AutoTURN 7.0 – CAD software for vehicle simulation and drive path analysis – is now available from Transoft Solutions. This latest release features special transportation systems for maneuvering larger, more complex vehicle types along with support for independent rear steering. Visit our website to download the demo, request more information, or sign up for a webcast.

St. Patrick’s Day must be lucky for than the Irish. It looks like the transportation industry is in luck until at least the end of the year. The Senate voted 68-34 on March 17 to pass H.R. 2847, the $17.6 billion “jobs bill” known as the HIRE Act, which extends the current surface transportation law until Dec. 31 and transfers $19.5 billion in the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to ensure the fund’s solvency during the extension and restoring the recession that occurred at the end of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity act–A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The final vote occurred after a 63 – 34 vote supporting a motion to waive a budget point of order raised by Republican Judd Gregg (N.H.), according to a special Washington Watch report from the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA). At press time, the bill was just waiting a signature from President Barack Obama.

The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced that the number of overall traffic fatalities reported at the end of 2009 reached the lowest level since 1954, declining for the 15th consecutive quarter. According to early projections, the fatality rate, which takes into account the number of miles traveled, reached the lowest level ever recorded.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is sinking $3.5 million into fixing a section of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County that is only five to six years old. The section, between Linton and Boynton Beach boulevards, is riddled with patches of missing asphalt that have commuters either easing around them or swerving into adjacent lanes. FDOT officials insist those aren’t potholes motorists are swerving around. The deteriorating pavement is actually causing ruts in the highway. While varying in size and width, the ruts have been growing steadily at a rate of about 10 percent to 15 percent a year. The asphalt pavement, state officials say, is “raveling” – the top layer of the asphalt is coming up. Raveling isn’t unusual on South Florida roads, officials say, but it is unusual to have it occur on relatively new pavement.

Crumbling parts of Germany’s newly paved A1 motorway are creating headaches for construction company Bilfinger Berger, which is already under investigation for its alleged role in shoddy work on a collapsed Cologne metro tunnel. One of the oldest stretches of autobahn known as the Hansalinie, or “Hanseatic line,” the A1 connects northern German cities. Years of traffic congestion between Hamburg and Bremen were expected to come to an end with the completion of an expansion to six lanes two months ago, but something went wrong. Experts aren’t sure what could have gone wrong with the new so-called “whisper asphalt,” and don’t think the long, cold winter could have caused the damage.

There needs to be a “radical overhaul” of road travel in the UK to avoid future gridlock, the CBI business organization has warned. It said measures that need to be explored include staggered work commutes, increased car sharing, and more working from home. The CBI estimates road congestion now costs the UK economy up to £8 billion ($12.16 billion) a year. It warned this could more than double by 2025 unless more action is taken to tackle the problem.

At the North American Snow Conference you can acquire insight into the latest snow equipment and technology, discover new ways of interpreting weather forecasts, explore ways of improving community relations, learn how to plan for effective snow and ice removal Network with top snow and ice experts from across North America.

The Alabama Senate approved a $1 billion package on March for road and bridge construction during the next decade that would be nearly twice the size of the federal stimulus funding Alabama received for highways, the Associated Press reports. The Senate voted 25-10 for the proposal by Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron of Fyffe. Support came mostly from Democrats and opposition mostly from Republicans, according to the AP report.

U.S. states and cities may increasingly turn to deficit borrowing to deal with still sagging tax revenue and the pending loss of federal stimulus money. Despite glimmers of an economic recovery, state and local government funds are expected to remain sparse for some time. Meanwhile, the $863 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a.k.a. the stimulus, will largely shut off the federal funding spigot to states at the year’s end. States and cities left with huge budget holes and fewer remedies in terms of additional spending cuts or politically unpopular tax increases may find deficit borrowing is their only choice. But this move will invite tougher scrutiny by rating agencies looking for issuers to produce long-term solutions to structural budget imbalances.

Oil refiner Alon USA Energy posted its third loss in as many quarters, weighed down by lower refining margins, sending its shares down 4 percent after the bell. The company, which has three main segments – refining and unbranded marketing, asphalt, and retail and branded marketing – said operating margin at its key Big Spring refinery fell 78 percent to $2.87 per barrel for the fourth quarter. Asphalt margins fell to an average of $48.16 per ton, compared with $422.29 per ton year ago.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has reported that Caltrans’ Capital Outlay Support (COS) program is overstaffed and recommended that the state eliminate 1,500 full-time positions if the department cannot justify its staffing needs. The COS program is responsible for environmental review, design and construction oversight of highway projects, among other responsibilities. LAO found that costs were higher at Caltrans than for comparable projects in other states and local transportation agencies. LAO further concluded that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s three monthly furloughs have had little apparent impact on the COS program’s productivity.

