I recently accepted a job offer and made the move to an office where I am able to work with a large number of engineers. Another huge benefit I found after arriving is that for the first time in about 20 years I am working in a job where my supervisor has the same or more…
Category: Transportation
Asphalt Infographic
The next infographic up for your viewing pleasure comes from the National Asphalt Pavement Association – definitely a site you'll want to check out for everything asphalt. Thanks to T. Carter Ross, vice president for communications, for sharing their infographic "7 Keys to Highly Successful Parking Lots." This infographic is based upon an informative and helpful brochure: "Seven…
Street Bump – useful but not ready for prime time engineering
Today I tried out Street Bump – a mobile application designed and developed by Connected Bits, LLC and produced by the Mayor's office of Boston. This application, available for the iPhone, picks up bumps in the road as people drive along a street with their phone. Because smoothness or "the ride" is one component we…
Sharing the Road in 1906
The other day I saw a link posted for one of the most interesting transportation videos I have ever seen. It is about an 11-minute video of a trip down Market Street in San Francisco in 1906 before the fire/earthquake. From what I have read about it, someone filmed it with a camera placed in…
Create Your Own Bridge While the WashDOT Builds Theirs
There's a reason I bring up the Washington DOT every time I give a presentation about using social media in public works. They were early on the scene to realize how much social media could assist them in public relations, and they've done a great job figuring out how best to engage the public. And…
Kinect, Robotics, Highway Safety, and Saving Lives
There's been a lot of talk about the use of Kinect and robotics. Yes, people have figured out how to use Microsoft's awesome gadget to manipulate robots. And Microsoft even has a Robotics website and development toolkits for this purpose. But so far, most of the demos I have seen focus on using robots…
House Transportation Bill: The Only Logical Solution
I work at the bottom of the transportation food chain. At this level, we have some very basic needs. Each year, we need to fix roads, and we need to find the money to do so. And for the first time in my career, Congress seems to be considering a transportation bill that might…
Is the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card Really a Good Idea?
As a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I regularly receive information and notices proclaiming their annual "grading" of our nation's infrastructure. There is even a website to promote this effort: http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/. My opinion on this might not be popular with my colleagues, but frankly I have never thought this report was…
Look Out! Driverless Vehicles are on the Horizon
After writing the other day about Google's car and the promise it holds for the future of our transportation, I was sent an awesome article written by Thomas Bamonte titled Information Becomes Infrastructure: Remaking the Highway Operating System in the Era of Smart Cars. Throughout the article, Bamonte, past general counsel for the Illinois State Toll…