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The Signal | March/April 2017
Safer Roads Save Lives
to consider automated vehicles in relation to work zone safety, and
that ATSSA staff will participate in the TRB sponsored Automated
Vehicles Symposium 2017 in San Francisco, California in July.
Other items discussed during the Opening General Session included
ATSSA’s new “Tech Corner” column that appears in every edition of
The Flash
newsletter. This column was created to assist ATSSA
members with issues and concerns in the field that require a more
technical, by the books explanation, or a quick response from an
unbiased roadway safety expert.
Turning to ATSSA member technology on display in Phoenix,
Ricker reported to Sawyer that “the show floor features a wide
variety of innovative cutting-edge roadway safety solutions and
state-of-the-art roadway safety vehicles and heavy equipment.”
And it did.
One could find innovation and technology in everything from
delineators to cones, barrels, signs, truck-mounted attenuators,
pavement marking applicators and pavement marking removal
vehicles, personal safety and protective equipment and garments,
and a superb line-up of ATSSA educational and information sessions
that all attendees could enjoy.
When the event concluded later in the week, the final numbers
revealed a record-breaking number of attendees—3,364.
Additionally, the number of exhibitions broke previous records as
well. Those totals netted 553 booths exhibiting lifesaving products
from ATSSA members and non-members, and prior-to the Annual
Convention, both The Foundation’s annual golf tournament and
sporting clays events were completely sold out.
Ricker also announced that 15 exhibitors would be participating in
the “New Products Rollout” to demonstrate their products,
innovation and technology on-camera to all of those attending the
Annual Convention. Those interviews, filmed and then broadcast
during the week on television monitors at the Convention Center,
allowed attendees to view the latest in technology and innovation at
their convenience.
Ricker also reported that ATSSA’s latest case study booklet,
“ATSSA Member Business Opportunities Related to Connected
and Automated Vehicles,” had been mailed to all ATSSA members
on Feb. 4.
“Like the numerous case study booklets that ATSSA has produced in
the past, ATSSA case study booklets offer members unique business
opportunities in a variety of roadway safety improvement areas,
including wider pavement markings, merges, bike and pedestrian
safety and ways to prevent wrong-way driving,” Ricker said.
Student device challenge glimpses the future
Another innovative, new program to the roadway safety industry in
2016 was the ATSSA/TRB joint sponsored “Traffic Control Device
Challenge.”
“This challenge, a partnership with the TRB’s Standing Committee
on Traffic Control Devices, promoted innovation and stimulated
ideas among college engineering students in the area of traffic
control or roadway safety, including safety for workers with a goal to
improve operations and safety on America’s roadways,” said Ricker.
Not only did the three winning students exhibit during the Annual
Convention, they also led Traffic Talk sessions in the ATSSA
Pavilion during the event. The winning students, their teams and
their projects were: Owen Hitchcock, Kristin Kersavage, Lingyu Li,
Xiao Liang and Xu Lin, Penn State University, “Electronic Beacon
to Guide Autonomous Vehicles through Work Zones;” (second place)
Jelena Karapetrovic, New Mexico State University, “The New
Generation Steering Wheel Cover;” and (third place) Garrett
Anderson, Vincent Morello and Lindsey Willman, University of
Arizona, “The Pima County Split Face Marker.”
Scott McCanna, P.E., Oregon DOT’s state traffic control plans engineer, presents
an idea to colleagues during the eighth annual Circle of Innovation workshop on
Feb. 13. Attendance figures for the event topped 200.
Keith Cota, P.E., N.H.-DOT’s chief project manager (left), discusses roadway safety
issues with a colleague while on break between committee meetings on Feb. 11.
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