Along the Road features current and upcoming activities, developments, trends, and items of general interest to the transportation community.

Technical News

Advancing AV Technology to Tackle Adverse Weather

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a critical technology that automatic vehicles (AVs) depend on to potentially reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries. However, the laser radar system that creates three-dimensional maps of the vehicle’s surroundings in real time has traditionally struggled with accuracy in adverse weather conditions—much like the below-freezing temperatures and wintry mix characteristics of Minnesota winters. As a result, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and researchers from the University of Minnesota set out to prove LiDAR can work in harsh meteorological conditions and recommend solutions to enhance AV performance.

LiDAR’s performance was tested in controlled and uncontrolled environments. For example, the research team tested its performance in foggy conditions using a fog chamber. The research team installed a LiDAR system on the roof of a test vehicle for snowy conditions. Researchers evaluated the technology in real-world settings, including moderate snow fall and snowstorm conditions. During testing, the team used mathematical models to help the system recognize and eliminate snow from its collected data. The team recommended hardware design changes after ice accumulation blocked the LiDAR’s sensors.

While more research is needed, the project shows that LiDAR is useful in detecting obstacles in adverse weather conditions. “Due to their ability to provide rich data under various weather conditions, LiDAR sensors are one of the most commonly used sensors, along with other sensors, to provide an accurate representation of the ‘world view’ for the many automated vehicle platforms across the world,” says Govindarajan Vadakpat, Cooperative Driving Automation Program manager in the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Safety and Operations Research and Development. Additional research will help identify enhancements to further refine LiDAR and help AVs improve and become safer.

For more information, visit
https://www.cts.umn.edu/news/2023/april/lidar.

Public Information and Information Exchange

Selma to Montgomery March Byway Turns 60

The year 2025 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery protest marches for voting rights, a pivotal event in the American civil rights movement. The marches covered a 54–mile (87–kilometer) stretch of U.S. 80, the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, from Selma, AL, to the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.

The Selma to Montgomery National March Byway, also known as the Selma to Montgomery Historic Trail, preserves the events in March 1965. Designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as an All-American Road under the National Scenic Byway Program, the byway includes city streets and countryside roadways (where marchers camped at night), and historical sites, such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which became a well-known symbol of the marches. On March 7, marchers were beaten and battered by law enforcement officers on the bridge and the harsh encounter was televised across the Nation that evening. The encounter, known as “Bloody Sunday,” garnered widespread support for the civil rights movement.

The march resumed on Sunday, March 21, under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. More than 3,000 participants crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. As the march continued, the number of participants varied but was reduced to 300, under court order, on the 22–mile two-lane stretch of U.S. 80 in Lowndes County. The march organizers configured its logistical aspects, including the marchers’ access to food, water, sanitation, and other needs. By Wednesday, no longer limited by the court order, additional marchers returned. On the final day, Dr. King led about 12,000 marchers into the city, where his stage was the back of a flatbed truck. He told the crowd that, “The road ahead is not altogether a smooth one. There are no broad highways to lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions. We must keep going.” Five months later, on August 6, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the landmark bills of the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1993, Congressman John Lewis, who suffered a cracked skull as a marcher on Bloody Sunday, introduced a bill in Congress to designate the route of the marches as a national historic trail. In 1996, Congress authorized the Selma to Montgomery March Byway; on November 12, 1996, the trail was established as a unit of the National Park System. The Edmund Pettus Bridge—named after a Civil War general who served in the U.S. Senate from 1897 until he died in 1907—was declared a National Historic Landmark in February 2013 and remains the most visible symbol of the bravery and determination of those who crossed that bridge in 1965 to secure voting rights for all entitled to them.

To view Dr. King’s speech from Selma in its entirety, visit https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/publications/autobiography-martin-luther-king-jr/chapter-26-selma#:~:text=For%20all%20of%20us%20today,We%20must%20keep%20going.
 

MassDOT Announces $6.5 Million Shared Streets & Spaces Program Awards

In August 2024, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) announced $6.5 million in funding for active transportation projects across the State through the Shared Streets and Spaces Program, including 28 municipalities and two regional transit authorities. The program encourages quick implementation of projects to improve plazas, sidewalks, curbs, streets, bus stops, parking areas, and other public spaces.

With a focus on improving public health, ensuring safe mobility, and strengthening commerce, funds were dedicated to a variety of walking- and biking-related projects. For instance, Boston received nearly $230,000 for a new crossing island at the Saratoga Street crosswalk, curb extensions near the Orient Heights busway, all-way stop control at Barnes Avenue/Bayswater Street, and more. Malden received nearly $250,000 to construct a pedestrian plaza in the Bell Rock neighborhood and install new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant curb ramps and crosswalks. Springfield received nearly $241,000 to install a crosswalk with a speed table and add a high-intensity activated crosswalk signal. Wakefield received nearly $247,000, in part, to create a new pocket park, and Dedham received nearly $249,000 to construct ADA-accessible sidewalks and paths, protective curbing, bicycle racks, a water bottle filling station, and more.

