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Research News

Model Deployment of the Virtual Coordination Center for Multimodal Integrated Corridor Management

The Virtual Coordination Center (VCC) is a digital collaborative environment for integrated multimodal transportation corridor management. Under Federal Highway Administration sponsorship, an operational community of state, city, and county agencies—including law enforcement, transit, and transportation departments—developed, deployed, and evaluated a VCC for interagency management of significant traffic incidents in the Seattle urban corridor.

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Analytic Tools for Locating, Sizing, and Evaluating Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

To meet its anticipated growth in electric vehicle adoption, Washington state will need sufficient charging and refueling infrastructure to serve the public. This project reviewed the available analytic tools for planning electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and made recommendations on how to meet legislative requirements for forecasting the needs for zero-emission vehicles and mapping recharging equipment.

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Leading Indicators of Transportation Equity: Equity in Planning

To increase equity in transportation planning, this project sought to identify key performance indicators that can measure the effects of transportation projects on vulnerable populations and to develop a framework for incorporating equity into the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) planning processes for long-range, regional, and corridor planning initiatives.

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WSDOT Maintenance Performance Measure Algorithms

WSDOT faces multiple challenges in managing its highway assets. The primary objective of this project was to develop a way to predict the performance of important highway assets such as culverts, barriers/guardrails, traffic signal systems, ditches, slopes, and shoulders. This could help the WSDOT Maintenance Division set performance targets that balance available funds, acceptable performance expectations, and maintenance division priorities, potentially preventing the need for expensive reactive maintenance.

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Data-Driven Assessment of Post-Earthquake Bridge Functionality and Regional Mobility 

Local, state, and federal engineers and emergency managers need reliable estimates of bridge performance after an earthquake so that they can plan pre-event mitigation, post-event response and mobility, and long-term recovery. This project provided improved predictions of the post-earthquake functionality of bridges in Western Washington following a Cascadia Subduction Zone magnitude-9.0 earthquake.

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Preparing for Traffic Signal Operations in a Multimodal Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Environment

Because WSDOT maintains 1,000 signalized intersections throughout the state, it is important for WSDOT to plan for connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology and the information it generates, which may greatly help reduce congestion. However, currently there is no real-time, reliable, and multimodal approach for controlling the timing of signalized intersections in a connected or semi-connected arterial or urban street network. This project was intended to help WSDOT identify the technological issues and requirements of integrating connected vehicle hardware in existing traffic signal systems.

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Cost-Effective, Real-Time Visibility Detection System Based on Internet of Things and Computer Vision Technologies

Roadway safety can be significantly improved with the real-time collection of data on traffic, roadway surface, and environmental conditions and the efficient broadcasting of that information to road users. This project tested a mobile sensing unit and visibility detection system that would collect real-time traffic and environmental data to aid in object detection and tracking.

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Operations Performance Management Primer: From Performance Measures to Performance Management

With increased public scrutiny of transportation agency actions and limited funding, effective resource allocation is imperative. One tool to help departments of transportation make sound investment decisions, particularly for transportation systems management and operations, is the practice of operations performance measures and management (OPMM). This project developed a primer to introduce transportation practitioners to the principles and practices of OPMM.

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Real-Time Truck Parking Information Integration, Visualization, and Prediction

Truck parking facilities are struggling to meet the increasing demand of freight vehicles on the road. Lack of parking spaces and real-time information about parking availability greatly exacerbates trip uncertainty and often results in illegal parking and overtime driving. In response, this project worked to improve a system to provide information about real-time and predicted truck parking space availability to freight truck drivers.

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Assessing and Improving the Application of Multimodal Performance Measures in WSDOT Projects

This study assessed the application of multimodal performance measures and indicators in the design process of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The report presents lessons learned from the literature and multimodal practice leaders. The project also examined six WSDOT multimodal case studies, including evaluating how those projects have integrated best practices for multimodal planning and performance measurement, as well as opportunities for improvement.

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