Vermont Transportation Research Collaborative 2015
VTrans Strategic Plan – Goal #1 - Surfacing Research Questions
Goal 1: Provide a safe and resilient transportation system that supports the Vermont
economy.
o Reduce the number of major crashes
o No unplanned road closures or restrictions due to conditions within VTrans’
control
o Increase the resilience of the transportation network to floods and other extreme
weather and events.
Comments and Ideas generated June 11th:
(The following notes were taken to capture the brainstorming session of the specific goal.
These are meant to inform ongoing conversation and problem statement development among
researchers and staff)
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Understand economic impacts/benefits of our transportation investments and how we can
measure that in a manageable way
Behavioral aspects of reducing major crashes – how to initiate/ what behavioral change
would reduce traffic fatalities
Vehicle to vehicle and infrastructure to vehicle communications
Bicycle Safety – typical crash analyses are insufficient due to low numbers, there are
economic impacts – tourism – behavior, need research for safety, methods, pressure
relates to VTrans
Analyses of crash causes – behavioral, road conditions? Pinpoint vulnerability areas,
overlay that for economic growth - prioritize campaigns based on that data
Variable message signs – DMV enforcement issue – use of WIM to identify tractortrailers out of compliance (over-weight/over-speed) for real-time variable messaging
targeted at freight-drivers for crash reduction
Use of changeable message signs and collection of speed data is taking place, but speed
data is not used to guide enforcement, use of speed data could directly influence safety
Tractor-trailer crashes during summer months, where, changes over time, seasonality,
are they occurring at points which are critical
Best use of variable message boards, are they being over-used, are they being ignored,
should they use them less?
Opportunities to measure the effectiveness of VT vehicle inspection safety system, is VT
current fleet safe, can this process be improved, overlap with public health – broadening
the definition of ‘safety’ with focus on environmental wellbeing
How does VTrans ascertain how will it is doing in providing for the safe and efficient
movement of goods, aka freight, within and through its borders?Iowa DOT is beginning
some fascinating work on this front.
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Driver behavior – understanding the impact of different driver behavior campaigns, a
better understanding of the distracted drivers and what resources that are most effective
could be used to better the campaigns – distracted driving
Feasibility of more intelligent street lights for the collection of various data – including
track traffic using Bluetooth, communicating that real time
Need for more of accommodation for the use of photo-turnouts for tourism and to reduce
congestion
Wildlife Network-compatible infrastructure to reduce collisions
Enclosure of the built environment for safety – crash reduction, review of tree cover data
Use of speed data real time as it relates to Snow and Ice control
Crashes and their relation to frozen bridges, technology options to reduce ice on bridges
Specific behavior data for VT – comparing our state in terms of speed levels on state
highways to other states in the region, also assessment of investment in enforcement in
comparison to other states, our outcomes vs. other states, how does this relate to the
operation of our system, what investments do change behavior, to get the outcomes we
are looking for
What impact will possible legalization of marijuana have on crashes, will VT be ready in
regards to enforcement – looking into the safety of drug driving and the gaping holes in
enforcement (their ability to arrest and make an impact on the community)
Tractor-trailers and interstate crossovers, there is a lack of super-elevation in design
which has gaps
Capacity needed to maintain resilience – review and identification of the resources need
to maintain said resilience – equipment, time, certain level of structure being possible,
need resources (and to know how much is needed) to maintain goals and level
Bridge resiliency to extreme weather - Hydraulics at bridges and its ability to withstand
varying flood stages, how making one bridge resilient affects others downstream, need to
assess corridor resiliency of bridges and invest in the right amount of bridges in order to
increase the resiliency of the network rather than individual bridges
Data gaps in regard to resiliency, what data do we have that we aren’t reviewing to asses
where we do have issues – bridges/highways, zero in on specific information for bridges
and highways
Use of Ground-based LiDAR system for assessing infrastructure conditions
Resiliency at a network level – looking at what happens up and down stream of bridges
and how it affects the resiliency of bridges, ANR datasets are available but not in use
Flood risk for the network – move to economic impacts of flood damage on the network,
what happens with capacity loss, and quantifying the economic impact
o Reinvestment in accessibility and flood risk, trying to identify magnitude of
potential damage, where it would occur, never moved to economic impact
(capacity loss on individual roadways)
Manage variable demands of staffing dependent on weather events
Can the transportation system act as flood management augmentation system – could
roadway design serve double purpose as flood management infrastructure – to minimize
damage in compact downtowns and other potential impacts, infrastructure support risk
management
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Resilience during catastrophic events – to much focus on flood resiliency, ice-storms,
solar-storms can cause communications loss, other disasters can happen at much faster
rates there is no back up to our current network
Establish command center for communications, general power outages, how it impacts
our ability to respond
Coordinate work at Flood Hazard Mitigation priorities, connect with VT DEMHS,
identify vulnerabilities in road network which have impacts on other aspects of VT
infrastructure and find out what else is being lost
User studies – surveys or targeted feedback – how to properly sample the public whether
it be project / objective specific in an area where the agency has to respond to, or public
respond to (e.g., construction sites, round-abouts, scenic attractions)
Transportation investments a the community level – whether they can leverage economic
development – what investments have the greatest opportunity for other agency / private
sector investment
Investment in infrastructure driving economic growth – identification of communities in
need of economic growth where the infrastructure could be targeted to leverage from
multiple agencies an investment in the economic growth of said communities to
maximize ROI
o Regional discussion for resiliency, northeast region, economic development, how
investment can lead to economic growth, helping identify communities of
economic growth (Springfield), where they have a possibility of a different future
with opportunities, leverage the different agencies
Identification of vulnerabilities to target investment and identify opportunities
Right-tree, right-place infrastructure investment for flood control
o Benefit of shade trees, proper green infrastructure in coordination with
transportation infrastructure –healthy trees and conditions for growth in concert
with infrastructure/road network
o Value of green stormwater infrastructure – permeable pavements, etc. newest
methods – review for broad based implementation
Use of the Naturalistic Driving Study – find a complement with bike/ped data that we
have for VT
Cost of road closures to the Vermont economy– goal is no unplanned road closures, but
we may plan some in the future, what would the cost be of said road closures, is there a
way to assess planned road closures to identify possible economic benefits
All-hazards approach to resiliency planning
Leverage of LiDAR data to assess which trees might be susceptible to damage during
extreme weather events, what’s the trade-off with environmental benefits between less
salt/fewer trees- ice occurs in shaded areas, therefore present a hazard?
Use of SHRP2 data or collection of VT specific data
Accelerated bridge construction – issues which need to be addressed are numerous
Fusible links – to preserving the structure and allow for low cost repairs to infrastructure
Measuring economic benefits of transportation improvements,
Congestion pricing, freight, trip purpose, infrastructure closures or lack of maintenance,
accessibility and time all contribute to possible costing of road closures
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Integrate transportation and economic development planning – is there a way to include
dry roads policy in the multistate region, changing the perception of ‘back-woods’ loss of
cell phone coverage, icy roads, etc…
Mass-transit possibilities for Chittenden County and reduction of congestion and
contribution to economic development
Pluses/minuses of permeable pavement
Infrastructure protection planning – VT pilot of food systems and how they affected by
road network vulnerability
Study of ALL VT funding opportunities for cross-agency use for seamless funding of
projects with cross-agency interest
Risk Assessment – use of heavy engine oil in asphalt, what’s the impact on the
environment and public health, what are the cost effects of its use, measurement of the
adhesion/cohesion, its effect on pavement performance