Every Innovation Starts With A Conversation

In a new, short documentary titled, e-Ticketing: The Gateway to next generation e-construction, some of the industry’s greatest innovators and problem solvers say that e-Ticketing has sparked a “revolution” and is changing the way the transportation construction industry does business. 

The info doc, produced by InfraTalk America, opens with a construction worker walking across a dimly lit job site. He hands off a carbon copy, a data management tool that is an anachronism in most other sectors. 

While changing the way we do business can be hard, the mainstreaming of new technologies, such as e-Ticketing, is proof that it can be done.  

The video highlights Iowa DOT’s use of e-Ticketing and traces their transition from paper to tablet. Leaders in places from Ohio to Delaware are bringing together contractors and administrators to make the necessary change. 

“In Delaware, we’re such a small state we’re able to innovate pretty quickly,” says Shante Hastings, Deputy Secretary and Chief Engineer at DelDOT. “When you talk specifically about e-ticketing, it was an idea generated by our construction folks.” 

According to Hastings, most of their asphalt contracts are handled electronically, and the transition is underway on the concrete side as well.   

Having buy-in is extremely important when it comes to implementing new technologies. That is why DelDOT worked with partners like the Delaware Contractors Association to get their support. “We don’t do anything here without having that consensus,” said Hastings.  

Other transportation agencies have also seen significant benefits. Janet Treadway at Ohio DOT says, “efficiency, cost savings and safety” are among the top. 

The e-Ticketing revolution has catalyzed the development and deployment of other innovations. Moreover, it has allowed transportation agencies to gather better data, a crucial asset in a BIM world.