May 29, 2020
UFTI welcomes Justin Dennis and Beth Kigel to the External Advisory Board 
Mr. Justin Dennis is the co-founder of Urban SDK , which is a company that specializes in helping local governments and public agencies build trust with IoT (Internet of Things), data visualization and machine learning. At Urban SDK, he leads all operations and product development related to technology. Mr. Dennis also leads the development of various big data projects for state agencies, those requiring the development of software applications and systems integration, and he is actively involved in Smart North Florida , a regional coalition dedicated to improving North Florida’s quality of life through the application of technology and public service.

Ms. Beth Kigel serves as National Practice Leader for Intelligent Transportation and Emerging Mobility Solutions and Vice President at HNTB – an employee-owned infrastructure firm that serves public and private owners and contractors. Ms. Kigel is a global thought-leader in new mobility and smart city ecosystems and assists transportation agencies, cities, and regions in developing smart and connected infrastructure solutions. 


FDOT Final Report: Enhanced Characterization of RAP for Cracking Performance (BDV31-977-70)
When roads are resurfaced, and the top layer is removed, millions of tons of used asphalt pavement is generated. However, it has become common to recycle some of this used material by adding it to asphalt mixtures for new pavement. This used material is also known as reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). The practice offers some financial and environmental benefits by reducing material costs and by reducing the amount of unwanted, unused asphalt pavement. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has determined that a maximum of 20% of RAP can be used in its premium mixtures of polymer-modified binders. It has also determined that mixtures with unmodified binders can have up to 50% RAP incorporated, and they use about 30% RAP on average. Since pavement performance and integrity with financial benefits is key, it was determined that more research was needed to understand if more RAP could be used in mixtures containing polymer-modified binders without sacrificing pavement performance. Dr. Reynaldo Roque, professor in the Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering, and his team focused on evaluating certain characteristics of RAP to determine if the current maximum RAP usage in polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) mixtures can be increased. They also studied how RAP performed on asphalt mixtures made with a high polymer (HP) binder. Several mixtures were evaluated and it was determined that certain RAP characteristics must be present before increasing the RAP content above the current maximum (20%) in PMA mixes. A preliminary guideline based on these RAP characteristics was developed for determining maximum RAP usage in PMA mixes, which were validated by testing the mixtures. It was also concluded that incorporation of 20% RAP in HP mixes would cancel out the benefits of using the more expensive high polymer binders. Under the right conditions, using higher amounts of recycled asphalt pavement has financial and environmental benefits. 

Did you know? The UFTI has a YouTube channel
The UFTI has its own YouTube channel. There you can find videos from webinars hosted by the Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development, and Education (STRIDE) Center; research updates from the UFTI, and interviews with faculty and students. Be sure to subscribe to receive notifications when new videos are posted.

Despite the changing landscape, faculty and staff continue to stay connected and on track with our research and other initiatives.

Upcoming Webinars
Mc Trans Highway Capacity Analysis Webinar Series

June 1 - 5: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern

Mc Trans will be presenting a training course as a series of webinars on Highway Capacity Analysis covering the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM 6th Edition) methodologies including applications using the Highway Capacity Software (HCS7) organized as follows:

June 1 (1:00-2:30) – HCM 6th Edition with HCS7 Overview (included with all registrations) (1.5 PDH)

June 1 (2:30-4:00) & June 2 (1:00-2:30) – Freeway Segments (Basic, Weaving, Merge & Diverge) and Freeway Facilities (Reliability) (3.0 PDH)  

June 2 (2:30-4:00) – Highway Segments (Multilane Highways, Two-Lane Highways) (1.5 PDH)

June 3 (1:00-2:30) – Unsignalized Intersections (TWSC, AWSC, Roundabouts and Roundabout Corridors) (1.5 PDH)

June 3 (2:30-4:00) & June 4 (1:00-4:00) – Signalized Intersections (Multiple-Period Analysis, Phase Duration); Urban Streets (Flow Profile, Access Points, Reliability) and Interchanges (Ramp Terminals, Alternative Intersections) (4.5 PDH)

June 5 (1:00-2:30) – TransModeler SE Demonstration (HCS7 Streets Integration, 3D Animation, HCM-Compliant Simulation) (1.5 PDH)

Register for the entire series (13.5 PDH) at a discounted rate. Registrations will be limited to ensure questions and discussion can be managed appropriately. Individual registrations are required for all participants. Multiple registrations on the same order from the same company or agency are discounted.

STRIDE Webinar: Fly-By Image Processing for Real Time Congestion Mitigation

June 3: 12:00 PM Eastern

The fly-by system consists of a “flock” of interconnected, self-managed drones equipped with lightweight navigation, and perching mechanism allows the drone to record videos from fixed points. Image processing techniques are used to detect traffic parameters from the recorded videos. On the other hand, Traffic simulations models will be utilized to develop the database necessary in developing and training the Traffic Model-Based Image Processing (T-MBIP) algorithm. These simulations are focused on traffic congestions. Once the traffic parameters are detected it will be compared with the congestion case to obtain if the congestion is approached or not.

Webinar Presenters:
  • Dr. Nasim Uddin, University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • Dr. Yahya Mohammed, University of Alabama at Birmingham


The Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development, and Education (STRIDE) Center is the 2016 USDOT Region 4 (Southeast) University Transportation Center (UTC) housed at the University of Florida Transportation Institute (UFTI). 

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