Current Projects

Cost-Effective Traffic and Roadway Data Collection Using an Edge-Based, Comprehensive Sensing System: A Machine Learning-Based Approach

High-quality traffic data are crucial for infrastructure planning, system operations and performance measurement, safety considerations, maintenance activities, and informed analysis and decision-making. That’s why state departments of transportation need comprehensive and cost-effective traffic sensing and data collection systems. The primary goal of this research is to develop machine-learning-based detection algorithms, software, and a mobile hardware system that can utilize existing surveillance video cameras to accurately collect critical traffic information that traditional traffic sensors often cannot capture. This information includes vehicle volumes based on FHWA’s 13-bin classification system, speeds, and road surface conditions. The machine learning process will allow the unit to be trained with real data. The major advantage of this new system will be its ability to collect short-duration count data where geometry and volumes pose safety risks to field staff.

Principal Investigator: Yinhai Wang, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Natarajan Janarthanan
WSDOT Project Manager: Doug Brodin
Scheduled completion: December 2025

WSDOT E-bike Incentives

Washington state is preparing to launch WE-bike, an instant rebate program that helps Washington residents purchase certain cycling equipment and electric bicycles, also called e-bikes. In April 2025, people across the state will be able to apply online for one of these instant rebates. Researchers at the University of Washington and Portland State University are partnering to investigate how e-bike incentive programs can change people’s travel choices and how those choices affect greenhouse gas emissions. The project includes researching incentive programs and investigating evaluation designs. The resulting evaluation will, at a minimum, include a survey of a sample of the e-bike incentive recipients approximately one month and six months after their purchase. The survey will also include applicants who applied for an incentive but didn’t get one to better estimate the effects of the incentive on travel behavior, as well as those who were eligible for the incentive but did not apply to better understand barriers to participation.

Principal Investigator: Don MacKenzie, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW

Sponsors:
WSDOT
PacTrans

WSDOT Technical Contact: Charlotte Claybrooke
WSDOT Project Manager: Jon Peterson
Scheduled completion: November 2025

Identification of the Optimal Approach to Maintain Complete Statewide Sidewalk Data

This project aims to facilitate the integration of sidewalk infrastructure data into all Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) processes involving road network data. The focus is on analyses of active transportation and Complete Streets. The scope encompasses assessing inter-agency use needs; establishing requirements for Complete Streets sidewalk data; developing data stewardship and governance protocols, mechanisms, and standards; and defining the requirements for statewide, decision-supporting data tools to allow the display and analysis of walkability based on sidewalk data. The researchers will work with stakeholders and will evaluate their needs. They will inventory software tools and sidewalk data sets currently available. They will also propose methodologies and workflows for consistently displaying walksheds and other common outputs of sidewalk data systems.

Principal Investigator: Anat Caspi, Computer Science and Engineering, UW
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Thomas Craig
WSDOT Project Manager: Jon Peterson
Scheduled completion: February 2026

2050 Transportation Scenario Visualization

By 2050, the population of the central Puget Sound region is expected to grow by 1.5 million people to a total of 5.8 million. This project will evaluate several scenarios to illustrate how decisions about major transportation infrastructure investments and land use related to housing could affect the region by 2050. The researchers will look at the potential effects on the Puget Sound regional transportation system of major infrastructure investments that have either been identified or are in the early development stages. These include a third Puget Sound airport to complement SeaTac and Paine Field, I-5 lane expansion, ultra-high-speed rail from Oregon to British Columbia, and Amtrak Cascades passenger rail. They will also look at the effects of existing and potential housing zoning densities in Washington counties along the I-5 corridor. Scenarios will include evaluation of the travel times and costs for households and freight, as well as passenger air travel demand, cost, and availability. A holistic picture is needed for decision-makers to understand the tradeoffs and considerations for the future of Cascadia mobility. The results will provide decision makers and the public with a high-level understanding of major transportation needs and choices for the area’s 2050 population.

Principal Investigators:
Cecilia Aragon, Human Centered Design and Engineering, UW
Bart Treece, Mobility Innovation Center, UW
Ryan Avery, Washington State Transportation Center, UW

Sponsors:
WSDOT
King County
Challenge Seattle
Alaska Airlines
Microsoft
Boeing

WSDOT Technical Monitor: Ron Pate
WSDOT Project Manager: Jon Peterson
Scheduled completion: June 2025
More information

Transportation Infrastructure Sustainability and Carbon Reduction

WSDOT is combating climate change by working to reduce agency and transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions. One way to accomplish that is to adopt sustainable, low carbon materials and construction methods as standard practice. To do that, it is investigating the use of Environmental Product Declarations and life cycle assessment in construction project procurement (in a concurrent project), and it will develop a sustainable procurement strategy for construction and materials. To assist WSDOT in that goal, UW researchers are working to develop a viable carbon reduction strategy, a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory procedure, methods for including sustainability in contract documents and specifications, and a method for tracking sustainability commitments throughout the construction process. This procurement strategy will support WSDOT in purchasing materials and contracting for services that have less negative or more positive effects on the environment and human health.

Principal Investigator: Steve Muench, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Mohamed Nimeri
WSDOT Project Manager: Mustafa Mohamedali
Scheduled completion: February 2026

Smart Sensor for Snow Avalanche Monitoring, Phase 2

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) spends millions of dollars each winter assessing and monitoring the chances of hazardous roadside snow avalanches in Washington’s mountains. For that assessment, dedicated staff hand-dig snow pits, visually evaluate snow conditions, and directly assess avalanche risks to support difficult decisions to open or close roads. The objective of this project is to develop an avalanche sensor for deployment by drone on inaccessible slopes above state roadways that will provide indirect, remote, and real-time information about snow conditions more safely and cost effectively. The research team has already proved the viability of using such sensors to gather temperature, movement, and location data, with a communication range of up to 1,600 feet between them and a base station. In this project, the University of Washington’s STAR Lab will manufacture six to ten sensors for field testing and will place them on a known avalanche path in Snoqualmie Pass. The research team will test the ability of drones to accurately drop and retrieve the sensors. In addition, they will test the communication between the sensors and base station, and they will evaluate the accuracy of the collected snowpack and avalanche information and its value to WSDOT’s avalanche staff.

