Skip to main content

Atkins to aid transformation of Colorado’s transportation system

UK-based design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins is to assist the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in transforming the state’s aging transportation system into one of the safest and most reliable in the US. CDOT has selected the company to provide program support for the RoadX Program, its commitment to rapid and aggressive implementation of innovative technology to revolutionise the state’s transportation system within the next ten years. CDOT is investing US$20 m
June 27, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
UK-based design, engineering and project management consultancy 1677 Atkins is to assist the 5701 Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in transforming the state’s aging transportation system into one of the safest and most reliable in the US.

CDOT has selected the company to provide program support for the RoadX Program, its commitment to rapid and aggressive implementation of innovative technology to revolutionise the state’s transportation system within the next ten years.  
 
CDOT is investing US$20 million in the next year to combat congestion and improve safety through the use of technology. During the three-year contract period, Atkins and two other consulting firms will be advisors for all RoadX program activities, serving as an extension of staff and helping to move projects from conception through procurement to construction.

Colorado currently ranks 32nd out of 50 states in the quality of its roads, while the metro areas in Denver and Colorado Springs are some of the most congested cities in the country. Metro Denver ranks as 19th worst in congestion and 16th worst in trip reliability; congestion in Denver/Aurora costs US$1,101 per commuter per year.

The state’s population grew by 50 per cent in the last 20 years and is predicted to grow by another 50 per cent in the next 20 years. In 2014, 488 people died in traffic related crashes using Colorado’s transportation system and another 3,219 were seriously injured; in that year, the cost of all crashes in Colorado was US$13.27 billion, or approximately US$2,500 per person.

The RoadX program aims to tackle these issues, employing a multipronged DO-IT (deployment, operations, innovation, technology) approach with the objective of being the most efficient, agile and flexible system for delivering transportation technology. From 2016 to 2018, the program is slated to deploy technology that will reduce the cost of transporting goods by 25 per cent, turn a rural state highway into a zero death road and improve congestion on Colorado’s critical corridors.
UTC

Related Content

  • July 20, 2021
    Pittsburgh reveals pedestrian crash rates 
    Nearly 90% of crashes occurred within 500 feet of a transit stop, says startling new report
  • December 22, 2016
    Western US governors collaborate on EV corridor
    The Governors of Colorado, Utah and Nevada are to work together over the next year to develop complementary plans for building an electric vehicle charging network across key highway corridors in their states. The corridors will include Interstates 70, 76 and 25 across Colorado; Interstates 70, 80 and 15 across Utah; and Interstates 80 and 15 across Nevada. In total, the charging network will connect more than 2,000 miles of highway. This regional electric charging station network aims to address rang
  • January 30, 2012
    Mounting benefits of dynamic tolling project
    Wisconsin's four-year HOT lanes pilot project, launched in May 2008, cost US$18.8 million to construct. Halfway into the project, which uses variably priced, or dynamic, tolling to improve highway efficiency, the benefits are mounting. The problem was obvious, and frustrating, to anyone who ever sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic on State Route 167 and watched a lone car whiz by every 20 seconds or so in the carpool lane. But for planners at the Washington State Department of Transportation, the conundrum was
  • March 16, 2015
    Report analyses multiple ITS projects to highlight cost and benefits
    Every year in America cost benefit analysis is carried out on dozens of ITS installations and pilot studies and the findings, along with the lessons learned, are entered into the Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) web-based ITS Knowledge Resources database. This database holds more than 1,600 reports and periodically the USDOT reviews the material on file to draw conclusions from this wider body of evidence. It has just published one such review ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned: 2014 Update Re