Thirty-four people across the nation have died this year while responding to roadside incidents. A Butler County commissioner’s son is just one story of how roadside workers can be injured or killed if drivers are not paying attention.

State trooper Joshua Osche, son of county Commissioner Leslie Osche, was struck by a vehicle while laying flares at a crash site on the Parkway West in Robinson Township, Allegheny County. He was not on duty at the time, but was wearing a reflective jacket, Leslie Osche recounted during a Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission press conference Tuesday, Nov. 14.

“He was in the process of placing warning light sticks on the roadway when he was struck by a vehicle and launched into the air, landing in the center of the parkway,” said Osche, who is also chairwoman of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. “A tow-truck driver, Blair Johnson, who was involved in the accident and attempting to divert traffic from the disabled vehicle, pulled my son to safety, lest he be hit again.

“His injuries were very serious. He suffered two broken legs and is learning to walk again.”

Osche’s story kicked off a conference regarding Crash Responder Safety Week, which the commission hosts each year to remind drivers to slow down and move over when they see emergency vehicles on a roadway. The conference, which took place at the Strip District Terminal in Pittsburgh and was streamed on the commission’s Facebook page, featured speeches from several traffic officials in the region.

State Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said at the conference it is the responsibility of every driver to be alert while behind the wheel of a vehicle, especially when approaching vehicles stopped on or along a road.

“It’s your duty to be paying attention to the roadway and all the obstacles around you,” Gagliardi said. “Our strongest statistic is actually tow truck drivers getting hit on the side of the road.”

Joshua Spano, manager of transportation operations and safety for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, said the easiest thing people can do to increase safety as people respond to roadside incidents is slow down.

“My ask for the traveling public is that you slow down and move over so we can do our jobs,” Spano said. “One life lost is too many.”

Osche said her son is recovering from the crash well and is still participating in state police work as part of its cellular analysis task force.

Although Joshua Osche survived the crash and is making a recovery, Leslie Osche said the crash and others like it can be avoided if drivers use safe driving techniques — and simply move over when approaching emergency vehicles.

“It was a challenge that night on the parkway to get traffic to slow down and move over,” Leslie Osche said. “If you come upon a scene where first responders are assisting someone, if you see lights, if you see flares, please pay attention. … Move over.”

View the full story at butlereagle.com

As part of a news conference about Crash Responder Safety Week on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, Leslie Osche, Butler County commissioner and chairwoman of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, tells how her son state Trooper Joshua Osche was seriously injured at an accident scene on the Parkway West in August.

Pennsylvania State Trooper Joshua Osche was off duty and traveling on the Parkway West in Robinson just after 11:30 p.m. Aug. 24 when he came upon an accident scene, pulled over, put on a safety vest and got out to help.

Osche was trying to lay light sticks on the ground to mark the area for other drivers when he was struck by another vehicle. He flipped over it and was thrown into the middle of a highway filled with traffic from a concert at The Pavilion at Star Lake. Tow truck driver Blair Johnson rescued Osche by dragging him to the median divider until more help could arrive, but the trooper is still recovering from two broken legs and other injuries he received that night.

Leslie Osche, the trooper’s mother, who also is a Butler County commissioner and chairwoman of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, told that harrowing story at a news conference the commission held at its Strip District headquarters Tuesday to promote Crash Responder Safety Week. The commission reviews transportation projects for federal funding in a 10-county area, but its other duties include running the traffic incident management program that holds monthly meetings to discuss best practices to keep emergency responders safe.

Leslie Oshe was among several speakers who urged motorists to follow the law by slowing down around emergency situations. This year, 34 people have died across the country while responding to emergencies.

Osche said she believes “divine providence” allowed her son to be saved so he and the family can do their part to encourage drivers to be cautious around emergency scenes. The trooper is expected to make a full recovery and already is working behind the scenes doing analysis of cellular records and other investigative data work.

“He will make it. He will be fine,” the commissioner said. “Please slow down. Please pay attention. Follow the law.”

Quoting from the state Motor Vehicle Code, Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said drivers have a “duty” to slow down and move to at least the next lane to avoid causing additional problems at an emergency site. State police will make a special effort to make sure motorists are following those practices during the upcoming holiday season, he said, and will issue tickets to drivers who don’t cooperate.

“We will be watching and doing our duty if you don’t want to do yours,” he said.

