Transportation Radio

The ITS World Congress returns to North America this year via Montréal. Claude Carette is the Director of Infrastructure, Roads and Transport Services for the City of Montreal and serves as the chair of this year's event. He talked with Transportation Radio about the conference and some of what visitors can look forward to.

Brian Ness has served as the director of the Idaho Transportation Department since 2010. That's given him a lot of time to not only know the department but to make his mark on the agency. In the second of Transportation Radio's series profiling state DOTs, Director Ness talks about innovation, "Nine Steps" and ITS, among other topics.

In less than a year the ITS community will be focused on Montreal when the ITS World Congress is held in the city. ITS Canada is the host, but long before the event the organization has brought together industry and public agencies to advance intelligent transportation in the country and to represent its interests internationally. Chris Philp of CIMA+ serves as the Chairman and CEO of ITS Canada and he spoke with Transportation Radio about what's happening with transport technology in Canada.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority runs both the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. The two toll roads have a variety of tools that are used to keep traffic running smoothly and to help respond when things go wrong. Barry Pelletteri is the CIO for the Turnpike Authority and he talked with Transportation Radio about the agency and how they're using technology.

Melinda McGrath is the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation. In the first of a series of interviews with the leaders of state DOTs, Transportation Radio's Bernie Wagenblast talks with her about MDOT and her career with the agency.

Cummins has been testing their new QSK95 locomotive engine with the Indiana Rail Road since last March. On Wednesday, the two companies provided media representatives an opportunity to see the diesel engine at the Indiana Rail Road's Indianapolis terminal. Transportation Radio was there and spoke with Jim Trueblood, Vice President of Cummins Large Engine Program to learn more about the engine and then talked with Wayne Wiza, the General Manager, Mechanical for the Indiana Rail Road about their experience with the locomotive.

While there were approximately 1,300 people on the Amtrak Autumn Express this weekend, one woman had a special reason to take the train. Jeanne Remmel of Coopersburg, Pennsylvania once worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Amtrak train traveled along parts of the old LVRR in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Transportation Radio spoke with Jeanne about her experience.

For the fourth year in a row, Amtrak's Autumn Express brought passenger trains to lines that haven't seen such service in decades. The fourteen car trains were filled with people eager to see the countryside and excited to travel places they can't go. Chris Jagodzinski, Amtrak's vice president of operations, sat down with Transportation Radio on board the train as it raced across the fields of Pennsylvania.

The Maryland Transit Administration may be the only transit agency in the country to have its own radio station. It's just one of the innovations the MTA uses to keep its riders informed. CEO Paul Comfort talks with Transportation Radio about the various methods it uses to keep the communication lines open.

The Seattle area is headquarters to a number of high-tech companies, including well-known firms such as Amazon, Microsoft and Inrix. Those companies also attract a number of young workers. It's against that backdrop that Sound Transit has to plan and measure its communication efforts. Tim Healy is the Marketing and Creative Services Director for the transit agency and he spoke with Transportation Radio about how they meet that challenge.