PacTrans News
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August 21, 2014
PacTrans Newsletter – Issue #7, 2014 now available
Read the August 2014 PacTrans Newsletter here!
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August 8, 2014
Peer Exchange Visit Brings Tennessee DOT to the PacTrans STAR Lab
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.”
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July 1, 2014
2014 Graduation
Congratulations to our 2014 Graduates
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June 10, 2014
PacTrans Spring 2014 Seminar
On May 30, Joe Schofer came to the University of Washington and gave a talk entitled “Making Transportation Analysis Count: Bridging the Gap between Politics and Planning” as part of the 2014 Spring Seminar. Around 50-60 people were in attendance, including transportation students, researchers, and professionals. The talk was about how to persuade politicians and members of the public on the funding of transportation projects, and all of the factors that go into decisions to fund projects. The talk was very informative as the political process can be a major hurdle in the advancement of transportation. He illustrated his points with many real-world proposals, including King County’s failed Proposition 1 and a proposed heavy rail flyover in a vibrant neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. We would like to thank Dr. Schofer for coming and giving the talk, as it was an excellent and insightful experience for all who attended.
To view the slides from Dr. Schofer’s presentation, click here: Schofer Making Analysis Count. A video of the presentation, as well as some pictures, can be seen below.
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June 6, 2014
PacTrans at CUTC 2014 Summer Meeting
This year, PacTrans participated in the CUTC 2014 Summer Meeting which was held June 2-5, 2014 at the city of Lincoln, Nebraska with over 200 attendees from different University Transportation Centers across the country. It was a wonderful event that brought together transportation professionals, administrators and educators to talk about, discuss and share, state-of-the-art ideas and methods to advance research, education and development in the transportation field.
Denise Dunn, Grants Manager, UTC OST-R with Maria Bayya, Tamara Noble and David Block
Tamara Noble, University of Idaho, with, Maggie Griscavage UAF and Kathy Holeton, University of Iowa
