MCDOT Wins Five NACo Awards

On January 7, Montgomery County held its 2015 National Association of Counties (NACo) Awards Recognition Ceremony, with Montgomery County winning 30 of the 36 awards presented to the state of Maryland. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) won five of those awards for the following initiatives

• Invitation for Bids (IFBs) Generator Application: The Division of Transportation Engineering developed an automated process for issuing IFBs that reduced development time by 75 percent and saved $43,000 a year. Award winners were Mark Aebig, Girum Awoke, Joe Brannum, Marcelo Cortez and Bruce Johnston.
• Improving Pedestrian Safety in Parking Lots: An education campaign effectively reduced pedestrian/vehicle parking lot collisions, which had in increased from 2010 to 2012 and in 2012, comprised 30 percent of all pedestrian collisions.  The award winner was Esther Bowring. Learn more.

• Ride On Real Time: The Division of Transit Services developed a system to provide real time bus arrival information that is available through smartphone applications, texts and email. Award winners were Howard Benn, Stacy Colettta, Jen Davis, Darlene Flynn, Jin Gu, Will Kenlaw, Bev Lemasters, Sirisha Sathyamurthy, Ken Sloate, Bobby Timberlake and John Van Eck. Learn more.

• Social Solutions of Public Works: The Division of Highway Services is providing up-to-the-minute information on storm response, emergency operations and projects using social media. Winners were R. Keith Compton, Josh Faust, Geoff Howard and Tim Serrano. Follow Highway Services on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

• Traffic Signal System Modernization: The Division of Traffic Engineering and Operations updated the County’s aging computerized traffic signal system with new capabilities and more centralized control. The system optimizes traffic flow for vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and transit. Winners were Bill Corder, Rob Duvall, Mike Enamorado, Julio Garcia, Sheila Ingram, Kerry Jones, Lee Kennedy, Michael Kinney, David Klein, Chris Leight, John Lottes, Rolbert Lozanider, Scott Myers, Carlos Paniagua, Elizabeth Parrish, Bob Ricketts, John Riehl, Joe St. Laurent, James Sevenson, Greg Stillman, Greg Whitener, Greg Windham, Bob Young and Steve Young.

• YOLO (You Only Live Once) High School Pedestrian Safety Education Program: The Division of Traffic Engineering and Operations created an education and outreach program that targeted teens with an innovative program to raise their awareness of risky behaviors such as distracted walking. Teens ages 15 to 19 make up 51 percent of all pedestrian fatalities in the 10 to 29 age group. Awardees were Alex Cohen, Joana Conklin, Nadji Kirby, Charles Webre and Kenna Williams. Learn more.