Oh, The Places You’ll Go (and the things you’ll see)
Wayne A. Keefner, PE, PTOE, LEED AP, Senior Project Engineer, Senior Associate, BSC Group, Inc., and Chair, Transportation & Development Institute Boston Chapter
I happened to be walking by my kids’ playroom the other day. They were watching a Dr. Seuss movie (The Lorax, I think). Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was a children’s author and cartoonist, from right here in Springfield, Massachusetts. This got me thinking of the book, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, and since I was thinking of what to write for this article, what I added in my mind was “and the things you’ll see.”
I started thinking of the many elements of transportation that we interact with every day, in particular, where they started and where they are now.
Traffic signals were once mostly pre-timed (I sure miss those days of being in the only car waiting at an intersection), now most actuated by vehicle detection. Some newer signals are adaptive and state-of-the-art ones are connected. With the advent of AI, our future signals will seem to have an infinite number of programs as they will adapt in real time.
Vehicle detection used to use inductive loops. Then there was one camera per approach. Now we have 360° cameras. The cameras are only going to get better and smaller. They will incorporate other technologies like infrared or radar to better respond to changing conditions.
Micromobility, once a little-known area of transportation, is now part of most urban planning. This started with communal rental bicycles (some blue, others green). Now e-bikes are affordable and accessible to most. These will only get better, more affordable., and more accepted (once the batteries stop catching fire!).
Pavement markings used to be just paint. Then glass beads were added for their retroreflectivity. Now the glass beads themselves are being improved to provide better visibility from various angles and heights. Recessed retroreflective tape allows for better QA/QC during production while providing increased lifecycle in snow plowing environments (like Massachusetts for four months of the year).
The vehicles we drive now come with incredible technological improvements. With 80% of crashes caused by driver error, new driving aids will only make driving safer. From auto-braking to lane assist to (eventually, yikes, not ready for this yet) self-driving, our trips will become safer.
The design software we use is improving at warp speed. When I graduated college and first entered the industry, we were using (vanilla) AutoCAD. Autodesk then gave us the incredible tool of Land Development Desktop. Now we have Civil 3D and model-based design is the norm. All this came about in just a short (well, not so short) 30 years.
The perfect way to keep up with the changing world of transportation, especially within greater the Boston area, is to be part of the Boston Chapter of the ASCE Transportation & Development Institute (T&DI Boston Chapter).
Group Overview
As the institute chapter that unites the disciplines of planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance, sustainable transportation research, infrastructure, and land development, T&DI considers a range of issues and topics beyond just cars and traffic signals. Consequently, our programming aims to be as diverse as our members’ interests.
T&DI Boston Chapter holds bi-monthly meetings via Microsoft Teams. This year, our meetings will be held on the second Thursday of every other month from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. We are always looking to increase our active membership, so if you are interested in joining in on our planning efforts, please reach out! We are seeking members who are interested in planning or championing these events as a fun way to get involved. Our next virtual group meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 14, at 12:00 pm.
2023-2024 Recap
By the end of the last fiscal year, T&DI Boston Chapter successfully organized three in-person technical events in addition to one social meet-up.
On September 14, 2023, T&DI Boston Chapter hosted the in-person event, The Design and Creation of Polar Park. This event was an after work event. There was a pre-game presentation and social about the Polar Park development project held at Bay State Brewing Company in Worcester. Ticket price included pre-ordered appetizers at Bay State Brewing. The presentation was focused on how this feat of planning, transportation, and civil engineering was accomplished. The speakers were: Peter Dunn, City of Worcester, Stephen Rolle, City of Worcester, Austin Turner, Bohler. Following the presentation, attendees headed over to the Polar Park stadium to watch the Worcester Red Sox play the Syracuse Mets.
The Design and Creation of Polar Park
On January 11, 2024, T&DI Boson Chapter’s first event of the new year was an informal meet-up at The Elephant Walk in downtown Boston. This meet-up was a casual way to introduce prospective committee members to our group and socialize with our current committee members. This event took the place of our January meeting. We discussed our January agenda, set goals for the year, and added some new committee members as well.
Informal meet up
On May 17, 2024, we hosted an event titled Get Ready for Green! The Connected Vehicle is Here. This was a mid-afternoon in-person event, at MassDOT’s District 3 headquarters in Worcester. Matt Picanso and Angela Dempsey from VHB discussed the rollout of MassDOT's 38 Advanced Traffic Controller (ATC) cabinets along the Route 9 corridor from Shrewsbury to Wellesley. Each cabinet includes advanced V2X technology, allowing it to communicate safety information to travelers and adjust the intersection's operation to adapt to changing conditions on the roadway or the presence of emergency vehicles. Following the presentation and lunch, there was a site visit a nearby ATC traffic signal cabinet to see connected-vehicle technology in action.
Get Ready for Green! The Connected Vehicle is Here
Signature Event: Bertram Berger Seminar
The Bertram Berger Seminar is the marquee event of the Transportation & Development Institute Boston Chapter’s yearly calendar. The seminar style event has traditionally featured panel discussions, networking, a keynote address, and presentation of awards and scholarships.
The Bertram Berger Seminar was held on October 17, 2023 and focused on transportation issues as well as state and city-wide projects. This seminar, Connecting the Commonwealth, featured a welcome address, two speaker panels, and a keynote speaker. Conversations explored project successes, lessons learned, and future plans to connect communities and transportation hubs together within the Commonwealth. The speakers were: Jonathan Church, MassDOT, Jen Mecca, MBTA TOD Planning, Meredith Slesinger, MassDOT, Sarah Ingle, RIPTA, Tom Cahir, Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, and Monica Tibbits-Nutt, MassDOT. This was a hybrid event hosted live at the Conference Center at Waltham Woods, as well as virtually via Zoom. In-person registration included a continental breakfast and lunch.
Attendance at Conferences
Last year, T&DI Boston Chapter was represented at both the ASCE National Convention (October 18-21, 2023) in Chicago, IL as well as the ASCE International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD) (June 15-18, 2024) in Atlanta, GA. We are looking forward to attending similar conferences in the future.
Summary
In order to become successful in achieving our goals, we are looking to engage innovators, leaders, and motivated individuals in the transportation and development profession. It is through new ideas and an extensive knowledge base in engineering practices, social interactions, and event management that the T&DI Boston Chapter will contribute to enhancing the engineering community at large. This is your opportunity to stand out and show what you can do outside the day-to-day practices within your private company or public agency and to advocate for and help communities throughout the Commonwealth. If you are a transportation or land development professional looking for a group where you can discuss current happenings, exchange ideas, and strive to make a difference, you are invited to join the Boston Chapter of T&DI!
To learn more, you can contact me at TDI@BSCES.org or visit our LinkedIn and Twitter pages.
Be sure to review future issues of BSCESNews for current news on events and meetings of the T&DI Boston Chapter.