Research News

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.

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.

Assessment of Electric Utility Capacity to Deliver Electricity for Electric Aviation at Paine Field and Grant County International Airport

When electric aircraft become more widely used, will regional airports in Washington state have the electrical capacity to support them? This study developed a method to estimate the plausible future energy and power demands of electric aircraft operating at regional airports in Washington to determine whether the electricity grid near those airports will have the capacity to serve the aircrafts’ energy needs over the next one to two decades.

Analysis of Changing Transit Travel Behavior as a Result of the Opening of the U-District, Roosevelt, and Northgate Link Stations

On October 2, 2021, Sound Transit of the Puget Sound, Washington, began Link light rail service to three new stations on the 1 Line. These stations serve the University District, Roosevelt, and Northgate areas in Seattle. This project examined the changes in regional travel behavior that occurred as a result of those changes in transit service.

RAP Reset – Responsibly Optimizing Recycled Materials Use in Asphalt Concrete and Pavement Performance Life

Concerns with the durability and performance of asphalt concrete that contains recycled materials have recently become the focal point of the asphalt industry. The goal of this research was to improve the performance of asphalt concrete pavements that contain recycled materials in Washington state.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory from Construction of WSDOT Roadways

Recent emphasis on actions to reduce large-scale greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has pushed most state departments of transportation to develop strategies to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of the materials that they utilize. To assist WSDOT, researchers at the UW Carbon Leadership Forum assessed and analyzed the GHG emissions of WSDOT’s current material practices and explored opportunities to decrease them.

ORCA Data for Planning

A large portion of all transit rides in the greater Puget Sound region are paid for with the One Regional Card for All (ORCA) electric transit fare card. TRAC researchers have developed a business intelligence system that takes advantage of data from the ORCA system to allow transit agencies to analyze farecard transactions and better understand transit travel.

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Design and Testing of Modular Expansion Joint Noise Mitigation Strategies

While expansion joints are a necessary component of bridges, they also contribute to noise pollution. This study investigated the design and feasibility of strategies to mitigate noise caused by modular expansion joints on Washington state’s Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (SR 520 bridge) over Lake Washington.

Developing a Multi-Criteria Prioritization Tool to Identify Promising Locations for Transit-Oriented Development on WSDOT-Owned Park and Ride Sites

By planning and implementing transit-oriented development (TOD) projects, public agencies can promote environmentally responsible and socially equitable transportation services while also making important contributions to alleviating the affordable housing shortage. This project developed a planning support tool that WSDOT can use to cost-effectively identify the most promising park and ride sites on which to focus its TOD efforts.

Approaches to Target Setting for PM3 Measures

With transportation performance management (TPM), transportation agencies use roadway performance information such as reliability and delay to help make investment and policy decisions to achieve transportation system performance goals. The purpose of this project was to provide examples of different options available to state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations for setting the roadway performance targets required for performance management.