Paul A. Sabol recounted other close calls in the Pittsburgh area recently and one fatality, Husam Shuibat, 53, a veteran tow driver who was hit along the Parkway West on Aug. 17. Those accidents are avoidable, Sabol said.

“Move over and slow down,” he said. “Let us do our jobs.”

Read the full story at unionprogress.com

Renewed calls are coming for lawmakers to consider first responder safety on the road after an off-duty state trooper was hit by a car while helping a driver on the side of the Parkway West in August.

A state trooper in Butler County says that he was heading home from a concert when he stopped in his personal car to help at an accident involving a car and tow truck. When he got out of his car with his safety vest and was setting up to divert traffic, he was hit.

“It had to be a split second later I saw the headlights and I was airborne over top of the car,” Trooper Josh Osche said.

Both of his legs were broken and the tow truck driver Blair Johnson dragged him off the road to safety.

“I owe my life to him I’m certain of that because there was a bunch of traffic coming up in the other lane,” Trooper Osche said. “So I’m without question alive today because of what he did for me.”

Today, his mom Leslie Osche, who’s also a Butler County commissioner, shared his story at an event for Crash Responder Safety Week at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

“We believe as a family of first responders and officials that we have a responsibility and duty here to make sure people understand what this means to families and what happens,” Leslie Osche said.

She wants drivers to be more aware during traffic incidents.

As Trooper Osche recovers, he says he does not regret what he did that night.

“Had I not been there, there could have been a vehicle-on-vehicle collision, there could have been people killed. I survived and I’m satisfied with that,” Trooper Osche said.

Channel 11′s Jillian Hartmann spoke with the tow truck driver on the phone Tuesday afternoon. He said when he saw the trooper hit, it was his gut reaction to run out into the middle of the parkway to save him. He said he would do it again if he had to.

View the full story at wpxi.com

An upcoming event in Pittsburgh will include remarks from a local official.

The Southwest Pennsylvania Commission is holding a press conference to raise awareness and call attention to Crash Responder Safety Week on Tuesday morning in the Strip District.

Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche will briefly share remarks about her son, PA State Trooper Joshua Osche, who is recovering from an injury sustained in August while responding off-duty to a crash in Robinson Township.

The event will also include first responders from area emergency response and law enforcement agencies discussing simple steps everyone can take to keep everyone safe during traffic incidents.

View the full story at butlerradio.com

The Pittsburgh Robotics Network recently announced the appointment of Jennifer Apicella as executive director. She has been serving as interim executive director since May and previously held the position of vice president of partnerships and programs.

The Pittsburgh Robotics Network serves as the nexus for over 140 robotics organizations in the Greater Pittsburgh region.

“Our region’s robotics cluster is one of the most advanced and innovative in the world, and I am delighted to be able to expand this work, fostering a community that facilitates new opportunities for commercial growth and industry partnerships to accelerate the adoption of robotic solutions across the globe,” says Apicella.

In June, the Pittsburgh Robotics Network announced a strategic partnership with Denmark’s Odense Robotics that’s aimed at generating transatlantic business growth opportunities and solidifying ties between the two global robotics ecosystems.

Apicella’s promotion comes as the PRN gears up for the Pittsburgh Robotics Discovery Day on Nov. 16. The event, free to the public, takes place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. It will feature over 130 exhibitors including notable organizations such as Aurora, Agility Robotics and Carnegie Mellon University.

Pittsburgh Robotics Discovery Day is supported by partnerships with the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Innovation Works and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

View the full story at businessjournaldaily.com

As part of the region’s Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) that the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) manages, the organization is hosting a public meeting for Beaver County residents on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. At the meeting, residents will learn about the TIP and have the opportunity to share their thoughts on any local transportation and infrastructure projects they want addressed in their community. The TIP for years 2025-2028 is currently being developed. This meeting serves as an introduction/status update on the TIP before a draft plan is made available for the public’s review/comment period in late Spring 2024.

Sta­ff members from SPC, PennDOT, county officials, and area stakeholders will attend this meeting. SPC is hosting this meeting in Beaver County, and will host other meetings throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania in the weeks ahead.

