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Seasons Greetings from NVTA!
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December 13, 2021
The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority’s regular digest of transportation technologies and emerging travel trends from Northern Virginia and across the globe
Despite the challenges presented by the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, innovations in transportation were unveiled, or are currently in the works, that have the potential to yield substantive change.
Below are 2021 highlights from Driven By InNoVation’s compilation of coverage on these innovations, which focus on those that took place in and/or are relevant to Northern Virginia. Throughout the year, a few trends presented themselves, including a push for electrification of the transportation system, as seen in the first deployment of electric school buses across the Commonwealth (including eight in Fairfax County) and President Biden’s executive order setting a new national target for Electric Vehicles (EVs) to comprise half of all new auto sales in the United States by 2030.
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2021 Highlights Countdown
#6
The 6th Annual Northern Virginia Transportation Roundtable, hosted by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Intelligent Transportation Society of Virginia (ITS-VA), was held virtually for the first time on Wednesday March 10th. Throughout the event, the importance of coordinated and context-sensitive technology deployments to address the current and future needs of the region was a recurring theme. The key takeaways from the event were:
- The region is using both traditional and emerging transportation technologies to build towards a smart future that champions efficiency, efficacy and partnership. Innovative approaches can be seen throughout the region in rail and transit, including real-time passenger information and trip planning; Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)/signals; real-time parking information; public safety; smart streetlights; and system performance monitoring, including real-time bike/pedestrian trail usage and in pilots like Fairfax County's Mosaic District autonomous shuttle.
- At the time of the roundtable, NVTA was drafting its inaugural Transportation Technology Strategic Plan (TTSP) to help leverage the good of innovation, and mitigate the bad. Live-polling was utilized to seek input from the event attendees on TTSP-related topics.
- Multiple approaches (including policy, coordination, maintenance, planning, design/engineering, and operations) should be considered to address climate change, using the “yes, and” approach. Climate change is here, but we still have some time to mitigate its worst impacts.
- The transportation sector accounts for about 45% of greenhouse gas emissions in Virginia.
- The Commonwealth of Virginia is a collaborating partner in the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI), a multi-state approach that is gaining momentum.
- Additionally, during the 2021 legislative session, the General Assembly session focused on multiple policy approaches to electrification of transportation.
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#5
Credit: RDN Repairer Driven News
A study published in September by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reported that teen drivers are nearly four times more likely to crash, on a per mile basis, in comparison to drivers 20 and older. There are several factors that contribute to this, but Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) and safety apps may be able to help address them. Specifically, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found that front crash prevention, lane departure warnings, blind spot monitoring and teen safety smart phone apps, could prevent or mitigate as many as 47% of teen driver injuries and 78% of teen driver deaths. While these technologies are not ubiquitous, significant safety benefits could be achieved with current availability, but many parents do not know about them or do not think they are effective.
#4
Credit: Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
In early 2021, the City of Falls Church partnered with Virginia Tech to pursue the creation of a “smart city test bed”. The team sought $10 million from the Virginia Department of Transportation to implement connected transportation technologies like adaptive street lights, connected traffic signals and an array of sensors, across the transportation grid in a 44-acre project area. The initiative will also involve development of standards for data storage and security, and enable real-time data-driven decision making.
Since the time this development was covered in Driven By InNoVation earlier this year, the City of Falls Church and Virginia Tech team has held a kick-off meeting and presented their plans to the NVTA CEO's Transportation Technology Committee on October 27 th. Phase 1 of the project is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022.
#3
Credit: Fairfax County Public Schools
In January, 50 electric school buses were deployed across the Commonwealth, including the first eight to Fairfax County Public Schools. Other Northern Virginia school districts, including the City of Alexandria and Counties of Prince William and Loudoun, will also receive electric buses in the near future. Dominion Energy provided a grant that ensured the localities did not pay more for these buses than their traditional diesel-fueled counterparts.
#2
Credit: F. Muhammed, Pixabay
This year, the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) released a report titled “Law Enforcement, First Responder and Crash Investigation Preparation for Automated Vehicle Technology” which was produced by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) and funded by a grant from State Farm. The report explores how first responder training and curriculum can be updated to prepare for potentially common automated vehicle (AV) scenarios. Topics addressed include how to disable, move or stabilize an AV that has been involved in a crash or abandoned, and understanding the differences in capabilities of vehicles with varied technologies.
