Kirk Steudle, national transportation advisor with Steudle Executive Group, and former director of Michigan DOT, encourages the industry to reach out across state lines to share best practice and lessons learned as the USA focuses on bringing down its stubbornly high KSI statistics on its roads
Infrastructure owners and operators (IOO) face multi-varied challenges in managing roadways while at the same time, constantly planning for future mobility needs. It’s a daunting task. Up until a few years ago, IOOs and agencies worked toward these often-disparate goals in isolation. Progress often went unseen even to neighboring agencies and communities. You’ve read how I advocate advancing mobility through adopting strategies that incorporate new technologies and data-driven applications. These strategies inspire shared progress and move away from isolated development.
“Interstate coalitions are proactively implementing safer and more efficient travel”
Over the past couple of decades, most US interstate upgrades and mobility improvement projects include an ITS program. These interstate highways traverse over many states and jurisdictions which can be a challenge in approving and deploying technology. The encouraging aspect of these interstate highway projects has been the formation of interagency and information interchange partnerships as coalitions. These coalitions are helping influence and shape the future and success of these projects – and the future of our nation’s surface transportation – by working beyond jurisdictions. The coalitions have identified that these interstate highways are essential in connecting people, supporting commerce and sustaining mobility. As a result, these coalitions are proactively implementing safer and more efficient travel by sharing expertise, information and resources, as well as evaluating and deploying technology. Through coalitions, IOOs can share innovative transportation solutions and best practices. This accelerates the adoption of practical data-driven solutions that deliver sustainable mobility and safety benefits.
There are several interstate highway projects that include very progressive and effective coalitions. The I-80, I-95, I-35, I-10, and I-75 upgrade projects and their coalitions are just a few that represent some of the best current cases of this strategic concept. The I-95 Corridor Coalition is a great example of partnerships that include 16 state departments of transportation (DOTs) from Florida to Maine, as well as more than 100 transportation agencies with a goal to enhance efficiencies though sharing data-driven solutions. Another example is part of an AASHTO Moonshot initiative and includes the I-80 upgrade. The combined interagency goal is to enhance mobility reliability and safety throughout the corridor by improving the quality of real-time traffic data shared among all State DOTs, including Georgia and Texas, linking traffic management centers from California to New Jersey, so decisions and technologies can be more easily adopted by all interstate projects.
In both cases, data-driven solutions will be used to support several ITS initiatives, including traveler information, incident management, and signal performance measures. The comprehensive historical and real-time traffic data also lays the foundation for predictive transportation management strategies. I applaud these coalitions and ITS collaborations. They represent the future of mobility and will enhance the safety of our highways.
This column first appeared in the September 2024 edition of TTi magazine
