University of Washington

14 Pacifi c Northwest Transportation Consortium 2017-2019 Research Projects PacTrans Workforce Development Institute (WDI) • PI: Yinhai Wang (UW) • Co-Investigators: Ying Jiang (UW), Shane Brown (OSU), Billy Connor (UAF), Kevin Chang (UI), Ali Hajbabaie (WSU) This project will set up a Workforce Development Institute (WDI) and to develop a demand responsive and fl exible program platform with the fi rst sample certifi cate program and courses responsive to the workforce development needs in the Pacifi c Northwest, which includes Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. In addition to the proven advantages of TRANSPEED and other past programs, WDI also takes advantage of the new information technology to make training accessible online and available at trainees' own pace and schedule. It is a program centric to addressing Region 10's workforce development needs by delivering a collection of short-term training courses and workshops. The proposed workforce development program will benefi t PacTrans and Region 10 in the following three aspects: (1) It allows Region 10's busy working professionals to access desired training materials and courses at their convenient time and locations, and at their own pace; (2) It provides a forum for working professionals and university researchers to jointly investigate on challenges and opportunities associated with the new technologies, such as connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) technologies and their potential impacts, so that transportation agencies and companies can be proactive in incorporating the new technologies into practice; and (3) It directly addresses the continuing education needs of Region 10 working professionals, and thus is critical for enhancing local transportation agencies' organizational strength and local companies' competitiveness. Characterization of Underserved Population Perceptions and Mobility Needs in Connected-Vehicle and Smarter City Environments • PI: Ahmed Abdel-Rahim (UI) • Co-Investigator: Rula Awwad-Rafferty (UI), David Hurwitz (OSU), Billy Connor (UAF), Ali Hajbabaie (WSU), Jeff Ban (UW) Connected-vehicle and smarter city environments have the potential of transforming our transportation system. The increased number of on-demand mobility options and the information available to travelers have created new dynamics in unlimited opportunities. Cities across the nation are developing new smart city initiatives to integrate open data with new transportation systems so that people can move more freely in their communities. These technologies will operate our surface transportation systems at maximum safety and effi ciency. However, as technological innovation continues to progress at light speed, the country's underserved communities are increasingly left behind. The objective of this PacTrans outreach effort is to better understand and characterize underwserved populations perceptions about mobility needs in connected and smarter city environments. The PacTrans outreach project team, in partnership with stakeholders from a variety of underserved populations, will conduct extensive outreach activities in the form of focus group meetings, interviews, and presentations to educate targeted underserved communities about the different mobility options in connected vehicle and smart-city environments and gather information about their mobility needs and perceptions about new mobility opportunities.

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