Research News

Analysis of Changing Transit Travel Behavior as a Result of the Opening of the U-District, Roosevelt, and Northgate Link Stations

On October 2, 2021, Sound Transit of the Puget Sound, Washington, began Link light rail service to three new stations on the 1 Line. These stations serve the University District, Roosevelt, and Northgate areas in Seattle. This project examined the changes in regional travel behavior that occurred as a result of those changes in transit service.

RAP Reset – Responsibly Optimizing Recycled Materials Use in Asphalt Concrete and Pavement Performance Life

Concerns with the durability and performance of asphalt concrete that contains recycled materials have recently become the focal point of the asphalt industry. The goal of this research was to improve the performance of asphalt concrete pavements that contain recycled materials in Washington state.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory from Construction of WSDOT Roadways

Recent emphasis on actions to reduce large-scale greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has pushed most state departments of transportation to develop strategies to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of the materials that they utilize. To assist WSDOT, researchers at the UW Carbon Leadership Forum assessed and analyzed the GHG emissions of WSDOT’s current material practices and explored opportunities to decrease them.

ORCA Data for Planning

A large portion of all transit rides in the greater Puget Sound region are paid for with the One Regional Card for All (ORCA) electric transit fare card. TRAC researchers have developed a business intelligence system that takes advantage of data from the ORCA system to allow transit agencies to analyze farecard transactions and better understand transit travel.

Design and Testing of Modular Expansion Joint Noise Mitigation Strategies

While expansion joints are a necessary component of bridges, they also contribute to noise pollution. This study investigated the design and feasibility of strategies to mitigate noise caused by modular expansion joints on Washington state’s Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (SR 520 bridge) over Lake Washington.

Developing a Multi-Criteria Prioritization Tool to Identify Promising Locations for Transit-Oriented Development on WSDOT-Owned Park and Ride Sites

By planning and implementing transit-oriented development (TOD) projects, public agencies can promote environmentally responsible and socially equitable transportation services while also making important contributions to alleviating the affordable housing shortage. This project developed a planning support tool that WSDOT can use to cost-effectively identify the most promising park and ride sites on which to focus its TOD efforts.

Approaches to Target Setting for PM3 Measures

With transportation performance management (TPM), transportation agencies use roadway performance information such as reliability and delay to help make investment and policy decisions to achieve transportation system performance goals. The purpose of this project was to provide examples of different options available to state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations for setting the roadway performance targets required for performance management.

Facilitating Analysts’ Use of Traffic Data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Program

This study was designed to improve the experience of users of Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) data by enhancing the traffic data included in the LTPP database and making it easier for researchers to find and select the traffic data they need for their specific analyses.

Long-Term Bond Characteristics of the Interface Between the Substrate and Overlay in Shotcrete Applications, Phase III

Shotcrete, concrete applied pneumatically at high velocity, has the potential to save costs and construction time when used to replace cast-in-place concrete for retaining walls and slope stabilization. It is becoming popular for vertical and overhead applications where conventional formwork and repairs are difficult and costly. The results of this project will be helpful to highway agencies in achieving the best structural quality and durability when shotcrete is used.

Impacts of Cascadia Subduction Zone M9 Earthquakes on Bridges in Washington State: Single-Degree-of-Freedom (SDOF) Idealized Bridges

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is capable of producing large-magnitude, megathrust earthquakes that will affect the performance of every new and existing bridge in the western half of Washington state. This project evaluated the impacts on bridges of a magnitude 9 (M9) earthquake to help agencies prioritize earthquake retrofit efforts and to support the development of emergency response plans.