Clemson University is not only number one in college football but is also the first university in the nation to offer a Master of Transportation Safety Administration (MTSA) in the management and administration of highway safety programs. Developed by Clemson's Institute for Global Road Safety and Security, this new degree program addresses the need for a road safety workforce capable of deploying evidence-based strategies and best practices supported by on-going research. Students graduating from the program will be able to make a significant difference in efforts to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries by utilizing enhanced skills and knowledge gained through participation in the program. 

 

What is MTSA? As an online program, MTSA is accessible to participants around the world with an interest in improving road safety and that meet admissions criteria. This unique graduate degree program is a two-year, non-thesis, 30-credit hour interdisciplinary transportation (road) safety curriculum designed to develop professionals skilled at administering and managing road safety programs involving the complex interactions of the human-vehicle-road system. The program offers fellowships to qualified applicants ranging from $2,000 to $20,000. Application fees are currently being waived as part of the program launch. Interested applicants can contact MTSAapply@clemson.edu to obtain a waiver code to enter when applying. 

The MTSA program includes four (4) three-credit hour required core courses and six (6) three-credit hour courses which are selected to form a thematic cluster. The online courses will be offered asynchronously with periodic synchronous class meetings scheduled in advancein order to facilitate access by working professionals across the globe. 

 

Highway safety program administration and management is an interdisciplinary field, including behavioral safety programs, infrastructure safety programs (engineering), enforcement, emergency management, education, planning and design, public health, injury prevention, communications and marketing, public policy, driver and vehicle services, research, etc. The curriculum utilizes Clemson University's faculty expertise across multiple departments and colleges.

The MTSA curriculum is grounded in the belief that the future of transportation safety will require creative leadership capable of working in interdisciplinary teams and applying scientific and systems approaches to road safety management. MTSA's online courses will create a powerful learning environment for graduate students to engage in team-based learning, class lectures, case study discussions, and experiential learning for solving the real-world problems of the human-vehicle-road system. The program engages students in activities related to current national and international issues and best practices in road safety and aligns with national and international standards for core competencies that all transportation safety professionals should possess.

 

Applications are being accepted for the Spring 2020 semester . 

 

Roadway safety is a complex issue that involves the consideration of human behavior, vehicle type, road design and operations, the interaction between different types of road users as well as with the roadway itself, and ultimately, emergency medical services. Over the past two decades significant advancements have been made in the state of practice for roadway safety due to evolving research and technology, increased implementation of evidence-based knowledge in programs to reduce traffic related fatalities and serious injuries, and initiatives such as Towards Zero Deaths (TZD) and Vision Zero.

Advancements in safety have led to increasing emphasis being placed on consideration of safety in all aspects of transportation management, making roadway safety an explicit part of a transportation professional's routine tasks. This is further demonstrated with Highway safety analysis (e.g., HSM methods, CMF applications, etc.) now being included as part of the Professional Engineer (P.E.) Exam. With this, the need to recognize roadway safety as a distinct discipline became evident. In 2016, the Transportation Professional Certification Board (TPCB) began efforts to develop a Road Safety Professional Certification (RSP). This effort has been supported by a broad cross-section of transportation and safety organizations from the United States and Canada.

The RSP Certification provides two levels of certification. RSP Level 1 is designed to demonstrate expertise in road safety's multi-disciplinary dimensions and is intended for any professional who makes decisions or takes actions that potentially impact the safety of the traveling public. RSP Level 2 is a higher-level certification with two separate distinct disciplines for certification: Infrastructure Safety and Behavior Safety and targets those individuals whose primary job functions are directed as improving road safety performance.

To learn more about RSP Certification, click here.

The National Center for Rural Road Safety released the Rural ITS Toolkit late in 2018. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) can help mitigate safety and mobility concerns. If you are unfamiliar with the toolkit, it is a series of 42 rural transportation critical need fact sheets. There are additional resources available, too-

	Orutsararmiut Native Council Search and Rescue member Charles Guest helps monitor ice roads near Bethel.

On the southwest coast of Alaska, the Yukon-Kuskokwim region is home to around 25,000 people and growing. The region depends on a unique transportation network that includes very few roads. The transportation, services, supplies, and administrative hub for over 50 villages is Bethel, the eighth-largest city in Alaska. Bethel is located about 50 miles upriver from where the Kuskokwim River empties into the Bering Sea, and is accessible by river and air only.

Air travel and shipping is available in many villages, but is costly, so most residents must use alternative transportation options. In the summer, this means marine transport on the rivers and using ATV trails to haul goods. Winter travel, however, is often more perilous.

