www.fhwa.dot.gov

PUBLIC ROADS

Spring 2020

FEMALE LEADERS

in Transportation

In this special issue, get to know the driving 

forces behind USDOT, FHWA, and FTA. Learn 

about their visions for the future and how 

they aim to make those dreams a reality.

Also in this issue:

Expanding Women’s Roles in Transportation

The Women Behind CARMA

New Ways to Inspire the Next Generation

U.S. Department

of Transportation

Federal Highway

Administration
Female Innovators in 

Transportation: 

Yesterday and Today 

PAGE 31

Spring 2020 | Vol. 84, No. 1

FEATURES

5 Getting Results: A Conversation with Elaine L. Chao

Secretary Chao serves as the powerhouse behind innovative new 

initiatives and goals for USDOT. Here, she opens up about her career, 

her experience, and her plans for the Department. 

10 Leading the Way for the Public Transportation Industry: 

A Conversation with K. Jane Williams

Acting Administrator Williams talks about advancing Secretary Chao’s 

safety mission at FTA and looks ahead to top priorities in 2020. 

12 Honored to Serve: A Conversation with Nicole R. Nason

FHWA Administrator Nason shares insight into reducing traffic fatalities, 

improving safety, and drawing more women to the transportation field. 

15 CARMASM: Testing Automated Vehicles

by Deborah Curtis, Mae Fromm, and Laura Dailey

Before FHWA’s newest CARMA vehicles could join the fleet, they needed 

to be outfitted with the right equipment. 

20 Experiencing MAGIC in Kansas

by Samantha Darling

A week-long orientation to the range of career opportunities for girls in 

transportation is making waves in the Sunflower State. 

24 Inspiring the Next Generation of Women to Join 

the Transportation Industry

FHWA and its partners recognize the importance of introducing women 

and girls to the possibilities and opportunities of the transportation sector. 

31 Female Innovators in Transportation: Yesterday and Today

by Doug Hecox

Learn how women have contributed to transportation history through 

innovation, and meet some of FHWA’s current female leaders. 

37 Expanding the Role of Women in Transportation Professions

by Amy Jackson-Grove 

Connecticut’s WTS chapter offers professional guidance and opportunities 

for women to pursue careers in transportation.

39 Examining Insights, Inclusion, and Impact Across the Globe

by Shari Schaftlein and Jasmy Methipara

The 6th International Conference on Women’s Issues in Transportation 

put gender-specific challenges in the spotlight.

PAGE 24 

Source: FHWA.

DEPARTMENTS

Guest Editorial .................................................1

Hot Topic .........................................................4

Along the Road .............................................44

Internet Watch .............................................48 

Training Update ............................................49

Communication Product Updates .............50

COVERS and ABOVE—Success is built on shared visions; dedication to excellence; and unwavering commitment to safety, 

resilience, and mobility. The women of USDOT, FHWA, and FTA 

are moving transportation into the future through innovative 

thinking and paving the path forward for the Nation.

From left: K. Jane Williams, FTA; Elaine L. Chao, USDOT; 

Nicole R. Nason, FHWA; and Mala K. Parker, FHWA. 

Foreground source: USDOT. 

Background © bluejayphoto / iStockphoto.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 1

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Federal Highway Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation

Elaine L. Chao, Secretary

Federal Highway Administration

Nicole R. Nason, Administrator

Office of Research, Development, and Technology

Kelly Regal, Associate Administrator 

Shana Baker, Director, Office of Corporate 

Research, Technology, and Innovation Management

Maria Romstedt, Editor-in-Chief

Lisa A. Shuler, Distribution Manager

Editorial Board: 

T. Everett, T. Hess, H. Kalla, M. Knopp, 

A. Lucero, G. Shepherd, C. Walker 

Editorial Contractor:

Arch Street Communications (ASC), 

Publication Management 

N. Madonick, A. Jacobi, A. Martinez, 

K. Vangani, C. Ibarra

Editorial Subcontractor:

ICF, Editorial 

C. Boris, A. Sindlinger, J. Sullivan

Design Contractor:

Schatz Strategy Group, Layout and Design 

R. Nemec, K. Salter, C. Williams

Public Roads (ISSN 0033-3735; USPS 516-690) 

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All articles are advisory or informational in nature and 

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Articles written by private individuals contain the 

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GUEST EDITORIAL

Transportation = 

Connecting 

People

Transportation is deeply personal for most people. In my case, I particularly cherish 

a photo of my mother and sister standing 

next to our family’s first new car: an Oldsmobile station wagon. We are immigrants. 

Before being able to buy this car, we had 

to rely upon the kindness of neighbors, 

other church members, and friends or the 

subway for transport. This car represented 

FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE!!!

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It had room for our family of five (parents and three daughters at the time), with 

space to spare! My father cheerfully drove our station wagon around the East Coast 

so we could see the sights in our new homeland. We took trips as a family to Acadia 

National Park in Maine; the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania; Bear Mountain near 

West Point; Cape Cod; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Washington, DC, just to 

name a few. My parents were fascinated by the highways that they, as immigrants, 

viewed as testaments to America’s modernity, ingenuity, and prosperity. Many people 

take the “scenic route” on road trips. Our family preferred the straight, uniform, consis

tent highways that symbolize efficiency and modern travel.

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In 2020, more than 330 million Americans count on our Nation’s transportation 

sector to help them safely get to where they need to go, to enable commerce, and to 

make possible the economic engine that leads the world. Transportation, and transpor

tation safety, have never been more important.

Today, transportation is also synonymous with innovation—the mission of the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. In partnership with universities, startups, and industry stakeholders, Turner-Fairbank has advanced 

transportation innovation, including new developments in materials, designs, operations, 

and safety. So, it was a pleasure to host the FHWA Research Showcase last fall at the U.S. 

Department of Transportation Headquarters. The FHWA Research Showcase event 

included demonstrations of the CARMASM platform, ultra-high performance concrete, 

Mother, Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, and sister of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao pictured in front of 

the family station wagon at Easter around 1973. 

Courtesy of Chao Family.
GUEST EDITORIAL

2 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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hand-held instruments that can quickly determine the composition of highway materials, 

and a Hydraulics Laboratory robot that helps test for soil erosion. It was a wonderful 

illustration of how innovation is occurring in every aspect of transportation. 

At USDOT, we are always working on ways to make transportation safer, more acces

sible, and better for everyone—today and in the future! At the Consumer Electronics 

Show in Las Vegas on January 8, 2020, I announced the new USDOT–White House joint 

initiative on automated vehicles (AV), Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Tech

nologies: Automated Vehicles 4.0. This initiative unifies AV efforts across 38 Federal Govern

ment entities to keep pace with the rapid changes occurring in this technology. AVs have 

the potential to save lives and prevent injuries, as well as restore mobility for millions of 

people who face transportation challenges, such as the elderly and people with disabilities.

AV technologies are not yet advanced enough to enable the wide-scale deployment 

of fully autonomous vehicles. But someday they will be. Meanwhile, we are seeing more 

automated features in new cars that are already improving safety on America’s roads, such 

as blind-spot warning, adaptive cruise control, and automatic emergency braking, just to 

mention a few.

Safety innovations in vehicles, infrastructure, better driver behavior, and emergency 

medical services have reduced annual traffic fatalities by 34 percent since 1972. That 

achievement occurred while vehicle miles traveled increased more than 150 percent! The 

fatality rate in 1972 was more than four times higher than it is today.

2018 marked the second consecutive year of declining crash fatalities. Initial data for 

the first three-quarters of 2019 indicate another yearly decline. That means progress is 

being made. Yet, in 2018, 36,560 men, women, and children were killed in traffic crashes 

on America’s roads. Most of those tragedies were preventable. So, there is much work to 

be done to further improve safety for all road users.

Let me mention two categories of road users who registered increased fatalities in 2018: 

pedestrians (6,283 fatalities, 3.4% increase and the highest total since 1990) and bicyclists 

(857 fatalities, 6.3% increase). In 2020, USDOT will host a Pedestrian Safety Summit to 

address the alarming rise in pedestrian fatalities. The Summit will provide a forum for 

attendees to identify best practices and solutions to better protect pedestrians. The event 

will include exhibits and demonstrations of ongoing research, emerging technologies, 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration media safety campaigns, and examples of 

successful FHWA infrastructure countermeasures. Attendees will have the opportunity to 

collaborate in identifying the leading factors behind the rise in pedestrian fatalities, as well 

as offer solutions to help finalize a USDOT National Action Plan on pedestrian safety.

USDOT’s commitment to safety includes a campaign against human trafficking. On 

January 28, 2020, the Department hosted the Put the Brakes on Human Trafficking 

Summit. America’s roadways, railways, airways, and waterways are being used to facilitate 

this modern form of slavery. The transportation sector is in a unique position to help save 

victims of human trafficking from unimaginable suffering, abuse, and despair. And we are 

uniquely positioned to assist law enforcement in apprehending the perpetrators as well. 

Hundreds of transportation leaders have taken a public stand against human traffick

ing. Over 440 have signed USDOT’s Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking

pledge. Corporate, labor, governmental, and non-governmental organizations in every 

mode of transportation are stepping up. They have committed to training over 1.2 million 

workers to help fight human trafficking. Multiple initiatives are underway to increase 

awareness of human trafficking and equip transportation industry employees and the 

public with strategies to fight it. 

We are enlisting as many allies as we can to bring together the best efforts, the best 

strategies, and the necessary resources to battle against human trafficking. If your organi

zation has not already signed USDOT’s Transportation Leaders Against Human Traffick

ing pledge, please join the effort by contacting us at: trafficking@dot.gov. 

Transportation is an exciting field to be in because there are many opportunities to 

make a positive difference for individuals, for communities, and for our Nation. The 

future of transportation is brighter than ever with the promise for advancing safety and 

mobility, and for improving the quality of life for all Americans.

Elaine L. Chao

U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Safe Work Zones for All

Protect workers. Protect road users.

Work zones play a key role in maintaining and upgrading the Nation’s roadways. 

Unfortunately, daily changes in traffic patterns, narrowed rights-of-way, and 

other construction activities often create a combination of factors resulting 

in crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Speed is a contributing factor in about 

28 percent of fatal work zone crashes. 

National Work Zone Awareness Week brings attention to the safety, mobility, 

and construction issues associated with work zones. The key message 

is for drivers to use extra caution in work zones to keep themselves 

and others safe. Let’s work together 

to make Safe Work Zones for All.

For resources, guidance, and 

training, visit the FHWA Work 

Zone Management website at 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/workzones

and the National Work Zone 

Safety Information Clearinghouse 

at www.workzonesafety.org.

We Can Do It!

2020 National Work Zone Awareness Week

April 20–24
4 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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HOT TOPIC

Women in Research: Dr. Kelly Regal

by LISA A. SHULER 

Women are at the forefront of innovation at the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway 

Research Center (TFHRC). From engineering to analysis, women 

fill key roles across the TFHRC, including senior leadership. In 

January 2020, Dr. Kelly Regal joined TFHRC as the new Associ

ate Administrator for Research, Development, and Technology, 

becoming the first woman to lead the center in its 70-year history. 

Dr. Regal’s career path exemplifies the curiosity and perse

verance that TFHRC’s women rely on to develop the latest in 

highway innovation. Initially, Dr. Regal went to college to study 

accounting. However, taking a few computer science electives 

opened her eyes to new possibilities; she discovered that she 

loved the new and exciting field of computer science and decided 

to change her major. 

Dr. Regal had many mentors growing up, but the one who 

had the most significant impact on her career trajectory was her 

mother, who encouraged Dr. Regal to pursue a Federal career. 

Thanks to this encouragement, Dr. Regal joined the Federal 

workforce as a computer scientist at the Federal Aviation Admin

istration (FAA) Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ, where she 

held several positions of increasing responsibility. Her most 

rewarding and challenging assignment was with the Aviation 

Security Research and Development Laboratory, where she 

oversaw the development of a software tool to assess the effects 

of explosions against civil aviation facilities and their occupants. 

In the aftermath of 9/11, the Department of Defense used this 

same tool to strengthen their facilities overseas. 

After her time with the FAA, Dr. Regal continued her Federal 

career while pursuing her passion for research and technology, 

most recently as the Associate Administrator for Research and 

Information Technology at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration. Dr. Regal describes her choice to join FHWA as 

a dream come true: “The research that’s done at the TFHRC and 

the innovations that are developed here impact safety in a very 

positive way. We need to look at what more we can do so that 

we don’t have over 37,000 deaths on the highway. That’s why I’m 

here. I’m in the twilight of my career. There’s probably no better 

position to be in, in the twilight of your career, than a fabulous 

place like this, where I can directly contribute to transportation 

advancements and also serve as a role model to the next genera

tion of women in transportation.”

When reflecting on her career journey, Dr. Regal offers the 

following advice for women considering careers in transportation: 

“There probably isn’t any other career that is as multidisciplinary 

as transportation. That’s why my entire career has been in trans

portation and I enjoy it so much. Transportation is engineers, 

researchers, computer scientists, financial experts, economists, 

and transportation specialists. Any discipline you can think of, 

there’s some need for it in transportation. My career advice to 

anybody is just find something that you like and be good at it. If 

you want a career in transportation, there’s a fit for you.”

LISA A. SHULER is the team director for marketing and communications 

at the TFHRC. For more on Dr. Regal, see Along the Road on page 47 of 

this issue.

Dr. Regal (front, second from left) with many of the women at the cutting edge of research and innovation at the TFHRC. 

Source: FHWA.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 5

Source: USDOT.

GETTING 

RESULTS: A Conversation with 

Elaine L. Chao

Elaine L. Chao is the U.S. Secretary 

of Transportation and first female 

Asian American Cabinet Secretary. 

Federal Highway Administration’s 

Administrator Nicole R. Nason 

recently interviewed Chao about the 

U.S. Department of Transportation’s 

most pressing initiatives and how 

Chao is empowering women to serve 

at all levels within the Department. 

What follows are excerpts from 

their discussion.

NASON: What are your top priorities as U.S. Secretary of Transportation? 

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CHAO: The first priority is always safety. The second priority is rebuilding and refurbishing 

our country’s critical infrastructure. The third priority is to prepare for the transportation 

systems of the future by engaging with new technologies to address legitimate public con

cerns about safety, security, and privacy, without hampering innovation. 

NASON: You have served as the Deputy Maritime Administrator, Chairman of the Federal 

Maritime Commission, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, and now U.S. Secretary of 

Transportation. What drew you to service in the transportation industry? What do you 

enjoy most about it?

CHAO: Among my earliest memories is immigrating to America on a cargo ship. My father 

had immigrated to New York three years earlier to seek a better life for the family. I was 

eight years old when my mother and two sisters and I boarded that ship and began a 

37-day ocean journey to be reunited with my father. We went through the Panama Canal 
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and past the Statue of Liberty. We settled in Queens, NY, and 

relied upon public transportation to get from place to place. When 

we were able to afford our first car, my dad took the family on 

weekend road trips on America’s highways to explore our new 

homeland! From an early age, I understood how important trans

portation systems were to enabling new opportunities, improving 

the quality of life for our citizens and residents, and strengthening 

the vibrancy of our economy. 

NASON: In industries like transportation, women tend to hold fewer positions than their male counterparts. 

This is even more evident in leadership roles. What can we do to encourage women to enter our field of 

transportation? As a female leader and a two-time Cabinet Secretary, how have you helped to promote 

women in leadership roles?

CHAO: As a leader, if you are ignoring half the talent pool, then 

your organization is missing out on a lot of great people who 

could help advance the mission. There are many accomplished 

women leaders at USDOT today in both the career and non-career 

ranks. We have you, Administrator Nason, at the helm of FHWA, 

and you were previously head of the National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration. Mala Parker is the Deputy FHWA Adminis

trator. Jane Williams, Acting Administrator of the Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA), brought with her decades of experience 

at the U.S. Departments of Energy, Interior, and Labor as well 

as State government. A few doors down from my office is Laura 

Genero, Associate Deputy Secretary for Communications, as well 

as Senior Advisor, Tam Somerville, who has sitting on her desk 

a full-face motorcycle helmet that she wears to safely commute 

through DC traffic on her motorcycle. There are also impressive 

women leaders in the career ranks, including Judy Kaleta (Deputy 

General Counsel), Lana Hurdle (Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Budget and Programs), and Henrika Buchanan (Associate Admin

istrator of FTA), to name a few. By the way, Henrika was a recip

ient of the Presidential Rank Award in 2019. So, we have many 

women bringing impressive qualifications, experience, and diverse 

perspectives to carry out the Department’s mission. 

Throughout my career, whenever I’ve had the authority, I have 

launched programs that empower women. As Director of the 

Peace Corps, I launched the first entrepreneurship training programs in the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe after the 

fall of the Iron Curtain, with an emphasis on empowering women. 

When I was Secretary of Labor, half of the leadership team were 

women and they ran some of biggest bureaus in the Department, 

including pensions, wage and hour, employment training, and 

employment standards. 

As Secretary of Transportation, I regularly urge women and 

girls to pursue education in the science, technology, engineering, 

and mathematics (STEM) disciplines that can lead to rewarding 

careers in transportation. The Department’s Women in Aviation 

Advisory Board has been created to promote the education, men

torship, and recruitment of even more women into the aviation 

industry. The Department’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

Business Utilization has helped women-owned small businesses 

successfully compete for contracts.

Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao pictured next to Administrator Nicole R. Nason and Brian Cronin, Director of Safety and Operations Research and Development, along with 

the CARMA team during the FHWA Research Showcase on September 18, 2019. 

Source: FHWA.

6 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020
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U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao delivers remarks at the University of Michigan ADS Symposium at Mcity on September 12, 2017. 

Source: USDOT.

NASON: The surface transportation system continues to undergo transformation, in terms of both the 

technology on our roads and the way the traveling public uses the roadways. How has the Department 

prioritized innovation to ensure we are prepared for the future needs of our transportation system while 

providing for the traveling public’s safety?

CHAO: There is so much innovation going on in the transportation 

field today. Our mantra has always been: The Department needs 

to engage with emerging new technologies to address legitimate 

public concerns about safety, security, and innovation without 

hampering innovation. 

The Department is technology neutral—not top-down, 

command and control. That means the Government is not in the 

business of picking technology winners and losers. Our goal is to 

enable the safe testing and deployment of a wide variety of new 

technologies, so communities and individuals can choose what 

fits their needs best. This employs a flexible, performance-based 

approach that protects safety while giving entrepreneurs the room 

they need to innovate and grow.

One example of how we are advancing innovation and 

improving safety and infrastructure is through our new pilot 

program designed to help avoid traffic accidents and save the 

lives of first responders by utilizing the 5.9 GHz Safety Band. 

Recently, the Department has announced its intention to invest 

up to $38 million in the First Responder Safety Technology Pilot 

Program, which will help equip emergency response vehicles and 

key infrastructure with vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communica

tion technology.

Many of the new technologies are cross-modal, so in March 

2019 the Department established the Non-Traditional and Emerging 

Transportation Technology (NETT) Council, which is a one-stop shop 

to make it easier for innovators and stakeholders to work with the 

Department. 

The Department is also engaged in ground-breaking rulemak

ings that will create a path forward for some of the most advanced 

emerging transportation technologies. 

NASON: Why is the 5.9 GHz Safety Band so important to the Department and the safety of the traveling public? 

CHAO: The Safety Band—5.9 GHz—holds great promise to help 

reduce the number of traffic fatalities each year through the devel

opment and deployment of lifesaving technologies. Among the rev

olutionary crash-preventing technologies nearing readiness for mass 

deployment is the enabling of vehicles to communicate—with 

other vehicles, other road users (including bicyclists and pedestri

ans carrying cell phones), and traffic lights and other road infrastructure. This V2X communication, as it is known, occurs via a 

short-to-medium range wireless signal. The signal carries informa

tion that allows vehicles to “see” around blind curves and traffic in 

ways that conventional line-of-sight technologies (including LiDAR 

and radar) cannot. V2X receives and transmits data including GPS 

location, speed, direction, braking, and turning status. 

The V2X signal is unaffected by fog, rain, snow, and blinding 

sunbeams. Potential traffic safety applications include do-not-pass 

warnings, intersection collision avoidance and movement assis

tance, approaching emergency vehicle warning, emergency vehicle 

signal priority, commercial vehicle clearance, safety inspections, 

and traffic and travel condition data to improve traveler informa

tion and maintenance services.

Equipped with such communication technology, cars would be 

able to exchange information in real-time and provide drivers with 

360-degree situational awareness that will contribute to greater 

safety. 
8 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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NASON: On a related topic, how is the Department preparing for the future of 

Automated Vehicle (AV) technology?

CHAO: On January 8, 2020, I announced the release of Ensuring 

American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies: Automated 

Vehicles 4.0. This document unifies AV efforts across 38 Federal 

departments, independent agencies, commissions, and Executive 

Offices of the President. It signifies that the Federal Government 

is all in for safer, better, and more inclusive transportation, aided 

by automated driving systems. It recognizes the value of private 

sector leadership in AV research, development, and integration.

Bringing to fruition the vast potential of AVs will require 

collaboration and information-sharing among industry partners, 

State and local governments, academia, non-profits, standards 

development organizations, and the Federal Government.

Automated vehicles have the potential to save thousands of 

lives annually and restore mobility to millions of people who face 

transportation challenges, such as older Americans and people 

with disabilities.

And I’d like to mention that FHWA is pursuing an update 

of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the first 

major update in a decade. The updated version will reflect 

advances in technologies that are not currently represented in the 

Manual today.

NASON: The final year of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) is upon us. 

Why is it important to have a fully-funded, long-term highway reauthorization?

CHAO: Stakeholders have advised repeatedly, and persuasively, that a 

fully-funded, long-term reauthorization allows them to better plan 

for the future. When stakeholders have reliable and stable funding 

sources, their ability to coordinate and streamline their planning 

and execute transportation projects increases greatly, which saves 

on time and overall cost. The Department is striving to provide 

State departments of transportation the flexibility and certainty 

they need to make the best decisions for their States or localities. 

A long-term, fully-funded reauthorization will help them meet 

their surface transportation needs. 

NASON: In looking at safety needs across the country, it becomes quickly apparent that a 

disproportionate number of roadway fatalities occur in rural areas. How is the Department 

addressing safety in rural communities? 

CHAO: Rural infrastructure is not just for the benefit of rural resi

dents. 44 percent of passenger vehicle traffic in rural areas is urban 

residents traveling. Only 19 percent of Americans live in rural 

areas, yet 46 percent of the Nation’s highway fatalities occur there. 

So, from a safety point of view, it should concern everyone that 

the fatality rate on rural roads is twice that on urban roads. 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 9

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In addition, rural transportation networks—which bring manu

factured products, agriculture, and other commodities to mar

kets—are vital to our Nation’s economy and all Americans’ quality 

of life. Nearly half of all truck vehicle miles traveled occur on 

rural roads. And two-thirds of rail freight originates in rural areas. 

For far too long, rural America has been neglected and overlooked. I do NOT believe rural America is looking for a handout 

or preferential treatment. Rural American is looking for fairness 

and equity in the distribution process of Federal dollars. 

On October 8, 2019, at the annual meeting of the American 

Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, I 

announced the Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic 

Success (ROUTES) Initiative to better support the Nation’s criti

cal rural transportation infrastructure. This effort will help rural 

communities access Federal transportation grant programs. It will 

provide user-friendly information to these communities to assist in 

applying for discretionary grants. It will improve sharing of rural 

data and analysis to achieve national transportation infrastructure 

goals. In addition to highway infrastructure, the ROUTES Initia

tive is also addressing airports and transit in rural areas.

NASON: One of the things you are known for is getting results. Can you share with us some examples?

CHAO: Ideas are needed, but if nothing gets implemented, the ideas 

are for naught. For example, as a former U.S. Secretary of Labor 

and President & CEO of United Way, I’ve had a lot of experience 

dealing with emergencies. We prepare for them at USDOT. The 

I-85 bridge in Atlanta caught fire and collapsed on March 30, 

2017. DOT staff arrived in Atlanta that same night. Within 18 

hours, $10 million in quick release emergency funds was delivered. 

Within 36 hours, emergency repairs began. The whole project 

was accomplished ahead of schedule and under budget in just 47 

days. The seven communities that depended on this bridge were 

able to resume their commuting routine. This was a credit to the 

partnership between USDOT and the Georgia Department of 

Transportation. 

On the policy front, it is not a coincidence that USDOT is 

rated number one in the cabinet in reducing unnecessary and 

overly burdensome regulations that needlessly delay infrastructure 

projects and do not contribute to safety. This has been a focus at 

the Department since February 2017. 

Regulatory reform is important because regulations impose 

direct costs on the economy, and too many overly burdensome and 

unnecessary regulations can stifle growth and hamper job creation. 

For example, employers say repeatedly that the regulatory burden 

was a key factor in why the economy did not recover as quickly as 

it should have following the 2008 recession. 

From 2009 to 2016, USDOT alone imposed about $2–3 billion 

in new regulatory costs each year. That’s why in February 2017, the 

President signed an Executive Order requiring two regulations to 

be withdrawn for every new one submitted. Since then, regulatory 

costs at USDOT decreased by a net of approximately $3.9 billion. 

The Department accomplished this by reducing unnecessary and 

overly burdensome regulations while ensuring that the regulatory 

costs that are imposed are truly necessary for safety. This is a 

major reason why the economy is doing so well today. 

In addition, we are continually striving to achieve the goal of 

the President’s “One Federal Decision,” which aims to speed up 

infrastructure delivery and streamline the permitting of large, 

complicated projects that require approval from multiple agencies. 

Unnecessary delays due to permitting are depriving our country of 

the new highways, bridges, roads, and airports we need to remain 

competitive in the global economy and improve the quality of life 

for everyone.

NASON: What’s your recipe for accomplishing so much? 

CHAO: Hire the right people for the right jobs. In many ways, craft

ing policy is easier. The toughest challenges are working through 

and with others, and building consensus on the path forward. 

It is important to listen to diverse points of view. It is the right 

of every citizen and group to petition their government. It makes 

for better policy to listen and learn. 

I try not to procrastinate. “The days are very long, but the years 

are short so make every day count!”—a refrain familiar to anyone 

who has worked with me. Administrations get a maximum of 8 

years. It takes time to effect change. The rulemaking process, in 

particular, takes an especially long time. So, savor each day. It is a 

privilege to serve our country. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao was joined by leaders from Congress, 

State governments, and the transportation industry on January 28 to pledge their 

effort to fight human trafficking. 

Source: USDOT.
© uschools / iStockphoto.

Source: USDOT.

10 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

LEADING THE WAY 

FOR THE PUBLIC 

TRANSPORTATION 

INDUSTRY:

A Conversation with 

K. Jane Williams

K. Jane Williams is currently the Acting 

Administrator of the Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA). FHWA Administrator 

Nicole R. Nason recently interviewed 

Williams about her career experiences 

and priorities for FTA. What follows are 

excerpts from their discussion.

NASON: What is your current role at the 

U.S. Department of Transportation? 

WILLIAMS: As the Acting Administrator of FTA, I lead an agency of more than 500 

people located in Washington, DC, and 10 regional offices across the country. I 

am responsible for managing an annual budget of over $13 billion that assists over 

3,000 transit providers in all U.S. States and territories. FTA is one of USDOT’s 

nine operating administrations and provides financial and technical assistance to 

local public transit systems, including buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, 

trolleys, and ferries. 
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NASON: What previous experience did you have prior to joining FTA?

WILLIAMS: I began my career in DC, working for Presi

dent Reagan and then President Bush. After taking some 

time off to focus on my family and raising my children, 

I re-entered the workforce in 2010. After working on 

Capitol Hill for five years, I was recruited to serve as the 

Director of the State of Maryland’s Washington Area 

Transit Office at the Maryland Department of Transpor

tation under Governor Larry Hogan. It was serving in 

that position that led to my appointment working with 

Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao as the Deputy 

Administrator, then Acting Administrator of FTA.

NASON: What’s it like to be a woman working in the transportation 

industry—a traditionally male-dominated field?

WILLIAMS: I am incredibly fortunate to have a great 

mentor and leader in Secretary Chao. She sets the 

standard. As a two-time Cabinet member and the first 

female Asian American Cabinet Secretary, she often is 

faced with making difficult decisions amid competing 

priorities. Her collaborative management style, one which 

I try to emulate as I lead FTA, allows for an open and 

diverse discussion. Following her lead, many of our FTA 

leadership team are also women. In fact, I am proud 

that women comprise 50 percent of our FTA leadership 

team. Our education and experiences inform what we 

bring to the table, and I am glad that I have such a capa

ble and diverse leadership team.

NASON: Name one accomplishment you are proud 

of achieving as the FTA Acting Administrator.

WILLIAMS: I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in 

advancing Secretary Chao’s top priority of safety at 

FTA. Under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st 

Century Act (MAP-21), FTA was given a safety mandate 

for the first time by Congress, and when I arrived at 

FTA in August of 2017, we were undertaking a major 

initiative to help States with rail transit systems achieve 

State Safety Oversight Program certification prior to the 

April 15, 2019, deadline. At the time, not one State was 

certified. During my tenure, FTA certified all 31 States 

with rail transit for safety oversight responsibilities—

including the certification of the Washington Metrorail 

Safety Commission (WMSC), allowing FTA to transfer 

direct safety oversight of the Washington Metropolitan 

Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail system to the WMSC. 

I’m proud of our team and our partnership with the 

States to establish stronger safety oversight of rail transit 

systems across the country.

NASON: Looking ahead, what are key priorities for FTA and public transportation in 2020?

WILLIAMS: Advancing Secretary Chao’s top priorities of safety, infrastructure investment, and innovation remains 

my top priority as FTA leads the way for the public transportation industry in 2020 and beyond. Safety is our top 

priority, and FTA is working closely with transit agencies and States to establish their Public Transportation Agency 

Safety Plans (https://www.transit.dot.gov/PTASP), which each agency should have completed by July 20, 2020. We’ve 

hosted 10 workshops around the country and offered 30 webinars and 

other online resources to help the industry make public transportation 

safer. To date, we’ve trained over 5,700 individuals representing transit 

systems from across the country.

Continued infrastructure investment is a key priority for Secretary 

Chao and the Trump Administration. FTA invests more than $13 

billion annually in our Nation’s public transportation systems through 

formula and competitive grant programs. The President’s FY 2021 

budget proposal requests an $896 million (9 percent) increase for transit 

formula and competitive programs and $1.89 billion for the Capital 

Investment Grants (CIG) Program—the highest amount ever proposed 

under this Administration. To date, FTA has supported funding for 25 

new CIG projects throughout the Nation during this Administration, 

totaling approximately $7.6 billion in funding commitments, and we 

plan to support additional projects as they become ready for funding.

Innovation is revolutionizing the transportation industry, and this is 

my priority for FTA in 2020. We prioritized innovation for all our FY 

2020 competitive programs, encouraging applicants for FTA funding 

to incorporate innovation in a broad range of areas, including transit 

service delivery, financing, procurement, fare payment integration, 

new technologies, and web-based applications. We need to be more 

forward-thinking than ever before to meet the needs and expectations 

of transit riders—today and into the future. 

FTA Acting Administrator Jane Williams pictured in 

Detroit, MI, during an event announcing grant funding 

from the Buses and Bus Facilities Program. 

Source: FTA.

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 11
12 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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© 3dan3 / iStockphoto.

Source: USDOT.

HONORED 

TO SERVE:

A Conversation with 

Nicole R. Nason

Nicole R. Nason is the 

Administrator of the Federal 

Highway Administration. Deputy 

FHWA Administrator Mala K. 

Parker recently spoke with 

Nason about her career path, 

her goal of reducing fatalities 

on the Nation’s roadways, and 

her advice to women looking to 

begin careers in transportation. 

What follows are excerpts from 

their discussion.

PARKER: What was the career trajectory that led you to become the FHWA Administrator?

NASON: I’ve been blessed in my life to be supported by many leaders who have allowed me 

to work on issues I am passionate about and find inspiring. I have always been fascinated by 

Government service, and I selected a school in Washington, DC, specifically because I was 

interested in working in Government. I went to law school, spent several years working on 

Capitol Hill, and then had the extraordinary opportunity to serve as President George W. 

Bush’s Assistant Secretary for Government Affairs and the National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administrator. I love the U.S. Department of Transportation, and I am thrilled to be back 

serving as the 20th FHWA Administrator. It is truly an honor to be trusted by President 

Trump and Secretary Chao to be at the helm of this organization. 

PARKER: How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?

NASON: Fortunately, I have a very supportive spouse and my three children are always root

ing for me. They have all dutifully sat through every one of my hours-long confirmation 
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hearings! I believe it is important to explore different fields and issues, both in our 

professional and personal lives. For example, I took 5 years off from work to focus on 

my children and to train in Japanese martial arts. I finally earned a black belt, Shodan level 

in Japanese, and went on to volunteer as a martial arts instructor to high school girls in 

Queens and Harlem, NY. That was an experience I will never duplicate! Taking that time 

to do something completely new and challenging only made me a stronger leader when 

I returned to Government. My children appreciated the time I devoted to them, and I 

developed new skills—through very old teachings—that helped me refocus at work. I 

even made my three kids come to class with me for a few years, and my oldest daughter 

recently earned her black belt after nearly a decade of training. It’s an activity and accom

plishment we love to share. 

PARKER: What challenges have you faced in your career? 

What are some lessons you’ve learned from these challenges?

NASON: The challenging times are when we all truly develop our skills as leaders and 

mentors. It’s easy to manage a team when everything is moving along smoothly and the 

coffers are full. It is during the challenging moments that we develop patience and get to 

practice kindness toward our colleagues. That’s when we learn what kind of leader—and 

person—we really are. I love the challenging days; even in the darkest of times I knew I 

had great people in the foxhole with me. 

I also know we need support from family to get through the tough times. During the 

Government response to Hurricane Katrina, when I was serving as Assistant Secretary 

for Government Affairs at USDOT, I relied on the support of my mother-in-law to care 

for my 4-year-old and 11-month-old daughters. I basically lived at the office. I cannot 

stress enough how critical it is to have the strong support of family.

PARKER: How have mentors helped you navigate your career? 

What lessons have you learned from your mentors? 

