March 07, 2017
With its narrow streets, numerous intersections, and high-speed vehicle traffic, historic Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans had become one of Louisiana’s most hazardous routes for pedestrians and cyclists. The Paths to Progress Program, a coordinated transportation improvement program between the Federal Highway Administration’s Louisiana Division Office, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and local agencies changed......
Town of Shakopee Develops Alternative Intersection to Reduce Congestion and Improve Mobility
March 07, 2017
Downtown Minneapolis is experiencing rapid population growth that is stretching the capacity of its current transportation systems. To combat existing congestion and proactively address future crowding, the Town of Shakopee, a small community near Minneapolis, decided intersection and crossing improvements were the most useful and cost-effective tool for reducing congestion and protecting bicyclists. Shakopee’s project,......
Crowd-sourcing Traffic App Aids Transportation Agencies
February 17, 2017
Waze is rapidly gaining popularity as a navigation and “traffic avoidance” app, using real-time traffic and construction information to recommend the fastest route to your destination. Waze works using a crowd-sourcing functionality, meaning that it depends on users to report and verify traffic incidents and other scenarios that could slow down your trip. There are......
February 16, 2017
San Francisco is one of a handful of cities in the U.S. using embedded sensors in parking lots to communicate with smartphones, directing drivers to the nearest spot. The San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority manages 20 public parking garages across San Francisco. With their SFpark program, the agency uses demand-responsive pricing to improve parking and......
February 16, 2017
The City of Seattle developed e-Park to improve and promote short-term parking in Seattle’s downtown area. The electronic parking guidance system uses dynamic message signs to provide shoppers, visitors and tourists with real-time space availability and directions to available parking spaces. E-Park data also feeds into a mobile website to serve as a downtown parking......
February 16, 2017
On a four-mile section of Virginia’s I-81, a major north-south freight corridor, the pavement was 43 years old, well past its intended design life, and heavier volumes of truck traffic were taking a toll. The Virginia Department of Transportation moved forward with a $10 million project that reused existing materials from the underlying road structure,......
February 16, 2017
California generates more than 40 million scrap tires every year. While nearly 75 percent of used tires are recycled, the rest still end up in landfills or illegal dumps. Ground tire rubber can be blended with asphalt to beneficially modify the properties of the asphalt in highway construction. Through the department’s Green Roads program, CalRecycle......
Managing Construction Electronically
February 16, 2017
The Michigan Department of Transportation estimates that the agency has saved approximately $12 million annually due to better efficiency, along with six million pieces of paper – that’s a lot of trees! It has reduced its average contract modification processing time from 30 days to three days. The agency used technology on a $150 million......
Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
February 16, 2017
Stop-and-go traffic is a reality for most commuters in urban areas, and over 40 percent of America’s major roads are congested. What if we could get more use out of the existing highway capacity we have with driverless vehicles? There is a lot of talk about the convenience for drivers with this new technology, but......
Innovative Self-Healing Asphalt
February 16, 2017
A new pavement type designed by Erik Schlangen is a “self-healing asphalt machine” to work against damage over time. It is a porous material that allows water to drain through the surfaces, run to the side of the road, or be routed into collection devices. Due to its geometry, noise would disappear into the surface.......
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