KTC LATEST NEWS

The Center is a national leader in multidisciplinary transportation research. Its talented staff publish their findings in leading research journals, help agencies around the country implement their recommendations, develop new training courses, present their work at prestigious conferences, and even host conferences. The Center’s unparalleled ability to develop and perform applied research and to communicate findings has meant that a wide range of stakeholders — including the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet,  Federal Highway Administration, and a number of  government agencies and transportation organizations — have benefitted from KTC’s work. Keep tuned to this page for the latest research findings and reports, details of projects that are in progress, accolades, and more.

The Kentucky Transportation Center attended the 103rd Annual Transportation Research Board Conference in Washington, D.C. A strong start to 2024!

ACEC-KY/FWHA/KYTC PARTNERING CONFERENCE

KTC attended the ACEC-KY/FHWA/KYTC Partnering Conference. They presented project work in sessions, through videos and in exhibit booths that showcased Digital Project Delivery, Highway Knowledge Portal, Project Management Mentoring, and HSIP.

1ST PLACE BEST DATA VISUALIZATION ATSIP-TRAFFIC RECORDS FORUM.

KTC Traffic and Safety Program takes home first place in the Best Data Visualization category at the 2022 ATSIP-Traffic Records Forum. Pictured is Program Manager Eric Green and Research Scientist Paul Ross who worked on this project!

ACEC-KY/FWHA/KYTC PARTNERING CONFERENCE

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STAFF NEWS & ACCOLADES

TRB 2023 Projects Presented

  • Workshop: Demonstration of the SPF-R Tool – Eric Green & Paul Ross
  • Presentation: Alternative Reinforcement Deployed in Kentucky Bridges – Dr. Issam Harik
  • Presentation: A Novel Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Driver Behavior to Improve Traffic Safety Education and Training: An Investigation of Esri Tapestry Segmentation Data and Kentucky Crashes – Benjamin Blandford, Reginald Souleyrette, Tony Fields, Erin Lammers, Caitlin Pope (UK)
  • Presentation: Developing an Automation Tool for Highway Safety Project Prioritization – Riana Tanzen, Reg Souleyrette
  • Presentation: Departments of Transportation Efforts to Digitize Ancillary Transportation Asset Data: A Step Toward Digital Twins – Gabe Dadi, Ashtarout Ammar, Rachel Catchings, Hala Nassereddine, Rachel Catchings
  • Paper: An Automated Context Classification Approach Based on Nationally Available GIS Data – Nikiforos Stamatiadis, Adam Kirk
  • Poster: Integration of Utility Engineering, Coordination, and Highway Design – Ryan Griffith (High Value Project)
  • Poster: Extended Weight Systems Pavement Analysis – Gayle Marks, Jon Wilcoxson, Bryan Gibson
  • Poster: developing a highway criticality assessment framework based on network connectivity and Redundancy  – Xu Zhang, Mei Chen
  • Poster: Bridge Project Prioritization: Development and Implementation of an Index – Bryan Gibson, Ryan Griffith, Sudhir Palle, Rachel Catchings, Doug Kreis.
  • Bryan Gibson presided over TRB Poster Session 2105 Emerging Research Topics in Transportation Economics and Finance

In Other News

  • Project Development – Jeff Jasper presented 2+1 Roadway Design research at the Partnering Conference
  • Project Development – The Newtown Pike Extension Project was featured in Roads Magazine (Pam Clay-Young)
  • Traffic & Safety – Eric Green and Paul Ross received the ATSIP Best Data Visualization Award in August
  • Traffic & Safety – Erin Lammers-Staats was interviewed on behalf of the Kentucky Section Institute of Transportation Engineers (KYSITE). The feature is on page 16 of the 2022 Kentucky Transportation Annual: http://kytransportationannual.com/2022-23/index.html?page
  • Traffic & Safety – William Staats and Eric Green had papers published in the 2022 Special Issue Volume 3 of Advances in Transportation Studies
  • Structures – On June 24, 2022, Dr. Peiris, the crew from D11, and the M&M Services Crew completed the repair of the twin I-75 over KY 1804 in Whitley County.
  • Structures – All 12 Transportation Districts have at least one bridge repaired with the CatStrong products.
  • Planning – Mei Chen and Xu Zhang won the TRB Highway Traffic Monitoring Committee’s Best Young Professional Paper Award for “Statewide Truck Volume Estimation Using Probe Vehicle Data and Machine Learning”
  • Planning and Traffic & Safety – two papers published in journals:
  • Local-Ideal-Points based Autonomous Space Decomposition Framework for the Multi-objective Periodic Generalized Directed Rural Postman Problem under Length Restrictions with Intermediate Facilities. Published in Computers & Operations Research. Reg Souleyrette, Teng Wang.
  • Incorporating crash severity to improve highway safety project prioritization. Published in Advances in Transportation Studies. Riana Tanzen, Reg Souleyrette, Teng Wang, and William Staats.
  • Policy, Finance & Economics – Bryan Gibson obtained a certification last month from the Association for Supply Chain Management: Certified in Logistics, Transportation, and Distribution (CLTD).
  • Technology Transfer – Won the poster contest at the National Local Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA) conference.
  • Technology Transfer – Martha Horseman was elected as the NLTAPA President in July.
  • Technology Transfer –  Brittany Cloyd was put in as Communication Workgroup Chair for NLTAPA.
  • ITS – The ITS Program applied for three FMCSA grants that were awarded between April and the end of September: the Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation grant (CDLPI), Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program grant (MCSAP), and the High Priority-Innovative Technology Deployment grant (HP-ITD). KYTC, KSP and KTC received funds. Kentucky received 100% of its grant request for all three grant applications. Of the Total $4,759,768 received, KTC received $1,825,000.
  • ITS- Brian Howell graduated from Army War College in July 2022.
  • ITS- Jennifer Walton was promoted to Associate Director in September 2022.
  • ITS- Andrew Martin was promoted to ITS Program Manager in October 2022

KTC TALKS TO CALVIN GRAYSON

Joe, Doug, and Clark had the opportunity to sit down and discuss transportation with Calvin Grayson, former Secretary of Transportation and former director of KTC. The marketing team of Paul, Michael, and Robin captured the day with film and photos, creating a timeless collection of wisdom and memories from a legend who has seen everything happen in transportation. Mr. Grayson kept the room captivated as he recalled how he was talked into his first job at the Highway Department, was introduced to the first computer in 1956, witnessed the construction of Mountain Parkway, and described his involvement after the Kentucky Transportation Research Program merged with KTC to form the Center as it is known today.

Mr. Grayson’s passion for transportation was apparent and reflected in his praise for KTC and in his nuggets of wisdom. He believes that planning should always be that essential first step and that KTC can never do enough marketing. We are living up to his vision of functioning as a multidisciplinary team and being the place to develop solutions to Kentucky’s critical transportation issues. He says, “I saw the Center as a catalyst for public and private stakeholders to come to consensus about transportation problems.” Mr. Grayson also believes that transportation, mobility, and accessibility are intertwined. Click Here for the full story