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POLICY & PARTNERSHIPS

FHWA Discusses Study on Future Interstate Highway System 

On September 6, 2016, FHWA Administrator Greg Nadeau and Michael Trentacoste, FHWA’s 

Associate Administrator for Research, Development, and Technology and the Director of the 

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC), participated in the inaugural meeting of the 

Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Committee for a Study of the Future Interstate Highway 

System. During the meeting, Nadeau and Trentacoste addressed the expectations of the study, 

especially in the context of U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s report, “Beyond Traffic: 

Trends and Choices,” a 30-year outlook on the future of the Nation’s infrastructure.

Topics of discussions included making places better and connecting communities; population 

growth, particularly in megaregions; alternative revenue sources; freight and future challenges of 

rural to megaregions transport; climate change and resiliency; and such evolving technologies as 

automated and connected vehicles. 

As part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (which authorizes 5 years of 

critically needed funding and key programs to improve the Nation’s freight transportation system 

and U.S. economic competitiveness) and facilitated through a $5 million cooperative agreement 

with FHWA, TRB is to conduct “... a study on the actions needed to upgrade and restore the 

[Interstate System] to its role as a premier system that meets the growing and shifting demands of 

the 21st century.” The 14-member committee, chaired by Norman Augustine, former chairman and 

chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation, will develop its report over the course of 

the 30-month project and will meet regularly to hear from key stakeholder groups. Bud Wright of 

the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) also addressed 

the panel. The FAST Act specifies that the study should consider the work done by States as part of 

the National Cooperative Highway Research Program project on the topic.

For more information, contact Hiwot Abdi, 202-493-3999, hiwot.abdi@dot.gov. 

Stecker Recognized with Planning Discipline Lifetime Achievement Award

Sidney Stecker, who serves in FHWA’s Office of Corporate Research, Technology, and Innovation 

Management at TFHRC, recently was awarded the Planning Discipline Lifetime Achievement Award 

for 2016. The Planning Leadership Council recognized Stecker because of his dedication to 

transportation planning and demonstrated leadership within the planning discipline throughout his 

A news update of research, technology, and development from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), 

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

September/October 2016

FHWA R&T Now
 FHWA R&T Now

career with FHWA. A recognized leader in the 

planning discipline within Washington State, 

Stecker’s institutional knowledge has been vital 

to successfully implementing planning 

improvements and enhancements. 

His planning career began in north central 

Washington over 30 years ago with a regional 

transportation planning organization, and over 

the last 17 years he has served as the Statewide 

Planner and Planning Program Manager in the 

Washington Division. Looking ahead, Stecker will 

provide leadership and support for FHWA’s 

Federal-Aid State Planning and Research 

Program, Subpart B and national coordination 

for FHWA’s Research and Technology program 

with FHWA Division Offices. He will also support 

FHWA’s international research and technology 

partnership activities.

For more information, contact Jack Jernigan, 

202-493-3363, jack.jernigan@dot.gov. 

FHWA Attends RAC Meeting and TRB 

Committee Meetings

FHWA headquarters staff and staff from TFHRC 

attended the annual AASHTO Research Advisory 

Committee (RAC) meeting and related TRB 

committee meetings in Providence, RI. The RAC 

to the AASHTO Standing Committee on 

Research (SCOR) supports the activities of SCOR 

and is committed to being a proactive 

committee that promotes quality and excellence 

in research and in the application of research 

findings to improve State transportation 

systems. Each AASHTO member department is 

represented on RAC and member departments 

receive State Planning and Research funds to 

conduct research to meet individual State 

needs. RAC is a critical partner in carrying out 

FHWA’s research, technology, and education 

programs.

For more information, contact Jack Jernigan, 

202-493-3363, jack.jernigan@dot.gov. 