If a member of the public is not able to attend this meeting in-person, but would like to learn more about the TIP (or has questions about transportation planning activities), they are encouraged to:

• Send an email to comments@spcregion.org
• Mail questions/comments to Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s address at 42 21st Street, Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
• Call SPC at (412) 391-5590
• Visit the Get Involved! page on SPC’s website at www.spcregion.org/get-involved/

The meeting is being held Monday, Nov. 13, 2023 from 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm in the Beaver County Courthouse, 810 Third Street Beaver, PA 15009

View the full story at beavercountyradio.com

As the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) looks toward infrastructure projects beginning in 2025, they are seeking public input on what residents want to see improved around Beaver County.

Representatives from the SPC, PennDOT and local county officials will host a public meeting for Beaver County residents to discuss desired infrastructure projects for their Transportation Improvement Plan on Monday. The meeting will be held in the Beaver County Courthouse from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. and is expected to occur in other communities across Southwestern Pennsylvania in the coming weeks.

If residents are unable to attend, there are several ways to share feedback on potential projects:

• Residents can send an email to comments@spcregion.org
• Mail questions or comments to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s address at 42 21st Street, Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
• Call the SPC at (412) 391-5590
• Visit the Get Involved page on SPC’s website at www.spcregion.org/get-involved/
• A draft of the Transportation Improvement Plan will be available to the public in the spring of 2024.

View the full story at timesonline.com

Artificial intelligence is making a big change in traffic counting and classification.

After state, regional and local agencies spent years counting traffic using rubber hoses and classifying the types of vehicles by hand, electronic camera and computerized systems have made the chore easier, safer and more effective, officials say.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission recently purchased four of the iTHEIA traffic-counting systems from International Road Dynamics, one of several vendors. After waiting for several months due to supply-chain issues, the commission deployed the systems — automatic cameras linked to a central computer — at six locations last month as a test run for using them regularly next year.

“We were able to get them out before the time expired for the year,” said Cort McCombs, manager of traffic counting for the SPC. “We were able to get a good test run this fall, so we’re ready to go full bore next spring.”

Under federal regulations, states must conduct traffic counts every three to five years on all roads that are eligible to receive federal funds. In this area, the state Department of Transportation has SPC do the count for a 10-county area, but other agencies and PennDOT itself do the counts in other areas from March to November every year.

Previously, counts were done in six-hour increments because personnel would need two hours to set up and take down the hoses. While the system was in place, the rubber hoses would count the number of vehicles, but one or two employees would be just off the roadway marking down the kinds of vehicles driving by, placing them in one of 13 categories from motorcycles to seven-axle trucks.

“Before we had these cameras, we had people on the side of the road,” said Jeremy Freeland, division manager for planning and research at PennDOT’s central office. “That was tedious. That was dangerous. We decided we wanted to avoid any injuries to our staff.”

When IRD and other vendors developed the automated systems, PennDOT reviewed them and decided to buy two a couple years ago. Then it held demonstrations at several locations across the state for other agencies.

“We were immediately interested and thought, ‘This is awesome,’” McCombs said. “This is how we should count traffic in the future.”

The agency waited for the next generation of the automated equipment before it spent about $60,000 on four of the systems. The new system takes about a half-hour to set up and can record traffic counts and the vehicles that pass through an area for 24 hours.

Developers have uploaded thousands of images of vehicles for computers to use to identify the type passing a particular location.

McCombs and Freeland cited several advantages: Tests have shown the computer recognition of the type of vehicle is about 3% more accurate than humans; the longer deployment gives a more complete picture of traffic in an area; and employees can be assigned other, safer work while the machines count traffic.

That information on traffic and vehicle use is invaluable when officials look for funding to improve road conditions, McCombs said.

“That’s the first thing that’s asked: What’s the traffic look like?” he said. “It’s the groundwork for everything else.”

Freeland said the state also uses the types of vehicles that use roads to determine the best surface to use. A road with mostly car traffic might get a different surface than an area with heavy commercial and tractor-trailer traffic.

Also, traffic patterns can help crews determine the best time of day to do work.

McCombs said the initial cost of about $15,000 for the AI system is a big increase from $500 to $600 for the previous systems, but the agency believes the new system is worth it.

“It’s initially prohibitive, but then it pays for itself,” he said.

Freeland agreed.

“It’s very new,” he said. “You can see it is a great tool to have.”

View the full article at unionprogress.com.

After more than eight years of limited funding, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will have $1.7 billion available for regional roads and bridges over the next two years due to increased federal funding, the most since 2015-16.

