|
UGPTI Responds to North Dakota's Needs
Summer is a time of intense activity across our region. At the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) at NDSU researchers are taking advantage of this time to gather data, conduct research and plan outreach activities.
The UGPTI Advisory Council has decided to resume publication of this newsletter after a hiatus of several years. As chair of the UGPTI Advisory Council, I am excited to share with you some of the excellent work of the UGPTI researchers and students.
But first, a bit of history about UGPTI. The Institute was formed by the ND Legislature in 1967, “to conduct and supervise research in the field of transportation and logistics in order to facilitate acquisition of a wider knowledge and understanding of marketing factors associated with the geographical location of the state of North Dakota and the upper great plains in the field of transportation and their influence on the socioeconomic systems of the state, region, and country.” This purpose is spelled out in the North Dakota Century Code, which also outlines the make-up of the Institute’s 19-member advisory council. This group of leaders provides guidance to the Institute in matters of related to the development of transportation in North Dakota.
At its founding, UGPTI was focused primarily on agricultural commodity shipping and rail rates. In the ensuing years, with deregulation in the rail and trucking industries and dramatic changes in North Dakota’s demographics, technology and business climate, the Institute diversified and broadened its programs to include nearly all modes of transportation. Today it is regionally and nationally recognized as a leader in rural transportation research.
In this issue of the newsletter, you'll learn more about the 2025 Autonomous Trucking Conference planned for next month in Grand Forks, how local leaders provide important input into the biennial local road and bridge investment needs study, and the opening of a new high-tech Traffic Data Intelligence Lab.
I hope you'll click the links provided in the newsletter to learn more about UGPTI's work across the state. If you have any questions about UGPTI and its programs, please contact me, UGPTI Director Denver Tolliver, or any of the UGPTI staff.
Best regards and enjoy the rest of your summer!
| |
Sheri Haugen-Hoffart
ND Public Service Commissioner
UGPTI Advisory Council Chair
| | | | Autonomous Trucking Conference set for September 15-16 in Grand Forks | | |
The evolution of autonomous trucking in North Dakota and the Northern Plains will be the focus of a September 15-16 conference at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, ND.
The 2025 Autonomous Trucking Conference is organized by UGPTI with support from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The conference will provide a forum for autonomous truck companies; tech entrepreneurs; motor carriers; safety enforcement personnel; the agricultural, energy, and manufacturing industries; state and local governments; and community leaders to share advances and discuss future opportunities and challenges for the technology’s implementation.
The conference will start at 1 p.m. on Monday, September 15, and conclude by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16. A reception and networking opportunity will follow the program on Monday. Registration is free, and breakfast and lunch will be provided on Tuesday. For more details on the agenda and for information regarding hotel accommodations visit the Autonomous Trucking Conference page.
| | Local input is critical to road and bridge investment needs study | | |
Input from townships and counties across North Dakota is critical to updating local road and bridge investment needs estimates for the next legislative session, according to UGPTI researchers.
“Unless they provide information about local improvements and maintenance, we likely won’t know about it,” said Brad Wentz, UGPTI program director. Wentz and his team developed and maintain the Geographic Roadway Information System (GRIT), which provides local units of government an online means of maintaining an inventory of roadway assets with data on characteristics ranging from roadway base materials to road signs. GRIT helps local road managers plan how to use their limited budgets to maintain and update their road systems most effectively while NDSU uses the data in its statewide investment needs studies.
Later this fall, UGPTI will distribute a survey to all 53 ND counties and the state’s 1,300 organized townships to gather data on gravel road maintenance. UGPTI researcher Alan Dybing said the information from those surveys helps track gravel costs as well as gravel road maintenance practices such as blading and graveling frequency, dust control, and base stabilization. The surveys also allow counties and townships to provide information on the condition of their gravel roads and to report unique challenges such as flooding or circumstances leading to high levels of traffic. UGPTI personnel will also visit a number of counties in the coming months. “It’s our opportunity to gather information on things that can't be covered in a survey,” Dybing said.
Read more.
| | UGPTI opens high-tech Transportation Data Intelligence Lab | | |
With funding from the North Dakota Legislature, the UGPTI recently launched its Transportation Data Intelligence Lab, a high-tech classroom and data center that allows researchers to collect information on traffic and road conditions from a variety of cameras and sensors across the state. The goal is to provide workers and support to transportation agencies in making critical decisions on planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating the state’s roadways system.
“The lab is designed to emulate a modern traffic management center or traffic operations center,” noted UGPTI program director Brad Wentz. Similar centers are being planned for use statewide in North Dakota and in the Fargo-Moorhead area. UGPTI’s lab will serve as a training ground for students who will work in those centers. “They require a pretty large workforce, because typically they are staffed 24 hours a day seven days a week.”
A second purpose of the lab is to connect to all the data sources across the state from city, county, state and Tribal agencies. Sources may include weather stations, weigh-in-motion sensors, traffic counters, and the hundreds of traffic cameras positioned along highways and streets from one end of the state to the other.
“We’re developing artificial intelligence (AI) models here and we’ll use the data from the center to train those models to assist in managing roadway assets and traffic,” Wentz said.
Read more.
| | |
On the calendar:
-
UGPTI Advisory Council Meeting, October 2, Noon-4:30 p.m., Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND.
-
UGPTI Annual Awards Banquet, October 2, Social at 5:30 p.m. / Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND. Honorees are Shawn Dobberstein, Fargo Airport Authority; Jason Benson, Metro Flood Diversion Authority; and State Senator Mark Weber. RSVP.
| | The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) is a research, education, and outreach center at North Dakota State University which provides innovative transportation research, education, and outreach that promote the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. UGPTI is guided, in part, by an Advisory Council composed of representatives of various organizations, industries and agencies affecting or affected by transportation. | | North Dakota State University does not discriminate in its programs and activities on the basis of age, color, gender expression/identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, participation in lawful off-campus activity, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, public assistance status, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, spousal relationship to current employee, or veteran status, as applicable. Direct inquiries to Vice Provost, Title IX/ADA Coordinator, Old Main 100, 701-231-7708, ndsu.eoaa@ndsu.edu. | | | | |
