Small Projects Year 3 (2014-2015)
An Evaluation of Safety Impacts of Seattle’s Commercial Delivery Parking Pricing Project
PI: Anne Goodchild (UW), annegood@uw.edu
Co-Investigators: Edward McCormack (UW)
Dates: 01/16/2015 – 06/15/2016
Status: Completed
UTC Project Sheet
Final Technical Report
The City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) conducts the Commercial Vehicle Pricing Project in order to improve commercial vehicle load zone access and efficiency in downtown Seattle and more, yet the project does not provide an understanding of the extent to which commercial vehicles circle while looking for available load zones or use parking areas outside of designated load zones. The proposed study will identify the correlations between collision rates and commercial vehicle on-street parking activity. In doing so, it will inform SDOTs revised strategies for Commercial Vehicle Load Zone location, pricing, and design, supporting the design of a safe and commercially accessible urban core. Read More
Relationships among Worker Gender, Communication Patterns, and Safety Performance in Work Zones
PI: Jessica Kaminsky (UW), jkaminsk@uw.edu
Dates: 01/16/2015 – 06/15/2016
Status: Completed
UTC Project Sheet
Final Technical Report
Safety communication, including safety training, is an important and cost effective tool for achieving excellent safety performance during construction (Hallowell 2010). However, recent work has identified that worker demographics has an impact on how safety knowledge is shared. Thus, the proposed research intends to study how worker gender impacts patterns of work crew safety communication on roadway construction in the Pacific Northwest. This project hypothesizes that work crews with both male and female members (or, gender diverse work crews) show different communication patterns and worse safety performance than crews without gender diversity and investigate this hypothesis by various methods in the project. Read More
Modeling Passing Behavior on Two-Lane Rural Highways: Evaluating Crash Risk under Different Geometric Conditions
PI: Kevin Chang (UI), kchang@uidaho.edu
Co-Investigators: Ahmed Abdel-Rahim (UI), Brian Dyre (UI)
Dates: 01/16/2015 – 06/15/2016
Status: Completed
UTC Project Sheet
Final Technical Report
The primary goal of this project is to provide a better understanding of a driver’s passing behavior and model their decision-making on two-lane rural highways under different geometric configurations. This project will specifically examine passing behavior on horizontal curves on two-lane rural highways and explore how the different degrees of curvature influence driver behavior. The outcome of the project will provide state DOTs with guidelines that allow them to improve the safety and efficiency of traffic operations along this particular type of highway setting. Read More
Evaluation of Ultra-wideband Radio for Improved Pedestrian Safety at Signalized Intersections
PI: James Frenzel (UI), jfrenzel@uidaho.edu
Co-Investigators: Denise Bauer (UI)
Dates: 01/16/2015 – 06/15/2016
Status: Completed
UTC Project Sheet
Final Technical Report
The goal of this project is to increase the safety of signalized intersections for pedestrians with special needs due to limited mobility or vision. This aligns directly with the strategic goal of “Safety” and addresses the topic of “Technological Impacts on Safety”. The research outcomes and technology developed under this proposal can be applied to existing intersections throughout the United States without significant changes to the infrastructure other than additional electronics.
Cost-Effective Bridge Safety Inspections Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
PI: Dan Gillins (OSU), dan.gillins@oregonstate.edu
Co-Investigators: Chris Parrish (OSU)
Dates: 01/16/2015 – 06/15/2016
Status: Completed
UTC Project Sheet
Final Technical Report
The objective of this research is to evaluate how well UAV technology can be used to perform visual bridge inspections. Since the FHWA requires biennial bridge inspections, evaluating this exciting and emerging technology will provide helpful information to every region in the United States. To accomplish this objective, necessary goals are to: 1) investigate existing UAV technology, including available platforms, sensors, flight controllers, and mission planning tools; 2) review FHWA requirements for performing bridge inspections per 23 CFR Part 650; 3), acquire UAV-based imagery and video for 1-3 representative bridges; Read More
