The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Roadside Safety Design Committee and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Technical Committee on Roadside Safety met Monday with a focus on implementation and updates for the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).

AASHTO announced that it is working on a scoping project intended to determine the effort it needs to invest to convert MASH into a set of performance specifications, said ATSSA Vice President of Member Services Donna Clark.

Clark, Director of Innovation & Technical Services Eric Perry, and Training Program Manager Jessica Scheyder took part in TRB’s virtual summer conference, which covers a broad range of topics and continues through Aug. 13.

Midyear Digital’s Opening General Session features a panel of national experts providing their “6:60:6 Predictions” for the roadway safety industry.

Panelists include Ken Simonson, chief economist, Associated General Contractors of America;  Jeff Davis, senior fellow and editor, Eno Transportation Weekly; and ​Hilary Cain, vice president, Technology, Innovation, and Mobility Policy, Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

Registration is now open for this fully virtual meeting.

ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetchner will appear on the “Down with the Dig” podcast starting Tuesday. During the podcast, he talks to the hosts about work zone safety.

Down with the Dig hosts discuss safety, technology and legislation issues related to the Ohio Valley Region with their guests. The podcasts are produced by the Ohio Laborers-Employers Cooperation Education Trust.

ATSSA’s 51^st Annual Convention & Traffic Expo takes place Jan. 29-Feb. 2 and President & CEO Stacy Tetschner looks forward to making his first ATSSA convention an unforgettable event.

ATSSA is moving ahead with preparations for the 51^st Annual Convention & Traffic Expo with the expectation that an in-person meeting will be possible in San Diego. People also have the option of registering for virtual attendance.

A decision will be made by Sept. 30 whether to hold the Convention as a fully virtual event.

In light of the Transportation Research Board’s decision to hold a fully virtual annual meeting in January, the Traffic Control Device Student Challenge will skip a year and move to 2022.

ATSSA partners with the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on Traffic Control Devices in holding this annual contest that gives students the opportunity to propose solutions to real-world issues in the transportation industry. Students traditionally present their projects for judging during the TRB annual convention held each January and then the three winners make presentations during ATSSA’s Annual Convention & Traffic Expo held a short time later.