{"id":36380,"date":"2026-08-31T00:34:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T00:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=36380"},"modified":"2026-08-31T00:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T00:34:53","slug":"wvdots-multimodal-division-wins-transportation-award-for-innovative-flights-to-snowshoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/west-virginia\/wvdots-multimodal-division-wins-transportation-award-for-innovative-flights-to-snowshoe\/%20","title":{"rendered":"WVDOT’s Multimodal Division Wins Transportation Award for Innovative Flights to Snowshoe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) has been awarded a regional 2026 America\u2019s Transportation Award from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The award was presented during the Southern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) annual conference in Greenville, South Carolina, on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recognition honors a December 2025 demonstration in which Electra aircraft company flew its EL2 hybrid-electric Ultra Short Takeoff and Landing aircraft from regional airports and landed directly atop Snowshoe Mountain. The demonstration was in partnership with Snowshoe Mountain Resort, Bristow Group, and WVDOT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demonstration highlights West Virginia\u2019s leadership in testing and integrating next-generation transportation solutions that can improve access to rural and mountainous communities, support tourism and economic development, and expand multimodal connectivity across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur partnership and working relationship with Electra has been outstanding,\u201d said Stephen R. Connolly, Interim Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Multimodal Transportation Facilities. \u201cTogether we have taken the first steps toward revolutionizing how people move in the 21st century\u2014bringing safe, quiet, clean, efficient and safe air access closer to the places West Virginians live, work, and play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electra’s hybrid electric blown-lift technology allows a fixed-wing airplane to take off and land in as little as 150 feet \u2014 unlocking a new form of regional air travel known as Direct Aviation. A video documenting the award-winning flight can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The America\u2019s Transportation Awards program recognizes outstanding state DOT projects that deliver meaningful benefits in categories such as Best Use of Technology & Innovation. Regional winners advance in the national competition, with final national honors to be announced later in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Division of Multimodal Transportation Facilities and WVDOT remain committed to advancing multimodal innovation – including aviation, rail, transit, and ports\u2014to strengthen West Virginia\u2019s transportation network and position the state at the forefront of emerging mobility solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) has been awarded a regional 2026 America\u2019s Transportation Award from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The award was presented during the Southern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) annual conference in Greenville, South Carolina, on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. The recognition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-release","category-west-virginia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Electra-WV-Flight.avif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36380"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36382,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36380\/revisions\/36382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}