MDOT Director, Department Honored for Achievement, Innovation and Operations Excellence
L-R: Kirk T. Steudle, State Transportation Director; Paul Ajegba, MDOT University Region Engineer; Stephanie Palmer, MDOT University Region Traffic and Safety Engineer; Shailen Bhatt, ITS America President and CEO; Mark Chaput, ACM Vice President of Construction and Infrastructure Development; Jennifer Foley, MDOT University Region Assistant Delivery Engineer; Carlos Braceras, ITS America Board of Directors Chair and Utah DOT Director; and Karianne Steffen, HNTB.
The State of Michigan was well represented at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) Annual Meeting on Monday at Cobo Center in Detroit.
State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle was inducted into the ITS Hall of Fame during the Board of Directors meeting.
“It’s an incredibly rewarding experience to join the other inductees who have shaped the landscape of transportation over the past several decades,” Steudle said. “I am proud to represent the state that is unrivaled in developing and deploying the technology of the future.”
The Best of ITS Awards was a clean sweep for the state, showcasing Michigan’s status as the epicenter for next generation mobility.
The US-23 Flex Route project in Washtenaw and Livingston counties was selected as the Transportation Systems Operations project of the year, beating out six competing projects from across the country. The Flex Route provides additional capacity during peak travel times by opening the median shoulder to traffic, improving traffic speeds and incident response, and providing advance notice of upcoming conditions.
The American Center for Mobility and MDOT were selected as the winner in the category of Connectivity, Autonomy and the Future of Transportation. The nonprofit public-private partnership is creating a world-leading facility in Ypsilanti for innovation, testing and validation of connected and automated vehicle technologies. The project is a model of how partnerships can accelerate the development and deployment of innovative technologies that promote safety, mobility and sustainability.
