From the Director

by Matt Cate, P.E.

In the minds of many, Labor Day marks the unofficial transition from summer to fall. Apparently Mother Nature doesn't want to play along with this plan, as evidenced by the hot and humid weather predicted for the first full week of September. Soon enough the weather will come around, bringing cool mornings and fall colors before winter arrives in a few months. I feel obliged to mention the Vols, so let's just say that I hope that the team and our new coaching staff make some quick adjustments before SEC play begins.

You may notice an emphasis on innovation in this issue of RoadTalk. It's a word that comes up with increasing frequency in my world. Merriam-Webster.com defines innovation as "the introduction of something new" or "a new idea, method or device." Innovation is synonymous with change. While change can carry negative connotations, innovation is generally used in a positive context to describe improvement or advancement. I have chosen to adopt the latter view of innovation in the transportation industry. Most, if not all, transportation agencies cannot adopt every innovation. However, we cannot attain goals to provide a safe, reliable, effective, and sustainable roads without some degree of innovation.

Within this newsletter, we see innovation on a large scale as shown in FHWA's Every Day Counts (EDC) program. Much work on the part of FHWA, state departments of transportation, and other transportation stakeholders has gone into the selection of the 10 transportation innovations that you see detailed in our front page story. Over the next three months FHWA will convene five regional EDC summits to provide more detail regarding these innovations, provide real-world examples where these innovations have delivered benefits, and secure commitments from the states to explore, evaluate, and implement some or all of these practices.

This sounds great, but how does EDC effect you? If you work for TDOT (or another state DOT) the relationship is relatively clear. For those in local government, the influence of EDC may be less obvious. Some innovations may spread via a trickle-down effect as state DOT policies and standards change over time. Other innovations may be implemented as the result of a partnership between state and local officials, as could be the case with Virtual Public Involvement. In some cases, innovations such as Value Capture are intended exclusively for the benefit of local agencies. Regardless of the path that an innovation takes between concept and implementation, I think that I would find little argument that change (and improvement) plays an increasingly-prominent role in the world around us.

Some say that the only constant is change. While TTAP cannot stop the march of time, we can give you a say in which innovations you're going to see featured here in RoadTalk. We've selected Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP) as the first EDC-5 innovation to enter the spotlight, but we're just scratching the surface. We want to hear from you regarding which innovations merit more attention. Please take two or three minutes to complete TTAP's Innovation Survey at https://tiny.utk.edu/ UE4ub. It's important to me that you view innovation as a positive force in your workplace, and being able to prioritize these innovations using your input is a great first step in that direction.

That's all I have for this issue. Let's hope that the weather (and UT's football season) have taken a turn for the better by the time you see the Fall 2018 issue of RoadTalk. In the meantime, please let me know if there is anything else that TTAP can do to help you.