UGPTI/Texas Transportation Institute Partnership Successful

The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) successfully competed for the recent American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's (ASLRRA) short line data study project. The UGPTI/TTI partnership was formed to compete for the project and to combine the considerable short line railroad expertise at both Institutes.

Both Institutes are recognized experts at performing objective analyses of the short line industry.

Eighteen organizations competed for the project. The UGPTI/TTI team was one of four finalists interviewed in Washington, D.C., as part of the final selection process. The UGPTI/TTI team was selected by the ASLRRA to perform the short line analysis section of the project and to assist the Association of American Railroad's data collection section of the project.

The ASLRRA project will develop economic and operational analyses of the short line industry for consideration by public policy decision makers. John Bitzan and Doug Benson lead the UGPTI section of the project.

Kate Miner Working on ITS Architecture

Kate Miner calls Intelligent Transportation Systems an exciting area that can only grow in its ability to help people and goods move efficiently and safely. New to the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center at the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, her ITS work is a logical progression in her transportation career. Miner is an associate research fellow.

She began with the Minnesota Department of Transportation as an undergraduate student, working in traffic studies and design. After earning her bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University, she was a field worker on an overpass project for Moore Engineering and worked on designs for small bridges, drainage ditches and culvert crossings. She then became a traffic engineer for the North Dakota Department of Transportation in the Fargo District. Because ATAC is a vital partner in many DOT projects, Miner continues broadening her transportation experience.

Miner works primarily on a project to put the architecture in place for ITS across the state of North Dakota. This will allow the NDDOT to plan and prepare for transportation needs.

One of Miner's goals is to see the small to medium size cities ATAC works with combat congestion problems before they develop. Through the innovative use of ITS, she believes traffic control is coming to the day when traffic can be managed so that potential stresses in the system can be caught and corrected.

ITS is a broad field, she says, and working with the NDDOT means focusing on what will be valuable to North Dakota's roadways, what is useful and cost effective.

Snowplows and sanding trucks are expensive to operate. Through ITS technology such as the Roadway Weather Information Systems, sensors in the road tell the DOT what conditions are. Then officials know what they need to do.

ITS use is expanding rapidly. Message boards on the Interstate system can be changed from the DOT office, alerting motorists to oncoming changes. Law enforcement will also be an eventual link to speeders on the roadways. Bridge decks can automatically be sprayed for ice, based on the data collected from sensors.

While Miner works on ITS, she expects to earn her masters degree in civil engineering with a transportation option at NDSU in 2004. She finds links between the classroom and ATAC, blending theory and real world issues.