NASON: I’ve been fortunate throughout my life to have many 

people help shape my career. My father, a highway patrol officer 

who worked his way up to chief of police, taught me the value 

of road safety from an early age—it was his personal obses

sion. Former Congressman Henry Hyde gave me my first job 

on Capitol Hill. And I remain grateful to former Transportation 

Secretaries Norm Mineta and Mary Peters, who both supported 

and guided me at a time when I was young and didn’t have a lot 

of experience. Now, being back at the Department more than 

10 years later, I am privileged to work for an experienced exec

utive like Secretary Chao who has taught me how important it 

is to surround yourself with good people. She always says that 

personnel is policy. Public service is one of the great privileges 

of my life, and I’m grateful to all the leaders who have given me 

the opportunity to serve.

PARKER: What are your goals for FHWA? 

What direction do you see us heading in? 

NASON: The first priority, of course, is to do everything we can 

to ensure America’s roads, bridges, and tunnels are safe for the 

public. We also want to find new ways of reducing the Federal 

burden on States and cities who wish to improve their infrastruc

ture, but roadway safety is always the top priority. I am especially 

focused on addressing pedestrian and bicycle safety issues. When 

I testified before Congress for my confirmation, I made it very 

clear that pedestrian safety is an area of special interest for me. 

Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable road users, and pedes

trian fatalities today are at the highest level since 1990. In an effort 

to address this issue, Secretary Chao and I will be convening 

Administrator Nicole R. Nason sits in the driver’s seat of one of the newest additions to FHWA’s CARMA fleet. 

Source: FHWA. WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV
14 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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a Pedestrian Safety Summit this year in Washington, DC, where we 

will bring together stakeholders and USDOT leaders to finalize a 

National Action Plan on Pedestrian Safety. This is a problem we 

must take immediate action in addressing. I look forward to work

ing with our many partners to find and implement joint solutions 

to protect our most vulnerable road users. 

PARKER: What do you think FHWA and the Department are doing 

right when it comes to safety, and what can we improve upon?

NASON: Under Secretary Chao’s leadership, the Department’s 

number one priority is always safety. We are all working closely 

with our State and industry partners to reduce America’s roadway 

fatality problem, and harmonizing so many different interests 

on a single goal like that is absolutely a success. In only 2 years, 

the number of fatalities on America’s highways has fallen—and 

we want that to continue. We have a long way to go, but we are 

heading in the right direction. With our Better Utilizing Investments 

to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grant program, we are making it 

easier for States to get the funds they need to make investments 

in key transportation projects. With our Rural Opportunities to 

Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) Initiative, we are 

targeting the needs of rural communities and their transportation 

networks, which face significant challenges. Though only one-fifth 

of Americans live in rural areas, almost half of all road fatalities 

occur in rural areas. Rural America has been overlooked long 

enough, and we believe our work will make a big difference there. 

PARKER: What advice would you offer a young woman interested in pursuing a career in transportation? 

What benefits do you think women can bring to transportation?

NASON: The world of transportation is so diverse that there is 

always room for someone with talent. For the traditional methods 

of road design and construction, female civil engineers are in short 

supply. We will also need women to help us with coding, computer 

engineering, and designing the software needed to make America’s 

road system ready for autonomous vehicles. From financial 

analysts and attorneys to environmental planners and commu

nications or marketing experts, there is a world of opportunity 

for women within the transportation industry. Women bring the 

same qualities to transportation that men do, but from a different 

perspective. Whether it be improvements to 

project delivery, areas where red tape can be 

cut or reduced, innovations in technology, 

or funding, many perspectives enrich the 

decision-making process.

With Secretary Chao, USDOT now has its 

third woman leader. There is a woman leading 

the Federal Transit Administration, we have 

TWO women leading FHWA, and 13 women 

are leading State departments of transporta

tion. That is the most ever. Until now, the most 

women directors of State departments of 

transportation at one time was six. Progress 

is happening. There are hundreds of women 

working within FHWA who help to keep 

America moving and safe, and I look forward 

to working hard to increase that number 

within FHWA and all of USDOT.

ABOVE: Administrator Nason with Deputy Administrator Parker. 

Source: FHWA.

LEFT: Administrator Nason speaks at the FHWA Research 

Showcase in September 2019. 

Source: FHWA.
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CARMA vehicles are loaded with equipment, including two rear and two front side detection sensors (labelled SRR2), antennas for global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), 

dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and electronically scanning radar (ESR). 

Source: FHWA.

CARMA

SM: TESTING AUTOMATED VEHICLES

Before FHWA’s newest CARMA vehicles 

could join the fleet, they needed to be 

outfitted with the right equipment. 

by DEBORAH CURTIS, MAE FROMM, and LAURA DAILEY

I

n 2019, the Federal Highway Adminis

tration added four CARMA-equipped 

passenger vehicles to its fleet of test 

vehicles. Before the vehicles were delivered 

to the Saxton Transportation Operations 

Laboratory at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, FHWA conducted 

verification and acceptance testing in 

Morton, IL. There, FHWA engineers and 

researchers customized the four vehicles 

with aftermarket, highly automated vehicle 

kits using open source software to achieve 

Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 

Automation Level 2. (For more infor

mation about the CARMA Platform, see 

“CARMASM: Driving Innovation” in the 

Winter 2020 issue of PUBLIC ROADS.)

For the first time, the U.S. Department 

of Transportation tested SAE Automation 

Level 2 vehicles, and this advanced the 

process of achieving cooperative driving 

automation (CDA) used in support of 

transportation systems management and 

operations research. The Volpe National 

Transportation Systems Center provided 

validation for FHWA’s automated driving 

systems (ADS) verification and accep

tance test plan. Because of specific feature 

implementation required for each model, 

testing ADS at this level posed many 

challenges, such as verifying the vehicle 

calibrations involved with the different 

sensors that impact ADS performance 

and ensuring the fail-safe mechanisms are 

properly tuned with the different types of 

by-wire controllers.

Selecting the Vehicles

Prior to purchasing two sport utility 

vehicles (SUVs), one minivan, and one 

midsize sedan to add to the fleet of 

CARMA-equipped vehicles, FHWA 

considered a variety of passenger vehicles. 

FHWA performed two rounds of a trade 

study aimed at choosing the most appro

priate vehicle type and model to implement 

SAE Level 2 capabilities and to extend 

to higher SAE levels. The research team 

evaluated 16 vehicle models on 15 differ

ent attributes.

Researchers weighted four comparison 

criteria the most heavily. The first was 

the cost of instrumentation, including 

any reverse engineering and design work. 

Second was the FHWA team’s knowledge 

and ability to access the vehicle’s controller 

area network (CAN) messages, which pro

vide critical information about the vehicle’s 

state at any given moment. Researchers 

also heavily considered each vehicle’s 

existing potential for by-wire integration 

and customization (the ability to control 

the vehicle through electronic signals vs. 

mechanical motions). The final weighted 

criterion was passenger comfort, includ

ing capacity.

“We recognize the importance of 

interoperability and consistency as major 

aspects for the future of CARMA research 

and usability,” says Taylor Lochrane, the 

CARMA technical program manager. 

“FHWA selected the four passenger 

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 15
Administrator Nicole R. Nason, center, joins the women of FHWA’s CARMA team 

at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in September 2019. 

Source: FHWA.

The Women Leading the 

CARMA Collaborative

FHWA initiated the CARMA Collaborative to 

engage with stakeholders and collectively 

support the future of automated vehicles and 

connected infrastructure in the transportation 

industry to improve safety, efficiency, and 

mobility. The CARMA Collaborative is a largely 

female-driven initiative. In the past 2 years, 

the team:

• Established FHWA’s CARMA branding and 

promoted the CARMA engineers’ efforts, 

which enabled the development and 

public release of the CARMA Platform.

• Created a robust array of CARMA content 

and collateral to inspire stakeholder 

awareness and engagement.

• Collaborated with academic, industry, 

public agency, and Federal stakeholders 

to advance transportation with CDA.

• Cultivated relationships at conferences 

supported with innovative exhibits, 

including the Transportation Research 

Board Annual Meeting 2019 and 2020, 

South by Southwest 2019, and the 

Automated Vehicle Symposium 2019.

Overall, the women leading the CARMA 

Collaborative enable conversations and foster 

relationships across stakeholders to advance 

transportation safety, efficiency, and mobility.

16 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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vehicles to accommodate the CARMA 

Platform and conduct research on 

different types of controllers and 

across diverse vehicle types, makes, 

and models.” 

FHWA selected industry leaders 

based on their expertise building and 

supplying platforms and components 

used within ADS. 

Adding the 

Automated Equipment

For enhanced CARMA research and 

development, FHWA installed sev

eral aftermarket hardware devices to 

provide additional radar data collection, 

improved detection and navigation, and 

vehicle-to-everything communication. 

On the exterior of the vehicle, 

high-resolution three-dimensional light 

detection and ranging (LiDAR) provides 

a 360-degree surround view along with 

real-time data for navigation and object 

detection. A multimode, electronically 

scanning radar combines a wide field 

of view at midrange with long-range 

coverage for object detection. Four rear 

and side detection radar sensors provide 

awareness of approaching vehicles as 

well as support for blind spot detection 

applications. For enhanced position

ing solutions, two global navigation 

satellite system (GNSS) antennas 

track the maximum number of satel

lites in any environment. Additionally, 

vehicle-to-everything communication is 

managed with an onboard unit with two 

dedicated short-range communications 

antennas. Lastly, global navigation, cellu

lar, and Wi-Fi antennas were installed on 

the exterior of the vehicle.

Inside the vehicle, FHWA installed 

multiple cameras: one camera for 

collision detection and lane marking 

identification, and two cameras for 

object and traffic light detection. Light 

bars are located in the front and back 

vehicle windows. In the middle console, each vehicle is equipped with a 

push-button shifter, a tablet, and a red 

emergency stop button to disable automated controls.

FHWA outfitted each vehicle with 

a different by-wire control kit that pro

vides electronic control of the vehicle’s 

brake, throttle, steering, and shifting 

to enable testing for automated vehicle 

applications. The team incorporated 

LED lighting on the vehicles’ floors for 

immediate visual indicators: green shows 

manual driving mode, blue signifies 

by-wire mode, and red denotes a fault or 

failure of the by-wire system.

The team installed speed and steering 

control (SSC) software packages in the 

Linux-based computer to provide a 

common interface to tune the speed 

and steering actions of the by-wire 

controllers. Using a robot operating 

system (ROS), the SSC software enables 

research applications to send messages 

to this package with desired vehicle path 

curvature, maximum curvature, desired 

speed, acceleration limits, deceleration 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 17

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limits, and desired gear. On top of the 

SSC interface, Autoware,TM an open-source 

software, provides the necessary automated 

driving functionality for localization, motion 

planning, and object detection and avoidance. 

With by-wire, SSC, and Autoware installed, the 

vehicle is able to perform waypoint follow

ing. Using a prerecorded set of waypoints 

(geographic coordinates that define a route of 

travel), desired speed, and a high-definition 

map of the test facility, the vehicle was able 

to pinpoint its location on the map and drive 

itself using lateral and longitudinal controls.

These integrated aftermarket subsys

tems serve to develop the next phases of 

the CARMA Platform enabling cooperative 

driving at SAE Automation Levels 2 and 3 for 

the benefit of transportation systems manage

ment and operations research.

“The goal of CARMA is to accelerate 

understanding of the benefits of CDA 

through testing,” says FHWA Administrator 

Nicole R. Nason. “We want automated vehi

cles to work together, and increasing the SAE 

levels of automation available on research 

vehicles is an important next step to advancing 

transportation safety, efficiency, and mobility.”

Developing the 

Acceptance Test Plan

FHWA developed a detailed test plan to verify 

that each vehicle’s hardware, software, safety 

requirements, and design specifications were 

met prior to acceptance and delivery. The 

document included the scope, approach, test 

facility or environment, schedule, roles and 

responsibilities, and detailed test cases. 

Researchers started with a template of test 

case scenarios and objectives. The collection, 

review, and discussion of the vehicle require

ments, design specification documents, and 

original equipment manufacturers’ manuals 

for the installed components were essential to 

gain a deeper understanding of the features 

and functionality of each component. FHWA 

collaborated with Volpe and subcontractors to 

refine the scope and develop detailed test case 

scenarios and procedures. 

Hardware testing involved the inventory 

and inspection of each hardware unit supplied 

by the contractor, including the strength of 

hardware mounting and its proper location. 

The team measured the location of each 

aftermarket sensor to ensure an optimal 

position when compared to the manufacturer’s 

standards. Testing also included verifying that 

the vehicle had sufficient power distribution 

for all equipment, inside and out.

Safety testing confirmed that customi

zations did not impact the vehicles’ stock 

safety features and that the by-wire fail-safe 

Equipment in the vehicles’ interiors includes lightbars and floor LEDs, cameras, a push-button shifter and 

emergency stop button, a tablet, the power distribution system, and the platform actuation and control module 

(PACMod and PACMod Mini). 

Source: FHWA.

The Linux-based computer housed in the vehicle’s trunk runs the speed and steering software. 

Source: FHWA.

This photo depicts how waypoint following appears on a screen in a CARMA3-equipped vehicle to show 

localization, which is how CARMA recognizes what is around the vehicle. 

Source: FHWA.
Safak Ercisli, left, the project manager for CARMA Support 

Services, and Deborah Curtis, right, the Government task 

manager for CARMA Support Services, show off one of 

FHWA’s CARMA vehicles. 

Source: FHWA.

Introducing CARMA 

Support Services

CARMA Support Services kicked off in 

late 2019 to provide support services 

for the implementation of the CARMA 

product suite. CARMA Support Services 

established a CARMA Help Desk and 

email to respond to common issues 

from CARMA users, researchers, and 

deployers while also monitoring user 

feedback for future improvements.

18 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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mechanisms were working properly. With 

system safety and risk minimization as the 

primary objectives, the team reviewed two 

National Highway Traffic Safety Admin

istration publications during the devel

opment of the test plan and procedures: 

A Framework for Automated Driving System 

Testable Cases and Scenarios (DOT HS 812 

623) and Automated Driving Systems 2.0 – A 

Vision for Safety (DOT HS 812 442). To 

ensure safe operations, researchers incor

porated the operational design domain and 

object and event detection and response 

into the description of each test case. 

Finally, to enable testing the new pas

senger vehicles at higher automation levels 

and assisting with future operational and 

safety design requirements, the team added 

elements of SAE Levels 3 and 4. 

FHWA created functional test cases to 

evaluate the basic functions and operations 

of the installed aftermarket hardware and 

software. These test cases also verified 

the range, tracking, and calibrations of 

all the sensors and cameras and assessed 

the by-wire and SSC capabilities from low 

to high speed. Functional test cases also 

examined Autoware localization, waypoint 

following, camera-LiDAR calibration, and 

object detection. 

Test plan development required multiple 

reviews and iterations, and the plan created 

is continually updated to capture evolving 

requirements during the Agile development 

lifecycle of a research and development 

program. Additionally, the test cases and 

procedures are constantly refined based 

on the outcomes and lessons learned from 

each verification test. The test plans are 

available at https://usdot-carma.atlassian.net 

/wiki/spaces/CAR/overview.

Executing the 

Acceptance Testing

Prior to the test event, a readiness review 

examined the contractor’s preliminary 

test results, the logistics of the local test 

facilities, the test priorities, and the coor

dination of the personnel and equipment. 

In April 2019, testing began with the two 

CARMA-equipped SUVs. A second itera

tion of testing began in June 2019 with the 

minivan and midsize sedan. Each of these 

test events spanned a week. During the first 

day, classroom and hands-on training of 

the by-wire controller, SSC, and Autoware 

prepared the team for subsequent tests. 

Before beginning the more complicated 

testing of the by-wire and ADS features, 

the team completed important hardware 

and safety inspections. At the end of each 
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day, the team discussed and documented 

the issues to be addressed the following day 

based on priority and severity, including 

whether the test cases would be executed 

sequentially or in parallel. Toward the end 

of each week, the team prioritized address

ing test cases and high severity issues for 

vehicle acceptance and delivery. 

Lessons Learned from Testing

The incremental testing approach mini

mized risk from scheduling and test

ing resource constraints. The range of 

requirements tested necessitated a plan 

for varied staff support. The team needed 

a diverse background of mechanical, 

electrical, software, and robotics engineers 

combined with the proper equipment to 

ensure that questions and concerns could 

be quickly resolved.

Safety is always the number one priority, 

and the engineers received driver accident 

avoidance training in addition to automated 

vehicle operation training prior to oper

ating the newly equipped vehicles. Safety 

drivers operated the vehicles to test the 

ADS features alongside test engineers who 

understood the automated operations and 

capabilities. 

The team extensively tested the fail-safe 

mechanisms. Because of the different types 

of controllers and the implementation of 

the by-wire system, the performance and 

operation varied by vehicle. Each system 

had four types of fail-safe or override: 

throttle, brake, steering, and an emergency 

stop button. The team found that calibra

tions across by-wire systems differed due 

to operational variances within fail-safe 

mechanisms and override procedures 

to take manual control of the vehicle at 

higher speeds. 

“In the end,” says Lochrane, “the team 

verified that each system was properly 

tuned to provide sufficient results: the 

safety driver could easily and naturally use 

any of these mechanisms to immediately 

take full control of the vehicle in order to 

ensure its safe travel at all times.”

