Transportation Radio

Once ubiquitous in North America, the monarch’s striking orange and black wings are likely the first image that comes to mind when picturing a butterfly. The monarch is famed not only for its beauty, but also for its role in a healthy ecosystem – the pollinators are a critical support to some uniquely American landmarks: from the Great Smoky Mountains to Zion National Park. Yet, over the past few decades, the monarch has experienced a dramatic dip in population.

As the eastern members of this iconic species prepare for their annual migration to Mexico, on this episode of the AASHTO ETAP Podcast we talk with Arizona Department of Transportation’s Roadside Resource Specialist, Kris Gade, Ph.D — one of the professionals leading the charge for monarch conservation.

On this episode of the ITE Talks Transportation podcast, the director of the California Department of Transportation, Toks Omishakin, discusses how the agency dealt with the challenges of the pandemic as well as the strategies it is employing to create safer, more livable, and more equitable communities.

In this month’s episode of AASHTO’s ETAP Podcast, host Bernie Wagenblast sits down with Matthew Quirey, a Landscape Design & Research Fellow at The Ray. For his thesis, Matthew partnered with The Ray to produce new classifications of the most beneficial and well rounded roadside vegetation systems which can now be used to guide Georgia’s efforts in sustainability and harmonious roadside ecology.

Eulois Cleckley, the outgoing Executive Director of the Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure, discusses how he helped launch a new transportation and infrastructure department in a large urban city. Cleckley, who serves as president of both the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) as well as the Colorado Chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), also shares insights on how cities are working together to achieve safer, more equitable environments for all road users in a post-COVID environment. Finally, he touches on an upcoming career move this summer to Miami-Dade County in Florida as its new Director and CEO of Transportation and Public Works.

This month's AASHTO ETAP Podcast will focus on how state agency partnerships are helping Connecticut both achieve its state climate goals and implement the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program, or TCI-P. State DOTs are critical stakeholders in deciding how to re-invest revenue generated caps on emissions. TCI-P is a historic multi-state effort to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation In Connecticut, for example, TCI-P is projected to generate roughly a billion dollars over the next decade, much of which will support transportation systems.

To learn more about TCI-P and the ongoing collaboration between state agencies in Connecticut, we are joined by Katie S. Dykes, the Commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, or DEEP, as well as Garrett Eucalitto, the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Transportation.

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has been around for nearly 100 years, and is the federal standard for regulation of all things signs, markings, and signals in the US transportation system. But how has the manual changed throughout the years, and how has ITE played a role in influencing those changes? ITE Deputy Executive Director and Chief Technical Officer Jeff Lindley joins the podcast to demystify these issues. He also describes ITE's response to the current Notice of Proposed Amendments issued by FHWA, which is expected to result in a new edition of the manual, the first to be issued since 2009.

This episode of the AASHTO ETAP podcast will focus on transportation equity and environmental justice. Transportation systems are critical to people’s ability to reach jobs, educational opportunities, health care, and a number of other goods and services. However, underserved and marginalized communities often lack transportation options that are accessible and affordable. In its efforts to address these issues, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has earned national recognition for its Rethinking I-94 project. MnDOT began the project in 2016, working with communities negatively affected by the construction of I-94 in the 1960s to develop a new vision for the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. MnDOT Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Rethinking I-94’s Livability Director, Gloria Jeff, join us on this episode to discuss transportation equity and environmental justice.

Lorraine Martin, President and CEO of the National Safety Council, discusses the NSC 2020 Motor Vehicle Fatalities preliminary data, which estimate that as many as 42,060 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2020. That marks an 8 percent increase over 2019 in a year where people drove significantly less frequently because of the pandemic. She also talks about workplace safety guidelines issued by NSC during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they were utilized by employers.

State departments of transportation will play a critical role in rolling out electric vehicle infrastructure. Shoshana Lew, the Executive Director of Colorado DOT, is leading the march towards a greener future for her state’s drivers and riders. This month’s podcast discusses how Colorado is ramping up its efforts to promote electric vehicles and provide the infrastructure necessary for the future of transportation.

Ryan Russo, Director of Transportation at the Oakland, California Department of Transportation, is the guest on the ITE Talks Transportation podcast and discusses the city’s Slow Streets program and the challenges of meeting the community’s transportation needs during COVID-19. He also highlights the department’s strategic plan, including the establishment of a Racial Equity team that works to address inequities, build trust within the community, and make transportation more accessible for all. Russo is also a keynote speaker at ITE’s Virtual Technical Conference in March.