Category: Outreach

WTI Researchers Improving Roadway Safety in Big Sky

Posted on April 3rd, 2023
Proposed traffic calming installation at Ousel Falls & Aspen in Big Sky, MT. Source: Google

Work is moving forward on a collaborative project between WTI and Big Sky Community Organization (BSCO) on an Ousel Falls Road traffic calming and place-making project. Organizers believe that the temporary infrastructure, funded through the Building Active Communities Initiative (BACI) and the Big Sky resort tax, will increase safety and connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists in the heavily trafficked city center.

Beginning in December 2021, WTI Researchers Rebecca Gleason and Matt Madsen used traffic data collection and community input to design the installation. The proposed curb extensions, crosswalk, and street art will slow motor traffic but will not limit parking. Currently in the permitting phase, Gleason and Madsen hope that installation will occur in mid-May, weather depending.

As a test piece, the Ousel Falls traffic calming project will receive continuous monitoring. WTI will collect data on vehicle, pedestrian, and cyclist behavior in relation to the installation, which will inform suggested next steps. All information, along with a case study of traffic calming in other small towns, will be reported back to the community. As a temporary project, Madsen stressed, the installation is always open to improvements.

IN THE NEWS: GoGallatin Program Manager on Potential for Ride-Share Partnership, WTI Road Ecology Manager on Benefits of Wildlife Crossings

Posted on January 31st, 2023

outdoor portrait of Matt MadsenGoGallatin Program Manager Highlighted in Mass Transit Magazine

Earlier this month, WTI Research Associate Matthew Madsen discussed the role of trip planning in a Mass Transit Magazine article about Whitefish, Montana’s plan to reduce transportation emissions. Madsen, who is also the GoGallatin Program Manager, presented to the City on a potential partnership with the trip planning platform, “[GoGallatin] is one tool that we can put in the toolbox.”

Find the full Mass Transit article at MT: Example of ride-share program presented for city’s consideration.

WTI Road Ecology Manager Shares Expertise in Montana PBS Report, Colorado News Services

WTI Road Ecology Program Manager Rob Ament shared his expertise on last month’s Montana PBS Reports: IMPACT Ep. 6, which examined the problem of animal-vehicle collisions on the Nation’s roadways. Growing citizen concern and new funding opportunities through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) are facilitating the construction of highly effective wildlife crossing structures. Rob discusses the ecological, economic, and safety benefits of these crossing structures, including the incorporation of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials and evolving public sentiment towards wild animals.

Rob also provided input on wildlife crossings during an interview for BIG PIVOTS: Reimagining Colorado’s Highways by the Pagosa Daily Post and Dismantling the Walls to Wildlife in Colorado in The Aspen Times, both of Colorado.

Watch Montana PBS Reports: IMPACT Ep. 6 below:

WTI Part of $2.25M Tribal Transport Effort

Posted on December 5th, 2022

As part of a consortium that was recently awarded up to $2.25 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation, WTI will provide transportation outreach and technical assistance to tribes across the Upper Great Plains and Intermountain West through the Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP). Led by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University, the program will work with 29 tribes within the Bureau of Indian Affair’s Rocky Mountain and Great Plains Regions to build tribal capacity in program management, grow the tribal workforce, cultivate and coordinate partnerships, facilitate technology transfer and the implementation of innovations, and share results of similar initiatives across the country.

“WTI looks forward to sharing with tribes in our region, building their capacity to administer and manage their own transportation programs and systems,” said WTI Executive Director David Kack. “WTI has a long history of solving rural road challenges and collaborating with tribes, as well as partnering with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.”

Program funds will be shared through NDSU with MSU, South Dakota State University and the University of Wyoming, which all host and manage existing Federal Highway Administration-funded Local Technical Assistance Programs (LTAPs), that provide transportation outreach to local units of government. The collaborating universities have considerable experience with rural roads, rural road safety, and other transportation issues faced by tribes, Kack noted. The collective resources and outreach experience will be invaluable to the efforts of the Northern TTAP.