#1
Credit: Paul Warner, Getty Images
In August, President Joe Biden issued an executive order, setting a new national target for Electric Vehicles (EVs) to comprise half of all new auto sales in the United States by 2030. Although the target is not binding, several large auto manufacturers, including General Motors, Ford Motors and Stellantis, are supportive of the concept and have set their own goals for electrification of their product lines. The timing of this announcement coincided with a separate executive order that directed a review and possible revision of fuel economy standards.
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NVTA Milestone
Credit: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay
On Thursday, May 13th, members of the Authority unanimously adopted the eight strategies of the inaugural Transportation Technology Strategic Plan (TTSP) and its Action Plan. The TTSP, which will remain a living document as technologies continue to evolve, was developed over the course of the past two years with the guidance of the NVTA CEO's Transportation Technology Committee (TTC). The TTSP is a tool for establishing a proactive approach to innovation, keeping congestion reduction top of mind.
In the six months since adoption, NVTA staff have been working to implement the plan by introducing a technology-related section to NVTA’s recently adopted 2022 Legislative Program for the first time; conducting outreach activities, including via TransAction public engagement activities over this past summer; and developing a white paper on emissions and two technical memoranda, all three of which will be subject to a forthcoming TTC review process. Going forward, integration of the TTSP into TransAction will be deepened, and NVTA staff will continue to draft white papers and memoranda as appropriate, as well as lead a collaborative process to identify and prioritize topics for future regional transportation policies.
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“The desire for a smarter, more reliable, and safer infrastructure is top of mind for the private and public sectors alike, whether on the federal, local, regional or statewide level. The Transportation Technology Strategic Plan will help the region understand which technologies we should invest in, and which we should embrace, to help accomplish NVTA’s vision to invest in a safe, equitable, sustainable and integrated multimodal transportation system that enhances quality of life, strengthens the economy and builds resilience.”
-- Phyllis J. Randall, Chair of the Authority and Loudoun County
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“With a special emphasis on enhancing safety, equity and sustainability, the Transportation Technology Strategic Plan is a first-of-a-kind initiative to take such a comprehensive and multimodal position on how transportation technologies, such as autonomous transit shuttles and a corridor-based transit signal priority system launched and piloted in the region, can be leveraged to support the NVTA’s vision for the NoVA transportation system in the coming years."
-- David F. Snyder, Chair, Transportation Technology Committee, Vice Chair of the Authority, and Council Member, City of Falls Church
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In the News
The adoption of the TTSP inspired a June 2021 commentary published in the Richmond Times Dispatch, titled “Using Technology to Assess Demand on Va.'s Infrastructure after COVID-19". The thought-leadership piece -- co-authored by Phyllis J. Randall, Authority Chair; David F. Snyder, Authority Vice Chair; and Cathy McGhee, Director of Transportation Research and Innovation, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) -- explores the role of the TTSP in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; climate change; and commitments to innovation from both private sector and governments nationwide. The transportation innovation discussed is one of many multimodal solutions to reduce congestion in the region. The piece was later picked up by the business journal, RichmondINNO, and shared by transportation professional organizations and news aggregators.
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Did You Know?
Mackenzie Love, NVTA Regional Transportation Planner, recently spoke about the Authority’s inaugural Transportation Technology Strategic Plan during a national webinar hosted by the American Planning Association (APA) Transportation Planning Division.
The “Planning for Innovation in Transportation” session featured two other panelists as well including the Deputy Program Manager of Smart Columbus and the Transportation Planning Manager for the City of Columbus. More than 350 people participated in the webinar, which can be viewed here.
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Looking Ahead to 2022
Be sure to keep an eye out for our New Year’s Edition of Driven by InNoVation which will include our look-ahead to transportation technology in 2022!
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Save the Date
The 7th Annual Northern Virginia Transportation Roundtable will take place on Wednesday, March 30, 2022!
Program details and registration information will be announced soon. Until then, you can learn more and see highlights from past Roundtable events here. |
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Upcoming Meetings and Events
- December 15, 2021: Northern Virginia Joint Transportation Meeting (virtual) (registration in advance to provide comment)
- December 16, 2021: Everything You Need to Know about VDOT (Fairfax, VA) (registration fee)
- Save the Date: February 17, 2022: 2022 ITSVA Legislative Reception (Richmond, VA) (registration required)
- Save the Date: March 30, 2022: NVTA’s 7th Annual Northern Virginia Transportation Roundtable (registration required)
- Save the Date: May 26-27, 2022: ITS Virginia Annual Conference and Expo (Richmond, VA) (registration required)
Stay on top of the latest in transportation by signing up for our e-newsletters. NVTA Update will keep you in the loop on all the happenings at the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Driven by InNoVation e-newsletter will take a look at the latest transportation technology trends across the globe.
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