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OF µORTHNCDOT TPD NEWS C P R9oJ H 7 Om p2 OF:TM9 NCDOT • Newsletter January 2025 Traffic Forecasts (TF) "Connecting people, products and places safely and efficiently A Project Level Traffic Forecasting is an essential part of the with customer focus, accounta- planning process. There is one traffic forecast in progress in bility and environmental sensi- the MPO: H23037: Maple Ave, 1-85, NC 54 realignment There is a map that provides information about past and cur- tivity to enhance the economy rent traffic forecasts: NCDOT Traffic Forecasting Data Map. and vitality of North Carolina...." BGMPO 2050 MTP - NCDOT Mission Statement The 2050 MTP update is underway. The Metropolitan Trans- portation Plan (MTP) is the federally required fiscally con- 2026 NC Traffic Safety Confer- strained 25-30 year multi-modal transportation plan. Kimley- ence & Expo Horn consulting firm is working with the MPO to complete the update. There was a kick-off meeting on December 17. Next Save the date for the 2026 NC Traffic Safety steps are to create a Steering Committee and finalize the identi- Conference & Expo which will be help June 2-5, fication of stakeholders to reach out to. 2026 at the Benton Convention Center in Win- ston-Salem, NC. There will be Pre-Conference The Piedmont Regional Travel Demand Model (PRTDM) will be workshops June 1. The NC Traffic Safety Con- used to inform the MTP and CTP. It is estimated that the model ference & Expo brings a variety of national and will be available to use for analysis by the end of February. local traffic safety experts together to inspire, share knowledge, and facilitate collaboration. N.C. to Develop Drone Program Learn about new research, programming strate- gies, enforcement efforts, technologies, design, A federal grant awarded to NCDOT' Division of Aviation in De- and more. For more information about the con- cember will allow NCDOT to study a `drone in a box' program, a ference, visit nctrafficsafetyconference.org. Program that better guides the agency's use of drones when it responds to natural disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Florence. Aviation staff will use the grant to develop a program that would use the `drone-in-a-box' technology in which an autonomous drone can be placed in a community before a storm and then deployed remotely to start collecting images of damage and deliver emergency supplies. Aviation officials hope to build upon what the agency was able to accomplish during Helene, when the division and its partners with the N.C. Department of Public Safety, the National Guard and the Civil Air Patrol were able to use drones, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to gather thousands of images of damage in places too difficult to reach by land. Those images were vital to help responders better understand what they needed to do to help people dur- ing the recovery effort in Western North Carolina. The Division of Aviation will use the grant money to pilot the `drone in a box' response system in Lumberton. Like many mountain communities, the Robeson County town is no stranger to natural disasters, as evidenced by what happened during Hurricane Florence in 2018. The Division of Aviation will work closely with Lumberton and the sur- rounding communities because public feedback will be important as the agency studies the issue and develops a better response program. 1