VHB thought leaders presented nine sessions at the 2024 Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Transportation Innovation Conference, held at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, from April 30 to May 1.
VHB’s nine sessions were selected by MassDOT from the more than 200 presentation abstracts submitted for this year’s conference. A testament to the breadth of VHB’s services, our sessions spanned each of the conference’s five themes: geospatial data, techniques for innovative design and construction delivery, municipal innovation, resiliency and sustainability, and safe and equitable transportation. Underscoring the strength of VHB’s relationship with one of our most important clients in the region, VHBers and MassDOT representatives collaborated to present several sessions as partners.
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Walking and Biking Into the Future: MassDOT's Next Gen Bike & Pedestrian Facilities Vision Map
In their session “Walking and Biking Into the Future: MassDOT's Next Gen Bike & Pedestrian Facilities Vision Map,” Rick Plenge, New England Active Transportation Service Leader, and MassDOT representatives presented about a project to help MassDOT identify opportunities to expand walking and biking networks.
Lauren Caputo, Senior Water Resources Engineer, participated in a panel with MassDOT representatives and other consultants to discuss MassDOT’s new Stormwater Design Guide, created by VHB, which recommends stormwater controls that promote a more sustainable and resilient transportation system.
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Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC)
Andrew Burkholder, Massachusetts Director of Structures, and Shanta Keller, Senior Project Engineer, Structures, spoke to how innovative accelerated bridge construction (ABC) enables departments of transportation to modernize bridge infrastructure while minimizing impacts on the public during construction.
Md Shakir Mahmud, Transportation Safety Analyst, presented on MassDOT’s proactive safety analysis, which identified areas for systemic improvement to prevent crashes, and how the results of the analysis can be used for proactive crash prevention by municipalities, metropolitan planning organizations, and states.
Additional VHB presenters included Bob Penfield, Managing Director—Highway and Structures, Mark Colgan, Mid-Atlantic Transportation Director, Nicolette Hastings, New England Service Leader, Transportation Planning Operations, Katie Mancinelli, Senior Project Engineer, Structures, Kris Kretsch, Senior Structural Engineer, Skye Levin, Traffic Operations Project Manager, and Tom Donald, New England Bridge and Structures Service Leader.
Connect with our subject matter experts on LinkedIn to learn more about their sessions.
![Shanta Keller presents on the benefits of accelerated bridge construction](/globalassets/news/story-content/massdot-innovation-3.jpg)