Skip to main content

MDOT recognised for ITS technology leadership

Two high-tech projects championed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) have been recognised by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) with ITS America's Best of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Awards. MDOT earned an award in the Best New Innovative Practice-Partnership Deployment category for its automatic vehicle location (AVL) and maintenance decision support system (MDSS) project and was a finalist in another category, Best New Innovative Practice-Susta
September 18, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Two high-tech projects championed by the 1688 Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) have been recognised by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (560 ITS America) with ITS America's Best of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Awards.

MDOT earned an award in the Best New Innovative Practice-Partnership Deployment category for its automatic vehicle location (AVL) and maintenance decision support system (MDSS) project and was a finalist in another category, Best New Innovative Practice-Sustainability in Transportation, for its I-94 truck parking information and management system (TPIMS) project. In addition, the department won a Best Technical Paper award for a white paper it submitted on the TPIMS project. The recognition was bestowed upon MDOT at the 6456 ITS World Congress held in Detroit Sept. 7-11.

"I'm thrilled that MDOT employees, long national leaders in innovation, are being recognized for finding efficiencies through leveraging technology," said State Transportation director Kirk T. Steudle. "I'm confident MDOT employees' passion for doing things safer, smarter, faster and cheaper will lead to even more breakthroughs in intelligent transportation."

AVL uses GPS (Global Positioning System) to enable MDOT to remotely track the location of its vehicle fleet through a web interface and allows MDOT to efficiently and effectively deploy snowploughs and track winter maintenance activities. MDSS is an automated decision-support tool for road maintenance supervisors. It is a multi-layered, information system that provides forecasts, predictions, reports on observed weather and road conditions, serves as a training tool, and serves as a management support system that MDOT uses year-round.

MDOT's TPIMS project was unveiled earlier this month to assess truck parking availability along the I-94 corridor in southwest Michigan and deliver real-time parking availability information to truck drivers. MDOT is using a number of high-tech methods to share parking availability information, including dynamic roadside truck parking signs, website and smartphone applications, and a fleet of pilot trucks equipped with on-board connected vehicle equipment.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Drivewyze wins ITS America innovation award
    May 6, 2024
    Firm's Smart Roadways tech issues in-cab safety alerts to commercial truck drivers
  • Need for secure approach to connected vehicle technology
    January 7, 2013
    Accidental or malicious issue of false messages to connected vehicles could result in dire consequences, so secure systems of authentication and certification are likely to be necessary, write Paul Avery and Sandra Dykes. Connectivity among vehicles in urban traffic systems will provide opportunity for beneficial impacts such as congestion reduction and greater safety. However, it also creates security risks with the potential for targeted disruption. Security algorithms, protocols and procedures must take
  • IBTTA: industry must commit to trust and accountability
    August 23, 2018
    Without a commitment to trust and accountability, the modern road tolling industry would not have the bedrock which it requires – and which customers demand, says IBTTA’s Bill Cramer When Tim Stewart, executive director of Colorado’s E-470 Public Highway Authority, settled on ‘trust and accountability’ as the themes for his year as IBTTA president, it was a very deliberate choice. Stewart was looking for language that would help deliver the global tolling industry’s message of service excellence to cust
  • Aimsun Online delivers real-time decision support
    May 1, 2015
    TSS-Transport Simulation Systems is an ITS America partner this year at Pittsburgh and will be showcasing the Aimsun Online real-time decision support system for traffic management. Two high-profile traffic management projects using this system as their analytical engine are the award-winning Interstate 15 Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS) led by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), and the Grand Lyon Opticities project in France, which offers standardisation for access to data and