INFRASTRUCTURE

FHWA Hosts Biannual Workshop on AAR and 

ACMs

FHWA recently hosted its third biannual 

workshop on emerging developments related to 

alkali-aggregate-reaction (AAR) and alternative 

cementitious materials (ACMs) at TFHRC. The 

workshop offered a forum for practitioners and 

researchers to discuss and exchange 

information on mechanism, testing, and 

mitigation of AAR and emerging developments 

related to the use and proper proportioning of 

ACMs into concrete mixtures. Attendees and 

presenters included representatives from 

academia, industry, and several governmental 

agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, the Bureau of Reclamation, the 

Department of Energy, the Volpe National 

Transportation System Center, and the Federal 

Highway Administration. This year’s event drew 

the highest number of attendees to date. 

Proceedings from the workshop are being 

prepared by Volpe and will be available shortly 

for national distribution.

For more information, contact Ahmad Ardani, 

202-493-3422, ahmad.ardani@dot.gov. 

Lopez Wins 2016 Pavement and Materials 

Discipline Recognition Award 

Aramis Lopez, a team leader in FHWA’s LongTerm Pavement Performance (LTPP) Program, 

has won the 2016 Pavement and Materials 

Discipline Recognition Award. Lopez has had a 

distinguished 37-year career with FHWA, one 

Michael Trentacoste congratulates Sidney 

Stecker, who received the Planning 

Discipline Lifetime Achievement Award.
 FHWA R&T Now

that has focused on pavement performance 

research for over 25 years. In 1991, Aramis 

helped transition management of the LTPP 

program from the National Academy of Sciences 

to FHWA and has continued to serve as a 

visionary leader, a highly effective manager, and 

a respected technical expert.

From 1992-2000, he served as the program 

manager for the field operation activities of the 

LTPP program and successfully coordinated and 

managed pavement distress data collection, the 

material testing program, and the design and 

implementation of the seasonal monitoring 

program for all LTPP study sites located 

throughout the United States and Canada. Since 

2000 he has served as the LTPP Team Leader, 

providing exceptional leadership to press 

forward with pavement performance data 

collection activities, pavement data analysis, 

pavement product development activities, and 

the budget administration of the LTPP program. 

For more information, contact Cara Fitzgerald, 

202-493-3376, cara.fitzgerald@dot.gov. 

FHWA Participates in SeeBridge Meeting

FHWA recently participated in the Semantic 

Enrichment Engine for Bridges (SeeBridge) 

meeting in Atlanta, GA. SeeBridge is an 

international consortium co-funded by FHWA 

via the Infravation research program. The 

project is expected to advance technology and 

methods in inspecting and modeling existing 

bridges. Participants focused on updates 

concerning the use of point cloud data from 

photogrammetry, point cloud data from laser 

scans, technology demonstration, modeling, and 

identification of defects and damage to the 

bridge. Research partners and meeting 

participants include Technion-Israel Institute of 

Technology, Kedmor, Georgia Tech, Cambridge, 

the Technical University of Munich, Trimble, 

POINTIVO, the Georgia Department of 

Transportation, and FHWA. 

For more information, contact Katherine Petros, 

202-493-3154, katherine.petros@dot.gov. 

OPERATIONS

Tech4Aging Task Force to Advance Technology 

for Aging Americans 

FHWA’s Mohammed Yousuf recently 

represented the U.S. Department of 

Transportation on the Task Force on Research 

and Development for Technology to Support 

Aging Adults (Tech4Aging). Established by the 

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) 

Committee on Technology, the task force is 

expected to advance technology that enhances 

the ability of aging Americans to be independent 

and engage with society. It will advise and assist 

the Assistant to the President for Science and 

Technology and the Committee on Technology 

on science and technology policy, procedures, 

and plans related to research and development 

that will lead to technology development.

