Washington State
Transportation Center (TRAC)
TRAC-UW
1107 NE 45th St
Seattle, WA
Phone: 206.543.8690
Fax: 206.685.0767
TRAC-WSU
Sloan Hall, Room 101
PO Box 642910
Pullman, WA 99164-2910
Phone: 509.335.3175
Fax: 509.335.7632
WSDOT Research Office
Transportation Building
Washington State
Department
of Transportation
310 Maple Park Avenue SE
PO Box 47300
Olympia WA 98504-7300
Phone: 360.705.7000
TRAC-UW
Information for Project Investigators
Producing a Report with TRAC
A Guide for Principal Investigators and Project Managers
Basic production process
Contents
Graphics
Support staff
Tables
Text
Types of reports
Word processing
Types of Reports
Many student theses are converted from TRAC reports. If you and a student will be producing a combination of these, please encourage your student to plan ahead carefully. A little advance thought can save weeks of work.
Please be warned-and warn your students-that because we are using project funds to produce the thesis, we must produce the project report first, the thesis second.
WSDOT Reports
• Over half of TRAC's projects are sponsored by WSDOT. WSDOT may require three kinds of reports from its researchers:
• Research Report (draft and final)
• Technical Report (draft and final)
• One-page Summary
Usually, a Technical Report is not necessary. Your project's contract specifies the kind and amount of reporting that is required. Consult with your WSDOT Project Manager if you are uncertain.
Research Reports
Consult the WSDOT Research Report Guidelines. All WSDOT research projects require a Research Report. The purpose of these reports is to provide a short (50 pages) final report that can be easily read by busy administrators and others who want the gist of the research without all the technical details.
These reports are sent to WSDOT, FHWA, state DOTs, universities, libraries, the National Technical Information Service, and other interested researchers.
Technical Reports
Consult the WSDOT Technical Report Guidelines.
These are usually not requested for WSDOT research projects. The purpose of these reports is to fully document all aspects of the project. They may be as long as needed; however, most of their length may be in technical appendices.
They are printed in limited quantities and distributed to the WSDOT library, WSDOT specialists, FHWA, and other researchers upon request.
One-Page Summaries
One-page summaries are required for all projects. They have a specific layout and organization. They are meant to be an easily readable summary for large distribution.
Other Reports for Other Agencies
Other agencies (e.g., FHWA, NCHRP, SHRP or local agencies such as Metro or the Washington State Energy Office) have different report requirements. If they have no requirements, we usually follow WSDOT's format.
Papers (TRB and Others)
TRAC routinely produces papers for TRB (first drafts are due each August before its annual meeting). We have also produced papers for other professional organizations such as ITE and ASCE.
Theses
Researchers often choose to support the production of a thesis associated with a funded project.
Graduate students should know before they begin whether their theses will be converted from a project report and how the requirements of the two documents will differ. That way they can plan the organization of both documents so that their theses will require as little reorganization or rewriting as possible.
Remind students to consult the Style and Policy Manual for Theses and Dissertations, UW Graduate School.
More TRAC-UW Info
Puget Sound Freeway and HOV Performance Statistics
Research and Proposal Development