In addition, confirming the proper cali

bration of the LiDAR and the proper configuration of Autoware was very important. 

Remembering to collect ROS bags prior to 

each test case was significant for simulating 

and troubleshooting issues that occurred. 

Moving Forward

Including the newest four vehicles, the ini

tial CARMA-equipped passenger fleet has 

set the foundation to advance the FHWA 

team supporting the CARMA Program to 

higher SAE automation levels with exten

sive safety considerations. The next test 

fleet will include four heavy trucks. Class 

8 vehicle dynamics will challenge the team 

to find a proper test facility as well as to 

create new test cases for both tractor and 

trailer that address complications during 

sensor calibration while testing under SAE 

Automation Levels 1 and 2.

“CARMA aligns with the Depart

ment of Transportation’s approach to 

multimodal automation,” says FHWA 

Deputy Administrator Mala K. Parker, 

“and this program enables transporta

tion innovation and safety with automated technology.”

DEBORAH CURTIS is a research transportation 

specialist at FHWA. She has more than 28 years 

of experience leading projects related to traffic 

signal systems, intelligent transportation sys

tems, and, most recently, cooperative automation. 

She has a B.S. in civil engineering from West 

Virginia University. 

MAE FROMM is the senior software engineer for 

the Saxton Transportation Operations Labora

tory. She has a B.S. in decision sciences and 

management information systems with a minor 

in information technology from George Mason 

University. She has 17 years of software develop

ment experience and currently supports CARMA 

software development and testing activities. 

LAURA DAILEY is the communications manager for 

the Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory, 

overseeing marketing and engagement activi

ties. She earned an M.S. from Drexel University 

and a B.S. with a marketing concentration from 

Elon University.

For more information, contact Deborah 

Curtis at Deborah.Curtis@dot.gov or visit 

https://highways.dot.gov/research/operations 

/Cooperative-Driving-Automation.

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 19

A group of transportation engineers and researchers supporting the CDA program and CARMA development 

in Peoria, IL, including testing and accepting the new CARMA3-equipped passenger vehicles. 

Source: FHWA.
During a field trip to a local contractor’s lot, the MAGIC Camp participants 

had the opportunity to operate large construction equipment. 

© 2019 KDOT.

20 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

Experiencing MAGICin Kansas

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by SAMANTHA DARLING

A week-long orientation to the range of career opportunities for girls 

in transportation is making waves in the Sunflower State. 

Each summer in Kansas, a group of highschool age girls gathers for a summer 

camp unlike any other. At this camp, pink 

hard hats, tool kits, T-shirts, and safety gog

gles are provided. The Kansas Department 

of Transportation’s (KDOT) Mentoring 

A Girl In Construction (MAGIC) Camp 

offers girls the opportunity to learn about 

the many avenues of employment that are 

available to women in the transportation 

industry. This opportunity to gain exposure 

to a historically nontraditional industry for 

women helps the girls build self-confidence 

as they explore career paths. 

“In Kansas, as in much of the Midwest 

and the rest of the United States, transpor

tation has been a male-dominated field,” 

says Doria Watson, civil rights administra

tor in KDOT’s Office of Civil Rights. “We 

want to expose the girls to career possibil

ities in transportation and challenge them 

to think about nontraditional fields and 

career paths.”

During the 5-day camp, participants 

meet and inter

act with female 

business owners 

and construction 

workers, as well as 

participate in many 

hands-on activities 

and supervised field 

trips. The experi

ence also introduces 

girls to female role 

models who have 

achieved success 

in many areas 

of transportation. 

“MAGIC Camp is the best camp I’ve 

ever attended. Not only is it a camp full 

of females, but it’s a camp that opens your 

eyes to career fields known as ‘manly’ 

jobs,” says Jae’Mya L., age 15. “It showed 

me that these same jobs can be a woman’s 

career and that females are capable of 

doing the same hard work that men do. For 

me, it made me feel so empowered!” 

MAGIC Camp participants spent an afternoon working at the Topeka Habitat for Human

ity constructing a lemonade stand. 

© 2019 KDOT.

How It Started

Based on a national program started in 

Atlanta, GA, KDOT’s MAGIC Camp has 

adopted a unique delivery model. KDOT 

focuses on transportation, in addition to 

the national program’s general construction 

focus. 

KDOT held its first camp in Topeka 

in 2015, with other camps in that city held 

in 2017 and 2019. Originally scheduled to 

be held every other year, the Topeka camp 

will now be held annually beginning in 

2020. KDOT also added an annual camp 

in Wichita, which began in 2017, and will 

expand to Kansas City, KS, in 2020. So far, 

the camps have reached about 150 girls, 

and the agency hopes to expand further 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 21

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and reach other communities in the future.

 “While opening the doors to nontradi

tional careers for women is important, we 

also believe in the power of our MAGIC 

Camp in building self-esteem, understand

ing networking, and empowering girls to 

be confident in tackling things that are new 

to them,” says Watson. “We want the girls 

to understand they have a place here. We 

don’t want them to just survive, we want 

them to thrive.”

In addition to boosting self-esteem 

and career exposure, the camp provides a 

safe place for girls who are facing myriad 

challenges in their lives. KDOT strives 

to reach girls from disadvantaged homes 

and circumstances every year. In 2019, the 

Wichita camp had 80 percent of its partici

pants come from group homes.

KDOT recruits girls through outreach 

efforts to schools, community centers, 

churches, and parents. Thanks to commu

nity partners and KDOT, participants can 

attend at no cost. “We target recruitment 

efforts toward females and minorities, 

and especially those who normally would 

not be able to afford summer camps,” 

says Watson.

Peytan A. gets instruction from a KDOT employee on how to move the soccer ball on the cone into the garbage can, 

giving her the opportunity to test her accuracy. 

© 2019 KDOT.

Heidi S. practices moving 

dirt using a front loader. 

© 2019 KDOT.

Behind the Scenes

The itinerary for each day at MAGIC 

Camp focuses on a different mode of 

transportation. For example, on aviation 

day, the girls received a presentation by 

KDOT’s aviation depart

ment, visited 

an air traffic 

control tower and the Air Force’s 190th 

Air Refueling Wing, and received a tour of 

the Combat Air Museum led by veterans. 

Most days include field trips to destinations 

such as airports and transit facilities, where 

the girls can see jobs firsthand, experience 

simulators, and operate equipment. 

“MAGIC Camp taught me that 

there are so many options when 

it comes to construction,” says 

Peytan A., age 14. “My favorite part of 

MAGIC Camp was operating the machines 

and learning from everyone in the different 

areas. The professionals and instructors 

were helpful and wanted to show us that 

women can be in the construction field and 

succeed. The camp was so much fun!” 

On the last day of each camp, KDOT 

holds a women in transportation roundtable. The girls hear from a panel of 

women working in the industry to learn 

about their experiences, their hardships, 

and how the field has evolved, among 

other topics. The girls can ask the panelists 

questions as well. At Topeka’s MAGIC 

Camp in 2019, panelists included KDOT 

representatives Gelene Savage, chief 

counsel; Sue Eiseman, construction and 

materials assistant bureau chief; Domi

nique Shannon, bridge evaluation engineer; 

and Catherine Patrick, director of safety. 

The panel also included Angie Gavin, the 

director of business development for a 

woman-owned construction business in 

Kansas City, MO. 

“MAGIC Camp was a good way to 

learn that there are many jobs within con

struction,” says Heidi S., age 13. “Not 

only can you build and design struc

tures, but also pave roads, supervise 

construction, find ways to keep 

roads safer, and work in a 

lab to create stronger bridge 
This group of girls had a chance to get an up-close look at a few different jobs at a rail yard. 

© 2019 KDOT.

Jae’Mya L. drills 

holes into a sign the 

girls constructed 

on the first day 

of camp. 

© 2019 KDOT.

22 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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supports, among other things.” 

The future of MAGIC Camp in 

Kansas looks bright. Plans include 

expanding to additional cities and devel

oping methods to track the camps’ impact 

on participants. KDOT hopes to track 

the girls as they enter the workforce to 

learn whether they pursue careers in 

transportation. 

“My eyes were opened in so many 

crazy ways, from tiling to road con

struction,” says Jae’Mya L. “I enjoyed 

the tiling so much that I am now 

starting a few projects at home. My 

mother used to be a steamroller oper

ator and she said she loved it. I never 

completely understood how she 

could want to do a job like that. 

But now that I have experienced 

MAGIC Camp, I completely 

understand why!” 

Mentoring 

Beyond Camp

At KDOT, mentoring 

is essential. KDOT 

Secretary Julie Lorenz 

credits her success 

in her own career 

to mentoring. Lorenz is only the second 

woman to hold the secretary of transpor

tation position in the State. In an interview 

with Women of Asphalt in 2019, Lorenz 

said: “I think [holding this position] speaks 

to mentorship—the importance of men

torship. I think for women in particular, 

if they can see the opportunities that may 

not be as obvious, that will give them an 

opportunity to grow their careers in ways 

they hadn’t imagined.” 

KDOT is also involved in other 

programs that reach women, minorities, 

and youth:

Jobs for America’s Graduates is a schoolbased program for boys and girls in which 

KDOT representatives participate as pre

senters. KDOT also uses the program as 

a potential applicant pool for interns. For 

more information on the program, visit 

https://jagkansas.org.

Conference of Minority Transportation 

Officials (COMTO) is a national organiza

tion in which KDOT is actively involved. 

For more information on the activities of 

the COMTO Kansas City chapter, visit 

https://comtokc.org. 

The Garrett A. Morgan Shadow Day 

Program is a national program designed to 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 23

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educate students about career opportunities 

in transportation. Each February, KDOT 

participates by organizing a tour of various 

transportation-related agencies for a group 

of Kansas high school students. For 

more information, visit https://comtokc 

.org/2016/01/11/who-was-garrett-a-morgan.

KDOT’s internship program is available 

to high school seniors. The program has 

been active for the last 3 years. Currently, 

KDOT hires five interns who work 10 to 

15 hours a week during their senior year. 

The student interns are placed in various 

divisions throughout the agency based 

on their interests. Students often have the 

potential to be retained in a temporary 

position after graduation.

“This opportunity 

was a real eye opener. 

It [gave me] the 

chance to have a 

better understanding 

of what women can be 

capable of. ”

— Alicia T., age 15 

The National Summer Transportation 

Institute (NSTI) is a collaboration among 

the Federal Highway Administration, State 

transportation agencies, and educational 

institutions. In Kansas, KDOT partners 

with FHWA to host a STEM-focused 

transportation camp at Washburn Univer

sity. Held every June or July, the residential 

camp hosts middle school students on the 

college campus for the entire week.

KDOT’s Construction Career Expo pro

vides career information and educational 

resources for students considering entering 

the skilled trades and the engineering and 

technology fields. In 2018, the biannual 

event hosted its largest expo to date with 

approximately 2,300 students from area 

middle schools, high schools, and technical 

schools. The next expo will be held Sep

tember 22, 2020.

“People don’t know what they don’t 

know,” says Watson. “That is why we 

concentrate so many of our efforts on edu

cating and demonstrating the possibilities 

for successful careers in transportation in a 

way that we think is exciting to girls—and 

to all kids and young adults.”

During a camp activity, Isabel R. and Heidi S. mix concrete they will use to make a planter. 

© 2019 KDOT.

The girls listen to a KDOT employee discuss asphalt 

testing in the KDOT Materials Lab. 

© 2019 KDOT.

SAMANTHA DARLING is the coordinator for MAGIC 

Camp. She works for KDOT’s Office of Civil Rights, 

focusing on project compliance and community 

outreach. She graduated from the University of 

Kansas with degrees in journalism and English. 

For more information, contact 

Doria Watson at 785–296–7940 or 

Doria.Watson@ks.gov.
TFHRC is using virtual reality to conduct human factors research in a safe, simulated 

environment. At Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, children got to see appli

cations for this technology and experience the world in virtual reality. 

Source: FHWA.

24 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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INSPIRING THE NEXT 

GENERATION OF 

WOMEN TO JOIN THE 

TRANSPORTATION 

INDUSTRY

The Federal Highway Administration and its partners recognize 

the importance of introducing women and girls to the career 

possibilities and opportunities of the transportation sector. 

The importance of that goal drives a variety of activities 

and outreach programs focusing on science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Kids in the Workplace

Every year, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration take part in Take Our 

Daughters and Sons to Work Day. Var

ious activities at USDOT Headquarters 

and at FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) are a hit 

with kids.

On April 25, 2019, USDOT’s Office 

of the Secretary hosted more than 600 

children aged 8 to 18 and their parents for 

USDOT Headquarters’ Take Our Daugh

ters and Sons to Work Day. The event 

featured more than 40 workshops and 

exhibits. Highlights included “The Drone 

Experience,” where participants could learn 

to fly small consumer drones, and a booth 

where children could write about how they 

would improve the Nation’s transporta

tion sector.

The TFHRC also hosts a popular 

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work 

Day event, sharing science and technology 

principles—and innovations—with schoolchildren of all ages. In the TFHRC labs, 

kids get a chance to see how a broad range 

of science and engineering disciplines 

are applied to highway research. Previous 

demonstrations have included seeing the 

science behind how road signs and road 

marking materials show up so well at night 

in the Chemistry Laboratory and the ways 

FHWA is making roads safer for pedes

trians and cyclists in the Human Factors 

Laboratory. In 2019, kids even got to see a 

crash test at the center’s Federal Outdoor 

Impact Laboratory, where FHWA scientists 

are experimenting with roadside barriers 

and guardrails.
ABOVE: In the TFHRC Hydraulics 

Lab, children used a sand table 

to build a river channel and then 

explore what happened to the 

water as the flow was altered or 

blocked by culverts and other 

structures. 

Source: FHWA.

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 25

LEFT: Children and their parents 

participate in USDOT Headquar

ters’ Take Our Daughters and Sons 

to Work Day. 

Source: USDOT.

RIGHT: A USDOT employee shows a 

child how to operate a drone. 

Source: USDOT.

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26 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

ABOVE: TFHRC engineers showed off an example concrete cylinder, explaining that concrete gets its strength 

because sand and aggregate are glued together with cement. Then, the kids got to see this principle in action 

with a delicious mix of “concrete” made from baker’s chocolate as the cement and chocolate puff cereal as 

aggregate. It took double the load to crush the chocolate mixture as it took to crush the cereal alone. 

Source: FHWA.

RIGHT: As part of the TFHRC event, students got the chance to apply 

chemistry to analyze the components of various roadway materials. 

Here, they prepare to identify different metal ions in a solution. 

Source: FHWA.

Visiting students had a chance to interact 

with the TFHRC Hydraulics Lab’s robotic arm. 

The Hydraulics Lab has been researching the 

use of mobile robotics to improve and automate 

testing of highway hydraulics phenomena. 

Source: FHWA.
Cathy McGhee, director of research and innovation 

for the Virginia Department of Transportation, works 

with students using a small coding robot to simulate 

automated vehicle technology. 

© WTS.

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Transportation YOU in DC and VA

WTS International (formerly Women’s Transportation Seminar) runs Trans

portation YOU, a hands-on, interactive 

mentoring program that offers girls ages 

13 to 18 an introduction to a wide variety 

of transportation careers. Through the 

program, WTS chapters work to make a 

difference in the lives of young women by 

offering programs and activities that will 

spark their interest in all modes of trans

portation. The program encourages young 

women to take courses in math, science, 

and technology, the stepping stones to 

exciting careers that can change the face of 

the transportation industry.

Jasmy Methipara, of FHWA’s Office of 

Transportation Policy Studies, has served 

the Washington, DC, chapter of WTS as 

the chair of the chapter’s Transportation 

YOU committee since 2014, working 

with the young women of the Cardozo 

Education Campus (formerly Cardozo 

High School), McKinley Technology High 

School, and Dunbar High School. The 

committee of transportation profession

als develops monthly youth mentoring 

events, including spotlight speakers, field 

trips, and in-class transportation activities 

for a select group of young women from 

these schools. The events focus on STEM 

education, college readiness, and career 

opportunities in transportation. Spotlight 

speakers have included engineers, planners, 

flight attendants, and public engagement 

professionals. Each spring, Methipara’s 

team hosts a speed mentoring event where 

students can exchange business cards with 

a multitude of professionals.

Since 2011, the Central Virginia Chapter 

of WTS has held a hands-on mentoring 

workshop for middle school girls. Each 

year, about 35 students from nearly a dozen 

schools come together for a day filled with 

hands-on STEAM (which adds the arts 

into the traditional STEM disciplines of 

science, technology, engineering, and math) 

activities and opportunities to network 

with women in a variety of transportation 

careers. Several FHWA Virginia Division 

employees are active WTS members and 

are key participants in planning and coordi

nating the workshop. Event organizers use 

a variety of STEM lesson plan resources 

with creative twists to come up with fun 

and engaging activities, including solving 

puzzles in an escape room, programming 

dynamic message signs, and analyzing 

bridge designs.

LEFT: A workshop presenter for the Central Virginia Chapter of 

WTS demonstrates the features of an electric vehicle. 

© WTS.

BELOW: Students and professionals participate 

in a Transportation YOU speed mentoring event 

in Washington, DC. 