Tech4Aging aims to prepare a Federal 

Government research strategy that identifies 

key research and development priorities for 

technologies that support aging adults and their 

care providers in ensuring aging adults’ healthy 

independence and social connections. The task 

force will identify gaps and opportunities in 

research and development that exist between 

and among Federal agencies and enhance 

collaboration between and among funding 

programs. It will report to the Committee on 

Technology and to the Assistant to the President 

for Science and Technology in accordance with 

Aramis Lopez won the 2016 

Pavement and Materials 

Discipline Recognition Award.
 FHWA R&T Now

prescribed NSTC processes to summarize the 

activities of the task force and set forth 

recommendations regarding the establishment 

of Federal research and development priorities 

and specific agency activities.

For more information, contact Mohammed 

Yousuf, 202-493-3199, 

mohammed.yousuf@dot.gov. 

Interchange Paper Emphasizing Land Savings

Recognized by ITE

In August, staff from FHWA’s Office of 

Operations Research and Development—Joe 

Bared, Cory Krause, and Christopher Melson—

received the Traffic Engineering Council Best 

Paper Award at the Institute of Transportation 

Engineers (ITE) 2016 Annual Meeting and Exhibit 

in Anaheim, CA. 

Their winning paper, “Operational and Safety 

Characteristics of an Alternative Design, SpaceEfficient One-Side Interchange,” presents a 

unique, all-directional system interchange that 

emphasizes land savings. Operational and 

surrogate safety characteristics of the 

interchange were analyzed and compared to an 

equivalent cloverleaf interchange.

For more information, contact Christopher 

Melson, 202-493-327, 

christopher.melson@dot.gov.

FHWA Releases Final Draft of DSRC RSU 

Specification Version 4.1

On September 1, 2016, FHWA’s Office of 

Operations Research and Development released 

the final draft of the Dedicated Short Range 

Communications (DSRC) Roadside Unit (RSU) 

Specification Version 4.1. This update to the 

specification was done to address the evolution 

of standards, new functionality needs based on 

deployment experience, and the latest 

generation of the Security Credential 

Management System requirements. 

Stakeholder outreach was gathered from 

connected vehicle (CV) pilot sites in New York, 

Florida, and Wyoming, as well as from vendors 

of the DSRC RSU units themselves in July and 

August. These comments were incorporated 

into the final version of the 4.1 specification. 

This updated specification will be used by the CV 

pilots and the Smart City deployment to procure 

RSUs for deployment in 2017. A 6-week 

comment period began on September 1, 2016 

to allow for corrections and clarifications. The 

final version of the DSRC RSU 4.1 Specification 

will be published in mid-October. 

For more information, contact Deborah Curtis, 

202-493-3267, deborah.curtis@dot.gov. 

FHWA Presents at Innovations in 

Transportation Conference 

FHWA’s Taylor Lochrane recently discussed 

transportation mobility and connected 

automation at the Innovations in Transportation 

Conference in Ames, IA. His presentation 

highlighted research at TFHRC and provided an 

update on connected vehicle pilot deployment 

and the Smart City Challenge. The conference 

brings together transportation experts to 

identify and prepare for challenges such as 

autonomous and connected vehicles, three 

dimensional printing, robotics and artificial 

intelligence, societal changes, and challenges 

facing transportation agencies. Conference 

attendees included local county officials and 

representatives from the Iowa Department of 

Transportation, Iowa State University, the 

Staff from FHWA’s Office of 

Operations Research and 

Development received the Traffic 

Engineering Council Best Paper 

Award.
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Institute for Transportation, and FHWA’s Iowa 

Division. 

For more information, contact Taylor Lochrane, 

202-493-3293, taylor.lochrane@dot.gov. 

SAFETY

FHWA to Assist NTSB with Bus Crash 

Investigation

On May 14, 2016, nine people died and 45 were 

injured when a bus rolled over on U.S. Highway 

83, near Laredo, Texas. FHWA’s Office of 

Infrastructure Research and Development is 

helping the National Transportation Safety 

Board (NTSB) with its investigation of this 

tragedy. NTSB investigators have requested that 

FHWA provide technical assistance with 

evaluating the surface and material properties 

of the asphalt pavement the bus was traveling 

on. FHWA is currently waiting for authorization 

from NTSB to perform destructive testing of the 

pavement samples.

