Issue link: http://uwashington.uberflip.com/i/742071
20 Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium • Project: Identifying High-Risk Built Environments for Severe Bicycling Injuries • PI: Qing Shen (UW), qs@u.washington.edu The rise of eco-friendly lifestyles has contributed to the increasing popularity of bicycling in the United States. The Pacific Northwest has some of the nation's most bike-friendly cities, including Portland and Seattle. However, cyclist crash injuries remain a serious public health problem. It is important to understand what factors are associated with cyclist injuries, especially severe and fatal injuries. While behavioral factors have been widely investigated as likely causes to cyclist injuries, the exploration of the relationship between built environment and cyclist injury severity has not. As cities are making bicycling a key component of their urban transportation plans in response to the growing demand, it is timely to initiate serious research efforts that will improve our understanding of the connection between built environment and bicycling injury severity. The new knowledge can effectively inform planning and policymaking, and thus help transform our cities into safer places for bicycling. Project:Towards Development of Asphalt Materials to Resist Studded Tire Wear to Mitigate Hydroplaning PI: Balasingam Muhunthan (WSU), muhuntha@wsu.edu Studded tires are permitted for use in all of the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington). This special designation of tire are used during winter season to reduce snow- and ice-related accidents. However, the studs can dig into asphalt pavement and pick out the small aggregate which eventually results in pavement rutting. Rutting associated with the plastic deformation of asphalt pavement materials has been studied substantially. However, few studies focus on the reduction or prevention of studded tire wear related asphalt pavement rutting. Each year, millions of dollars are spent to repair/rehabilitate the wear from the studded tire. Developing pavement surface materials that resist studded tire wear will greatly improve the conditions of pavements, and reduce the traffic accidents and repair/rehabilitation costs associated with the studded tire wear. Therefore, the objectives of this proposed study is to determine potential material and mix design variables towards development of a wear-resistant asphalt mix. • Project: Analysis of Roadway Safety under the Alternative Project Delivery Systems • PI: Ahmed-Abdel Aziz (UW), amaziz@uw.edu In the United States, most highway projects were developed using the traditional design-bid-build delivery system. Following regular conditions assessment, maintenance of a road is performed based on the availability of funds and the priorities established for road maintenance. With the scarcity of maintenance funds, serviceability of roads is impacted, which affects road safety. New alternative project delivery systems such as design-build-operate-maintain, design-build- finance-operate-maintain, and other public-private partnership (PPP) models provide for more consideration into the life cycle of highways. Through content analysis of PPP procurement documents and agreements as well as surveys, this research will investigate PPP projects for their contractual safety terms such as the design of safety payments, measurements, and safety specifications. Through statistical analysis, the research will survey target PPP states for the roadway safety records and compare them to the safety records of the localities of the respective states. Data analysis should reveal how safety was contractually managed on the PPP projects and identify the safety performance of such projects. The outcome will help local, and state transportation agencies make decisions regarding whether one delivery system would be better than others when it comes to roadway safety, and how best to manage safety through contractual terms.