Source: FHWA.
28 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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Helping Girls Become Tech Savvy in Michigan

T he American Association of University Women (AAUW) advances equity and education for women 

and girls nationwide. In Michigan, AAUW’s Gaylord Area 

Branch hosts an annual Tech Savvy event, a 1-day confer

ence designed to introduce girls in grades 6 through 9 to 

STEM studies and careers. Brandy Solak, an area engineer 

with FHWA’s Michigan Division, coordinates volunteers 

for the event held each April at the University Center in 

Gaylord, MI. The event hosts approximately 200 girls 

annually, inspiring and enabling them to explore exciting 

opportunities through hands-on workshops.

For more information, visit https://gaylord-mi.aauw.net 

/tech-savvy.

ABOVE: Tech Savvy attendees don protective gloves and eyewear 

while creating a chemical reaction at a Tech Savvy booth. 

© AAUW.

LEFT: Tech Savvy students learn about fingerprints 

and how they are used as identification. 

© AAUW.

AASHTO Encourages Women in Transportation

T he transportation workforce faces a pressing problem: a critical shortage 

of women in civil engineering and the 

transportation profession as a whole. 

To help address this issue, the American 

Association of State Highway and Trans

portation Officials offers the TRACTM 

(Transportation and Civil Engineering) 

and RIDES (Roadways In Developing 

Elementary Students) programs, which aim 

to inspire students of all ages to consider 

careers in transportation. The programs 

engage students in solving real-world 

transportation problems with innovative 

solutions by designing bridges, building 

magnetic-levitation trains, planning cities, 

and overcoming a host of environmental 

issues that impact transportation. 

AASHTO’s National Bridge Challenge, 

an extension of the TRAC program’s 

bridge module, promotes an interest 

in STEM for girls and boys in grades 7 

through 12. Students in this competition 

travel to the AASHTO spring meeting each 

year, where their bridges are tested and 

evaluated by State department of trans

portation engineers. Girls are encouraged 

to participate in the challenge; in 2019, an 

all-girl team from Michigan took first place 

in the 7th and 8th grade division.

For more information, visit 

https://tracrides.transportation.org.

Students participate in AASHTO’s National Bridge Challenge, part of the TRAC program. 

The bridge designs are evaluated by professional engineers. 

© Mississippi Department of Transportation.
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ABOVE: Ashlei Davis pitches her idea for a product aimed at 

reducing tailpipe emissions. 

© VDOT.

RIGHT: Student Ashlei Davis won first place in the business plan competition. 

© VDOT.

Building Virginia’s Transportation 

Workforce of Tomorrow T he Virginia Department of Transporta

tion (VDOT) understands the impor

tance of encouraging the future workforce. 

As part of its efforts, the VDOT Northern 

Virginia District’s Civil Rights Division 

hosts an annual Transportation Career 

Fair for high school students, providing 

educational and networking opportunities. 

In 2019, the 15th annual fair included more 

than 100 engineering firms, organizations, 

agencies, and contractors from across 

Virginia. Approximately 1,300 high school 

students attended to learn about careers in 

civil engineering, architecture, technology, 

construction, environment, administration, 

and other transportation-related fields. 

“The transportation industry has so 

many opportunities for careers following 

various paths,” says Leslie Martin, the 

civil rights manager for VDOT Northern 

Virginia. “It’s so rewarding when we find 

a new employee within the industry who 

came to know us through the career fairs in 

the past.”

For more information, visit 

www.virginiadot.org/novacareerfair.

A student uses survey equipment during VDOT’s 

Transportation Career Fair. 

© VDOT. WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV

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30 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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WSSU’s NSTI program partnered with the university’s GEMS program to run an all-girls session for 25 students in 2019. 

© GEMS.

North Carolina Hosts All-Girls Session of NSTI

T he National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) is a transportationfocused career awareness initiative funded 

by FHWA’s On-the-Job Training Support 

Services Program. NSTI aims to stimulate 

interest among middle and high school stu

dents in educational and career opportuni

ties in transportation and related industries. 

The program encourages minority, female, 

and disadvantaged youth to pursue trans

portation-related coursework at the college 

and university level. 

NSTI is open to all students in the 

United States and its territories. Since its 

inception in 1991, NSTI has contributed 

$80 million in funding to more than 60 

accredited colleges and universities in 56 

States and U.S. territories. To date, more 

than 25,000 students have participated—

some even continue into other USDOT 

and FHWA internship, fellowship, and 

professional development programs.

In 2019, one of NSTI’s hosting sites, 

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) 

in North Carolina, took its program to 

another level. The university hosted an 

all-girls program with 25 students from 

Forsyth County, NC, schools. To develop 

this special session, the NSTI program 

partnered with WSSU’s Girls Empowered 

in Math and Science (GEMS) program, 

which celebrated its 10-year anniversary 

in 2019. GEMS aims to provide girls with 

the academic foundation and fortitude to 

be successful in any STEM environment, 

academic or professional. In 2018, GEMS 

received the Inspiring Programs in STEM 

Award from INSIGHT into Diversity mag

azine, which honors colleges and univer

sities that encourage and assist students 

from underrepresented groups to enter 

STEM-related fields. 

LEFT: Students visit the Battleship North Carolina museum 

in Wilmington, NC, during WSSU’s 2019 NSTI program. 

© GEMS.

BELOW: A student in WSSU’s all-girls NSTI 

program learns how to remove the lug 

nuts from a tire. 

© GEMS.
Women have made important contributions to transportation 

history and continue to pave the way today. 

© Bannafarsai_Stock / Shutterstock.

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 31

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Female Innovators in 

Transportation:

Yesterday and Today

Learn how women have contributed to transportation 

history through innovation, and meet some of 

FHWA’s current female leaders.

by DOUG HECOX

Women have played important parts in the Nation’s ever-expanding transportation system since its 

earliest days.

“Women have been critical to transportation history, 

but they must play a larger role in transportation’s future,” 

says FHWA Administrator Nicole R. Nason. “We have 

come a long way, but there are still miles to go.” 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women make 

up 51 percent of the U.S. population. Women earn 

more than half of college degrees and nearly 60 percent 

of master’s degrees. Women account for 47 percent of the U.S. workforce and 50.5 percent of the 

college-educated workforce. For each of the last 15 

years, data from the Federal Highway Administration 

show there have been more women drivers than men. 

“Women are the majority in literally every walk 

of American life, except in the world of transporta

tion,” Nason says. “Our workforce should reflect the 

population we serve. When there is balance in the 

workforce, everybody benefits.”

Female Innovators in Transportation History

Women have played a greater role in transportation his

tory than perhaps is common knowledge. 

In 1825, Rebecca Lukens took over the Brandywine 

Ironworks after the death of her husband, Charles 

Lukens. Under her leadership, the business overcame 

near bankruptcy and went on to produce boiler plates for 

ships and trains and to manufacture rails. Today, nearly 

200 years later and now owned by an international steel 

company, the former Lukens mill is the oldest continu

ously operating steel mill in North America. 

In 1872, Emily Roebling was the wife of Wash

ington Roebling, the chief engineer overseeing 

construction of the Brooklyn Bridge—then the 

Nation’s tallest structure. When her husband fell 

victim to caisson disease—decompression sick

ness, now often called the bends—she managed 

the project on his behalf for the next 11 years 

until it opened to the public. She even crossed 

the bridge with President Chester Arthur to 

prove it was safe. More than 140 years later, its 
32 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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impressive network of wires, masonry, and iron bars 

makes the iconic Brooklyn Bridge an enduring testament 

to Roebling’s strength and perseverance as the Nation’s 

first female bridge engineer.

This 1962 publication of the Bureau of Public Roads introduced Beverly Cover, 

the first female engineer hired by the agency. 

Source: FHWA.

As automobiles became increasingly common nationwide at the start of the 20th century, women played other 

roles in transportation. In 1903, Mary Anderson invented 

the windshield wiper, which improved safety for those 

driving in bad weather. During the next two decades, 175 

other patents were issued to women for inventions related 

to automobiles, traffic signals, and turn indicators.

For 40 years, American road and bridge building 

remained very much a menonly industry. On April 2, 1962, 

FHWA’s predecessor—the 

Bureau of Public Roads—hired 

Beverly Cover, the Bureau’s 

first female highway engineer. 

She made headlines for being 

the second female engineer to 

graduate from Georgia Tech. At 

the time, “The News in Public 

Roads”—the agency’s in-house 

newsletter—called the 22-yearold Cover the “Bureau’s prettiest 

engineer” and ran a photo of her 

in a cheerleading outfit twirling a 

baton. 

Cover worked for the Bureau 

for 2 years before leaving to start 

a family, shortly before the agency 

hired two more female engineers, 

Karen Porter and Judith Carlson. 

In an interview, Porter said her 

teachers encouraged her and took 

pride in the fact that a girl was 

studying civil engineering.

Not long after, in 1972, 

Janet Bonnema made history by 

becoming the first woman to 

work in a tunnel. After grad

uating from the University of 

Colorado–Boulder, she was hired 

in 1970 by the Colorado Highway 

Department as an engineering 

technician and was assigned to 

the Eisenhower Tunnel (then 

called the Straight Creek Tunnel) 

project on I–70, in the mountains 

west of Denver.

Despite having the proper 

training and being an avid rock 

climber, a downhill skier, a 

licensed pilot, and in better con

dition physically than many of 

the men on the project, Bonnema 

was assigned to a desk job 

because the workers in the tunnel 

would not work with a woman, 

believing that a woman’s presence 

in the tunnel would jinx it and 

cause men to die. In November 1972, Colorado changed its equal 

employment laws, and, after 18 months at a desk job, Bonnema 

was allowed to work in the tunnel. Her presence there prompted 

66 workers to walk off the job in protest, although they returned 

the following day.

She stayed with the project until its completion on March 8, 

1973, and went on to earn a master’s degree in civil engineering 

from the University of Colorado–Denver. She later moved to 

Florida where she spent many years working for the South Florida 

Water Management District. For her work in equal rights in the 

workplace, Bonnema was inducted posthumously into the Colo

rado Women’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 33

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FHWA Women Changing Transportation Today

Valeriya Remezova

On November 14, 2019, Remezova (shown here in 2017) received the USDOT Secretary’s Equal Employment 

Opportunity/Affirmative Action Award for her work with the FHWA Women’s Forum. The award recognizes 

achievement in supporting the agency’s efforts to identify, recruit, and retain diverse employees. 

© Valeriya Remezova.

Dr. Valeriya Remezova describes herself 

as “driven,” which is appropriate for 

anyone who has earned a Ph.D. in techni

cal sciences. Since joining FHWA in 2005, 

she has worked in the New York, Maine, 

and Vermont Division Offices and the 

National Highway Institute, and is cur

rently the Deputy Division Administrator 

in New Jersey. 

Remezova grew up in Turkmenistan 

and Ukraine and spent nearly a decade in 

various music- and sports-oriented schools. 

She was a junior quadrathlon champion at 

13 and a concert pianist at 15, before being 

accepted to the prestigious Odessa State 

Academy of Civil Engineering and Archi

tecture. She says, “My parents raised me as 

a strong and ambitious child,” hoping she 

would grow up to be “a happy, success

ful, and productive member of work and 

family communities.”

 When not working, Remezova enjoys 

golf and yoga. “Golf helps me to ratio

nalize or re-evaluate critical decisions I’ve 

made during the work week, as well as 

think about lessons learned,” she says. 

“Yoga helps me to let go of negative 

thoughts, release stress, and bring my focus 

back to what is the most important for 

me—finding inner power to balance my 

personal and professional life.” 

For women interested in a career with 

FHWA, Remezova says, “Go for it—I 

promise you will not regret it....One 

cannot have a better job anywhere else. 

The work schedule flexibilities, emotional 

intelligence support from your peers and 

supervisors, and opportunity to grow 

professionally while earning a great pension 

are outstanding.” 

Gail Edwards is a communications specialist in FHWA’s 

Office of Public Affairs. 

Source: FHWA.

Gail Edwards

Gail Edwards has been part of the FHWA 

family since 1991. She currently works in 

FHWA’s Office of Public Affairs, handling 

social media and editing a variety of publi

cations. In her free time, she is an accom

plished marathon runner and, though 

deaf, she has run six marathons since 2017 

as a guide for a deaf-blind runner. 

“I’m not sure I love running even to 

this day,” she says. “I’m not very natural at 

it. I used to play racquetball and tennis a 

lot....I played competitively in college one 

season. After college, I started working at 

FHWA, and, after a while, I found myself 

out of breath just climbing two flights of 

stairs. That bothered me so much that it 

spurred me into working out and running. 

The rest is history!” 

In her many years of running, Edwards 

has completed a full “century”—sports 

parlance for a ride that is 100 miles (160 

kilometers) or longer—and several “metric 

centuries”—rides that are 62 miles (100 

kilometers) or longer. In 2018, she ran 

three marathons within a few weeks of 

each other. “I’ve gotten better over the 

years, but not faster,” she says. “That’s 

perhaps my next goal.”

Growing up on Long Island, NY, and 

in south Florida, Edwards said her parents 

never pushed her into a specific career. 

“They just wanted me to be financially 

independent and comfortable,” she says.

For 2 years, she studied architecture 

at the University of Florida, but explains 

that her interest was actually in historic 

preservation. “[The university] didn’t have 

that concentration until later,” she says. 

“Otherwise I probably would have stayed. 

I transferred to Gallaudet University in 

Washington, DC, and graduated 3 years 

later with a degree in English writing with 

a minor in TV, film, and photography. I’m 

not going to mention how many goal and 

major changes I’ve made along the way, but 

law school was one of them.”
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She explains that when she began work 

at FHWA, it was at the end of a predom

inantly male engineering climate. “The 

Interstate [system] was more than 95 percent complete then, so I’ve constantly seen 

female leadership within the agency ever 

since,” she says. “During that time, we’ve 

had several female administrators and 

deputy administrators, and many female 

associate administrators and directors. We 

have good career programs for newcomers 

and career employees, such as professional 

and leadership development. All I can say 

is the agency is one big welcome mat for 

women who want to make a difference.” 

Jasmy Methipara discusses the summer Transportation YOU Summit to recruit applicants at a January 2017 event at 

Dunbar High School in Washington, DC. 

Source: FHWA.

Jasmy Methipara

If knowledge is power, Jasmy Methipara 

is one of FHWA’s most powerful people. 

She has earned an impressive trio of 

master’s degrees: one in chemistry from 

the University of California–San Diego, 

another in engineering from the University 

of Maryland, and a third in teaching from 

the City College of New York. Additionally, when she lived in Santiago, Chile, she 

earned a certification to teach English as a 

foreign language. 

“I don’t think very many people wake 

up and decide to enroll in three separate 

graduate programs,” she says. “I did not 

plan this—life took me along various twists 

and turns. I’ve never shied away from 

learning and school, so I followed inter

ests and opportunities as they presented 

themselves.” 

When she is not busy with a women’s 

basketball league or her school’s parentteacher-student association, Methipara 

(who joined FHWA in 2017) is an active 

member of Women’s Transportation 

Seminar (WTS) International. In 2018, 

she was named Member of the Year by its 

DC chapter. 

“The mission of WTS is to advance 

women in the field of transportation,” she 

says. “Though it is important to provide 

mentorship to professionals who are 

already in the field, it is also important to 

plant the seed early so young ladies envi

sion themselves as transportation profes

sionals from a young age.” 

“As a former high school teacher,” 

Methipara says, “I understand the need 

for students to not only master academic 

curriculum, but also see how various 

classes can be applied in the real world by 

real people.” 

Between her many family, work, 

and personal obligations, she says her 

time-management skills are constantly put 

to the test. “Basketball has contributed to 

my ability to work in a team in addition to 

improving my overall physical and mental 

health, but I also enjoy crocheting and 

cooking, which teach me creativity and 

resourcefulness,” she says. “Mentoring 

and parenting teach me patience, commu

nication, time management, negotiation, 

and—after multiple broken bones—crisis 

management as well.”

Her experiences have given her insights 

into how to succeed in balancing family 

and work. “It is important to pull from all 

your experiences, both professional and 

personal,” Methipara says. “Most of your 

life experiences contribute to your set 

of skills.”

Gloria Shepherd, currently the Associate Administrator 

for Planning, Environment, and Realty, has been with 

FHWA for two decades. 

Source: FHWA.

Gloria Shepherd

Associate Administrator Gloria Shepherd 

just celebrated her 20th anniversary 

working for FHWA and demonstrates an 

impressive diversity of accomplishments. 

She has run marathons; earned a master of 

law degree, juris doctorate, and a doctorate 

of humanities; and climbed Mt. Kiliman

jaro only days after having appendicitis. 

“The main reason I climbed it was to 

honor my best friend of more than 30 

years who had recently died of ovarian 

cancer,” she says. “I thought that because 

I was fit that I could make it even if it 

was a week or two after surgery. It was a 

journey I needed to take from a spiritual 

perspective. Also, it takes a long time to 

prepare for Mt. Kilimanjaro.”

“The preparation of the gear, espe

cially clothing, is challenging because of 

the number of climate zones,” she says. 

“Hikers begin in fairly warm weather and 

have to adjust to rain, hail, snow, and, of 

course, freezing temperatures near the 

summit. I did not want to wait another 

year, because I had prepared and was mentally psyched to do it.” 

