Transportation Engineering and Safety Conference 2024

Several jurisdictions in Pennsylvania have benefited from the unprecedented safety funding available from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. This session will explore how a variety of Pennsylvania jurisdictions - a larger city, a smaller community, and a region - are using SS4A funding to develop safety action plans and seek opportunities for implementation.

Topic 1: An Introduction to Safe Streets and Roads for All
Speaker: Jeff Riegner

Topic 2: Safety Action Planning in a Larger City
Speaker: LeAnn Parmenter

Topic 3: Safety Action Planning in a Smaller Community
Speaker: Betsy Kramer

Topic 4: Safety Action Planning at the Regional Level
Speaker: Ben Warner

This session offers a comprehensive exploration of how law enforcement professionals handle vehicle crash investigations. The discussion will delve into the methodologies, techniques, and technologies employed to analyze the scene, collect evidence, and reconstruct the events leading to the crash. Additionally, it will cover fatal crash reconstructions and the key components required for a successful prosecution.

Topic 1: Tactical Intelligence Section Commander
Speaker: Lt. Charles N Burkhardt

This session will look at various efforts to demonstrate the value of TSMO solutions in improving safety and mobility on the impacted roadways. We will examine the results of cost/benefit analysis for PennDOT solutions and also look at tools that can be used to aid in such analyses.

Topic 1:  Demonstrating the Value of Active Traffic Management on I-76        
Speaker: Brian Depan

Topic 2: Demonstrating the Value of Virtual Queue Protection 
Speaker: Ben Brubaker

Topic 3: Other PennDOT Efforts and Analysis Tools      
Speaker: Scott Benedict

Topic 1: Exploratory Research on Assessing the Risk of Fatal Crashes
Speaker: Ben Pierce

Topic 2:  City of Pittsburgh’s Vision Zero Policy
Speaker: Patty Kerns & Panini Chowdhury

 Topic 3: Advancing the Systemic Approach to Safety
 Speaker: Matt Hinshaw

In this session we will examine the analysis, research and crash testing procedures used to determine a roadside safety devices’ compliance with standards outlined in the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). These important steps help manufacturers and developers ensure the safety of their devices while obtaining approval into an agency’s Qualified Product Lists (QPL) for use along public roadways. Representatives from PennDOT and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) will speak to their unique perspectives for roadside safety barriers, work zone devices and other testing requirements to meet MASH requirements. Questions from the audience will be received as part of this session.

Topic 1: Teaching to the Test – A Transportation Institute’s Perspective on Roadside Safety Device Development       
Speaker: James Kovar

Topic 2: MASHed Materials - A PennDOT Perspective on Roadside Safety Equipment and Approvals
Speaker: Evan Pursel

Topic 3: Running Down Barricades for Work Zone Safety          
Speaker: Brian Crossley

The Safe System Roadway Design Hierarchy is a tool that characterizes engineering and infrastructure-based countermeasures and strategies relative to their alignment with the Safe System Approach (SSA), toward the goal of eliminating traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. The purpose of the hierarchy is to help transportation agencies and practitioners identify and prioritize countermeasures and strategies when developing transportation projects. The Safe System Roadway Design Hierarchy will facilitate greater understanding and increased application of Safe System principles. Included in this discussion will be how implementing proven safety countermeasures, such as a high friction surface treatment program, can prove beneficial.

Topic 1: Safe System Roadway Design Hierarchy (SSRDH)
Speaker: Karen Scurry

Topic 2: Proven Safety Countermeasures and the SSRDH
Speaker: Phil Bobitz

Topic 3: Continuous Pavement Friction Monitoring
Speaker: Joseph Cheung

Topic 4: High Friction Surface Treatments in PA
Speaker: Jason Hershock

Topic 2: SR 0070, Section 10K Bentleyville to Belle Vernon Bridge Reconstruction (B2B)           
Speaker: Patrick B. Richter

This session will focus on how automated speed enforcement (ASE) has been piloted and expanded in the City of Philadelphia to reduce vehicle speeds, decrease the number of fatal and severe crashes, and meet Vision Goals. Topics will include the results of ASE on Roosevelt Boulevard, how legislation was used to expand ASE, the identification of priority corridors for ASE, speed studies for selected ASE corridors, coordination and approvals with PennDOT for ASE, and overall lessons learned.

Topic 1: Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) on Roosevelt Boulevard
Speaker: Kelley Yemen

Topic 2: Expansion of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE)
Speaker: Marco Gorini

Topic 3:  Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) Coordination with PennDOT
Speaker: Sharang Malaviya