Multi Institution Projects
High Performance Bridge Systems for Lifeline Corridors in the Pacific Northwest
PI: Marc Eberhard (UW), eberhard@uw.edu
Co-Investigators: Andre Barbosa (OSU), Dawn Lehman (UW), Charles Roeder (UW), John Stanton (UW), David Trejo (OSU)
Dates: 08/01/2013 – 7/31/2015
Final Project Report: PacTrans-45-UW-Eberhard
Reinforced concrete bridges in seismic regions have changed little since the mid-1970s, when ductile details were first introduced. Nearly all bents (intermediate supports) are constructed of cast-in-place reinforced concrete and conventional reinforcing steel. Such bridges have served the Pacific Northwest (PNW) well in the past, but to meet current performance expectations, new structural systems are needed to improve: seismic resilience, speed of construction, durability, and life-cycle costs. Read More
Data Collection and Spatial Interpolation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Data
PI: Michael Lowry (UI), mlowry@uidaho.edu
Co-Investigators: Yinhai Wang (UW), Mike Dixon (UI), Ahmed-Abdel Rahim (UI), Mark Hallenbeck (UW)
Dates: 07/01/2013 – 6/30/2015
Final Project Report: PacTrans-48-UI-Lowery
It is very difficult to measure safety without knowing how many people use a facility. For this reason, millions of dollars and decades of research have sought to estimate and forecast travel demand, such as through the ubiquitous 4-step model. Unfortunately, existing methods are lousy for estimating pedestrian and bicycle volumes. In fact, most agencies forego expensive, data-intensive models and instead resort to simply using expert judgment when estimating pedestrian and bicycle volumes. Cities and state DOTs struggle to collect and utilize pedestrian and bicycle data in an effective and meaningful way. Read More
Educating Younger Drivers in the Pacific Northwest Regarding the Dangers of Distracted Driving Phase II
PI: David Hurwitz (OSU), david.hurwitz@oregonstate.edu
Co-Investigators: Linda Boyle (UW), Ahmed Abedl-Rahim (UI), Ghulam Bham (UAF), William Cofer (WSU)
Dates: 07/01/2013 – 7/31/2015
Led by: (Oregon State University) Professor David Hurwitz, this project is the PacTrans multi-institution Outreach Project for 2013-2014. (A phase II project, it builds on the successes of the phase I PacTrans multi-institution Outreach Project for 2012-2013.)
Final Project Report: PacTrans-28-OSU-Hurwitz
Driver distraction can be defined as the diversion of driver attention away from the driving task, and it can result from factors both within and outside of the vehicle (Sheridan, 2004). It can include anything that distracts a driver from the primary task of driving and has been categorized as follows: visual (e.g. reading a map), auditory (e.g., listening to a conversation), biomechanical (e.g., tuning a radio), and cognitive (e.g. ‘being lost in thought,’ and ‘ looking but not seeing’) (Ranney et al., 2000). Most distractions are actually a combination of these, thus it may be more useful to categorize distractions according to the task that drivers are engaged in while driving (rather than the combination of the forms of distractions). Read More
Refinement and Dissemination of a Digital Platform for Sharing Transportation Education Materials
PI: Kevin Chang (UI), kchang@uidaho.edu
Co-Investigators: Shane Brown (OSU), David Hurwitz (OSU), Bill Cofer (WSU), Robert Perkins (UAF), Linda Boyle (UW)
Dates: 6/01/2013 – 7/31/2015
Led by: (University of Idaho) Professors Kevin Chang and Ahmed Abdel-Rahim, this project is the PacTrans multi-institution Education Project for 2013-2014. (A phase II project, it builds on the successes of the phase I PacTrans multi-institution Education Project for 2012-2013.)
Final Project Report: PacTrans-41-UI-Chang
National interest abounds in improving engineering education stemming from concerns over the role of the US as a national economic leader (NRC 1999; NRC 1999), low performance on concept inventories (Hestenes, Wells et al. 1992; Olds, Streveler et al. 2004; Gray, Costanzo et al. 2005; Allen 2006), and a sense that we can improve the state-of-the-practice. These concerns have led to the development of an abundance of materials and methods that have been shown to be an effective means of improving student learning and other important educational outcomes. Read More
Developing a Performance Measurement Approach to Benefit/Cost Freight Project Prioritization
PI: Kenneth Casavant (WSU)
Co-Investigators: Starr McMullen (OSU), Anne Goodchild (UW), Edward McCormack (UW), Eric Jessup (WSU)
Dates: 06/01/2012 – 10/31/2014
Final Project Report: PacTrans-4-WSU-Casavant
Current project prioritization methodologies used by DOTs often do not specifically include freight benefits of projects and they have not taken advantage of new data made available by GPS technology (instead they depend on modeled data). This project will investigate the use of performance data for the emerging freight project prioritization methodology, primarily through the investigation of minimum performance standards and ongoing performance evaluation to develop a prioritization methodology that recognizes the impact of investments on overall freight system performance. The Washington State Department of Transportation has a well-developed benefit/cost methodology for long-standing programs supporting the Legislature’s policy goals for safety, preservation, environmental issues, and mobility. This project will finalize and test important methodological elements to improve freight project prioritization. It will also exploit new data sources for performance measurement, therefore addressing key weaknesses of the current approaches.