At a public hearing Wednesday on how to spend the funds in Allegheny County, Dom D’Andrea, SPC’s director of transportation, outlined the expected financing. Overall, including funds for public transit and alternative projects such as trails, the agency expects to have $3.1 billion to allocate over the next two years.

Under federal regulations, the regional planning group sets transportation spending priorities for the 10-county region. It oversees a 25-year long-range plan and a series of four-year plans that must be updated every two years, and hearings are underway to develop the two-year plan that will be adopted next June.

D’Andrea said the region expects a funding increase of about 7% over the next two years, mostly federal funds from the Biden administration’s infrastructure program. That will return funding to the level of 2015-16, which D’Andrea said is a positive step but noted that inflation has eaten up much of the benefits from the increase.

In addition to flat federal funding in recent years, the state Department of Transportation decided in 2021 to shift $3.15 billion through 2028 from local roads across the state to interstate highways. Officials said they feared federal officials might pull federal funding if they didn’t make a special effort to improve conditions on the interstates.

The additional stimulus funds this year will help to replace that money.

For the new plan, about 43% of the funds will be earmarked for bridges and 23% for roads. D’Andrea said the region has cut the number of bridges in poor condition in half over the past 15 years, but they still account for about 10% of all bridges and another 62% are considered fair.

“Yes, we keep investing in bridges,” he said. “We have cut our poor bridges in half, but there’s more to do …. We’re still attacking the bridge issue.”

The Transportation Improvement Program also will include about $1.4 billion for transit and other programs. Ryan Gordon, SPC’s transportation manager, said the allocation of funds for other programs will be presented to the board for approval next month.

Those programs include congestion management and air quality, transportation alternatives such as bike lanes and trails, and a new carbon reduction program.

Wednesday’s hearing was one of a series that will be held in each county and Pittsburgh as the agency develops the priorities for the region. It will present a proposed spending plan in May and hold another series of hearings before the board votes on the plan in June.

Even once the plan is adopted, the agency will hold monthly meetings to make adjustments as some additional projects are ready for construction and others are slower to develop.

“It’s really a living, breathing document that changes all the time,” D’Andrea said.

The commission covers Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, Westmoreland counties and Pittsburgh.

View the full article at unionprogress.com

The Mexican economy 2023 growth is 3.2%. Growth industries are private consumption, services, agriculture, tourism, construction and automotive production not to mention a rise in nearshoring. There are Free Trade Agreements signed with most of the countries in Latin America.

Latin America and Caribbean markets will grow this year in “real” terms by 1.6% but in PPP terms, the region will expand by over 6% and per capita consumption, when measured in US Dollars will grow by a whopping 11%. Experienced speakers from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile will provide the most current and accurate information on how to trade with Mexico and the rest of Latin American countries.

Topics:

• US/Mexico, USMCA trade economy, opportunities, up-to-date information.
• Opportunities in Colombia, Peru and Chile.
• Main industries growth and U.S. company participation in trade shows

Speakers.

• Keenton Chiang, Commercial Counselor, U.S. Embassy Peru
• Lisa Foss, Commercial Officer, U.S. Embassy Chile
• Norcia Ward Marin, Commercial Specialist, U.S. Embassy Colombia
• Diego Gattesco, Director/Trade Americas Team Leader
• Ryan Russell, Director, U.S. Commercial Service Pittsburgh
• Efren Flores, Pennsylvania Office in Mexico City.
• Jackie Pacheco, Southwestern PA Commission
• Ed Schick, SBA Office of International Trade
• Andrea Hampton, Lehigh University SBDC
• Dough Harding, Duquesne University SBDC
• Brent Rondon, University of Pittsburgh SBDC

Date: December 7, 2023
Time: 9:00am-10:30am. EST.
Format: Webinar.  Fee: No cost.
Registration link:    https://pasbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/30959

Marketing sponsors: Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center (PASBDC) www.pasbdc.org, University of Pittsburgh SBDC, Lehigh University SBDC, Duquesne University SBDC, US Commercial Service, State of PA PREP – Regional Export Network, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, SBA Office of International Trade.

Brent G. Rondon, MPA, CGBP.
Senior Management Consultant for International Trade

EXIM Bank Regional Export Promotion Partner (REPP)
University of Pittsburgh SBDC

View the full article at http://hispanos-n-pgh.blogspot.com/