges. Dubbed “Keep Oregon Connected” and funded in part with a federal grant, the campaign seeks to explain […]
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Arizona DOT Using New Techniques to Speed up Highway Bridge Replacement
editor@aashto.org August 9, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe term is indeed a mouthful – “geosynthetic reinforced soil-integrated bridge system” – but it is a technique new to the Arizona Department of Transportation to not only speed up the replacement of the Interstate 40 bridge at Meteor City Road but to help lower the cost of maintaining it in the future. [Above photo […]
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