John Hennessy III,
P.E.
DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
The goal of Vision Zero is straight-forward: zero fatalities and serious injuries in our transportation system, because no loss of life is acceptable. Vision Zero was first adopted in Sweden in 1997. Since then, fatal and serious injuries in Sweden have consistently declined, despite a regular increase in people driving, walking, biking, and using transit.
ODOT and contract crews reopen Oregon 230 (West Diamond Lake Highway) after heavy snows and fallen trees block the roadway for more than a week. Several times crews had to leave due to falling trees. Hazard trees that had been sprung by the snow were also removed.
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AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES
The automobile is undergoing a radical transformation. Advancements in technology, along with growing pressure to reduce congestion, trim carbon emissions and improve safety, are fueling the concept of connected cars and smart transportation systems.
How these technological advances will impact America’s roadways is a new challenge facing engineering firms. There’s growing demand to develop smart infrastructure systems that do things such as alter traffic flow dynamically. Motorists are using apps, such as Google Maps and Apple Maps, to bypass congestion and incidents, but far more advanced vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) systems lie ahead.
Derrick Keltner, a structural engineer in VDOT’s Hampton Roads District, inspects the High Rise Bridge in Chesapeake.
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TRIP
An efficient, safe and well-maintained transportation system provides economic and social benefits by affording individuals access to employment, housing, healthcare, education, goods and services, recreation, entertainment, family, and social activities. It also provides businesses with access to suppliers, markets and employees, all critical to a business’ level of productivity and ability to expand. Conversely, reduced accessibility and mobility – as a result of traffic congestion, a lack of adequate capacity, or deteriorated roads, highways, bridges and transit facilities – diminishes a region’s quality of life by reducing economic productivity and limiting opportunities for economic, health or social transactions and activities.
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) and City of North Las Vegas (NLV) hosted a grand opening celebration for four Fuel Revenue Indexing (FRI) projects.
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Vol. 26, No. 8
The FAST Act, signed by the President on December 4, marks the beginning of the end for the Highway Trust Fund as we have known it. The $305 billion 5-year measure draws heavily on general funds (to the tune of $70 billion), and relegates to a virtual anachronism the “user pays” principle that was the philosophic foundation of the federal-aid highway program for the past 60 years.
On Friday, December 4th, President Obama signed into law the first long-term transportation bill the U.S. has seen in ten years. The “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation” or “FAST” Act marks a long-awaited bi-partisan compromise. The act calls for an 11% increase in funding over its five-year span, and makes provisions for $16 billion in annual transportation funding not covered by the gas tax.
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With more people commuting into Austin traffic is becoming more congested. Vanessa Pulido has the story on how a $150 million bond for bike lanes could potentially reduce traffic.
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UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
In summary, based on 2014 NBI data, the nation has 610,749 bridges. Of those bridges, 23 percent are on the NHS, and this 23 percent comprise 58 percent of the nation’s total deck area. Nearly 25 percent of all bridges are deficient, with 10 percent categorized as structurally deficient and 14 percent categorized as functionally obsolete. Of bridges on the NHS, 4 percent are categorized as structurally deficient while 17 percent are categorized as functionally obsolete. State agencies own about half of all bridges and over 90 percent of NHS bridges.
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