12/07/2012

MassDOT: 2012 National Safety Leadership Award

MassDOT has received the 2012 Safety Leadership Award from the American Association of State Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

MassDOT joins the Minnesota Department of Transportation in receiving the national group’s highest safety honor, given to a state that takes significant action to reduce highway fatalities and injuries and improve transportation safety. AASHTO’s award committee singled out MassDOT’s “strong leadership” in pursuing safety initiatives that have resulted in significant reductions in highway crashes causing injury or death while also creating a safer workplace for transportation employees.

“We have made safety priority one, embedded in every decision our employees make on behalf of all our customers regardless of transportation mode,” said Richard A. Davey, MassDOT Secretary & CEO, “and I am pleased to see this recognition of our efforts and thank our employees who work each day to keep Commonwealth roads and public transit safe.”

Under the leadership of Secretary Davey, MassDOT Highway Administrator Frank DePaola, and Chief Engineer Thomas Broderick, MassDOT:

• Created a Highway Safety Improvement Program Task Force, strategically investing over time more than $90 million in safety programs and projects;
• Partnered with other agencies on work zone enforcement, crash and safety data improvements, and performing approximately 120 Road Safety Audits statewide;
• Promoted a culture of safety among employees, including required defensive driving and work zone safety training along with CPR training and mandatory use of safety equipment.

AASHTO's Safety Leadership Award requires that states have a Strategic Highway Safety Plan and participate in AASHTO, Transportation Research Board/National Cooperative Highway Research Program, or Federal Highway Administration safety programs.

MassDOT Community Transit Grants Awarded Statewide

MassDOT's Rail & Transit Division this week announced the second round of statewide FY 2013 award recipients in the MassDOT Community Transit Grant Program.

A total of 26 applicants including Regional Transit Authorities are receiving nearly $5.7 million from the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Transportation for Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities program, and the Commonwealth's Mobility Assistance Program (MAP).

The second round of award funding will be used toward the purchase of 123 fully accessible vans and minibuses for use by Councils on Aging, Private non-Profits, and RTAs across the Commonwealth.

The $5.7 million includes both Federal and State grants, with a total amount awarded for the 2013 MassDOT Community Transit Grant Program of $11.5 million.

A list of the award recipients is available on the Community Transit Grants website.

MassDOT, Lowell Celebrate School Safety Improvements

MassDOT joined City of Lowell Mayor Patrick Murphy, Senator Eileen Donohue, Representative Thomas Golden, students, parents and school officials for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of pedestrian access and safety improvements surrounding the McAuliffe Elementary campus. The project was made possible by MassDOT using federal Safe Routes to School program funds.

“MassDOT continues to be a national leader in building a transportation system that is sustainable, greener and healthier, setting a goal to triple the share of walking and bicycle travel,” said MassDOT Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey. “Providing federal infrastructure funding through the Safe Routes to School program enables families to walk and bicycle together and will assist MassDOT in accomplishing our mode shift objectives.”

McAuliffe Elementary is a School Partner in MassDOT’s Safe Routes to School program, which serves over 500 elementary and middle schools in 160 communities throughout the Commonwealth. School Partners receive year-round pedestrian and bicycle safety education instruction as well as engagement initiatives tailored to meet each school’s physical fitness, safety and environmental priorities.

Since joining Safe Routes to School in 2008, McAuliffe teachers and parents have collaborated with MassDOT to address neighborhood safety barriers for students who must walk or bicycle to school. Project highlights include: 1400 feet of new sidewalk along the entrance and exit driveways of the McAuliffe School, five foot wide bike lanes at the entrance and exit driveway, new ADA accessible wheelchair ramps, pavement markings, new traffic and pedestrian warning signs, as well as minor drainage modifications.