Month: September 2020

WRTWC Will Kick Off Webinar Series on Transportation Workforce Development

Posted on September 22nd, 2020

MSU Speakers will highlight successful program offering professional development and career exposure to university students

How do we inspire the next generation of transportation professionals and start filling growing workforce needs in the transportation sector?  Join the National Network for the Transportation Workforce for a 4-part webinar series on how to achieve effective student career engagement and priority workforce development during the pandemic and over the long term.

The West Region Transportation Workforce Center (WRTWC), which is based at WTI, will host the first webinar on October 7 (11 am Mountain Time), which will focus on “Engaging Multidisciplinary Student Talent to Meet Agency Needs.” Four speakers from MSU and the City of Bozeman will highlight the Community-engaged and Transformational Scholarship Initiative (CATS), a successful 3-year partnership between MSU and the City of Bozeman that offers students the opportunity to work on community-based projects through their university courses. Speakers will include:

  • Susan Gallagher, Director, West Region Transportation Workforce Center
  • Susanne Cowan, Professor, Montana State University School of Architecture
  • Larissa Morales, Grad Student, Montana State University School of Architecture
  • Danielle Hess, City of Bozeman Neighborhoods Coordinator

Learn more and sign-up for this free event on the registration webpage.  Future webinars in the series will include:

  • October 27: State of the Transportation and Mobility Workforce
  • November 18: The Role of Industry-Academia Partnerships in Preparing K-12 Students for Transportation Careers
  • December 3: Providing Training and Education During the pandemic: Challenges and Solutions at State DOTs

To learn more about each webinar in the series and to register, visit: https://www.nntw.org/nntw-fall-2020-webinar-series-empowering-the-new-mobility-workforce/

New Project: Conserving Monarch Butterfly Habitats Along Idaho Highways

Posted on September 22nd, 2020
Monarch butterfly on orange flower
Source: MS Word Image Library

Researchers from the Montana State University Ecology Department and WTI’s Road Ecology program will investigate the roadside habitats of monarch butterflies in Idaho, as part of a new project for the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).

The monarch butterfly population has declined drastically in western states since the 1980s, largely due to habitat loss and fragmentation. In Idaho, the Snake River Plain is a target location for conservation and restoration activities. ITD manages a large number of highway miles and adjacent right of way (ROW) acreage in this region, but there is little data on the amount of land or the specific locations that support butterfly populations, migration routes, and breeding habitat.

For this project, researchers will conduct a field study to identify the amount and location of existing monarch butterfly habitat within ITD ROW land, as well as additional locations that could be easily restored to suitable habitat.  Monarchs and their host plants, milkweeds, are a key focus of the project, and it will also evaluate several other native butterflies and bee species that are of high conservation concern. From the findings, the research team will develop recommendations for ITD on how to manage roadsides that connect natural areas and conserve butterfly and bee populations. The research will be led by Dr. Diane Debiniski (MSU Ecology), in partnership with Rob Ament (WTI) and Dr. Laura Burkle (MSU Ecology).

As the project progresses, updates will be available on the project webpage.

Time for Kids Introduces Wildlife Crossings to Young Students

Posted on September 16th, 2020

WTI Road Ecologist Rob Ament is featured in a recent issue of Time Magazine for Kids. A feature article called “Safe Travels” describes the large number of animals that are killed in roadway collisions each year, and how wildlife crossing structures work to protect animals as they move across their habitats. Rob discusses successful designs – like the crossing structures in Banff National Park – and how they are models for new efforts around the world, including a project he is working on in Kaziranga National Park in India.

Time for Kids is a weekly magazine for elementary school children. It offers age appropriate learning material for students and is designed to complement curriculum.

MSU Research Expenditures Hit an All-time High

Posted on September 16th, 2020
logo of Montana State University

Congratulations to Montana State University (MSU), for achieving a record high level of research expenditures for 2019-20. The total of $167 million represents an 8% increase over the previous year.

WTI is proud to be part of the high achieving MSU research team. Read about the accomplishments of our research colleagues across campus.

National Safety Council Selects Safety Center as Finalist for Green Cross Award

Posted on September 9th, 2020
Logo for National Center for Rural Road Safety

Congratulations to the National Center for Rural Road Safety, which was recently named as one of three finalists in the country for the 2020 Green Cross for Safety Award – Safety Advocate!

Each year, the National Safety Council selects honorees for demonstrating leadership in keeping people safe, with awards in three categories: Safety Advocate, Safety Excellence, and Safety Innovation.  The Safety Center is a finalist for the Safety Advocate Award, which “recognizes those who have made a significant impact on safety by raising awareness and bringing about change.”

“We’re excited to be recognized as a finalist, especially in the company of other national safety leaders from public, private, and non-profit agencies,” said Jaime Sullivan, Director of the Rural Safety Center.  The full announcement is available in a news release on National Safety Council website. The winners will be announced in a virtual celebration on October 1.

Will Passenger Rail Return to Southern Montana? Join the Conversation on Sept. 17!

Posted on September 9th, 2020
black and white image of train wheels

Passenger rail service through southern Montana ended 41 years ago, and now advocates across the state are working to bring it back. Interested in learning more? Plan to attend the virtual Montana Passenger Rail Summit on Thursday, September 17!

WTI is a sponsor of this event, which will bring together elected officials, business leaders, passenger rail experts and others from across Montana who are interested in establishing safe, reliable, and affordable passenger rail service through the region, and connectivity to other transportation services. More details and registration are online at www.montanapassengerrailsummit.org.  The summit is free to attend, and registered participants will receive a personalized Zoom link a few days before the event.

New Publication: Safe Interactions Between Vehicles and Bicyclists

Posted on September 9th, 2020
Truck passing a bicyclist on a rural highway

The Journal of Safety Research has published an article that examines the influence of traffic safety culture on a driver’s behavior when interacting with bicyclists on the roadway.

“Traffic safety culture and prosocial driver behavior for safer vehicle-bicyclist interactions” is based on a research collaboration between the Center for Health and Safety Culture (CHSC) and the Small Urban and Rural Livability Center (SURLC) at WTI.  Authors include CHSC researchers Nic Ward, Kari Finley and Jay Otto of CHSC, and David Kack, Rebecca Gleason, and Taylor Lonsdale of SURLC.

Bicyclist safety is a growing concern as more adults use this form of transportation for recreation, exercise, and mobility. Most bicyclist fatalities result from a crash with a vehicle, and the behaviors of the driver are often responsible for the crash.  The researchers conducted a survey study of Montana and North Dakota residents and found that prosocial driver behavior was most common and appeared to be intentional. They also found that this intention was increased by positive attitudes, normative perceptions, and perceived control. The findings can be used to develop strategies to increase prosocial intentions and driver behavior, thereby increasing bicyclist safety.

CITATION: Ward, N. J., Finley, K., Otto, J., Kack, D., Gleason, R., & Lonsdale, T. (2020). Traffic safety culture and prosocial driver behavior for safer vehicle-bicyclist interactions. Journal of Safety Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2020.07.003