July 2023
Issue 110
In This Issue:
  • Safety Matters: Teen Safe Driving Video Contest Winners
  • Innovation Station: Connecticut Employs Planning and Environmental Linkages
  • NEAPWA Lunch and Learn Program
  • CT Offering Vouchers for Residents to Buy E-Bikes
  • NEAPWA Chapter Connects: Electrification of Municipal Public Works Fleets and Equipment (Video)
  • A Note from Donna to the T2 Advisory Committee
Teen Safe Driving Video Contest Winners
For the past 14 years, the CT Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Travelers have been sponsoring a Teen Safe Driving Video Contest. The contest is open to Connecticut high school students ages 14-18 and has a different theme each year. This year’s theme, “Driving Safe Habits,” required student directors and their teams to create a video sharing the things that “drive” them to be safe. Videos must also address at least one CT teen driving law. More than 200 students from over 20 schools participated in the 2023 CT DMV-Travelers Teen Safe Driving Video Contest, submitting 103 videos. This year Melissa Evans, Safety Circuit Rider, was invited to be a judge for the contest.
The 2023 winners are:

First Place
School: Thomaston High School
Students: Connor Miller and Daniel Sauve

Second Place
School: Wilton High School
Students: Dino Bocuzzo and Josh Meltzer 

Third Place
School: Arts at the Capitol Theater (Willimantic)
Students: Luis Baldomero, William Frank and Alex Pallein 

Additionally, the contest includes several subcategory awards and those winners are: Use of Connecticut (Hall High School, West Hartford); Use of Dialogue (Arts at the Capitol Theater and Hall High School); Best Call to Action (Wilton High School); Diversity Award (Wilton High School). 

Each winning team received a gift card, and their school received a monetary prize to be used for an educational program on safety issues related to teen safe driving. Congratulations to all of the winning teams!
For more information and assistance with local road safety in your community, contact Melissa Evans, Safety Circuit Rider, at melissa.evans@uconn.edu.

Resource:
CT Department of Motor Vehicles, 2023 Teen Video Contest Winners (ct.gov)
Connecticut Employs Planning and Environmental Linkages
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) recently launched a planning and environmental linkages (PEL) study to identify improvements for reducing congestion and improving travel time for its Interstate 95 Eastern Connecticut project. PEL studies facilitate a collaborative and integrated approach to transportation decision-making that considers environmental, community, and economic goals early in the planning process. The information, analysis, and products developed during planning will inform the environmental review process. CTDOT created a study website that explains the PEL process to the public, including background information and timelines, and supplemented face-to-face community events along the study corridor with virtual public information meetings to increase participation.
To learn more about innovations in other states, click here to read FHWA's Innovator newsletter.
NEAPWA Lunch and Learn Program
The NE Chapter Connects webinar series has been very popular with our public works community. Did you know we have all of the recordings available for you to view at a time convenient for you and your crew? The NEAPWA is encouraging public works agencies to use the many topics in the video resource library to implement a lunch & learn series for your crews. It is a great way to bring the crew together and learn from their peers around New England.
Here is a sample of the topics that are available:

  • Preparing for Hurricanes/Storms – Emergency Operations
  • Electrification of Municipal Public Works Fleets and Equipment
  • Taking Flight with Drones – Insight on Starting a Municipal Drone Program
  • Tips for Dealing with the Public 
  • Sustainable Winter Operations – Are you Prepared?
  • Entry Level Driver Training & Your Organization
  • New Technologies in Public Works

For the complete video library, visit the T2 Center YouTube Channel.
CT Offering Vouchers for Residents to Buy E-Bikes by Kian Ahmadi and Asher Joseph
Eco-minded New Haveners, and other Connecticut residents looking to get out of their cars and onto two battery-assisted wheels, can now apply for up to $1,500 in state-subsidized vouchers to help cover the costs of purchasing a new electric bicycle.

That’s thanks to a new incentive program put forward by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The voucher program formally opened to the public on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

To continue reading, click here.
NEAPWA Chapter Connects: Electrification of Municipal Public Works Fleets and Equipment (Video)
The APWA’s 2023 Top 5 Trending Technologies in Public Works was released, and Electric Vehicles have made the list. In this NEAPWA Chapter Connects webinar, we had an informative discussion about the future of electrification in our communities.

You hear from AAA Traffic Safety, the National Electrification Coalition, and local public works agencies in New England. We will also introduce you to the new Local Government Electrification Playbook, which contains recommendations for how cities and towns can leverage federal investments in electric vehicle infrastructure. It provides a “checklist” of actions and strategies that local governments can enact now and in the future, including best practices and innovative policy approaches.
A Note from Donna to the T2 Advisory Committee
From all of us at the T2 Center, we wanted to take a moment to thank the members of our T2 Advisory Committee. This group has been instrumental in providing us with guidance and input into the growth of our programs, to support the needs of the CT transportation community, and they are always our advocates. We had this great photo of the group, which includes our Chair, Kevin Kelly, who just retired from the Town of Hebron. We did not want to miss an opportunity to let them know how much we appreciate them.
Follow Us!
Along with our Facebook page, the T2 Center now has an Instagram page! Click on the icons below to like the T2 Center on Facebook and follow the T2 Center on Instagram!
Visit T2Center.uconn.edu for more information and resources.
If you have any ideas or suggestions for future Connecticut Crossroads topics, please feel free to email the designer Regina Hackett at regina.hackett@uconn.edu