Transportation Radio

It's been four years since three state chapters held the ITS3C Summit in Mobile, Alabama. This time it's five chapters representing eight states at the ITS5C Summit being held October 7 through 10 in Jacksonville, Florida. Jay Calhoun, Vice President of VIBE, is chairing the organizing committee for the gathering and in this edition of Transportation Radio he talks about what's goin...

Andrew P. Tarko, Professor of Civil Engineering, Director of the Center for Road Safety, Purdue University and Franz Loewenherz, a principal transportation planner for the City of Bellevue, Washington, discuss surrogate measures of safety and how they help Vision Zero strategies in the July edition of the ITE Talks Transportation podcast.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, there were over 96,000 crashes in work zones in the US in 2015. Despite work zone safety being a high priority, drivers and workers are still killed and injured at an astonishingly high rate. Technology can play a role in improving work zone safety by informing drivers of hazards ahead and directing them on what to do as they approach the work zone....

The Road to Zero Coalition, managed by the National Safety Council, released a comprehensive report in April laying out strategies to end roadway deaths in the US by 2050. It is the first time so many organizations have collaborated to put forth a plan to address motor vehicle fatalities. Road to Zero Coalition Chair Debbie Hersman and ITE Executive Director Jeff Paniati discuss the strategies and...

Matthew Dyrdahl, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator in the Minneapolis Department of Public Works, Amber Dallman, Minnesota Department of Transportation bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, and Sarah Stewart, senior public health specialist with the Minneapolis Health Department talk about the intersection of active transportation and health in Minneapolis and beyond in Minnesota. Sponsored by Miov...

The Center for Transportation, Equity, Decisions and Dollars (CTEDD) is a USDOT (Tier-1) University Transportation Center. As indicated by its name, CTEDD does research into transportation equity issues. Two researchers associated with the center are Dr. Diane Jones Allen of the University of Texas at Arlington and Dr. Sean Barbeau of the University of South Florida. In this podcast they talk abou...

At ITS New Jersey's annual meeting in September, Veronique (Ronnie) Hakim, Managing Director of the MTA, was inducted into the organization's hall of fame. Hakim, who served the Garden State for six years as executive director of NJ Transit and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, has had a unique opportunity to see the bi-state transportation network from three of the largest transportati...

When the New York City subway opened in 1904 even H.G. Wells probably didn't envision the types of communications we take for granted today. Transit Wireless took on the challenge of making it possible to using cellphones in underground subway stations. Not only is cell service now available, but Wi-Fi and public safety radios also work in underground stations. Bill Bayne is the CEO of Transi...

For nearly four years Ananth Prasad served as Florida's Secretary of Transportation. More recently, he's been a senior vice president and National Transportation Practice Leader at HNTB. At the end of 2016 he wrote an op-ed piece on investing in the nation's infrastructure. Five months into the Trump Administration he talked with Transportation Radio about where things now stand and...

Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne has all aspects of transportation under his purview. From highways, to ports, to transit, if it moves people or cargo, chances are he plays a role. In Transportation Radio's ongoing series featuring state transport agencies around the US, we talk about how the commonwealth manages transportation and what makes Virginia unique.

Kirk Steudle, the director of Michigan DOT, is distinguished in many ways but two factors that stand out are his years of service as the leader of the state's transportation agency and the national leadership roles he's had with AASHTO, TRB and ITS America. That experience give him unique insights not only into MDOT but what's happening nationally. He shares that perspective in the...

Over the past few years you can barely open a newspaper or watch a newscast and not hear automated and autonomous vehicles mentioned. One form of automated vehicles have been carrying passengers since 1975. West Virginia University's personal rapid transit system connects three campuses and downtown Morgantown. New systems are being developed elsewhere in the world, primarily in Asia and the...

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation may have the smallest territory to cover of any state DOT, but there's quite a few transportation facilities packed into that area. The Main Street of the east coast, I-95, carries millions of travelers, both locally and interstate. Amtrak's busiest line, the Northeast Corridor runs through the state, connecting Connecticut and Massachusetts....

For the third year in a row, the Ferry Safety and Technology Conference will take place in Manhattan. This year’s event is May 11 and 12. The conference is presented by the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association and brings maritime experts together to discuss ways to improve ferry service safety and efficiency. Dr. Roberta Weisbrod is the executive director of the association and she spoke with Transp...

When it comes to extremes, no department of transportation in the United States comes close to what the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has to deal with. From the coldest weather in the US to the highest mountain in North America, Alaska presents a unique set of challenges. Marc Luiken is the commissioner of Alaska DOT&PF and in the third episode of Transportation Rad...

This year's Parking Industry Exhibition, aka PIE, returns to the Chicago area. A change in this year's event is that there will be tracks focused on different segments of the parking industry, such as airports, municipalities and hospitals. The man responsible for pulling all this together is John Van Horn. He's the editor and publisher of Parking Today and he spent a few minutes ta...

The ITS World Congress returns to North America this year via Montréal. Claude Carette is the Director of Infrastructure, Roads and Transport Services for the City of Montreal and serves as the chair of this year's event. He talked with Transportation Radio about the conference and some of what visitors can look forward to.

Brian Ness has served as the director of the Idaho Transportation Department since 2010. That's given him a lot of time to not only know the department but to make his mark on the agency. In the second of Transportation Radio's series profiling state DOTs, Director Ness talks about innovation, "Nine Steps" and ITS, among other topics.

In less than a year the ITS community will be focused on Montreal when the ITS World Congress is held in the city. ITS Canada is the host, but long before the event the organization has brought together industry and public agencies to advance intelligent transportation in the country and to represent its interests internationally. Chris Philp of CIMA+ serves as the Chairman and CEO of ITS Canada a...

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority runs both the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. The two toll roads have a variety of tools that are used to keep traffic running smoothly and to help respond when things go wrong. Barry Pelletteri is the CIO for the Turnpike Authority and he talked with Transportation Radio about the agency and how they're using technology.

Melinda McGrath is the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation. In the first of a series of interviews with the leaders of state DOTs, Transportation Radio's Bernie Wagenblast talks with her about MDOT and her career with the agency.

Cummins has been testing their new QSK95 locomotive engine with the Indiana Rail Road since last March. On Wednesday, the two companies provided media representatives an opportunity to see the diesel engine at the Indiana Rail Road's Indianapolis terminal. Transportation Radio was there and spoke with Jim Trueblood, Vice President of Cummins Large Engine Program to learn more about the engine...

While there were approximately 1,300 people on the Amtrak Autumn Express this weekend, one woman had a special reason to take the train. Jeanne Remmel of Coopersburg, Pennsylvania once worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Amtrak train traveled along parts of the old LVRR in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Transportation Radio spoke with Jeanne about her experience.

For the fourth year in a row, Amtrak's Autumn Express brought passenger trains to lines that haven't seen such service in decades. The fourteen car trains were filled with people eager to see the countryside and excited to travel places they can't go. Chris Jagodzinski, Amtrak's vice president of operations, sat down with Transportation Radio on board the train as it raced acro...

The Maryland Transit Administration may be the only transit agency in the country to have its own radio station. It's just one of the innovations the MTA uses to keep its riders informed. CEO Paul Comfort talks with Transportation Radio about the various methods it uses to keep the communication lines open.