The Northern TTAP will also work closely with state departments of transportation in the region to tap expertise within those departments and to help them better integrate tribal transportation networks into their own statewide and regional networks.

To learn more about TTAP visit: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/clas/ttap/

UTCs – TCUs Exchange Ideas at Albuquerque Summit

Posted on November 1st, 2022

The Small Urban, Rural and Tribal Center on Mobility (SURTCOM) hosted a University Transportation Center (UTC) -Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) Summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The October 21st event, sponsored by a CUTC New Initiatives grant, brought together representatives from UTCs and TCUs nationwide to discuss strategies for advancing partnerships that will help connect Native American students to transportation careers and higher education.  Arlando Teller, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Tribal Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, opened with a welcome and overview of the UTC program as well as additional US DOT grant opportunities. Patrick Nemons, Director of the Office of Safety Programs with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, provided attendees with resources and strategies for obtaining federal grants, focusing on the important role minority-serving institutions play in advancing the nation’s transportation programs.

Representatives from UTCs provided attendees with an overview of their research themes and outreach and education efforts, highlighting any existing UTC-TCU partnerships.  The majority of the Summit was spent on roundtable discussions with TCU attendees exploring themes related to research, training, and workforce development needs, linkages between two-year and four-year institutions, and education and outreach efforts to attract diverse students to transportation careers. The workshop wrapped up with a discussion on strategies and guiding principles for establishing mutually beneficial TCU/UTC partnerships.

WTI Researchers to Teach MSU Course on the Intersection of Transportation & Health

Posted on October 31st, 2022

Transportation systems that prioritize motor vehicles have been linked to poor air quality and negative health outcomes such as asthma, may endanger walkers and cyclists, and disproportionately shift the negative effects onto minority and low-income communities. As a new generation of transportation engineers, planners, and policymakers join the workforce, it is important that they understand and have the skills to address the relationship between transportation and public health.

WTI researchers Rebecca Gleason and Matthew Madsen have partnered with the MSU College of Engineering to teach ECIV 491: Sustainable Transportation and Community Health. The 3-credit spring semester course is for students with Junior standing or above who are studying engineering, community health, planning, or a policy discipline. “Cities and towns are not built within silos by only engineers,” said Madsen. “For them to be sustainable and healthy, they need to be planned and developed by many different professionals. This class will give engineers and students in other disciplines the chance to learn from each other.”

Sustainable Transportation and Community Health is designed to provide students with a broad perspective on transportation design by exploring the evolution of both the U.S. and Dutch transportation systems, their divergence, and the design standards that support active infrastructure. “The Netherlands used to be much more car-dependent,” Gleason noted, “but due to a concerted effort starting in the 1970s they have become a model for a more people-focused transportation network. However, the U.S. fully embraced the private automobile, especially after World War II, and while there are some places around the country that are more bicycle, pedestrian, and transit-friendly, they are now the exception.”

The course will also introduce students to the policies and tools used to incorporate health into transportation planning, as well as provide hands-on experience to plan, implement, and evaluate a quick-build traffic-calming project. “The course goal,” remarked Madsen, “is to demonstrate the need for a balanced transportation system that incorporates health and focuses on equity in relation to all users, especially the more vulnerable ones.”

Registration for ECIV 491: Sustainable Transportation and Community Health is now open for spring 2023. The class will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:2am5 to10:40am. For more course information please contact Rebecca Gleason or Matthew Madsen.

 

IN THE NEWS: City of Bozeman Awarded Grant for Park and Trail Planning

Posted on June 9th, 2021

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that the City of Bozeman has received a planning grant from the Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities. “Bozeman partners with HRDC to hire part-time help for parks planning” describes the collaboration between the City, the Human Resources Development Council, and WTI to gain more input from the public on park and trail access.  The grant funds will be used to hire community liaisons who will seek to document the needs of local populations that have been underrepresented in planning discussions in the past. Ultimately, the public feedback will be used to update the City’s parks, recreation, open space and trails plan and an “active transportation” plan.