	U.S. mail contractors travel by ice road to deliver letters and packages.

Each year when the rivers freeze over, crews from nine villages along the Kuskokwim and Johnson Rivers work tirelessly to keep the local ice roads clear and safe. An ice road is a winter road, or part thereof, that runs on a naturally frozen water surface such as a river or an expanse of sea ice. Ice roads provide a temporary means of transportation in isolated areas with no permanent road access. Local crews must continuously monitor ice thickness and quality and clear blown snow to ensure that those who travel over the frozen waterways via snowmobile or other vehicle type can do so safely. In addition to citizens and commercial delivery services, a wide array of government services use the ice road, including U.S. mail contractors, Alaska State Troopers, medical transports, school systems, and search and rescue emergency services (see photos at right).

Alaska's ice roads are an important means of transportation during the winter, making it possible for residents to receive deliveries of fuel, firewood, and supplies. One project taking place this past March was delivery of fuel to a village that was operating on emergency rations. Because the ice did not become thick enough during the winter to support delivery of fuel by tanker truck, the fuel delivery company arranged for a fleet of smaller fuel trucks to deliver the fuel by following a path scouted by ice road experts from the Native Village of Napaimute.

	Ground penetrating radar sled used to monitor ice road thickness

Utilizing a grant from the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund, the ice roads crew from the Native Village of Napaimute acquired new technology that is now being used in combination with traditional knowledge to help monitor ice thickness. The device uses ground penetrating radar (GPR) and GPS technology to constantly measure and record ice thickness (see photo at right). As the device is towed on a sleigh, the measurements are wirelessly transmitted to an in-cab computer, which generates nearly instantaneous reports from the data. After about a mile of monitoring, the radar device requires calibration, which is performed by drilling a hole in the ice just large enough to measure ice thickness with a tape measure. The depth of the hole is then recorded in a computer, which adjusts the depth reported in further readings.

This past winter saw unprecedented warm weather, resulting in unusually thin, weak ice. In addition, open holes, usually smaller than 20 inches in diameter, are appearing in the ice. These holes, whose cause is unknown, are unlike anything previously seen by those with decades of experience on the ice roads. Mark Leary, Director of Development & Operations at the Native Village of Napaimute, theorized that these holes could be the results of pockets of methane gas being trapped as permafrost melts.

The use of this new GPR technology has made it possible for maintenance crews to warn travelers of the locations of thin ice, holes, or other areas where travel should be avoided. While similar devices have been used in Canada, where ice roads with limited river crossings are more common, the Kuskokwim ice road is different in that it runs over 120 miles of river rather than simply crossing water over short distances.

The GPR is especially important when heavy loads are being moved, enabling consistent monitoring of the ice road thickness over 1-mile segments. Prior to obtaining the GPR device, maintenance crews could only drill intermittently to estimate ice thickness, and thin areas could only be identified if the crew was lucky enough to drill in that spot. GPR also provides good data, helping local maintenance crews determine when it's safe to start using the ice road as well as when ice road travel should stop.

Demonstration of the process to calibrate the ground penetrating radar device. Adam Larsen of the FHWA Office of Tribal Transportation within the Office of Federal Lands Highway operates the drill and measures ice thickness while Mark Leary from the Native Village of Napaimute records the results.

Adapting to changing climate means adapting the operation of the ice roads and continuing to learn and innovate in order to ensure safe winter travel in one of the world's harshest environments. Advances in research and constantly evolving technology may be able to help increase the safety, frequency, and accuracy of the processes used to monitor ice quality and thickness.

"By combining our traditional knowledge with new technology we are able to manage safe travel despite a changing climate that produces less ice," said Leary.

Despite the many advances made in recent years, gaps in both technology and our understanding of the mechanical properties of ice roads exist, and research is needed to ensure that the use of ice roads can remain as safe as possible. For example, there is a need for methods to test the strength of ice samples and calculate the load that can be carried by ice of varying thickness. Exploring the use of drone photography, drone thermal imagery, sonar, radar, or other technology to screen ice roads for hazardous conditions such as thin ice, open water, and open water covered by snow will also help save lives by ensuring safe transportation in a difficult climate during severe winter conditions.

For more information about the Tribal Transportation Program that funded this technology, please contact Adam Larsen at adam.larsen@dot.gov.

Wildlife collisions occur in every state and geographical environment, but patterns can be found within crash data. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Texas and Wisconsin had the highest numbers of deaths from collisions with animals over the last decade. They attribute the numbers to the size of the driving population, animal population and percentage of rural roads. For additional facts and figures about collisions with animals, such as state numbers and crash severity, please visit here .