Press Releases - Department of Transportation

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, July 9, 2025

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) received eight Achievement Awards for 2025 from the National Association of Counties (NACo) in the categories of Civic Education and Public Information; County Resiliency: Infrastructure, Energy and Sustainability; Criminal Justice and Public Safety; Information Technology; and Transportation.

NACo Achievement Awards are an annual recognition program that honors outstanding county government programs and services. NACo Awards have been sharing best practices between counties since 1970.

“These NACo awards shine a spotlight on MCDOT initiatives that improve public safety, enhance our quality of life, and facilitate a more efficient and streamlined approach to delivering public works projects that make a real difference in the lives of the more than 1 million Montgomery County residents we serve,” said MCDOT Director Chris Conklin. “I want to thank NACo for recognizing the hard work and dedication of our employees and join them in extending my gratitude.”

MCDOT received the following awards from NACo:

CIVIC EDUCATION AND PUBLIC INFORMATION

Flash Friday Campaign — Flash is Montgomery County’s Bus Rapid Transit service, offering premium, high-frequency bus service along the first of eight planned corridors. To highlight and gain support for the upcoming corridor projects, a ‘Flash Friday” social media campaign was organized internally with a media plan that included messaging, pictures, and video. The Flash Friday campaign raises awareness of the upcoming transportation projects and related benefits.

COUNTY RESILIENCY: INFRASTRUCTURE, ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Sweep the Salt Pilot Program — The MCDOT Division of Highway Services’ Street Sweeping Pilot Program aims to remove excess salt from roadways after large winter storms near designated Sensitive Watershed Areas, as identified by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). MCDOT collected nearly 50 tons, or 100,000 pounds, of road salt and other debris over a two-week span following major winter storms in January and early February 2025.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY

Waze School Flasher Integration — The MCDOT Traffic Engineering's Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS) program’s “Waze” School Flasher Integration Project enhances safety in school zones by integrating 145 County school flasher alerts into the widely used Waze navigation app. This integration ensures that drivers receive heightened notification of school zones during peak times of student drop-off and pick-up, alerting them to reduced speed limits and fostering safe driving behaviors.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

GIS-Enabled Field Photo Management App — The MCDOT Division of Parking Management’s Engineering & Capital Project Management group oversees parking facility maintenance, renovation, and construction to ensure operational integrity and safety. To improve workflow efficiency and data-sharing, the Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions (TEBS) team developed a GIS-enabled app that allows field personnel to upload geospatially tagged photos directly to an enterprise database to facilitate efficient visualization, organization, and integration of pictures into third-party apps, notably Autodesk BIM.

Parking Maintenance Services Digital Timesheet Program — MCDOT Parking Maintenance Services’ Digital Timesheet Program replaces and improves the Division of Parking Management’s traditional paper-based timesheets with a digital solution that allows employees to log their time remotely via desktop or a mobile app. The information technology program was developed by an internal MCDOT maintenance employee and includes features such as project tracking and completion, risk mitigation, overtime calculations, and payroll system support.

TRANSPORTATION

ePaper Transit Real Time Bus Arrival Information Signs Project — MCDOT Division of Transit implemented solar powered bus arrival screens at bus stops, known as Connectpoint’s ePaper Digital Bus Stop real-time information displays and Falcon text-to-speech buttons. These real-time screens were implemented at high ridership bus stops and transit centers giving riders access digitizing arrival information, instead of having to rely on printed schedules. Currently, real-time bus stop displays are in use at 65 bus shelters across Montgomery County, with more bus shelter locations planned in 2025. These displays integrate with Connectpoint Asset Management (CPAM), a cloud-based system that allows remote monitoring of system health, power, and content updates.

Great Seneca Transit Network — MCDOT’s Great Seneca Ride On extRa bus service operates uniquely branded buses to provide frequent, accessible and reliable connections to key area destinations along the Great Seneca Life Sciences Corridor. The project includes two new routes, Pink and Lime and includes upgraded transit stations, dedicated bus lanes, transit signal priority at traffic lights, as well as pedestrian and bicycle improvements. Red, dedicated bus lanes within existing roadways speed bus travel times. The Great Seneca Transit Network routes cut travel time significantly, from 7 minutes, traveling from Shady Grove Metro to Traville Transit Center, to 43 minutes, traveling from RIO to Traville Transit Center, depending on the route.

Ride On Trip Planner App — The MCDOT Ride On Trip Planner app provides real-time trip planning, allowing riders to select their route, view live bus arrival times, and receive step-by-step navigation to their destination. A key feature is the crowdedness indicator, which gives passengers insight into Ride On bus occupancy levels before boarding, enabling them to choose a less crowded bus, wait for the next one, or consider alternative travel options like other local transit, bikeshare or scooters.

Montgomery County earned a total of 39 NACo Achievement Awards in 2025.

The list of all national winners can be seen at the National Association of Counties NACo Achievement Award Winners website.

For information on MCDOT programs and services visit montgomerycountymd.gov/mcdot, follow @MCDOTNow on X, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook and subscribe to MCDOT’s “Go Montgomery!” newsletter.

# # #

Release ID: 25-115
Media Contact: Emily DeTitta, 240-372-2282