The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently announced key innovations for the US transportation industry. These innovations will be implemented through the 7th round of the FHWA Every Day Counts (EDC) Program. EDC is a state-based program that helps deploy proven innovations that help in bringing in greater efficiency in project delivery at the state, local and tribal levels.
Valuable innovations for the US transportation industry
“Americans get the best value out of innovations in transportation when they are broadly shared among communities so that good ideas spread across the country,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the announcement of these innovations. The key innovations included in the recent announcement would bring in several benefits as they would ensure the American infrastructure is built better and more equitably by saving both time and money.
“With today’s announcement, these innovations will be more rapidly deployed to save lives, protect taxpayer dollars, reduce carbon emissions, and ensure more families, workers, and businesses benefit from the Biden-Harris Administration’s generational investments in our nation’s infrastructure” added Buttigieg.
Advancing key priorities under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), holds the central discussion theme in the US infrastructure community ever since it was signed into law by President Biden in 2021. The law promises a historical sum of USD 1.2 trillion in investments to improve America’s ageing infrastructure.
Such a huge amount of investment brings in with it questions, regarding how the trillion plus dollars will be utilized. For instance how to identify the most in need of the investments within the infrastructure sector or which area of spend would be most beneficial— upgrades, maintenance, or repairs? The latest round of innovations announced would further strengthen the Every Day Counts program’s success. They are also focused toward advancing key priorities under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Some key components of the announcement
Nighttime visibility for safety would be addressed with the promotion of traffic control devices and properly designed lighting to improve safety for all users and reduce fatalities from night time crashes. Another innovation includes the
Next-Generation Traffic Incident Management program which promotes emerging technologies such as emergency vehicle lighting and queue warning solutions to help keep crash responders safe and mitigate traffic impacts after a crash. Yet another plan to be taken into action is the integration of greenhouse gas assessment and reduction targets in transportation planning.
Extending the service life of concrete bridge decks and pavements and repairs with the use of Internally Cured Concrete to mitigate shrinkage cracking has been another innovation included in the announcement. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are to be included for Sustainable Project Delivery to document the environmental impacts of construction materials such as concrete and asphalt during their life cycle. This tool helps States quantify embodied carbon reductions using life cycle assessments for sustainable pavements.
Strategic Workforce Development is also being done to promote career opportunities in transportation. A continued focus on helping stakeholders across the country improve their ability to identify, train, and place highway construction workers is being given focus.
Strategic innovations now deployed through the earlier EDC Rounds
Accelerated Bridge Construction programs have already been initiated which promotes innovative planning and construction methods allowing for significant reduction of traffic delays and road closures. Innovative roadway reconfigurations have also begun that can help improve safety for users on mixed-use streets. Strategies taken up for this include reducing vehicle speeds and freeing space for alternative modes of travel such as biking and transit.
The Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP) program has been initiated to help communities improve pedestrian safety and making crosswalks and pedestrians more visible to drivers.
Aiming for safer transit systems for the nation
“Many of the innovations announced today as part of this forward-thinking program will help make the nation’s transit systems safer, greener, and more equitable,” said Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez at the official announcement of this recent news from the US transport sector. “We look forward to promoting the findings from these initiatives — from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to leveling the playing field for small businesses to compete for design-build contracts — throughout the transit industry.”
Indeed the latest innovations announced bring in a great opportunity to enhance the safety shield for all road users. Future proofing the road ahead by building a resilient and sustainable infrastructure and encouraging the steady growth of an inclusive workforce can be addressed with these innovations firmly in place.