Shepherd’s interests vary widely. Apart 

from running, mountain climbing, and 

traveling, she also enjoys reading history, 

particularly about events from the 18th 

and early 20th centuries. “I really enjoyed 

reading Robert Massie’s Peter the Great: His 

Life and World,” she says, adding that she 
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also likes music, “especially gospel, modern 

jazz, and rhythm/blues.” 

“Being a lawyer definitely helps me 

because of the policy work we do—such as 

drafting language for reauthorization, con

gressional requests, and the like,” she says. 

“Also, because I like to read, I think review

ing language thoroughly helps to find 

flexibilities in areas that we administer.”

Shepherd advises women to be choosy 

about their mentors. “Chemistry is important, so people should choose mentors with 

whom they can work well,” she says. “I 

also encourage women to learn as much as 

they can or need about other disciplines, 

especially ones that interact with theirs. An 

employee is more attractive if they have 

broad knowledge and skills rather than 

being pigeonholed. This agency 

rewards multiskilled staff.”

“Finally,” she says, “I read 

a saying that ‘A person should 

chase performance and not 

success because, if you perform, success will come.’ ” 

Amy Lucero with Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao and FHWA Administrator Nicole R. Nason. 

Source: FHWA.

Amy Lucero Earns Inaugural Award 

In 2019, FHWA introduced the Women Leaders in Transporta

tion Award. The award aims to honor female FHWA employ

ees who serve as outstanding role models in transportation 

through their extraordinary contributions, personal passion, 

and commitment to advancing the agency’s mission. FHWA 

grants the award to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the transportation industry and have 

advanced women and minorities through programs or oppor

tunities in the transportation field. These women have made a 

significant impact toward the accomplishment of the strategic 

goals of FHWA, USDOT, and the transportation industry. 

In a ceremony on December 4, 2019, FHWA Administrator 

Nicole R. Nason presented Amy Lucero with the inaugural 

award. Lucero, who joined the agency in 1989, currently 

serves as FHWA’s first Chief Technical Services Officer. In 

this role, she is responsible for the FHWA Resource Center, 

the National Highway Institute, and the agency’s focus on 

knowledge management, assuring a coordinated approach 

across FHWA for developing and enhancing the transportation 

workforce through technical training, technical assistance, 

and technology deployments. 

In her remarks, Administrator Nason said that Lucero’s 

“outstanding leadership and vision have played a critical role 

in building and strengthening the Nation’s transportation 

workforce....Her contributions are helping to ensure that 

FHWA’s employees and the Nation’s transportation workforce 

are prepared to meet current and future transportation chal

lenges and demands.”
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SPRING 2020

Pam Kordenbrock (left) and Sabrina David (right) made FHWA history as the first two women to serve 

together as Division Administrator and Deputy Division Administrator. 

© Pam Kordenbrock. © Sabrina David.

Pam Kordenbrock and Sabrina David: The Tennessee Titans

Pam Kordenbrock and Sabrina David—

FHWA’s Tennessee Division Administra

tor and Deputy Division Administrator, 

respectively—are the first two women to 

ever lead a division office. This year, they 

will celebrate their 10th anniversary of 

working together in leadership roles. When 

FHWA partnered them together as Divi

sion Administrator and Deputy Division 

Administrator (then titled Assistant Divi

sion Administrator), it was the first time in 

the agency’s history that had happened. 

“I didn’t think FHWA would ever put 

two women together,” says Kordenbrock, 

who also speaks Spanish, “but here we are 

10 years later, still together.” 

“The Tennessee Department of Trans

portation celebrated us for this achieve

ment,” she said, “as did the Tennessee 

Road Builders Association, which even put 

us on the cover of its magazine. By the 

way, it is only the second time women have 

ever been on the cover of that magazine.”

Paving the Way to a Better Tomorrow

© IPGGutenbergUKLtd / iStockphoto.

FHWA’s Offices of Human 

Resources and Civil Rights 

are actively working to attract, 

recruit, and retain more 

women—from visiting job fairs 

at more colleges and universities 

to running a progressive social 

media campaign to boost the 

agency’s online presence. 

“At the peak of the 2016–2017 

construction season,” Administra

tor Nason says, “there were more 

than 25,000 Federal-Aid Highway 

projects underway—employing 

nearly 389,000 journey-level men and 

women. Despite all those thousands 

of jobs, on thousands of projects, 

women made up less than 7 percent of 

the workforce.”

“That is obviously too low, and it is 

something I plan to address,” she says. 

“As Administrator, I want to do everything I can to ensure FHWA reflects the 

population it serves. Our agency’s workforce should mirror that of the American 

people.” 

Women make up a third of all positions 

at FHWA. “Without question, the roles 

for women in transportation are growing,” 

says Administrator Nason, “but making it 

possible for women to build the future is 

up to each of us.” 

DOUG HECOX is the senior career spokesman with 

FHWA’s Office of Public Affairs. He has a journalism degree from the University of Wyoming, has 

published two books, and teaches journalism and 

public relations writing at American University.
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EXPANDING the ROLE of 

WOMEN in TRANSPORTATION 

PROFESSIONS

Connecticut’s WTS chapter offers professional 

guidance and opportunities for women to pursue 

careers in transportation. 

Cheryl Malerba, chief of staff at the Connecticut Department of Transportation, speaks at the WTS Leadership 

Program in 2018. 

© Connecticut Department of Transportation.

by AMY JACKSON-GROVE 

How does the transportation industry attract women to careers in its sector? 

The Women’s Transportation Seminar 

(WTS) aims to provide answers. An international organization dedicated to building 

the future of transportation through global 

advancement of women, WTS boasts a 

network of more than 6,500 members 

(women and men), 79 chapters around the 

world and outreach to 40,000 transpor

tation professionals. Begun in 1977 and 

based in Washington, DC, WTS provides 

professional development through men

torship, networking, lectures, and chapter 

events. 

Each WTS chapter is unique. The WTS 

Connecticut Valley Chapter, now known as 

WTS-Connecticut (WTS-CT), was formed 

in 1992. In Connecticut, the chapter 

created its niche with programs that draw 

women and men to work together for 

the benefit of underrepresented female 

transportation professionals. Providing 

work opportunities, encouragement, and 

recognition to support women’s advance

ment in transportation careers constitutes 

the chapter’s long-standing mission.

“Women have gained a small foothold 

in transportation vocations in Connecti

cut,” says Bonnie Damato-Torres, president 

of the WTS-CT Board of Directors. “Vol

unteer chapter leaders and members have 

successfully initiated several key transporta

tion education projects.” 

Primary programs include the Transpor

tation Mini-Series, a 1-day annual confer

ence; the Student Outreach Program; a 

local scholarship program; and the recent 

Leadership Program. 

WTS-CT comprises more than 100 

active members, 25 corporate sponsors, 

and supporting public agencies. The 

chapter strives to create an inclusive 

environment for women in transportation 

statewide. WTS-CT has grown by present

ing enriching activities and information to 

meet the changing career needs of women 

working in various transportation modes 

and sectors at the local, State, and Federal 

levels. The following examples show how.

Transportation Mini-Series

The pinnacle program of WTS-CT is its 

Transportation Mini-Series. Held annually 

since 2007, this program brings in experts 

from around the country to speak on 

current and emerging topics and draws 

attendance from across the transportation 

industry. Subjects range from the latest on 

connected and autonomous vehicles and 

what they mean for infrastructure, safety, 

and transit, to drones, accelerated bridge 

construction techniques, and implement

ing urban bike networks. The conference 

captures interest from, and participation by, 

a wider audience with every year. In 2019, 

the program drew more than 150 attendees.

Student Outreach Program

WTS-CT’s Student Outreach is designed 

to improve science technology engineering 

and math skills at the high school level, by 

informing students about exciting jobs in 

transportation and encouraging them to 

take transportation-related college curricula 

in pursuit of a transportation career. 

College, high school, and middle school 

girls and women in Connecticut, along 

with their teachers, have been successfully participating in WTS-CT events and 

activities related to transportation careers 

since 2011, and momentum is building. 

In all, approximately 800 students have 

participated during 9 years of the Student 

Outreach Program.

The chapter’s success in identifying 

partners with similar goals is the founda

tion of the work of the Student Outreach 

Committee. WTS-CT has formed strong 

educational partnerships with the Univer

sity of Hartford, Trinity College, Central 

Connecticut State University, University 

of Connecticut, Mitchell College, Uni

versity of St. Joseph, Naugatuck Valley 

Community College, Connecticut Science 

Center, New England Air Museum, and 

Belden Public Library in Rocky Hill, CT. 

The chapter has also forged important 

partnerships with organizations such as the 

Girl Scouts of Connecticut, Connecticut 
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WTS-CT organized this tour of the Groton-New London Airport for a group of local Girl Scouts during a student 

outreach event. 

© Central Connecticut State University.

Women’s Education and Legal Fund, and 

Society of Women Engineers, as well as 

with State agencies such as the Connecticut 

Department of Transportation (CTDOT)

and Connecticut Airport Authority, and the 

regional planning government councils. 

The WTS-CT Student Outreach Com

mittee’s main objective is to encourage 

young women to pursue careers in the 

transportation industry and to see themselves as unlimited in their potential to 

change the future. To that end, committee 

members were particularly inspired during 

a recent chapter-sponsored field trip to 

Bradley International Airport. The students 

expressed amazement upon learning how 

their State was the first in the country 

to use the “extradosed” design method 

at the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge on 

I–95 in New Haven, CT. The innova

tive extradosed design, a hybrid between 

cable-stayed and box girder bridge designs, 

enables the bridge towers to be shorter, 

which is necessary for the air traffic in and 

out of the nearby airport.

Scholarship Program 

In 2007, WTS-CT started a local scholarship program for undergraduate women 

interested in careers in the transportation 

industry. For the inaugural year, the chapter 

awarded one $1,000 scholarship. Since its 

inception, the scholarship program has 

grown considerably and now includes two 

graduate scholarships, each in the amount 

of $1,000; two undergraduate scholarships, 

each in the amount of $1,000; and a com

munity college/trade school scholarship 

in the amount of $500. To date, WTS-CT 

has awarded scholarships to a total of 24 

women pursuing careers in transportation. 

Leadership Program

In January 2017, WTS-CT launched its 

newest program—the WTS Connecti

cut Leadership Program. “This exciting 

homegrown program empowers WTS-CT 

members by providing speakers and 

programs that focus on core competencies 

necessary to become effective leaders and 

managers,” says Cheryl Malerba, chief of 

staff at CTDOT. “WTS-CT membership 

and networks provide talent and expertise 

to locate pro bono services and low-cost 

programs.” 

Each module runs approximately 90 

minutes to 2 hours in length and links to 

one of the core leadership competencies 

such as professional accountability, technol

ogy, critical thinking and decisionmaking, 

and strategic planning. When a participant 

completes 5, 10, or 15 modules, she or he 

is awarded with certificates at the silver, 

gold, or platinum level, respectively. In 2 

years, WTS-CT has awarded nine silver and 

three gold certificates and will award its 

highest recognition, the platinum award, 

this year in 2020.

Looking to the Future

WTS-CT looks forward to celebrating 

women in transportation for years to come. 

In 2017, to celebrate its accomplishments, 

the chapter hosted a 25th anniversary gala 

where past board members, corporate 

sponsors, partners, and advocates came 

together to toast a quarter century of 

achievements. Damato-Torres says, “The 

WTS-CT chapter remains steadfast in its 

goal to advance women in transportation 

and prides itself in the growth of the chap

ter’s programs to support this mission.” 

AMY JACKSON-GROVE is the Division Adminis

trator for the Federal Highway Administration’s 

Connecticut Division. In this position, she leads a 

staff of 19 professionals and works closely with 

the leadership at the Connecticut Department of 

Transportation, metropolitan planning organiza

tions, local government, and the Local Technical 

Assistance Program at the University of Con

necticut in implementing the Federal-Aid Highway 

Program in Connecticut. Amy holds a bachelor’s 

degree in civil engineering from the University of 

New Hampshire. 

For more information, visit 

www.wtsinternational.org/connecticut.

Conference attendees mingle at the WTS Transportation Mini-Series in October 2019. 

© Connecticut Department of Transportation.
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EXAMINING INSIGHTS, INCLUSION, 

AND IMPACT ACROSS THE GLOBE

The 6th International Conference on Women’s Issues in Transportation 

put gender-specific challenges in the spotlight.

by SHARI SCHAFTLEIN and JASMY METHIPARA 

T he Federal Highway Administration has long demonstrated through policy, 

programs, guidance, and research the 

importance of the Nation’s transportation 

system to support users of all ages and 

abilities. Continuous and deliberate efforts 

must occur to meet this goal, particu

larly to achieve a seamless multimodal 

system. Through various multi-stakeholder 

workshops, conferences, and initiatives, 

the transportation industry is breaking 

down user groups by factors such as age, 

ability, ethnicity, geography, and income to 

evaluate how well it is serving the needs of 

identified groups. 

In 2005, the number of female licensed 

drivers eclipsed males in the United States. 

The workforce gender gap has steadily 

narrowed. Both of these factors have con

tributed to the overall rise in both vehicle 

trips and person trips. Because women are 

an increasing segment of transport system 

users and also most at risk for harass

ment and trafficking, it is imperative that 

efforts be made to improve their safety and 

security. 

Gender-specific aspects of travel and 

transportation were the focus of the 

6th International Conference on Wom

en’s Issues in Transportation hosted by 

the Transportation Research Board in 

September 2019 in Irvine, CA. Little 

research has been done to understand the 

major obstacles and constraints encoun

tered by women travelers and women 

workers in the transportation industry. 

This conference aimed to focus on and 

explore in depth the need and oppor

tunity such research affords to improve 

policies, actions, and outcomes for 

individuals facing gender-based disparity 

in transportation.

“Today’s society continues to set expec

tations for transportation to demonstrate 

inclusion, diversity, and equity in all that 

we do,” says Therese McMillan, executive 

director of California’s Metropolitan Trans

portation Commission and a conference 

co-chair. 

After five previous conferences docu

menting gender differences since 1978, 

this conference emphasized a focus on 

not only insights and inclusion, but also 

on impact. Is the acquired knowledge and 

awareness, along with society’s attention 

on gender equality, influencing progress 

on issues important to women? Through 

plenary, technical, poster, and social events, 

349 participants (including 71 interna

tional participants and 

60 students) reflected on 

a variety of topics such 

as personal safety, travel 

behavior, workforce devel

opment, new technolo

gies, biking, policy, and 

inclusion/equity.

ABOVE: The 6th International 

Conference on Women’s Issues 

in Transportation focused on 

gender-specific challenges, 

insights, and impacts. 

© TRB.

LEFT: Gwen Kash, a Postdoctoral 

Fellow at Georgia Tech, presents a 

poster at the conference. 

© TRB.
40 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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USDOT Participation

Beyond financial sponsorship through 

FHWA, participants from FHWA, the 

Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and 

USDOT’s Office of the Secretary (OST) 

attended the conference and contributed in 

many ways. 

To promote awareness of the confer

ence, TR News dedicated its May–June 

2019 issue to women and gender in 

transportation. In the issue, FHWA’s 

Wesley Blount, Jr., a transportation spe

cialist with FHWA’s Office of Human 

Environment, authored an article titled 

“Challenges of Bicycling and Walking 

Faced by Minority Women in Low-Income 

Communities.” The article describes how 

bike organizations are providing safe 

spaces for minority women to ride together 

to enhance skills and develop relationships. Also highlighted is FHWA’s role 

in providing technical assistance to State 

departments of transportation to improve 

safety and equity in low-income areas. 

The May–June 2019 issue of TR News is 

available online at www.trb.org 

/Publications/Blurbs/179900.aspx. 

Shari Schaftlein of the FHWA Office 

of Planning, Environment, and Realty 

served as liaison to the Standing Com

mittee on Women’s Issues in Transpor

tation (ABE70), which organized the 

conference. Schaftlein also moderated 

the opening plenary, designed to gain 

insights on how women’s travel behav

ior has changed in the past 30 years in 

Asia, Europe, and the United States. 

The most notable trend is the change in 

commute patterns that reflects wom

en’s increased role in the workplace. All 

presenters agreed that more nuanced 

data collection schemes must account for 

multimodal trip generation associated with 

caregiving roles and other trip chaining. 

These travel patterns are very common for 

workers involved in the gig economy where 

jobs are typically temporary or part time.

Women and Gender 

in Transportation

Stretch Limousine 

Regulatory Reform

One Committee’s Strategic Plan

Pilot Asphalt Overlay Project

PLUS

TR 

NEWS

May–June 2019 NUMBER 321

© TRB.

Panel Discussion on Collaborative Research

In a panel discussion, Danyell Diggs, a 

senior transportation program analyst from 

the FTA Office of Research, Demonstra

tion, and Innovation; Patricia Hu, director 

of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics; 

and Jasmy Methipara, a research analyst 

from the FHWA Office of Transporta

tion Policy Studies, framed the future for 

women in transportation through collab

orative research with their counterparts in 

the European Commission. 

Diggs presented FTA’s approach to inte

grated mobility innovation, which fosters 

the complete trip. The complete trip is a 

holistic concept. If one link in a trip chain 

is not accessible or achievable, the chain 

is broken, the trip effectively ends, and an 

opportunity is lost. 

