pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

On July 23, officials from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) visited the Smart Transportation Applications and Research (STAR) Lab to learn about its research and technologies regarding transportation data collection, management, and analytics tools. As part of a larger exchange event between Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and TDOT, Dr. Yinhai Wang, STAR Lab director, introduced the TDOT visitors to the lab’s facilities and recent research focuses, including data quality control, mobile device based data collection and knowledge discovery, and DRIVE Net.

A test drive through DRIVE Net (Digital Roadway Interactive Visualization and Evaluation Network) revealed a robust capability to access and analyze datasets from WSDOT, including traffic detector data, incident data, INRIX data, and weather data. The network has the potential to answer important transportation questions, including how many congestion spots exist in a certain area, when they occur, and the ability to determine congestion patterns from the data.

The TDOT traveled to a number of Washington agencies, programs, facilities and partners in the exchange visit, and the stop at STAR Lab raised a great deal of interest in the lab’s work. “Very impressive,” said one TDOT representative. “I’m very happy to see your operations.”