All posts by trac

Structural and Programmatic Effects of Bus Rapid Transit on Physical Activity

This project expands on the previous Light Rail Transit project to examine whether major transportation infrastructure affects physical activity and the cost effectiveness of those changes from a health perspective. The project is determining whether people living close to two new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines (King County Metro’s Rapid Ride) become more physically active after BRT has been implemented than people living far from the BRT lines. Participants are wearing accelerometers and GPS devices and are keeping a travel log for seven days on three different occasions over the course of this five-year study. The project will also review whether King County Metro’s social marketing campaign In Motion will result in residents using transit more often.

Principal Investigators:
Brian E. Saelens, Pediatrics, UW
Frederick P. Rivara, Pediatrics, UW
Anne Vernez Moudon, Urban Design and Planning, UW

Sponsors:
National Institutes of Health
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Scheduled completion: June 2020

Drive Net Phase 2: Online Moving Washington Platform for Networking-Wide System Operations, Monitoring, and Analysis

Modern technology is creating a significant increase in both the amount and types of data available to describe the condition, use, and performance of the state’s transportation system. However, although WSDOT is capturing data from many new sources, it is not using them to full benefit because the new data sets cannot be easily combined with each other or be integrated into WSDOT’s existing data systems. Those systems lack the capabilities to integrate third party data sets for analysis and the functions needed for real-time performance monitoring, quick operational decision support, and system-wide analysis. To address these issues, this project is expanding the Digital Roadway Interactive Visualization and Evaluation Network (DRIVE Net) system to include additional data sources and new, desirable analytical functions. These new capabilities will better support WSDOT’s tasks of freeway performance analyses, project prioritization and planning, operational strategy evaluation, traffic information dissemination, and real-time traffic management.

Principal Investigator: Yinhai Wang, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Bill Legg
WSDOT Project Manager: Doug Brodin
Scheduled completion: December 2016

Freight Policy Transportation Institute at WSU

The purpose of the Freight Policy Transportation Institute at WSU is to undertake research on a variety of topics and issues that will improve our understanding of the importance of efficient and effective freight transportation, both to the national economy and to regions, states, and international trade.  Research topics address the need for improved intermodal freight transportation policies and implementable actions that would increase the effectiveness of intermodal transportation in lowering operating costs while also increasing the safety and decreasing the environmental impacts of freight transportation nationwide. Distributing the benefits of improved freight transportation performance to specific industries and sectors of the economy are important objectives of the Institute. The continuing focus of research projects falls generally under five themes: infrastructure investment and alternative financing/pricing, transportation security and freight efficiency, transportation and economic development, alternative energy sourcing and transportation systems, and freight transportation and international trade.

Principal Investigator: Eric Jessup, School of Economic Sciences, WSU
Sponsor: FHWA
Scheduled completion: Ongoing