Sustainability
-
Conflicting directions to vehicle drivers as the law instructs them that they may not stop on railroad tracks, but must stop for pedestrians; and
-
Bicyclist and pedestrian uncertainty about how to navigate the road crossings.
It includes observing driver and pedestrian behavior at multiple locations in Oregon, developing quantitative criteria to evaluate this type of safety hazard, creating several practical solutions to resolve a set of hazards, and producing a guidebook to help make operational and investment decisions. For more information please contact Dr. Anne Goodchild at annegood@uw.edu.
'Safe Truck Parking in PacTrans Interstate Corridors: I-5 and I-90'
Unresolved safety issues caused by truck parking shortages in high-demand locations are of keen import to the State Departments of Transportation participating in the Regional PacTrans Center, and to the thousands of trucking companies using the interstate 5 and interstate 90 corridors. Safety issues include serious and/or fatal crashes related to the lack of safe and secure parking, and illegal parking on interstate on-and-off ramps and on freeway lanes during severe weather. Research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests that truck driver fatigue may be a contributing factor in as many as 30 to 40 percent of all heavy truck accidents. The lack of truck parking also affects local communities struggling or refusing to accommodate truck parking in high-demand locations along the interstate system.
This project will begin with a research scan of online reports to describe the lack of truck parking in high- demand locations in states along the Interstate 5 and Interstate 90 truck corridors in the PacTrans region, and in select metropolitan areas, cities and ports on those corridors such as the Cities of North Bend and Fife in Washington, Boise, Idaho, and near Portland, Oregon. Then we will develop a white paper examining future trends and factors that may intensify the problem, such as growth in the trucking industry along interstate corridors, current hours of service limitations and potential future changes, and locations of severe weather conditions that regularly close these interstates in mountainous regions. For more information please contact Dr. Anne Goodchild at annegood@uw.edu.