Methipara shared gender 

insights from Federal data, 

specifically from sources such 

as FHWA’s National Household 

Travel Survey, the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Adminis

tration’s Fatality Analysis Report

ing System, and the U.S. Census 

Bureau’s American Community Survey. 

Methipara emphasized understanding new 

data and opportunities and combining 

them with existing data sources to improve 

insight into travel behavior trends. 

“Separating data by gender tells a more 

complete story and is very important to 

fully meet the travel needs of the American 

people,” says Methipara.

Emphasizing the theme of the con

ference, Methipara’s 

presentation reminded 

attendees how good 

data improve women’s 

inclusion in the trans

portation space, pro

vide insight into their 

travel behavior, and 

impact service quality 

for female travelers.

The related work 

underway at the European Commission is 

well described in the 2019 report, Women 

in European Transport with a Focus on Research 

and Innovation (EUR 29833 EN), available at 

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository 

/bitstream/JRC117687/kjna29833enn_1.pdf.

In addition to the presenters, FHWA’s 

Francine Shaw Whitson, then a senior 

advisor with FHWA’s Office of Infrastruc

ture (now retired), recorded the session. 

Shaw Whitson compared what she heard 

from the panelists with her experience of 

representing FHWA with the World Road 

Association (PIARC). Many of the issues 

identified during the panel are similar to 

issues faced in Africa, Asia, and Europe, 

including the employment of women in 

the road sector, gathering data on women 

as road users, and improving accessibility 

to economic opportunities and services 

for women. 

ABOVE: The accessibility of a complete trip can be defined in terms of an individual’s 

ability to go from origin to destination without gaps in the travel chain. 

Source: FHWA.

LEFT: Representatives from FHWA, FTA, and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the 

European Commission participated in a panel on possibilities for collaborative research. 

Source: FHWA.
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Combating Human Trafficking 

OST’s Office of International Transporta

tion and Trade took the lead in coordinat

ing a session on combating human traffick

ing in the transportation sector. Panelists 

spotlighted USDOT’s counter-trafficking 

initiatives, early results from a National 

Cooperative Highway Research Program 

study on State DOTs, and the efforts of 

the Pennsylvania Department of Transpor

tation’s (PennDOT). 

On behalf of Julie Abraham, the 

director of the Office of International 

Transportation and Trade, panelist Maha 

Alkhateeb, a transportation research analyst 

in the same office, provided an overview of 

USDOT’s human trafficking initiative and 

the final report from the USDOT Advi

sory Committee on Human Trafficking 

(ACHT). Alkhateeb highlighted USDOT’s 

efforts to combat human trafficking in 

the transportation sector by working with 

public and private stakeholders through 

leadership engagement, employee training, 

public awareness, and funding. The ACHT 

report includes useful tools and resources 

to bolster countertrafficking efforts by 

transportation stakeholders, including a 

model comprehensive strategy with asso

ciated policies and protocols, training and 

awareness best practices, quick implemen

tation guides, and sample materials. The 

report is available at www.transportation.gov

/administrations/office-policy/advisory 

-committee-human-trafficking.

Potential research opportunities exist 

for public and private research partners 

to collectively close the data gap on the 

intersection of human trafficking and 

transportation. Opportunities include the 

method and frequency of transportation 

used during recruitment and operations, 

victim interactions with transportation 

stakeholders, modal indicators of traffick

ing, and survivor transportation needs. 

NCHRP 20-121, State DOT Contributions 

to the Study, Investigation, and Interdiction 

of Human Trafficking, found that State 

DOTs are interested in understanding how 

their organizations can help combat this 

crime. Panelist Chris Baglin, the principal 

investigator for the study, described various 

approaches that State DOTs can take to 

support law enforcement and assist victims, 

such as training to identify the signs of the 

crime in a transportation setting and insti

tuting processes for reporting suspected 

incidents. 

In 2014, Pennsylvania passed com

prehensive anti-trafficking legislation. 

In 2018, the National Human Traffick

ing Hotline received 630 calls from the 

State resulting in 275 pursued cases. To 

combat trafficking, PennDOT provides 

interactive web-based training to all DOT 

and transit agency employees, distributes 

Truckers Against Trafficking wallet cards 

at all driver license centers, posts public 

service announcements on all social media 

channels and the televised Motor Vehicle 

Network, and partners with other transpor

tation entities to spread awareness.

From left to right, Chris Baglin; Elizabeth Connell (moder

ator), a transportation engineer with a consulting firm; 

Emma Lowe, the special assistant to Pennsylvania’s 

Secretary of Transportation; and Maha Alkhateeb, a 

transportation research analyst with USDOT’s Office of 

International Transportation and Trade, spoke on a panel 

about combatting human trafficking in the transporta

tion sector. 

Source: FHWA.

Gender Differences in Driving, Biking, and Safety

A popular poster at the con

ference was “Gender 

Trends and 

Differences in Driving, Biking, and Safety.” 

The poster drew a crowd and inspired 

debate on why such significant gender dif

ferences exist. FHWA’s Schaftlein, with the 

help of data graphics staff at FHWA and 

the Federal Railroad Administra

tion, combined several 

infographics to 

tell the story. 

The poster highlighted statistics such as: 

• In fatal crashes, more males were 

speeding than females, and males 

are involved in fatal crashes at a 

significantly higher rate. 

• Fewer than 3 in 10 railroad crossing 

fatalities involve women. 

• In 2017, women drivers outnumbered 

men for the twelfth straight year. 

The number of women drivers has 

doubled in the last 50 years and 

exceeds men in every cohort group 

over 34 years of age.

• Women are generally safer drivers 

based on total crashes, trips taken, 

and number of licensed drivers, but 

slightly worse for miles traveled. 

• Men account for 9 out of 10 cyclist 

fatalities. 

Shari Schaftlein displays USDOT’s poster on “Gender 

Trends and Differences in Driving, Biking, and Safety.” 

Source: FHWA.
42 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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Safety and Security

The most jarring statistics, which show 

how far we must go to ensure safe travel 

for women, come from the reports on 

harassment and violence against women in 

transport and public spaces. The challenge 

spans across the globe in transit, walking, 

and biking. 

A 2014 survey of 16 major cities 

worldwide found that women in Latin 

American cities suffered the highest rates 

of harassment, with about 6 in 10 women 

physically harassed on transport systems. 

In Mexico City, 64 percent of women 

said they had been groped or physically 

harassed on public transportation. An 

onboard passenger survey by LA Metro 

in 2018 found 26 percent of female riders 

and 21 percent of male riders had experi

enced sexual harassment on transit over the 

6 months prior. An online survey of 1,000 

riders by the Washington Metropolitan 

Area Transit Authority in 2018 found 21 

percent of respondents had experienced 

sexual harassment on public transportation 

and that women were nearly twice as likely 

as men to be victims. Across the literature, 

sexual crime against women in transit 

(cases of staring, touching, groping, ejacu

lation, exposing genitalia, and full rape) is 

highly underreported, and can occur when 

walking to and from bus or subway stops, 

as well as while waiting for and riding on 

public transit.

To help draw attention to the issue, 

FHWA’s Office of International Programs 

and TRB program staff identified contacts 

across the world working on women’s 

transportation security issues to share their 

stories via video. Participants received 

video instructions and interview questions 

and arranged local filming. Responses cov

ered efforts to document harassment, lewd 

behavior, and violence; create awareness of 

the issue with decisionmakers; and advance 

security initiatives. 

FHWA helped to compile the interviews 

and produce the 27-minute video with the 

San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation 

Commission’s videographer, Mark Johnson. 

The video includes content from Austra

lia, Europe, India, the Philippines, South 

America, and the United States repre

senting academics, nonprofits, national 

governments, cities, and international orga

nizations. The concluding call to action for 

all transportation practitioners and young 

adults contemplating a career in transporta

tion is to help women reach their potential 

by not limiting their travel choices because 

of fear. The video is available at www.cvent 

.com/events/6th-international-conference 

-on-women-s-issues-in-transportation/custom 

-113-c01736980c964d8093c8e32fc031e3b2.aspx.

FHWA helped produce a video about women’s transportation security issues titled, “Women’s Safety & Security,” 

which was shown at the conference. 

Source: FHWA.

Framing the Future

USDOT participants took turns staffing an 

information booth during the conference. 

The resounding sentiment was that it was 

a pleasure to network with students and 

young professionals who came to visit the 

booth. It provided a chance to educate 

them about the range of career opportuni

ties and academic pathways to enter and to 

thrive in a transportation career. 

Increasing the number of women in 

the transportation workforce in all modes 

and at all levels is integral in the advo

cacy for women’s issues as transportation 

users. Women’s voices must help frame 

the future of the U.S. transportation 

system through greater awareness and 

understanding regarding women’s travel 

behaviors, safety and health considerations, 

technology, engineering and infrastructure 

impacts, and policies addressing gender in 

transportation. 

Asha Weinstein Agrawal, PhD, the 

director of education for the Mineta 

Transportation Institute and the confer

ence’s co-chair, says, “Whether it is through 

scooters, electric bikes, automated vehicles, 

microtransit, or other mobility on demand 

services, there is still a lot of work to do 

to ensure that the mobility of the future 

will, out of the gate, meet the needs of 

women.” 

SHARI SCHAFTLEIN is the director of FHWA’s Office 

of Human Environment. She has 34 years of 

public service spanning Tribal, State, and Federal 

governments and nonprofits. She has held leadership positions in the FHWA Office of Planning, 

Environment, and Realty for the past 16 years. 

JASMY METHIPARA is a research analyst in 

FHWA’s Office of Transportation Policy Studies. 

She is leading research efforts that use data in 

innovative ways to identify and analyze transpor

tation policy issues. She has a master of science 

in engineering from the University of Maryland.

For more information, see www.cvent.com 

/events/6th-international-conference-on 

-women-s-issues-in-transportation/custom-113 

-c01736980c964d8093c8e32fc031e3b2.aspx or 

contact Shari Schaftlein at 202–366–5570 

or Shari.Schaftlein@dot.gov.

Eileen Ryder speaks at the 6th International Conference on 

Women’s Issues in Transportation. 

© TRB.
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44 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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ALONG THE ROAD

Along the Road is the place to look for information about current and upcoming activities, developments, trends, and items of general interest to 

the highway community. This information comes from U.S. Department of Transportation sources unless otherwise indicated. Your suggestions 

and input are welcome. Let’s meet along the road.

Public Information and Information Exchange

USDOT Combats Human Trafficking 

In January, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao called on 

transportation leaders to help “put the brakes on human traffick

ing” and announced $5.4 million in grants awarded through the 

Federal Transit Administration’s Human Trafficking Awareness 

and Public Safety Initiative. 

Secretary Chao says that USDOT “is committed to working 

with our public and private partners to fight human trafficking on 

America’s transportation system.” More than 440 organizations 

have signed on to the Secretary’s “Transportation Leaders Against 

Human Trafficking” pledge.

A number of USDOT initiatives are underway to increase 

awareness of human trafficking and equip transportation industry 

employees and the public with strategies to fight it. More than 

53,000 USDOT employees receive mandatory counter-trafficking 

training, including special instruction for bus and truck inspec

tors. The Department also works with Federal agencies and 

nongovernmental organizations to develop and distribute a suite 

of human trafficking awareness training tailored for the aviation, 

rail, motor coach, trucking, and transit industries.

For more information, visit www.transportation.gov 

/stophumantrafficking.

Source: USDOT.

Secretary Chao Announces New Safety Initiatives 

At the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting 

in January, Secretary Chao announced transportation initiatives 

aimed at harnessing new and existing technologies to improve 

safety for the traveling public and first responders.

USDOT is beginning the next phase of the Partnership for 

Analytics Research in Traffic Safety (PARTS) program. PARTS II 

expands participation in the PARTS program to include almost 

70 percent of the U.S. automobile market and will collect data on 

additional advanced driver-assistance systems, such as adaptive 

cruise control and lane keep assist. Results derived from analysis 

of up-to-date, real-world performance data will assist researchers 

in assessing the safety effectiveness of these systems. PARTS is 

a voluntary, data-driven safety partnership between USDOT’s 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the automo

bile industry. 

Secretary Chao also announced a new program designed to 

help avoid traffic accidents and save the lives of first responders 

rushing to aid in emergencies. The Department intends to invest 

up to $38 million for the First Responder Safety Technology Pilot 

Program that will help equip emergency response vehicles and 

key infrastructure with vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communica

tion technology. These systems will use the 5.9 GHz Safety Band 

of spectrum currently allocated by the Federal Communications 

Commission for use in transportation systems. 

Finally, the Department is endorsing a standardized listing 

of terminology for recommended advanced driver-assistance 

systems through an initiative entitled Clearing the Confusion, 

spearheaded by the National Safety Council, American Automo

bile Association, Consumer Reports, and J.D. Power. Currently, 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 45

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LEFT: Two new publications from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center 

provide information about micromobility, including e-scooters. 

© Joaquin Corbalan P / Shutterstock.

there is variance among manufacturers. Standard language will 

ensure drivers are aware that these systems are designed to assist, 

not replace, an engaged driver.

For more information, visit www.transportation.gov/briefing-room 

/us-transportation-secretary-elaine-l-chao-announces-new-initiatives 

-improve-safety.

Volpe Center Celebrates 50 Years

The year 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of USDOT’s Volpe 

National Transportation Systems Center. 

To commemorate the event, the Volpe Center unveiled new 

resources celebrating its five-decade journey addressing the 

Nation’s most pressing transportation challenges. These include 

Five Decades, a retrospective publication showcasing the center’s 

most innovative work; a visual 50-year timeline of events, project 

milestones, and points in time since the center’s establishment in 

1970; and a video celebrating Volpe’s workforce. The center also 

hosted a special anniversary exhibit at the TRB Annual Meeting, 

USDOT Headquarters, and the Federal Aviation Administration 

in January. 

USDOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Tech

nology Diana Furchtgott-Roth says, “Volpe does unparalleled 

research. All of us at the Department of Transportation are for

tunate to be able to have such a large pool of talent just a phone 

call away.”

“Our 50th anniversary is an opportunity to look back on the 

impact of our accomplishments—and look forward to a bright 

future,” says Volpe Center Director Anne D. Aylward. “We want 

to thank our USDOT partners and other dedicated colleagues 

who have been part of this amazing journey, and we look forward 

to celebrating with you over the next 50 years and beyond.” 

For more information, visit www.volpe.dot.gov/news/

celebrate-50th-anniversary.

Source: Volpe Center

Interactive Map Aims to Encourage Investment in 

Underserved Communities

USDOT recently released a new interactive map highlighting 

Federal investment in major projects located in and around 

Opportunity Zones across the country. Opportunity Zones are 

economically distressed communities designated by the United 

States Secretary of the Treasury to incentivize economic invest

ment in these areas. The designation was created by the 2017 Tax 

Cut and Jobs Act.

The map provides detailed information about vital infrastruc

ture resources located near Opportunity Zones to help determine 

the range of potential economic investments. It illustrates data 

sets for major Federal highway projects, interstate exits, National 

Highway System bridges, intercity bus stations, commuter and 

light rail stations, Amtrak, intermodal rail and marine facilities, 

major ports, airports, and more. 

For more information, visit www.transportation.gov 

/opportunity-zones/opportunity-zones-interactive-map.

PBIC Releases New Micromobility Resources 

Two new resources from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information 

Center (PBIC) offer contextual and applied insight into micromo

bility, including e-scooters.

The Basics of Micromobility and Related Motorized Devices for 

Personal Transport provides an overview of powered forms of 

micromobility and compares features of micromobility with a 

spectrum of other traditional and emerging forms of transporta

tion. With a surge of new personal transportation devices coming 

to the market, some integrated into shared ride systems (such 

as bikeshare programs), there is a need to establish a common 

vocabulary for these options and provide basic information about 

how these devices are classified and regulated. The publication is 

available at http://pedbikeinfo.org/MicromobilityBasics.

The second resource, E-Scooter Management in Midsized Cities 

in the United States, documents practices related to micromobility, specifically e-scooters, in nine midsized U.S. cities. The 

scan includes feedback from city staff about challenges and 

opportunities that emerged with e-scooter adoption, includ

ing permitting and regulatory issues, potential safety concerns, 

and infrastructure design observations. It documents anec

dotal evidence and noteworthy practices, and also identifies 

issues for future discussion. The publication is available at 

http://pedbikeinfo.org/E-ScooterManagement.

Source: PBIC

Volpe Center Helps Preserve Natural Sounds in 

National Parks

Natural sounds are a vital part of a park visitor’s experience. 

Whether it is the sound of an owl hooting, a stream running 

through a historical site, or wind blowing through vegetation, 

these sounds are a quintessential part of the visitor experience. 

USDOT’s Volpe Center supports the Natural Sounds and Night 

Skies Division (NSNSD) of the National Park Service in its 

work to protect, maintain, and restore acoustical environments 

throughout the National Park System.