For more information, contact Mark Swanlund, 

202-493-3070, mark.swanlund@dot.gov. 

Value of HSIS Data Underscored in Contest

Mahdi Pour-Rouholamin, who recently earned 

his Ph.D. from the Department of Civil 

Engineering at Auburn University, won the 

inaugural Highway Safety Information System 

(HSIS) Research Paper Competition for 

“Analyzing the Severity of Motorcycle Crashes in 

North Carolina using HSIS Data.” The paper 

focuses on analyzing HSIS motorcycle crash data 

from 2009 to 2013 to identify opportunities to 

help reduce the severity of injuries associated 

with single-vehicle, single-rider motorcycle 

crashes in North Carolina. These opportunities 

included safety awareness campaigns, 

educational efforts, and efforts by law

enforcement. Pour-Rouholamin coauthored the 

paper with Mohammad Jalayer, another Ph.D. 

student in the Department of Civil Engineering 

at Auburn University.

Ali Ghasemzadeh, a Ph.D. student in civil 

engineering at the University of Wyoming, was 

awarded second place for “Work Zone WeatherRelated Crash Characteristics and Injury Severity 

in North Carolina Using HSIS Dataset.” M. 

Majbah Uddin, a graduate student in the 

Department of Civil and Environmental 

Engineering, University of South Carolina, 

achieved third place for “Factors Influencing 

Injury Severity of Crashes Involving Hazardous 

Materials.” 

HSIS is a safety database that contains crash, 

roadway inventory, and traffic volume data for a 

select group of agencies. It is used by FHWA 

staff, contractors, university researchers, and 

others to study current highway safety issues, 

direct research efforts, and evaluate the 

effectiveness of crash countermeasures. 

“This is the first year of the HSIS Research Paper 

Competition,” said FHWA Administrator Greg 

Nadeau, “and we were excited about the quality 

of all the student submissions we received. We 

look forward to continuing the competition and 

seeing this data utilized robustly for valuable 

research.”

“This competition is an invaluable opportunity 

for both the individual student and the future of 

the profession, as HSIS is a powerful, free 

resource that can be utilized by anyone working 

to improve highway safety across the U.S.,” said 

Michael Trentacoste, FHWA’s Associate 

Administrator for Research, Development, and 

Technology and TFHRC’s Director. “It inspires 

students to apply the academic study of 

highway safety data to real-world safety 

concerns, leading to solutions that will help save 

lives.” 

For more information, contact Carol Tan, 202-

493-3315, carol.tan@dot.gov. 
 FHWA R&T Now

FHWA Releases 2016 Version of IHSDM

FHWA recently released version 12.0.0 of the 

Interactive Highway Safety Design Model 

(IHSDM), a suite of software analysis tools for 

evaluating safety and operational effects of 

project-level geometric design decisions on 

highways. The new version expands the IHSDM 

Crash Prediction Module by implementing draft

Highway Safety Manual crash predictive 

methods for six or more lanes and one-way 

urban and suburban arterials developed under 

National Cooperative Highway Research 

Program Project 17-58. The software is available 

to download for free on the IHSDM Web site, 

www.ihsdm.org, which includes information

related to case studies, past webinar materials, 

and frequently asked questions. 

IHSDM, which supports the Data-Driven Safety 

Analysis initiative that is part of FHWA’s Every 

Day Counts 3 efforts, includes six evaluation 

modules applicable to rural two-lane highways: 

crash prediction, design consistency, 

intersection review, policy review, traffic 

analysis, and driver/vehicle. The crash 

prediction module serves as a faithful 

implementation of the American Association of 

State Highway and Transportation Officials’ 

Highway Safety Manual, Part C: Predictive 

Methods. The module deals with two-lane rural

highways, multilane rural highways, urban and 

suburban arterials, freeways and 

ramps/interchanges. 

