Session 6D: Connected Vehicles - Enough Planning Already, Let's Deploy!

Michael Baker International Platinum Session

Session Description: Over the past several years, there has been significant emphasis on research, policy development, strategic planning, and analysis of the future implications of connected vehicles and related technology-driven mobility solutions. This session focuses on the advancement in deployment of these technologies — what has been done, what is underway, and what is planned in the near future — and the results of these deployments.

Moderator: Jim Katsafanas, PE, PTOE, Michael Baker International

• Overview of the State of CV/AV Deployment, Matt Smith, PE, Associate Vice President, National Connected and Automated Vehicle Program Manager, Michael Baker International
• Pennsylvania’s Autonomous Vehicle Proving Grounds: Concept to Operations, Eric Donnell, Ph.D., PE, Professor of Civil Engineering, Director, Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
• Smart Highway Challenge, Lev Pinelis, PE, Director, Tolling Operations & Innovation, Transurban

Speaker Bios:

Matt Smith is Michael Baker’s connected and automated vehicle program manager, located in Detroit, MI. He serves as the national lead for CVAV projects, initiatives, research, technical consulting, and programs. He has 23 years of experience in traffic engineering, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and transportation system management and operations, and has spent the past six years dedicated to connected and automated vehicle initiatives. Previously, at the Michigan Department of Transportation, Matt held the position of statewide ITS program manager. In this role, he was responsible for managing the statewide ITS and Connected and Automated Vehicle programs, which included traffic management systems, connected vehicle systems and applications, and automated vehicle policy development support.

Dr. Eric Donnell is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State and director of the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute. He has approximately 18 years of teaching and research experience, focused on topics related to highway and street design, speed management, and traffic safety. He has served as principal or co-principal investigator on research projects totaling more than $5 million, including those sponsored by FWHA, NCHRP, Department of Defense, PennDOT, Montana DOT, and New York City DOT. He currently serves as chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Geometric Design Committee and chairs the Safety Technical Advisory Group of the Statewide Transportation Innovation Council. He is a member of the Accident Analysis and Prevention Journal’s editorial advisory board, associate editor of the Transportation Letters international research journal, and is a past leadership fellow of the Eno Foundation

Lev Pinelis has been in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) industries since 2006 and has been in a lead/management position since 2010. He started his career as a transportation systems engineer and consultant with IBI Group, focusing on tolling system design, testing, operations, and analysis for a variety of clients. In 2010, Lev joined Transurban to work on the pioneering 495 express lanes project in the Washington DC region, taking on the lead engineering and project management role in the development and delivery of the tolling back office system and the innovative dynamic pricing system. Lev has since transitioned to the operations team at Transurban, helping to oversee operations over a growing toll road network. More recently, his responsibilities were expanded to include operations innovation, focusing on emerging technology solutions. Lev has a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a master of science in transportation from M.I.T. He is a licensed professional engineer (PE) in Virginia and is founding member and chairperson of the IBTTA Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV) working group.