WTI assisted with the development and submittal of the grant application and will provide technical assistance and training to liaisons, HRDC, and the City of Bozeman.

SUMMER IS HERE – Time for Transportation Camp!

Posted on June 2nd, 2021
Students mix cement at transportation camp 2019

WTI is excited to announce two upcoming sessions of the Summer Transportation Camp at Montana State University – free weeklong camps for middle school students.

For: Middle School students (entering grades 6-9 in Fall 2021)

What: Two weeklong camps at the MSU Western Transportation Institute (9am – 3pm) to get everyone moving. Each day camp participants will explore a variety of science, engineering, and design topics related to promoting active, safe, and sustainable transportation systems.

Students prepare to use a microscope during a camp activity 2019

Activities will include:

– hands-on design challenges

– local trail explorations by bike

– field trips of discovery

When: June 21-25 and July 12-16, 2021

Cost: Free! There is no cost to camp participants thanks to a generous grant from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

For more information and to register: http://wrtwc.org/center-initiatives/middle-school-summer-camp/

OUTREACH: WTI Director Updates Big Sky Chamber on $10 million Infrastructure Grant

Posted on May 17th, 2021
Portrait of David Kack from 2020

In late April, the Big Sky (MT) Chamber of Commerce hosted a meeting focused on upcoming infrastructure projects in the region.  WTI Director David Kack presented an update on the $10 million federal TIGER Grant, which will fund safety and mobility improvements along U.S. Highway 64/Lone Mountain Trail.  WTI partnered with Gallatin County, Sanderson Stewart, and other regional stakeholders on the proposal that secured the grant. In his remarks, Kack emphasized the importance of this partnership in helping a rural region win a major federal award.  Construction is anticipated to begin this summer on individual projects, to include new turn lanes, vehicle pull-out areas, wildlife crossing signs, a pedestrian tunnel, and recreational paths.  More highlights from the meeting were covered in an article by Explore Big Sky.

STUDENT NEWS: CATS Participants Create Designs for Bozeman Park

Posted on May 6th, 2021
Group of students listen to speaker during field trip to Soroptimist Park in Bozeman

In a recent feature article, Montana State University News Service detailed the contributions of MSU students to future plans for Soroptimist Park in Bozeman, Montana. The students are part of the Community-Engaged and Transformational Scholarship (CATS) program, led by WTI, which matches projects identified and prioritized by Montana communities with students and faculty in relevant disciplines at MSU to assist in making those projects reality.  During the Fall 2020 semester, students in two undergraduate courses in the MSU College of Agriculture gained hands-on experience working with the city of Bozeman on research, site visits, and design workshops, which culminated in recommendations and designs for renovating the park into a multi-use urban plaza.

TRB Annual Meeting Zooms Into Week Three

Posted on January 21st, 2021

The NAS Transportation Research Board continued its revamped Annual Meeting last week, holding virtual technical committee meetings on a wide range of research topics. In this “snapshot” of what the forums look like this year, can you spot some familiar WTI faces at a Transportation Needs of National Parks and Public Lands Committee event last week?

screenshot of 15 people attending a virtual committee meeting at the TRB Annual Meeting 2021

As a reminder, if you are attending the 2021 Annual Meeting, look for WTI researchers at the following events this week:

  • January 21 – Moving Research to Practice – Ahmed Al-Kaisy will present on research to create a new method for screening low-volume roads. (Workshop #1016)
  • January 22 – Rob Ament and Natalie Villwock-Witte will facilitate a workshop on National Standards for Wildlife Vehicle Data Collection (Workshop #1041)
  • January 22 – Ahmed Al-Kaisy will participate in a panel discussion on new safety developments on low-volume roads (Workshop #1044)