Traffic is one of the most common sources of noise that 

detracts from the natural soundscape. The National Park Service 

maintains approximately 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) of paved 

roads and 7,000 miles (11,300 kilometers) of unpaved roads. The 

traditional noise mitigation technique of building noise walls is 

not practical in the parks due to the long stretches of roadways 

that must be protected as well as disruption of views and animal 

movements. Quieter pavements provide a good alternative to 

noise barriers since they do not disrupt views or inhibit animal 

movement on already established roads. The challenges of quieter 

pavements include performance changes over time coupled with 

lifespan requirements that can be unique to national parks.
46 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

ABOVE: The Volpe team collected roadside pavement noise data 

as part of the study for the National Park Service. 

Source: Volpe Center.

LEFT: The Volpe team used vehicle-mounted equipment as well as 

roadside equipment to study pavement noise in National Parks. 

Source: Volpe Center.

ALONG THE ROAD

The Volpe Center is supporting NSNSD in conducting a 

pilot study of common pavement resurfacing treatments in 

Death Valley National Park to determine which may provide the 

most benefit in terms of noise reduction over time. The study 

involves measuring the noise levels before and after applying four 

different surface treatments. Measurements a month after the 

treatments have been applied show a difference in noise levels of 

almost 3 decibels between the treatments, the equivalent of nearly 

a 50-percent reduction in traffic volume. The study is planned to 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 47

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span 5 years, and researchers currently are preparing to measure 

the performance of the pavements after the third year.

For more information, contact Aaron Hastings at 

Aaron.Hastings@dot.gov.

Source: Volpe Center

Rhode Island Launches DUI Initiative

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), 

Rhode Island State Police, and the Rhode Island Attorney Gen

eral Office recently announced the creation of a new task force 

dedicated to reducing the number of tragedies associated with 

impaired driving. Despite recent strides in reducing deaths related 

to alcohol-impaired driving, Rhode Island is in the top third of 

States with the highest percentage of fatalities involving impaired 

drivers. In 2017 and 2018 combined, more than 50 people were 

killed by impaired driving on Rhode Island roads.

This new unit of the Rhode Island State Police, which began 

its work in mid-November, consists of a significantly increased 

overnight road presence. All State Police members assigned to the 

unit have been trained and certified in impaired driving detection 

techniques, including standard field sobriety tests, breathalyzer 

operation, and drug recognition. In the first month of operation, 

the unit completed 97 shifts, arrested 90 people—49 of them for 

driving under the influence—and issued 684 citations. In addi

tion, responders investigated 56 crashes, with nearly 30 percent 

of them involving a suspected impaired driver.

Though RIDOT has traditionally provided funds to State and 

local police for specific enforcement periods, typically around 

holidays and busy travel periods, this marks the first time Rhode 

Island will have a year-round unit of troopers dedicated to 

enhancing public safety by enforcing impaired driving laws.

For more information, visit www.ri.gov/press/view/37356.

Source: RIDOT

Unmanned Boats Help with Michigan Bridge Inspections

When the water level in local rivers and streams rises during 

storm events, it can create concerns about the impact on highway bridges. Inspectors need real-time data on what’s happening 

beneath the turbulent surge, but getting into the water for a visual 

inspection is risky. 

To address this safety concern, the Michigan Department of 

Transportation (MDOT) has been evaluating small remotecontrolled boats for safer and more efficient bridge inspections. 

Scour, the erosion or degradation of the streambed around a 

bridge’s substructure, is a leading cause of bridge failure. MDOT 

routinely inspects bridges for scour around abutments and piers. 

Typically, this involves inspectors launching a boat and probing 

the channel bottom with metal rods, weighted tape measures, 

or sonar devices. During high-flow events, this can be a danger

ous task.

MDOT is strategically placing four unmanned surface vessels 

equipped with sonar units throughout the State to inspect bridges 

for scour during high-flow events. In addition, the agency plans 

to use the technology for other applications as appropriate, 

including getting images of bridge substructure below water, 

viewing the underside of bridges, and documenting performance 

characteristics. 

For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/mdot 

/0,4616,7-151-9620-512162--,00.html.

Source: MDOT

Dr. Kelly Regal joined FHWA in January 2020. 

Source: USDOT.

Personnel

FHWA Welcomes Dr. Kelly Regal

In January, Dr. Kelly Regal was named Associate Administrator 

for Research, Development, and Technology with the Federal 

Highway Administration.

Dr. Regal previously served as the Associate Administrator 

for Research and Information Technology in the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). In that role, she acted 

as the principal executive and advisor to FMCSA leadership 

on commercial motor vehicle research programs, safety data 

statistical and analysis programs, carrier licensing and insurance 

requirements, and stakeholder customer service. Previously, Dr. 

Regal served as the FMCSA Chief Information Officer and 

the Director, Office of Information Technology, where she 

directed a comprehensive information technology modernization 

program. 

Dr. Regal joined FMCSA in 2009 and has worked in the 

transportation industry for her entire career, beginning with the 

Federal Aviation Administration. She has more than 30 years of 

research, engineering, and information technology leadership 

and management experience from the private sector and in the 

Federal Government. 

Dr. Regal holds a Ph.D. in transportation engineering from the 

New Jersey Institute of Technology, an M.S. in aviation science 

and management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 

and a B.S. in Computer Science from Seton Hall University. 
48 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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INTERNET WATCH

Resources for Alternative Fuels and Vehicles

by DIANE TURCHETTA and CARRIE BORIS 

Alternative fuel vehicles are becoming more and more common on U.S. roads. These fuel types include biodiesel, 

electric, ethanol, hydrogen, natural gas (both compressed and 

liquefied), and propane. But concern over the availability and 

convenience of charging and refueling stations may make some 

drivers hesitate to undertake long trips.

The Federal Highway Administration and its partners aimed to 

address these concerns by establishing alternative fuel corridors. 

These designated corridors on the National Highway System 

improve the mobility of passenger and commercial vehicles that 

employ alternate fueling technologies across the United States. 

For more information, see “Refueling America” in the Winter 

2018 issue of Public Roads.

A One-Stop Reference

The variety of potential users of alternative fuel corridors means 

a lot of different questions. Where can I park my electric freight 

truck? Will a hybrid electric vehicle or a natural gas vehicle 

be more cost-effective? How can our county establish a clean 

freight corridor?

To help, FHWA supported a pooled fund initiative led by the 

Oregon Department of Transportation to produce the webbased Alternative Fuel Toolkit. The toolkit includes sections to 

Learn, Plan, and Act, as well as information about webinars and 

regional meetings. The toolkit is available at http://altfueltoolkit.org.

The Learn section provides the fundamentals of alternative 

fuels and vehicles with fact sheets, interactive graphics, and links 

to industry literature. The Plan section offers links to online tools, 

maps, calculators, and funding resources to help interested indi

viduals and organizations create a plan for deploying alternative 

fuels and vehicles. The Act section provides additional materials 

including case studies, workshop summaries, webinars, and an 

interactive Action Guide to help users take action on deploying 

alternative fuels and vehicles. The team developed the resources 

in conjunction with a set of national workshops, so the resources 

reflect the latest stakeholder input and research.

Source: FHWA.

How Long Is that Drive?

One of the latest tools in the program’s arsenal is the Alternative 

Fuel Corridor Measurement Tool. Developed by FHWA in coor

dination with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable 

Energy Laboratory, the tool is intended to help State and local 

officials analyze alternative fuel corridors in their State or region. 

It can be used to measure the driving distance along interstate 

highways between stations that meet user-selected criteria for the 

various alternative fuels. The measurement tool is an expansion 

of the Alternative Fueling Station Locator tool available from 

the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center. It 

is available from the Plan section of the toolkit or directly at 

https://afdc.energy.gov/stations/#/corridors.

Source: FHWA.

For more information, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment 

/alternative_fuel_corridors.

DIANE TURCHETTA is a transportation specialist in the Office of Planning, 

Environment, and Realty. 

CARRIE BORIS is a contributing editor for Public Roads.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 49

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TRAINING UPDATE

Establishing Public-Private Partnerships

by GAY DUGAN, VANESSA ALMONY, and AMBER CLARK 

Addressing the complex transportation problems facing State and local governments has been the Federal Highway 

Administration’s focal point for improving project development. 

To address this issue, the National Highway Institute collaborated 

with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America 

Bureau and FHWA’s Center for Innovative Finance Support 

in the Office of Innovative Program Delivery to offer a new 

instructor-led training: Public-Private Partnerships (FHWANHI-231033). Public-private partnerships (P3s) are an efficient, 

risk-aware contract method that can help overcome project devel

opment concerns. This course was designed to ensure that local, 

State, and regional transportation agencies gain the knowledge 

they need to incorporate P3s in their appropriate projects.

A Customized Program

The P3 course is unique in its modular approach, as it is cus

tomized to each agency’s training needs. Hosts may choose from 

13 modules, which range from basic to advanced workshops. 

Participants at all levels of understanding benefit from this cus

tomized learning experience. An agency might choose the basic 

course, the basic plus some intermediate or advanced lessons, 

or only more advanced topics; the choice is made to meet the 

needs of each agency’s specific requirements. The basic modules 

teach participants how to successfully use P3s, while the more 

advanced courses integrate FHWA’s P3-VALUE Analytical Tool 

to better understand the analysis and evaluation of P3s from both 

public and private perspectives. The tool is intended to assist 

practitioners in the planning and high-level screening evaluation 

of P3 procurements, not the detailed evaluation of actual proj

ects. Visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/p3/toolkit/analytical_tools/p3_value

for more information.

In addition to offering flexibility in the content selected, this 

course is available for as few as 20 participants in the introduc

tory and intermediate-level programs and has a minimum of only 

5 participants for advanced programs.

Source: NHI.

How to Attend or Host a Course 

NHI invites professionals interested in earning 

continuing education units or professional 

development hours to visit their website and 

browse the complete digital course catalog, 

which lists more than 400 courses spanning 18 

program areas. To sign up for alerts when a course 

session is scheduled, visit the individual course 

description page and select the “Sign Up for 

Session Alerts” link.

Interested hosts can submit a Host Request 

Form or find more information about hosting NHI 

courses by visiting www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/home.aspx. 

NHI is approved as an Accredited Provider by the 

International Association for Continuing Education 

and Training (IACET). As an IACET Accredited 

Provider, NHI offers continuing education units 

for its programs that qualify under the ANSI/IACET 

Standard.

FHWA Support 

Depending on the options selected, the instructor-led training can 

range from half a day to 3 full instructional days. FHWA experts 

collaborate with each agency to develop an agenda and choose 

the training modules that best meet the agency’s needs. Once the 

courses are selected, one or two FHWA and contractor instruc

tors will present the training at the agency’s site. As this train

ing is tailored to address the needs of each requesting agency, 

the instructors’ expertise and the quality content provided are 

selected to help bridge the project development gap by drawing 

from both public and private sectors.

“States have appreciated the flexibility of the training agenda 

to meet the busy schedules of their staff and to target their 

specific needs relating to topic areas to be covered,” says Patrick 

DeCorla-Souza, a program manager at FHWA’s Center for Inno

vative Finance Support. 

GAY DUGAN is an NHI training program manager. 

VANESSA ALMONY and AMBER CLARK are contractors for NHI.
COMMUNICATION PRODUCT UPDATES

Below are brief descriptions of communications products recently developed by the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Research, 

Development, and Technology. All of the reports are or will soon be available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In some cases, 

limited copies of the communications products are available from FHWA’s Research and Technology (R&T) Product Distribution Center (PDC).

compiled by LISA A. SHULER of FHWA’S OFFICE OF CORPORATE RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

When ordering from NTIS, include the NTIS publication 

number (PB number) and the publication title. You also may visit 

the NTIS website at www.ntis.gov to order publications online. 

Call NTIS for current prices. For customers outside the United 

States, Canada, and Mexico, the cost is usually double the listed 

price. Address requests to:

National Technical Information Service

5301 Shawnee Road

Alexandria, VA 22312

Telephone: 703–605–6050

Toll-free number: 1–888–584–8332 

Website: www.ntis.gov

Email: customerservice@ntis.gov

Requests for items available from the R&T Product Distribution 

Center should be addressed to:

R&T Product Distribution Center

Szanca Solutions/FHWA PDC

700 North 3rd Avenue

Altoona, PA 16601

Telephone: 814–239–1160

Fax: 814–239–2156

Email: report.center@dot.gov 

For more information on R&T communications products 

available from FHWA, visit FHWA’s website at www.fhwa.dot.gov, 

the FHWA Research Library at https://highways.dot.gov 

/resources/research-library/federal-highway-administration-research 

-library (or email fhwalibrary@dot.gov), or the National 

Transportation Library at ntl.bts.gov (or email library@dot.gov).

Safety Evaluation of Continuous Green T Intersections

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-19-032

Continuous green T (CGT) intersections are an alternative to 

conventional signalized intersections with three approach legs.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the safety 

effectiveness of low-cost safety improvement strategies through 

scientifically rigorous crash-based studies. One of the strategies 

evaluated for this study is the use of CGT intersections at 

three-leg locations. This treatment enables continuous through 

movement on the major street with a channelized left-turn 

movement from the minor street onto the major street.

This study examines the safety effectiveness of CGT 

intersections in terms of crash frequency using the propensity 

scores–potential outcomes framework. Researchers found that 

CGT intersections reduced 

total crashes; fatal and injury 

crashes; and rear-end, angle, 

and sideswipe crashes.

Based on the findings of 

this research and the literature 

review, CGT intersections are 

likely to be effective when the 

following conditions exist: high 

through-traffic volumes on the 

major street approach on the 

far side of the intersection, low 

bicyclist demand, and no 

pedestrian demand or another 

type of pedestrian 

crossing nearby.

The TechBrief is available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications 

/research/safety/19032/index.cfm. 

Traveler Information Requirements 

During Nonrecurring Events

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-19-033

This report documents a series 

of experiments aimed at 

exploring the specific traveler 

information messages that are 

most likely to result in changes 

in traveler behavior during 

nonrecurring events. The study 

highlights the value of 

information in helping drivers 

make informed travel decisions. 

The report also provides 

information about how specific 

components of travel messages 

are interpreted by drivers and 

provides recommendations 

about the type of messaging 

that can be used to influence travel behavior. 

This report is geared to traffic management center operators, 

agency leadership, transportation engineers and researchers, and 

others who share an interest in promoting safe and efficient 

traffic flow. 

The report is available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research 

/safety/19033. 

50 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020
Safety Evaluation of Pedestrian Countdown Signals

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-19-045

FHWA established the 

Development of Crash 

Modification Factors (DCMF) 

Program in 2012 to address 

highway safety research needs 

for evaluating new and 

innovative safety strategies by 

developing reliable quantitative 

estimates of their effectiveness 

in reducing crashes. The goal 

of the DCMF Program is to 

save lives by identifying new 

safety strategies that effectively 

reduce crashes and by 

promoting those strategies for 

nationwide implementation. 

State transportation departments and other transportation 

agencies need to have objective measures for safety effectiveness 

and benefit-cost ratios before investing in broad applications of 

new strategies for safety improvements. 

This study investigated the effectiveness of pedestrian 

countdown signals (PCS). These signals may reduce pedestrian 

crashes, but also affect other types of crashes. A before/after 

empirical Bayes analysis was performed using data from 115 

treated intersections in Charlotte, NC, and 218 treated 

intersections in Philadelphia, PA, to evaluate the safety effects 

of PCSs.

The study results showed that after the implementation of 

countdown signals, pedestrian crashes decreased by 9 percent, 

total crashes decreased by 8 percent, and rear-end crashes 

decreased by 12 percent.

This report will benefit safety and traffic engineers and safety 

planners by providing greater insight into pedestrian safety.

The full report is available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications 

/research/safety/19045/index.cfm.

Strength and Fatigue Resistance of Clustered 

Shear Stud Connectors in Composite Steel Girders

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-20-005

Accelerated bridge construction 

(ABC) is a technique in which 

large bridge elements are 

fabricated offsite or next to the 

site and are then connected 

onsite to complete the bridge. 

One ABC method is the use of 

full-depth precast concrete 

deck panels, which are placed 

on top of steel girders 

connected via shear studs. The 

precast concrete deck panels 

typically have pockets cast into 

them so that they fit around the 

shear studs. These pockets are 

then filled with grout to form 

the composite connection with the girder. Researchers conducted 

large- and small-scale fatigue and static tests in this study to 

evaluate the fatigue, strength, and spacing design provisions from 

the American Association of State Highway and Transportation 

Officials (AASHTO) for shear studs. The large-scale tests in this 

study were constructed with precast concrete deck panels and 

steel beams.

This report documents the fatigue and static testing of shear 

stud composite connections between steel girders and precast 

concrete decks. The static test results suggest that current 

AASHTO shear stud-strength design provisions are not 

conservative enough. This is balanced by fatigue test results 

indicating that current AASHTO shear stud-fatigue provisions 

are probably too conservative, which explains why there have not 

been widespread in-service performance problems. 

This report will benefit those interested in the design, 

fabrication, and construction of steel bridges and PC concrete 

decks, including State transportation departments, bridge design 

consultants, and PC concrete facilities.

The full report is available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications 

/research/infrastructure/structures/bridge/20005.

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 51
52 | PUBLIC ROADS | SPRING 2020

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Lay the groundwork for better roads in your community by taking the census. Your 

response can impact funding for things like maintaining local roads, bridges, public 

transportation, and more each year.

Census data impacts funding for things like:

Highway planning and construction

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