Principal Investigators:
Yinhai Wang, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW
Edward McCormack, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW

Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: James Morin
WSDOT Project Manager: Doug Brodin
Scheduled completion: June 2025

Internet of Things (IoT) Technologies for Active Transportation Sensing and I2X Applications

Roadway safety can be significantly improved with real-time collection of data on traffic, roadway surface, and environmental conditions and the efficient broadcasting of that information to road users. The UW’s Smart Transportation Applications and Research Laboratory (UW STAR Lab) has developed the Mobile Unit for Sensing Traffic (MUST) device, which is able to collect real-time transportation-related data, such as travel times, speeds, traffic volumes, vehicle types, pedestrian flows, and roadway surface and weather conditions. This project is implementing an AI-based, active transportation sensing (ATS) system based on the MUST device to use for comprehensive traffic scene perception and management. The ATS-MUST system will work as a transportation information center to connect diverse transportation users and elements, including active transportation users, vehicles, the roadway, the environment, and public agencies in support of various infrastructure-to-everything (I2X) applications. The researchers will install it on selected high-risk roadways and intersections to monitor the traffic scene and broadcast useful information to both road users and traffic operations centers. The project will have a statewide impact by providing real-time, multi-modal traffic data and efficient information broadcasting.

Principal Investigator: Yinhai Wang, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW
Sponsors:
WSDOT
FHWA Statewide Transportation Innovation Council

WSDOT Technical Monitor: Natarajan Janarthanan
WSDOT Project Manager: Doug Brodin
Scheduled completion: September 2025

Developing a Sustainable and High Early Strength Concrete (HESC) for Rapid Bridge Deck Overlay Preservation

High early strength concrete (HESC) is a high performance concrete that can achieve structural quality within 24 to 72 hours of being poured, making it ideal for locations where minimal traffic disruption is crucial. Washington and nine other states have successfully used calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) for bridge deck repair. CSA is a desirable option for HESC because of its ability to set within a short time window (as quickly as 15 minutes after placement) and to easily surpass a compressive strength of 3,000 psi in under three hours. However, while CSA has the potential to be successfully used for HESC bridge deck overlays, more data are needed to develop appropriate guidance and specifications for its use. The objective of this study is to develop an HESC mix design with CSA cement for bridge overlays. The researchers will identify the obstacles or impediments to successfully and reliably using HESC for bridge deck overlays and will develop standards, specifications, processes, and best practices for constructing HESC overlays in Washington. This will give WSDOT the means to reliably construct overlays to rehabilitate and protect bridges with lower construction costs and less travel disruption.

Principal Investigators:
Fred Aguayo, Construction Management, UW
Travis Thonstad, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW

Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Anthony Mizumori
WSDOT Project Manager: Mustafa Mohamedali
Scheduled completion: September 2025

I-90 Digital Twin Bridge Proof of Technology Evaluation

Agencies that own transportation infrastructure such as bridges, dams, and marine terminals need validated, science-based tools to inform crucial decisions regarding the maintenance, repair, and operation of that infrastructure. This proof-of-technology project is evaluating the benefits, limitations, and tradeoffs that an agency can expect when using digital twin technologies for asset management. A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system designed to accurately reflect a physical object, including its functionality, features, and behavior. Real-time embedded, Internet-of-things (IoT) sensing technologies that feed a digital twin model have the potential to monitor conditions over time. This capability can lead to a database covering all seasons of the year, and thus a rich understanding of past and present operational conditions on which to base maintenance and repair decisions. For this project researchers are positioning sensors on the I-90 Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge between Mercer Island and Seattle, one of the most complex bridges in the world. Their analyses should provide insights into the realistic capabilities of digital twins and how the technology may be helpful to transportation agencies in stretching preservation dollars and staff resources.

Principal Investigators:
Bart Treece, Mobility Innovation Center, UW
Travis Thonstad, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW

Sponsors:
WSDOT
FHWA Statewide Transportation Innovation Council (STIC)
Challenge Seattle

WSDOT Technical Monitor: Nick Rodda
WSDOT Project Manager: Mustafa Mohamedali
Scheduled completion: September 2025

Development of Rapid, Cement-Based Repair Materials for Washington Concrete Pavement Panels

When replacement of concrete pavement panels is necessary in congested, urban areas, speedy construction that quickly opens the roadway to traffic is paramount. This project focuses on evaluating potential materials, mixture proportions, and placement techniques for rapid concrete panel repair in Washington state. The research team will evaluate the key technical characteristics that govern rapid and durable repairs for concrete pavement panels through both a comprehensive laboratory-based program and a field component. On the basis of the findings, they will provide recommendations on the most efficient, economical, and durable rapid concrete repair materials and methodologies, and they will develop specifications and training materials for WSDOT. The results should allow WSDOT to maximize the lifespan of its concrete pavements while limiting construction costs and traffic impacts by avoiding full-lane rehabilitation.

Principal Investigators:
Fred Aguayo, Construction Management, UW
Travis Thonstad, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW

Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Karen Carlie
WSDOT Project Manager: Mustafa Mohamedali
Scheduled completion: September 2025

TRAC