2014 Recognition Awards: NASCIO Honors Outstanding Information Technology Achievements
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) was presented the 2014 award for Outstanding IT Achievement in the Digital Government to Business category by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) in Nashville on September 29th at the annual NASCIO awards celebration. WSDOT landed the award for its innovative Automatic Infrared Roadside Screening (AIRS) System - an innovative system that inspects brakes automatically as large commercial vehicles enter weigh stations or ports of entry.
For a glance at the award-winning system go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL3rK97-TOE
Large trucks account for a disproportionately large share of traffic deaths based on miles traveled. AIRS is designed to help decrease the number of fatal and injurious accidents involving commercial vehicles on Washington State roads. While there is no single remedy, AIRS is demonstrating remarkable value. Federal transportation studies show that one in eight large trucks have a problem with their brakes. Each year more commercial vehicles enter the nation's roadways. These large vehicles depend upon their brake systems to efficiently slow and stop the vehicle. In an emergency situation they may not be working properly and injurious and fatal accidents may occur. With tens of thousands of large trucks moving on the roads today, there are not enough Enforcement Officers to be able to check that all these vehicles are safe as they move along our roads.
The AIRS system was developed by WSDOT in partnership with the Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Branch to assist these Officers in identifying more of the vehicles that need their attention. Using state of the art technologies, AIRS is able to maintain the flow of commercial vehicles while automatically inspecting every vehicle's brakes at weigh stations and ports of entry. The inspection results are displayed in a simplistic graphical format on the Officers' monitor as the vehicle is approaching them. The Officers need only to quickly glance at the monitor to see when a vehicle needs their attention.
For details on the WSDOT system see: