Innovators who protect motorists every day gather for 56th Annual ATSSA Convention & Traffic Expo

NEWS RELEASE

Innovators who protect motorists every day gather for 56^th Annual ATSSA Convention & Traffic Expo

Houston event brings together brightest minds in roadway safety infrastructure on Feb. 20-24

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (Jan. 26, 2026) – Roadway safety affects everyone and yet few recognize the intricate engineering, ingenuity and technology behind everything from the stripes on the pavement to the signs overhead, the traffic signals controlling movement, the guardrail creating a barrier and the electronic message signs providing real-time information.

But step onto the floor of ATSSA’s Annual Convention & Traffic Expo and the wonders of human innovation are on display in the form of devices, vehicles and high-tech solutions for protecting motorists, their passengers and the workers who daily risk their lives to maintain the nation’s roadways.

Innovation and roadway safety converge at this annual event, the largest gathering in North America of professionals engaged in providing the roadway safety infrastructure the average motorist takes for granted.

ATSSA’s 56^th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo takes place Feb. 20-24 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

More than 4,000 people from across the globe gather at this annual event where ideas are shared, insights are gained and collaboration is on full display by the professionals whose passion is to save lives by preventing roadway fatalities.

More than two dozen education sessions are scheduled for this year’s event, one of the most obvious displays of this effort to advance roadway safety by freely dispensing information gained through experience and experiments, often gained through pilot approaches in real-world scenarios.

This year, presentations are scheduled on the challenges and advantages of connected work zone equipment, the evolution of portable traffic signals that have gone from diesel-powered devices to solar-driven and wireless options, the advantages of orange pavement markings for work zones, and ways to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine vision to better protect roadway workers.

The seemingly simple cable barrier gets its due in a presentation on a “historic milestone” achieved through crash testing with powerful battery electric vehicles.

The event also addresses work zone safety education for teen drivers, an idea catching on across the country.

The New Products Rollout provides an opportunity for innovators to get their products in front of decision makers at departments of transportation (DOTs) from across the country, all the while competing for a prestigious Innovation Award.

“ATSSA’s Annual Convention & Traffic Expo is teeming with great lifesaving ideas, both those officially on display and those shared when members of the industry gather informally to talk about discoveries they’ve made over the past year,” said ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner. “The atmosphere is high energy with a singular focus – working Toward Zero Deaths on the roads.”

Keynote speaker Chad Hymas will reinforce that safety message as he speaks about the accident that left him in a wheelchair and his new career as a safety advocate and speaker.

ATSSA members split up on Feb. 21 for specialized discussions through committee and council meetings that address a host of subjects from work zone intelligent transportation systems (ITS), to roadway worker protection, risk management, government relations, high friction surface treatment (HFST) and temporary traffic control. The newest group is the Young Industry Professionals and Emerging Leaders Council.

Each year, the Circle of Innovation provides a prime opportunity for DOT leaders from across the country to discuss challenges they have been encountering and offer solutions they have discovered in their work.

Members also get the opportunity to register onsite or online for ATSSA’s next event: the annual Legislative Briefing & Fly-In, set for April 14-15 in Washington, D.C.

For more information and to register for ATSSA’s Convention & Traffic Expo, Expo.ATSSA.com.

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