University of Washington
Identifying and Analyzing the Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of Public-Private Partnerships and Traditional Delivery for Roadway Projects
PI: Jan Whittington (UW), janwhit@uw.edu
Dates: 9/16/13 – 6/30/2015
With the recent adoption of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), the U.S. Congress sent out a clarion call to the transport community that all roads should lead to private sector financing of our infrastructure. Congress increased the key transport lending tool, the TIFIA program, almost ten-fold to $1 billion in the second year of the authorization bill to spur private participation. The Wall Street Journal further laid out to the financial sector and its readership, “Private investment in America’s transportation systems through public private partnerships (PPPs) has the potential to expand, revitalize and rationalize our infrastructure. With the right policies, that can happen. Read More
Changing Retail Business Models and the Impact on CO2 Emissions from Transport: E-commerce Deliveries in Urban and Rural Areas
PI: Anne Goodchild (UW), annegood@uw.edu
Dates: 7/1/13 – 10/31/14
Final Project Report: PacTrans-23-UW-Goodchild
E-commerce currently represents approximately 8% of total shopping, up from 6% only 5 years ago with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 9% (Mulpuru et al. 2008, 2013). Online shopping is growing at a faster rate than traditional retailing, and presents a new model for freight transportation. By eliminating stores, e-commerce results in a more streamlined supply chain, often ending in residential rather than commercial locations. In addition, e-commerce often bypasses commercial locations, relying instead on more distribution and warehousing facilities. This project will build on previous work, which examined the carbon dioxide (CO2) impacts of grocery delivery in the city of Seattle and will examine the CO2 and criteria pollutant implications for serving e-commerce customers in rural areas. Read More
Error Assessment of Traffic Data Devices
PI: Edward McCormack (UW)
Co-Investigators: Yinhai Wang (UW)
Dates: 05/16/2012 – 05/15/2013
Final Project Report: PacTrans-18-UW-McCormack
The ability to produce reliable and accurate travel time or space mean speed information is becoming increasingly important in the Pacific Northwest region. New capabilities to relay traveler information to motorists through smart devices and in-vehicle systems is making such information more useful. Such travel time information is also important in determining construction delays, as well as for the purposes of signal timing and supporting congestion relief efforts.
Bicycle Route Choice: GPS Data Collection and Travel Model Development
PI: Qing Shen (UW)
Dates: 09/16/2012 – 11/01/2013
Final Project Report: PacTrans-19-UW-Shen
Bicycle use is being promoted for a variety of social benefits. Because of the benefits associated with bicycling, jurisdictions across the central Puget Sound region and the nation have been investing in improvements to bicycle infrastructure. Academic and professional literature provides a basis for generally understanding bicycling behavior. However, less is known about the benefits of one facility type over another, or the potential inducement of new bicycle users when a policy intervention improves bicycling conditions.
Developing a Robust Survey Methodology for Collecting Information on the Port Truck Drayage Industry
PI: Anne Goodchild (UW)
Dates: 07/01/2012 – 11/01/2013
Final Project Report: PacTrans-17-UW-Goodchild
Efficient freight transportation is critical to our region’s economic competitiveness and environmental health. Increasing pressure on the roadway infrastructure, and concern about air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, heighten the state’s interest in supporting solutions that might move cargo off roads. Unfortunately, existing tools used to compare investments—especially across modes (e.g.in rail and road infrastructure)—are not sufficient to truly measure their economic and environmental impact or accurately evaluate tradeoffs between modes. This leaves transportation agencies with little foundation to support decision making and limits the state’s ability to identify innovative solutions that benefit the state, such as public-private partnerships that might increase the attractiveness of rail or barge transport.
