The Federal Highway Administration plans to propose 600 changes to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways or MUTCD via a notice of proposed amendments or NPA scheduled for release on December 14. [Above photo collage by the American Traffic Safety Services Association.] This is the first comprehensive update in more […]
READ MORE
Congress passed a one-week extension of a short-term federal government funding measure on December 11 to provide more time to reach a longer-term deal. The House of Representatives passed a one-week extension of the expiring continuing resolution to maintain federal government funding on December 9 by a vote of 343 to 67. The Senate passed […]
READ MORE
The U.S. Department of Transportation hosted a virtual seminar on December 8 highlighting ways the transportation industry as a whole can help combat human trafficking. [Above image via USDOT.] The seminar – entitled “Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation” – focused on the anti-human trafficking efforts of state and local government agencies, private sector firms, airports, […]
READ MORE
A new machine-learning algorithm developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory could help urban transportation analysts relieve bottlenecks and chokepoints that routinely snarl city traffic. [Above image via PNNL.] The new tool – called TranSEC, which stands for “Transportation State Estimation Capability” – uses traffic datasets collected from Uber drivers and […]
READ MORE
USDOT, Interior Complete Arlington Memorial Bridge Project
editor@aashto.org December 11, 2020 0 COMMENTSThe U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of the Interior completed a three-year, $277 million renovation of the 2,613-foot-lon Arlington Memorial Bridge that links Washington D.C. directly to Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia. [Above Photo by Liz Macro/National Park Service.] First opened to traffic in 1932, the neoclassical-designed Arlington Memorial Bridge carries […]
READ MORE
The American Public Transportation Association and the Transit app jointly released a new APTA Ridership Trends dashboard that provides up-to-date, week-by-week estimations of public transit ridership for agencies across the United States. The dashboard is available via www.transitapp.com/APTA. [Above photo by the Chicago Transit Authority.] During the COVID-19 pandemic, APTA said public transit ridership increased and dropped rapidly […]
READ MORE
Volpe Center: Automated Systems Can Improve Rail Inspection Safety
editor@aashto.org December 11, 2020 0 COMMENTSAutomation-aided railroad inspection technologies offer the potential to boost safety and save lives while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of current track maintenance and inspection practices, according to a new study issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. [Above photo by the FRA.] The Federal Railroad Administration asked a Volpe […]
READ MORE
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently launched two new working groups under its Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology or NETT Council – the first on personal rapid transit or PRT and the other on advanced and urban aerial mobility or AUAM. [Above photo by USDOT.] This is in addition to the tunneling and hyperloop working […]
READ MORE
Oklahoma DOT Gets Approval for $8.6B Construction Plan
editor@aashto.org December 11, 2020 0 COMMENTSThe Oklahoma Transportation Commission recently approved the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s latest eight-year, $8.6 billion Construction Work Plan for 2021-2028 – a plan that takes into account an upcoming reduction in state funding done through previous legislative action to help balance the state budget due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. [Above photo of […]
READ MORE
‘Roadmap’ Issued for Ultra High Speed Rail in Pacific Northwest
editor@aashto.org December 11, 2020 0 COMMENTSA new report issued on December 8 – entitled the 2020 Framework for the Future and crafted by consulting firm WSP USA along with IMG Rebel and EnviroIssues – establishes a “roadmap” for continued work on an ultra-high-speed rail network linking the Pacific Northwest. [Above photo by WSDOT.] The report – compiled at the behest of […]
READ MORE