Hispanic and black businesses are receiving a disproportionately small number of federal stimulus contracts, creating a rising chorus of demands for the Obama administration to be more inclusive and more closely track who receives government-financed work. Latinos and blacks have faced obstacles to winning government contracts long before the stimulus. They own 6.8 and 5.2 percent of all businesses, respectively, according to census figures. Yet Latino-owned business have received only 1.7 percent of $46 billion in federal stimulus contracts recorded in U.S. government data, and black-owned businesses have received just 1.1 percent.

The web team at the Federal Highway Administration has created an interactive map of the U.S. that shows every single one of the 12,000-plus Recovery Act road projects. It’s very simple: Each of the 12,000 dots represents a project and clicking on any given one of them brings up information about that project. (The map requires Microsoft Silverlight.)

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that the number of overall traffic fatalities reported at the end of 2009 reached the lowest level since 1954, declining for the 15th consecutive quarter. According to early projections, the fatality rate, which takes into account the number of miles traveled, reached the lowest level ever recorded. The projected fatality data for 2009 places the highway death count at 33,963, a drop of 8.9 percent as compared to the 37,261 deaths reported in 2008. The fatality rate for 2009 declined to the lowest on record, to 1.16 fatalities per 100 million Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) down from 1.25 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2008.

The concrete that fell from a Columbus, Ohio, overpass onto a truck traveling Interstate 71 was loosened by winter weather deterioration, Ohio Department of Transportation officials said. The buildup of ice and snow, and their thawing and refreezing, caused some concrete to crumble at the Hudson Street bridge on Tuesday, said Nancy Burton, a spokeswoman for the department. She said that what happened was unusual, and engineers were confident that it was safe to travel on the bridge and underneath it.

How does the U.S. compare with the rest of the world when it comes to traffic-related deaths? A new infographic offers an impressive amount of information on international motor vehicle deaths, including how traffic fatalities play out among richer and poorer countries. Right now, road accidents are the ninth leading cause of death in the world – by 2030, they’re projected to be the fifth.

Potholes are expected to be a big problem in Iowa this year, but researchers at Iowa State University are working on a possible long-term solution. ISU professor Chris Williams is doing experiments to prevent pothole damage by adding different materials, like recycled shingles, to asphalt. “The fibers create good added strength in our asphalt pavements that will help with this freeze-thaw action,” Williams says. He said he hopes to test a bio-asphalt made from corn stalks and switch grass in a construction project over the summer. Williams said he worked with a private contractor to test the shingles last year with positive results.

Metropolis is a quirky and very abridged narrative history of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. It uses stop motion video animation to physically manipulate aerial still images of the city (both real and fictional), creating a landscape in constant motion. Starting around 1755 on a Native American trading path, the viewer is presented with the building of the first house in Charlotte to the birth of the modern city, with a more detailed re-creation of the economic boom and surprising architectural transformation that has occurred in the past 20 years. Made entirely from images printed on paper, the animation literally represents this sped up urban planners dream.

A cash-strapped village in eastern Germany has put its many potholes up for sale in a novel effort to finance the repair of its crumbling roads, the mayor of the Thuringia city said. People can buy a hole in Niederzimmern near Leipzig for €50 ($68). In return the authorities will repair it – and put a personal message on top, Christoph Schmidt-Rose told local radio station MDR. He said that some potholes had already been snapped up by television channels and newspapers wanting to advertise. Experts estimate that months of severe winter weather have left as many as 40 percent of Germany’s roads badly damaged, while the recession has made it hard for local authorities to patch them up.

March 23 – 26, 2010 – Trenton, NJ

March 25 – 27, 2010 – Louisville, KY

April 13 – 15, 2010 – Tempe, AZ

The U.S. economy has continued to grow this year, but only at a “modest” pace, according to the Federal Reserve’s influential Beige Book. Despite a “slight improvement” in consumer spending, growth was hampered by “severe snowstorms” in many parts of the country, it found.

The book also reported labor markets remaining weak across the country. But the book did highlight growth in the manufacturing sector, and an increase in demand for services.

A gauge of future U.S. economic growth rose slightly in the latest week while its yearly growth index continued to fall to a 31-week low, upholding expectations the economy will likely decelerate starting mid-year, a research group said. The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index was 130.6 for the week ended March 5, up from 129.8 the previous week.

U.S. total business sales for January 2010 were $1,046.9 billion, up 0.6% from last month. Month end inventories were $1,310.2 billion, virtually unchanged from last month. 3/12/2010

The nation’s international trade deficit decreased to $37.3 billion in January 2010 from $39.9 billion (revised) in December 2009, as imports decreased more than exports. 3/11/2010

Total construction activity for January 2010 ($884.1 billion) was 0.6 percent below the revised December 2009 ($889.6 billion). For more details, click here.  3/01/2010

Click here to view the Economy At A Glance