The USDOT and several other transportation agencies around the nation have been paying close attention to the emergence of the smart car. Over the last few years, they have funded research in this technology and studied how to integrate it into the existing system. And now, they are reaching out in several ways to share…
Category: Transportation
Understanding Locally Administered Federal-Aid Projects
Local agencies have the opportunity to receive federal funds to spend on improving the federal aid routes in their communities. The challenge in taking advantage of these funds is that projects eligible for this funding must be designed and constructed according federal guidelines. And because of the many policies and procedures involved in the process,…
Infographic of the Month – September 2013
This month we have a bike-related infographic supplied by Online Masters in Public Health. Whether it's to improve health or save money, people seem to be hopping on their bikes more than ever. And cities and states are working to accommodate these increased demands for bicycle facilities. As the Infographic shows, one initiative experiencing great success throughout…
Infographic of the Month – July 2013
Several years back Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, started discussing the installation of a light rail transit system. Snapsort, a tech company based on that community, supported that proposal and came up with this infographic to help educate people about light rail transit. It's a good example of how agencies can use infographics to educate the public about proposed projects….
Balancing – the key to a successful bike sharing program
Most major cities have implemented some level of bike sharing programs in their community. And based on usage reports, these programs have shown to be well received by people in these communities. The idea behind the setup is fairly simple: install bike docking stations at key locations through a city and allow people to rent the…
Solar Roadways, Bike Paths, and Parking Lots
For the past few years, Solar Roadways has been working on developing solar panels as surface materials for roadways. Today the company posted the video below on their Facebook page. In it Scott Brusaw summarizes their work to date and looks ahead to the future. In the past, the company seemed to primarily focus on roads, but based on the video,…
Using Social Media to Promote Safety Around Trains
Melbourne Metro, a transit service based in Australia, has been successfully using social media to educate the public about safety around trains. Last year they produced this video called Dumb Ways to Die starring a cast of cute little characters and a catchy tune. And now Melbourne Metro has released a game related to the video's theme. You…
Using Social Media to Curate Information for Feasibility Studies
While I still enjoy books and love going to the library, I have come to favor using the Internet when researching a specific subject. Not only is it easy to find and collect and organize information, but the social media side of it allows me to also get the pulse of the public on that topic….
Edmonton Presents Complete Streets Guidelines
Edmonton will be presenting their Complete Streets Design Guidelines to their council on May 13, 2013. In addition to the Complete Streets document, Edmonton is also introducing the final draft of their Designing New Neighborhoods Guidelines. Both policies complement and support each other. Major cities like Edmonton have developed guidelines like these to help develop…
April’s Recommended Reading List for Civil Engineers
Lately quite a few good resources have shown up in my email. So I've compiled a reading list for this month to showcase these new releases. The first publication I'd like to recommend is: Minimizing Traffic-Related Work Zone Crashes in Illinois by The Illinois Center for Transportation at the University of Illinois If you are…