On October 20, 2016, a webinar will be held 

from 1 to 2:30 p.m. (eastern daylight time) to 

introduce the new IHSDM Release. For further 

details, visit www.ihsdm.org. IHSDM training 

courses are available through the National 

Highway Institute. For a 2-day, onsite training 

course, visit 

http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training/course_s

earch.aspx?tab=0&key=IHSDM&sf=0&course_n

o=380071. For a Web-based, instructor-led 

course, 

visit http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training/cou

rse_search.aspx?tab=0&key=IHSDM&sf=0&cour

se_no=380100. IHSDM technical support is 

available at IHSDM.Support@dot.gov and 202-

493-3407. 

For more information, contact Abdul Zineddin, 

202-493-3288, abdul.zineddin@dot.gov. 

Mercedes-Benz Demonstrates E Class Safety 

Technology

On September 13, 2016, Mercedes-Benz 

Research & Development North America, Inc. 

provided a 1-day ride and drive event to 

demonstrate its new E Class Safety Technology, 

which includes a number of driver assistance 

systems. The Driver Assistance Package includes 

capabilities such as Drive Pilot, which allows a 

vehicle to maintain appropriate speeds, 

following distances from other vehicles, and 

lane position. Also included are Active Braking 

Assist, Active Blind Spot Assist, and Autonomous 

Lane Change. Together these capabilities 

provide automated functions to assist with safe 

driving. The demonstration was held at the 

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in 

Cheltenham, MD under a Memorandum of 

Agreement (MOA) between FHWA and the 

Department of Homeland Security. On October 

1, 2014, TFHRC established the MOA for testing 

and evaluating connected automation 

applications.

For more information, contact Carl Andersen, 

202-493-3045, carl.andersen@dot.gov. 

ASA Posts FHWA Publications on its Website

The American Statistical Association (ASA) 

recently posted two FHWA publications—

“Safety Evaluation of Continuous Green T 

Intersections” and “White Paper: Enhancing 

Statistical Methodologies for Highway Safety 

Research—Impetus from FHWA”—on its 

website. The postings mark the beginning of an 

effort to market highway safety to statistical 

communities for the future development of 

highway-specific methodology developments 

based on crash data. FHWA has been working 

with ASA to advance statistical rigor in safetyfocused research and also draw the attention of 

statisticians to the transportation safety 
 FHWA R&T Now

domain. This recognition from ASA affirms the 

importance of FHWA’s work and helps connect 

the safety and statistical communities.

The publications are available at 

www.amstat.org/misc/1-Continous-Green-TIntersections.pdf and 

www.amstat.org/misc/2012-statisticalmethodologies.pdf. 

For more information, contact Roya Amjadi, 

202-493-3383, roya.amjadi@dot.gov. 

RECENT PERIODICALS

Public Roads—September/October 2016

This issue includes: Building a Culture of 

Innovation; The Power of Inclusion; Harnessing 

Technology to Ease the Way; A Great Day in 

America: USDOT’s 50th Anniversary; How to 

Make Better Decisions on Addressing Pavement 

Needs; Big Data; and Where Were You Looking?

It is available online via 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/16

sepoct/index.cfm. 

For more information, contact Lisa Shuler, 

lisa.a.shuler@dot.gov. 

Innovator: Accelerating Innovation for the 

American Driving Experience—

September/October 2016

This issue includes: Fall Summits Introduce Every 

Day Counts Round Four; Agencies Use Data to 

Target Safety Investments; National Network 

Key to Transportation Innovation Culture; UltraHigh Performance Concrete Gains Strength in 

States; Ready to Innovate?; States Innovate!; 

and Events.

The issue is available online via 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/innovator

/issue56/3dIssue/. 

For more information, contact Julie Zirlin, at 

Julie.Zirlin@dot.gov. 

LINKS

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center: 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/ 

Resource Center: 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter/ 

National Highway Institute: 

www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/home.aspx 

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