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Public Roads - Summer 2024

Date:
Summer 2024
Issue No:
Vol. 88 No. 2
Publication Number:
FHWA-HRT-24-004
Table of Contents

Guest Editorial

Standing on the Shoulders of America’s Inventor Giants

Collage: Sketch of original traffic signal design next to modern-day traffic signal with open sky in background; archival photo of man wearing original design of the smoke hood next to modern-day image of firefighters holding firehose and wearing respirators and other safety gear. Image: FHWA collage. Image sources: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, www.uspto.gov; Rawf8 / AdobeStock.com; Cleveland Press Collection, Michael Schwartz Library Cleveland State University; mario beauregard / AdobeStock.com.
From the traffic signal to the smoke hood—now called a respirator—ingenuity and innovation play a major role in safety today.

 

Headshot of Martin C. Knopp. Image Source: FHWA.

The 11th edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) was published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2023, roughly a month following the 100th anniversary of the patent for a three-phase traffic signal issued to inventor and entrepreneur Garrett A. Morgan. The MUTCD is an evolving document as engineering standards change, and the updates provide not only more flexibility and innovation to improve travel for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers, but also forward-looking technologies, such as automated vehicles. This new edition reflects technological advances based on agency experience, experimentation, and community feedback that are in alignment with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy.

After witnessing a traffic crash, Morgan identified an opportunity to improve traffic safety by adding a third position to the traffic signal’s moving arms to indicate that the traffic movement was about to change, thus better managing road user expectations to begin slowing to a stop. He later sold the rights of his patent to General Electric.

With his patented device, Morgan was part of the community of American inventors, implementers, and entrepreneurs who addressed traffic safety and operations in the fledgling period of automotive transportation—a period that saw early U.S. traffic control devices emerging due to the proliferation of automobiles among horse-drawn buggies, pedestrians, trolleys, and bicyclists on the streets.

While Morgan’s invention was not the first traffic signal or semaphore in the United States (then typically operated manually by police officers), nor was it the first to incorporate a third-phase indicator, we can also celebrate the first electric traffic signal light developed in 1912 by police detective Lester Wire in Salt Lake City, UT (namesake of the Utah Department of Transportation’s library), as well as policeman William Potts’ first three-color traffic signal display in Detroit, MI, in 1920. These three inventors serve as sterling examples of American inventiveness in the profession of transportation.

We can also applaud that Garrett Morgan’s creativity and business skills contributed to inventing a smoke protection hood as a breathing apparatus for firefighters to guard against suffocation while performing their dangerous duties. In 1914, Morgan filed for a patent for his smoke hood and formed a company to sell the equipment nationally. I find inspiration from his inventiveness to protect firefighters. It energizes me as the highway operations community today advances traffic incident management techniques and technologies to protect our roadway first responders that include firefighters, emergency medical technicians, law enforcement, transportation, towing, and others from being struck and killed or injured in the line of duty by inattentive drivers.

Morgan and the many of the United States’ other inventors and practitioners from over 100 years ago added their ideas, concepts, tools, and techniques to improve the efficiency of their jobs, save lives of responders and travelers, empower communities, and create new businesses and product lines that furthered the economy. Morgan inspires me for his persistent ability to address needs and identify opportunities, develop technologies in diverse fields, and recognize how to transform them into business enterprises and assets.

The Federal Highway Administration has a program bestowed in his honor, the Garrett A. Morgan Transportation Technology Education Program, to improve the preparation of students—particularly women and minorities—in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Enjoy all the interesting articles in this issue of Public Roads, especially Karen Bobo’s article, “Garrett A. Morgan: The Man. The Inventor. The Inspiration. The Program.”

We must honor and reflect on those who came before us, using their stories, their examples, their perseverance, and their commitment to making positive contributions to their communities. Garrett Morgan, Lester Wire, William Potts, and others inspire me to remain steadfast for the many needs, challenges, and opportunities we address in transportation. If they were with us today, I can imagine them creatively working on digital connectivity of the infrastructure with road users, speed safety camera deployment, safely incorporating scooters into the travel mix, Complete Streets, and vehicle automation. We stand today on a strong foundation of inventiveness for transportation safety and reliability—on the shoulders of giants!

Martin C. Knopp

Associate Administrator

Office of Operations

Federal Highway Administration