The U.S. Department of Transportation at the 2018 Joint ITE International and Midwestern/Great Lakes Districts Annual Meeting and Exhibit

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) will participate in the upcoming 2018 Joint Institution of Transportation Engineers (ITE) International and Midwestern/Great Lakes Districts Annual Meeting and Exhibit, which will be held in Minneapolis, MN, from August 20 through 23. Attended primarily by civil engineers, planners, and transportation specialists, the event will explore critical issues facing transportation professionals today, such as eliminating fatalities and serious injuries; linking transportation strategies with health impacts; making communities smarter; deploying connected and automated vehicles; and designing complete streets to address the needs of moving both pedestrians and vehicles.

Ahead of the ITE Annual Meeting, there will be a joint USDOT/ITE all-day workshop, called Building Smarter Communities through Better Transportation, that will feature an update on the Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment program. The workshop will also include roundtable discussions between public sector employees and private firms and a session on the deployment of automated vehicles. During the event, the USDOT also will participate in several sessions as well as host an exhibit booth, which will be staffed by representatives from the Connected Vehicle Pilots.

In addition, the winner of the Transportation Technology Tournament will be selected and announced at the annual meeting. The Department's ITS Professional Capacity Building program and the National Operations Center of Excellence are hosting the competition for students to work directly with state and local departments of transportation to solve real-world transportation problems using ITS and transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) solutions. Finalist teams will present their proposed solutions at the event in front of a panel of judges made up of leaders in the ITS and TSMO community.

The following are highlights of the USDOT's participation at the ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibit.

Participation Highlights

Workshop

Building Smarter Communities through Better Transportation (Connected Vehicle Pilot Update); Monday, August 20, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM: The ITS JPO's Kate Hartman and representatives from the USDOT's Connected Vehicle Pilot sites will participate in this workshop. The focus of the opening session will be on deployment of connected vehicles, including progress/results from the pilot projects in Tampa, New York City, and Wyoming; ongoing and planned deployment activity in response to the Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) challenge; and available policy and technical guidance for those interested in deploying connected vehicle services.

The ITS JPO's Data program strives to make project data accessible to the public to support third-party research, evaluation, and application development through the ITS Public Data Hub. Wyoming pilot data and proof-of-concept vehicle platooning data are now streaming and available to the public, and data from the Tampa and New York City Connected Vehicle Pilots and additional vehicle platooning test data will be added over the next several months. Information about the USDOT's Data program will be distributed in attendee bags.

Technical Sessions

Advancing the State of the Practice: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Traffic Analysis Tools; Tuesday, August 21, 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM: The FHWA is developing new traffic analysis tools and guidance documents. Focus areas include simulation, calibration, reliability, and intersection design. This panel session provides an overview of these emerging products. The session summarizes key technical concepts and includes a user perspective on their potential value to practitioners. Speakers include FHWA's James Sturrock and James McCarthy.

Systemic Operations: How Do We Make It Indispensable in a Transportation Organization; Tuesday, August 21, 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM: The discussion of mainstreaming transportation system management and operations into transportation departments of all sizes has been going on for years. FHWA's Valerie Briggs, Office of Transportation Management Director, will facilitate and FHWA's Tracy Scriba, Planning and Organizing for Operations Team Leader, will speak in this session exploring different successful approaches to making this function a core element of agency service delivery.

At the Corner of Safe and Efficient: New Observations on Alternative Intersection Treatments to Reduce Crash Severity; Wednesday, August 22, 8:30 to 10:00 AM: This session focuses on highlighting existing best practices in the design of roundabout intersections for improved safety and operations, including a recently completed FHWA study to assess the effectiveness of mini-roundabouts at sites around the United States. It will also include information about the effectiveness of a new intersection treatment being implemented in Minnesota to reduce severe head-on and right-angle collisions: the restricted crossing U-turn. Speakers include FHWA's Will Stein, James McCarthy, and Wei Zhang.

Smart Communities Data and Research; Wednesday, August 22, 1:15 to 2:45 PM: FHWA's Carl Andersen, Connected Automation Program Manager, will facilitate this session, which covers a wide range of practical research within the context of transportation infrastructure in Smart Communities, with a specific focus on big data needs for transportation infrastructure in Smart Communities and risks such as cybersecurity concerns.

Innovations in Securing Public Support and Funding; Wednesday, August 22,3:30 to 5:00 PM: Two of the biggest challenges in implementing a successful project are securing public support and funding. FHWA's Patrick DeCorla-Souza, Public-Private Partnerships Program Manager, will participate in this session covering new tools and innovative techniques to overcome these challenges.

The Safety Dance: Celebrating Vision Zero Successes and Expanding to Smaller Communities; Thursday, August 23, 9:00 to 10:30 AM: This session is a compendium of topic areas within Vision Zero, intended to highlight the success of ongoing research and implementation projects from FHWA and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, as well as to highlight approaches being undertaken to expand Vision Zero and highway safety strategies into smaller communities. FHWA's Michael Griffith, Office of Safety Technologies Director, will participate.

Poster Session

Nuts and Bolts; Tuesday, August 21, 2:45 to 4:15 PM: FHWA's Wei Zhang is participating in a poster session focusing on "Before and After Operational Evaluations of Two Diverging Diamond Interchanges."

To learn about the ITS Joint Program Office's research, please visit: www.its.dot.gov.