• December 05, 2022

    PacTrans Region 10 Transportation Conference Returns to In-Person

    After two years of virtual conferences, the PacTrans Region 10 Transportation Conference returned to in-person this past October. Co-organized by PacTrans, the Center for Safety Equity in Transportation, and the UW Mobility Innovation Center, this one-day event took place on the University of Washington, Seattle campus. With over two hundred in attendance from public agencies, private industry, and academia, the conference focuses on three goals: (1) listen to agencies and industry leaders about their views on critical regional research needs, (2) present UTC funded research to practitioners who may have need of project outputs, and (3) foster partnerships for future collaboration.

    This year we were fortunate to have Professor Daniel Sperling from the University of California Davis present the keynote address. We also had a welcome video from US Congressman Rick Larsen, who was not able to attend in-person but who has been a strong supporter of both PacTrans and the UTC program. Following the keynote address there was a fantastic discussion panel on the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The conference also features six technical sessions on topics such as artificial intelligence, connected and autonomous vehicles, workforce development, technology transfer, rural and tribal safety, and freight and logistics.

    The annual poster session was at capacity with over thirty strong poster presentations summarizing UTC funded research projects. The conference also showcased a handful of other successful endeavors, including two demonstrations. The first demonstration was from AI Waysion, a new spin off company that was born out of PacTrans funded research. This company showcased their Mobile Unit for Traffic Sensing (MUST) technology. The second was from a local First Tech Challenge team, FTC HD18225. They showcased their most recent competition robot.

    We would like to give special thanks to our conference sponsors: Verizon, the Washington State Department of Transportation, AIWaysion, and Concord Engineering. Finally, we would like to give a special thanks to the conference planning committee: Yinhai Wang (UW, chair), Billy Connor (UAF, chair), Bart Treece (UW, chair), Eric Jessup (WSU), Guohui Zhang (UH), Ahmed Ibrahim (UI), and Salvador Hernandez (OSU).