1.5 PDHs will be offered for this event.

Agenda:

$20 ITE Members/$35 Non-Members

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SMART SCALE, Show Me the Money – Dan Goldfarb and Wendy Thomas, ATCS

SMART SCALE is Virginia’s process for prioritizing and selecting projects for funding to meet the most critical transportation needs and ensure the best use of limited tax dollars. SMART SCALE evaluates planned transportation projects based on key factors like how they improve safety, reduce congestion, increase accessibility, contribute to economic development, promote efficient land use, and affect the environment. Project benefits are calculated in an objective manner and projects are scored and ranked. The results of the rankings are used by Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) to guide project selection decisions and the priorities to which transportation funds are allocated.

This presentation reviews how SMART SCALE connects planning and programming, general characteristics of competitive transportation funding programs, how funds can be allocated within these programs to drive achievement of objectives, and lessons learned from the review process.

Dan Golfarb PE, PTP, ATCS	Wendy Thomas, ATCS
Dan Goldfarb, PE, PTP has worked in the transportation field for 30 years, both in the United States and abroad. He has experience in multimodal analysis and transportation modeling for planning applications, transportation demand management, as well as traffic operational analysis. He is currently a senior project manager at ATCS. Dan holds a BA in political science from the University of Florida, a BSCE from the University of Maryland, and an MSCE Virginia Tech. He is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia.	Wendy Thomas brings more than 20 years of experience in transportation policy, funding, finance, programming, budgeting, and program management. She specializes in developing funding strategies and navigating federal requirements throughout project planning, development, and delivery. Wendy is currently Infrastructure Finance Director at ATCS and previously held executive roles at the Virginia Department of Transportation responsible for Virginia’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), $9 billion annual transportation budget, $1.3 billion federal program, and $4 billion debt portfolio.

Navigating Rural Road Safety – Donna Hardy, Mead & Hunt

Addressing systemic safety challenges in rural environments is drastically different from urban and suburban areas. In addition to the narrow winding geometry, rural crashes involve ever changing weather patterns, wildlife, commercial vehicles, motorcyclists, long Emergency Medical Service response times, and drivers unfamiliar with the rural terrain. One of the key challenges rural safety engineers face is visiting drivers from more urban areas navigating rural roadways. This presentation will provide an overview of challenges faced and solutions employed in West Virginia over the last 30 years.

West Virginia is considered the 3rd most rural state in America with none of its urban communities having a population over 50,000. Public transit is not available throughout the State, and drivers are faced with long daily commutes. The mountain state has seven distinct mountain ranges with elevation changes from 240’ to 4,863’ above sea level. A remote and challenging drive along the two-lane country roads offers spectacular views but few services between towns. Though West Virginia as a whole has seen a reduction in fatalities, 38 of its 55 counties are trending upward. All but two of these counties have road departure noted as the #1 concern, with it ranking as the #2 issue within the other two. Navigating through these areas safely takes a comprehensive approach that includes ITS, enhanced signing and pavement markings, high friction surface treatment, delineation and barrier. There are rural areas throughout the District which will require comprehensive safety improvements to reach zero fatalities.

Donna Hardy, PE, RSP1, Mead & Hunt

Donna Hardy, PE, RSP1 is a professional engineer with 30 years of experience in traffic engineering at WVDOH and DelDOT.  After leaving WVDOH as the Assistant Director in Traffic Engineering she joined Mead & Hunt in June 2024 as a Senior Traffic Engineer.

DelDOT’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program – Will Tardy, Jacobs and Austin Gray, DelDOT

Learn about DelDOT’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) including where we are, where we have been and where we are going! This presentation will start with some basic information about CMAQ, including some background information on the history and federal regulations regarding types of transportation projects that can use CMAQ funds. Then we will pivot into Delaware/DelDOT specifics including the types of projects DelDOT has historically funded and how that has evolved over time. This presentation will include timelines and how we have set up the program over the past three – four years and some ideas for the future. The attendee will leave the presentation with some basic knowledge of Federal Guidelines as well as a basic knowledge of DelDOT’s CMAQ Program. This presentation will also include a high-level overview of some of the calculations the DelDOT team has developed in order to produce quantitative emissions results.

Will Tardy, AICP, Jacobs	Austin Gray, Delaware Department of Transportation
Will is an environmental planner with the Jacobs Solutions Inc.’s Baltimore Office. Since joining Jacobs in 2018, Will has specialized in policy and program development, capital project delivery, and transportation performance management. Prior to Jacobs, Will served as Environmental Manager for the Maryland State Highway Administration with specializations in air quality and highway noise management. Will is an AICP certified planner and holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Michigan.	Austin Gray is the Assistant Director of the Delaware Department of Transportation’s (DelDOT’s) Division of Planning, overseeing the Statewide and Regional Planning section. He manages long-range transportation planning studies, coordinates with the state’s metropolitan planning organizations, supports multimodal programs, and oversees mapping and modeling platform operations. Austin joined the Delaware Department of Transportation in September 2022 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Delaware.