For more information, visit https://www.mass.gov/news/massdot-announces-65-million-shared-streets-spaces-program-awards.

NDDOT Launches Program in Schools to Promote Transportation Careers

In August 2024, the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) announced that it had launched a new education program in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for high school students in grades 9 through 12. The program, known as STEM Outreach Solutions and created by the Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, will help NDDOT promote and garner interest in transportation careers among students in North Dakota schools using hands-on class instruction focusing on civil engineering and other transportation-focused modules like bridge design, environmental engineering, traffic engineering, and highway safety.

The program’s curriculum, introduced to teachers at the North Dakota Career and Technical Educational Professional Development Conference, aligns with national high school educational performance standards and is available to schools at no cost. While educators will teach most of the curriculum to their students, NDDOT and consultant engineers will collaborate with educators by visiting classrooms, teaching additional activities, and discussing the role of math and science in transportation careers.

For more information, visit https://www.dot.nd.gov/news/nddot-launches-stem-program-promote-transportation-careers. 

For more on students in STEM, see the Student Writing Competition articles in the Winter 2024 issue (https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/winter-2024), and more Student Writing Competition articles in this issue of Public Roads.

Historical Marker in Maryland Honors Choptank Indian Reservation

The Nause-Waiwash Band of Indians, Inc. hosted an unveiling event in July 2024, for a new roadside historical marker in Cambridge, MD, honoring the Choptank Indian Reservation. Overlooking the Choptank River, the reservation was established in 1669 by the Maryland General Assembly and occupied by the Choptank People until the 1790s.

For the Tribe, the site serves as a connection to the original inhabitants. The Choptank Indians had a vibrant culture characterized by cultural practices and traditions centered around the land and water. Their intricate basketry, made of natural materials such as river cane, sweetgrass, and cattail, has passed from generation to generation. The baskets are both functional and decorative, used for storytelling, storage, ceremonial, and transportation purposes.

The new roadside marker is part of a broader effort by the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Historical Trust to increase the number of markers that bring more attention to the State’s rich history and heritage.

For more information on the Maryland Roadside Historical Marker program, visit: https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/tso/pages/Index.aspx?PageId=201&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.

For more on historical markers, see the article “From Then to Now: History Along the Roadway” in the Summer 2023 issue of Public Roads: https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/summer-2023/02.

NYC DOT’s Public E-Bike Charging Pilot Shows Promise

In August 2024, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) announced the initial success of the agency’s public electric bike (e-bike) charging pilot. Launched in spring 2024, the pilot—within the first five months of its six-month span—showed significant promise. Best practices arising from the pilot will guide future investments in micromobility charging infrastructure around NYC.

Involving 120 delivery workers from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Queens, the pilot addresses the city’s dramatic rise in lithium-ion battery fires and aims to test the safe charging of lithium-ion batteries by delivery workers in regulated public spaces. Improper charging, storing, or disposing of the rechargeable batteries—found in items such as e-bikes, cars, and phones—can lead to overheating, which can start a fire and cause serious injuries, fatalities, and property damage.

After the pilot began, more than 50 percent of the pilot’s participants, who attended focus group sessions hosted by NYC DOT, reported that they had stopped charging their batteries at home in favor of using one of the five battery charging stations set up for the pilot. More than 8,000 battery swaps and nearly 1,000 onsite e-bike charges have been recorded at the charging locations since March, and overall, participants reported that they were able to complete more deliveries because of the availability to charge and swap batteries at public locations.

For more information, visit https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2024/nyc-dot-successful-charging-pilot.shtml.

In the Works: Transit-First 2028 LA Olympic and Paralympic Games

In August 2024, the mayor of Los Angeles, CA, announced plans to host a transit-first Olympic and Paralympic Games when the city hosts the event in 2028. Organizers have already begun ironing out plans to accomplish this goal, which will involve collaborating with city transportation agencies regarding their ongoing plans to expand its public transportation bus and rail system, as well as borrowing an additional 3,000 buses from transit systems around the Nation.

Easing the city’s notable traffic gridlocks is also part of the plan, which includes holding some sporting competitions across the LA metropolitan area and beyond (the plan will also provide additional venues to hold sporting events). For example, handball, sailing, artistic swimming, water polo, canoe sprinting, rowing, marathon swimming, and the triathlon will be held in Long Beach; swimming will be held in Inglewood; equestrian will take place in Temecula; badminton will be held at the University of Southern California; tennis, rugby, track cycling, and field hockey will be in Carson; and softball and canoe slalom will take place in Oklahoma City, OK—more than 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) away. Work hours of locals will be staggered, and they will be encouraged to work from home throughout the games’ 17-day duration. Nevertheless, organizers are approaching their plans for the games with an overall focus on making lasting environmental and transportation improvements in Los Angeles.

Interesting Facts 

For more interesting facts, visit the Federal Highway Administration on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FederalHighwayAdmin, https://twitter.com/USDOTFHWA, https://www.linkedin.com/company/federal-highway-administration/posts/?feedView=all, and https://www.instagram.com/federalhighwayadmin/.