RALEIGH – The following are highlights from this week at the N.C. Department of Transportation. The stories below are also featured in NCDOT Now, the department's weekly newscast.
CASSI In Cary
The North Carolina Department of Transportation partnered with the town of Cary to bring the driverless CASSI, which stands for Connected Autonomous Shuttle Supporting Innovation, to Bond Park.
CASSI has capacity for nine people, including an attendant. It will make four stops, navigating its fixed route using remote sensing laser technology and GPS to map and monitor the route. Sensors will scan the shuttle’s surroundings and signal for it to stop when an obstacle is too close.
NCDOT has tested out CASSI at a few locations in recent years.In 2020, the shuttle was tested at NC State’s Centennial Campus. Then in 2021, CASSI was tested at the Wright Brothers National Memorial Park in Kitty Hawk.
Division 4 Employee Honored
Family members, friends and NCDOT employees honored one of their own who was killed while on the job in August.
State transportation worker Anna Bradshaw was honored with a bronze plaque on March 1.
Bradshaw was struck and killed by a passing motorist while she was directing traffic around a fallen tree in Wilson County.
The 12-year employee had been assigned to the department’s Wilson County maintenance department, where the plaque was unveiled.
Her son, Thomas Ramirez, who lives in Wilson County with his family, attended the ceremony to accept the plaque in his mother’s honor and greet her fellow co-workers
Booze It & Lose It
From March 13-19, law enforcement agencies statewide will increase patrols to keep impaired drivers off the roads during the St. Patrick’s Day “Booze It & Lose It” enforcement campaign.
Increased enforcement during specific campaign periods is a key part of making North Carolina roads safer.
Staff with the Governor’s Highway Safety Program and law enforcement agencies statewide are reminding people to never drive impaired and always find a safe ride home.
For more information about NCDOT Now, contact the NCDOT Communications Office at (919) 707-2660. Additional news stories from throughout the week can be found on
NCDOT.gov.