News Advisory
NEWS ADVISORY
Transportation For The Future
2019 Maine Transportation Conference
8:15 a.m. – 7 p.m., Thursday, December 5, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta
WHO
The keynote speaker will be Allie Kelly of The Ray, a nonprofit organization that has built the nation’s only publicly accessible, living laboratory for transportation innovation. Kelly has helped the organization implement and build almost a dozen groundbreaking, world-leading technology demonstrations, including the first solar road in the United States and the world’s first public demonstration of a drive-through tire safety station. She was the recipient of the 2018 Atlanta Technology Professionals (ATP) Impact Award and was listed twice as one of the 100 Women to Know by Engineering Georgia.
Other technical and policy track discussions will examine a range of topics, including: Pushing Green Buttons: Political Realities of Raising Revenue; Wicked Smart Roads; and Cars of the Future: Consumer Preferences, Barriers and Opportunities in Maine.
There also will be UMaine College of Engineering student paper presentations (11 a.m.) and the popular Max L. Wilder Bridge Breaking Competition (4:30 p.m.).
A full agenda for the conference is available at www.MBTAonline.org.
ABOUT
This is the 69th presentation of the Maine Transportation Conference. The conference was first held in the late
2019 Transportation Achievement Award recipients announced
Four industry leaders will be honored at event in October
Four giants in transportation will be honored on October 4 at the Maine Transportation Achievement Awards Luncheon at the Augusta Civic Center, the MBTA board of directors announced.
Dr. Habib Dagher, founding executive director of the Advanced Structures & Composites Center at the University of Maine, will receive the Transportation Champion Award. Lifetime Achievement Awards will go to: John Dority, who served as MaineDOT chief engineer from 1995 to 2009;Tim Folster of Sargent Corp. and a former MBTA president and longtime board member; and Steve Sawyer of Sebago Technics, a two-time MBTA president and MBTA board member.
“Maine has a big transportation system that connects the fabric of our citizens’ lives and enables our communities to thrive,” said MBTA President Paul Bradbury who received a Maine Transportation Achievement Award for public service in 2014.
“These four individuals have played a big role in that big system,” said Bradbury. “They are truly giants, and we are so grateful for all they have done to make transportation in our state safer and more efficient.”
The Maine Transportation Achievement Awards were founded in 1983, and have gone to community and industry leaders who have made significant contributions to