pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

On May 26, PacTrans welcomed transportation professionals from Japan as part of an international exchange to share best practices in data, organizational collaboration, and road management. Kenji Saita, Assistant Manager, West Nippon Express Company (NEXCO), and Seishu Kitamura, Senior Researcher and Kzuhiko Makimura, Deputy Director, both of the Institute of Behavioral Sciences, visited the PacTrans STAR Lab to learn about the center’s work in intelligent transportation systems (ITS).

The group discussed the different types of traffic detectors employed by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and those under development at the University of Washington, and ways to navigate the privacy concerns of data collection in Japan.

PacTrans, Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC), and WSDOT have a history of close collaboration. Doug Brodin, WSDOT Research Manager for ITS, Traffic and Congestion, and Freight, emphasized the importance of the long-term relationships with PacTrans and TRAC and considered it the key in the successful collaborative efforts between WSDOT and universities, which is visible in the many PacTrans intern students working in WSDOT.

Dr. Yinhai Wang, PacTrans director, highlighted the center’s interest in international collaborations and potential future partnership with NEXCO and IBS and the Japanese delegation responded very positively.