State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) Incentive funds are helping STICs mainstream new technologies and practices that enhance transportation programs, including innovations such as unmanned aerial systems (UAS), crowdsourcing, and safe transportation for every pedestrian (STEP).

The Arizona Department of Transportation’s communication team used UAS to obtain aerial photos of the South Mountain Freeway project safely and cost-effectively. Photo Credit: Arizona Department of Transportation

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) used STIC Incentive funds to advance UAS technology to showcase projects and communicate virtually about the agency’s innovation use. ADOT’s video crew flies the drones to capture aerial footage and photographs to use in agency videos and social media outreach and supply to news media. For the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway project in Phoenix, the video crew used UAS to shoot footage for an aerial tour video and media B-roll and snap photos to share with news media. A social media post featuring the aerial tour garnered 79 comments and 140 likes.

ADOT’s communication team has two certified drone pilots. The use of UAS is now part of the team’s everyday workflow, keeping the video crew out of harm’s way on construction sites and providing a more cost-effective way to capture aerial footage than by helicopter or airplane. For information, contact John Dougherty of ADOT.

As part of its safety focus, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) deployed technology to alert motorists to the presence of Safety Service Patrol vehicles and boost awareness of the State’s “Move Over” law. In a field test, NJDOT installed devices on 32 road service trucks. The devices use Global Positioning System location and wireless communication technology to relay vehicle locations to Waze, a crowdsourcing application. The devices triggered transmission of a standard message to Waze: “NJDOT Responder Ahead. Slow Down. Move Over.”

NJDOT determined that the devices successfully communicated with Waze an average of 76 percent of the time and that the average time lapse from when a device was activated to when the message appeared on Waze was 2 minutes and 41 seconds. Twelve devices experienced technical problems attributed to harsh weather conditions, so the supplier designed an improved enclosure for the device that NJDOT is testing this year. For information, contact Salvatore Cowan of NJDOT.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is helping communities put the STEP initiative into action with a STIC Incentive project to create a tactical materials library and deployment selection tool for pedestrian and bicycle safety countermeasures. The tool will help communities identify STEP countermeasures for specific locations and safety concerns.

NCDOT also used STIC Incentive funds to develop training on collaborative approaches to advance complete streets as part of its effort to implement its updated Complete Streets Policy and Complete Streets Implementation Guide. NCDOT delivered six workshops that brought together participants from municipalities, regional agencies, advocacy groups, health departments, and private industry to discuss complete streets strategies and opportunities for coordinating on project development.

In their workshop feedback, participants requested resources on topics such as methods to quantify the economic and health effects of complete streets projects and more training on how to accomplish complete streets goals through roadway design. NCDOT plans to use the input to revise policies and design criteria and develop future training. For information, contact Ed Johnson of NCDOT.