On Wednesday, May 16, 2012, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations will host a “Talking Freight” webinar on the impacts of heavy or oversize truck shipments on the U.S. highway network from noon to 1:30 p.m. CT. The increased demand for heavy load trucks, which haul oversized or overweight loads and require special permits, have created significant impacts on the roads and communities they operate in. The webinar will provide examples of how states and communities are mitigating or have dealt with the increasing heavy truck volumes on the transportation system.

 The Federal Highway Administration recently released a primer on ways to integrate operations into a regional intelligent transportation system (ITS) architecture. The primer will provide transportation planners and operations staff effective strategies to apply planning for operations through the regional ITS architecture. Many transportation management and operations strategies have an ITS component that lends itself to being a part of a regional ITS architecture. The regional ITS architecture should be updated and/or created in a coordinated effort between transportation planners and operations managers to make sure it is relevant and easy-to-use in planning for operations.

On Thursday, April 19, 2012, the National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) will host a “Talking Operations” webinar on the role of social media in communicating with travelers during weather events. New social media technologies are rapidly becoming available that allow transportation system operators and travelers to communicate weather and other traffic-related information. The webinar will focus on the latest social media technologies and identify different implementation approaches.

Pace, the suburban transit provider in the Chicago region, is expanding service on its I-55 express bus routes. The I-55 express bus routes operate on sections of the shoulder of Stevenson Expressway when the facility is congested. The routes have experienced both increased ridership and improved on-time performance. The express service is part of the Bus on Shoulders pilot project which is a cooperative effort of Pace, Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Illinois State Police. The project received funding for signage from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement program and CMAP posted a short video on the program launch. The success of this project to date indicates that such services merit further study and possible additional deployments, contingent on safety and operational success.