NTSB: Calculation Errors Caused Miami Pedestrian Bridge Collapse
editor@aashto.org October 25, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe National Transportation Safety Board determined engineering errors are the probable causes of a fatal pedestrian bridge collapse that occurred last year in Miami. Those errors caused the partially constructed 174-foot-long, 950-ton Florida International University pedestrian bridge to crack and subsequently collapse, killing six people and injuring 10 others when it fell onto the street below, […]
READ MORENHTSA: Traffic Fatalities Declined in 2018 Even as VMT Increased
editor@aashto.org October 25, 2019 0 COMMENTSData released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on October 22 indicated that overall highway crash fatalities declined 2.4 percent in 2018 – dropping to 36,560 deaths from 37,473 in 2017 – with the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled decreasing by 3.4 percent; from 1.17 in 2017 to 1.13 in 2018, […]
READ MOREThe American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials joined 30 other organizations in support of an American Public Transportation Association-led effort to head off potential cuts in public transportation funding. At issue is the Senate’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies or THUD 2020 Appropriations bill, which reduces total funding for public […]
READ MORESeven Highway Projects Win National Roadway Safety Awards
editor@aashto.org October 25, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Federal Highway Administration and the Roadway Safety Foundation honored seven highway safety projects in five states with National Roadway Safety Awards as part of a biennial program to highlight successful approaches to improving roadway safety at the state and local level. “While our roads and vehicles have gotten safer over the years, clearly motor […]
READ MOREThe Governors Highway Safety Association and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety plan to work with the National Road Safety Foundation to support a state-based speed-management pilot program via one or more grant awards in 2020. The reason: More than 9,000 fatalities in 2018, or 26 percent of all crash deaths, were speed-related according to […]
READ MOREVideo: Transportation Needs to Protect the 5.9 GHz Spectrum
editor@aashto.org October 25, 2019 0 COMMENTSIn a speech at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2019 annual meeting in St. Louis, Don Butler (seen above) – executive director for Connected Vehicles and Services at Ford Motor Company – stressed that reserving the 5.9 GHz wireless communication spectrum for transportation safety use is critical to the future of […]
READ MOREA 43-page report issued by the Congressional Budget Office on October 17 examines whether a federal vehicle miles traveled or VMT tax on commercial trucks can help sustain the Highway Trust Fund, which the CBO projects will be “exhausted” of funding by 2022. [Above photo by the Arkansas DOT.] “A federal VMT tax on trucks […]
READ MOREA 35-page report issued by the Government Accountability Office on October 17 recommended that the Federal Highway Administration improve documentation of the reasoning behind its emergency repair or ER grants in order to reduce “federal fiscal exposure” in disaster restoration efforts. [Above photo by Caltrans.] GAO evaluated how FHWA applied program guidance to classify selected […]
READ MOREGovernor-led Infrastructure Initiative Holds Second Summit in Michigan
editor@aashto.org October 25, 2019 0 COMMENTSThe Governors of Maryland, Michigan, and Tennessee held the second of four planned national infrastructure summits with policy and technology experts in Detroit on October 19 to discuss emerging trends and best practices for securing vital infrastructure against human-caused and natural threats. [Above photo of Gov. Larry Hogan by the National Governors Association.] This summit […]
READ MORETexas DOT Seeks to Reduce Crash Rates in Energy Producing Regions
editor@aashto.org October 25, 2019 0 COMMENTSClose to half of all of Texas’ traffic fatalities occur in the state’s oil and gas production regions, so the Texas Department of Transportation is placing special emphasis on that area as it kicks off its annual “Be Safe. Drive Smart.” motor vehicle safety campaign. In 2018, the agency said 1,673 people died and more […]
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