Center for Safety Equity in Transportation
rural • isolated • tribal • indigenous
rural • isolated • tribal • indigenous
CSET Project #: 1705
Project Funding: CSET and UW
Start Date: September 2017
End Date: August 2018
Budget: $157,500
Ziqiang Zeng
Dr. Ziqiang Zeng is a Research Associate in transportation engineering at the University of Washington (UW). He has a Ph.D. in management science and engineering from Sichuan University (2014) and a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Sichuan University (2009). He was also a Visiting Ph.D. Student at University of Florida from 2012 to 2013. Dr. Zeng’s active research fields include large-scale transportation system modeling and analysis, uncertain multistage decision-making theory, intelligent transportation systems, and traffic safety. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers in international journals and conferences, and co-authored 2 books.
Dr. Zeng served as a general secretary of the International Conference on Management Sciences and Engineering Management (ICMSEM) from 2009-2011 and as an area editor for the 17th COTA Conference International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP2017). He is currently an associate member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a member of ASCE Transportation & Development Institute, a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a member of the IEEE Control Systems Society, and a member of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society.
Yinhai Wang
Dr. Yinhai Wang is a professor in transportation engineering and the founding director of the Smart Transportation Applications and Research Laboratory (STAR Lab) at the University of Washington (UW). He also serves as director for Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans), USDOT University Transportation Center for Federal Region 10 and visiting chair for the Traffic Information and Control Department at Harbin Institute of Technology. He has a Ph.D. in transportation engineering from the University of Tokyo (1998), a master's degree in computer science from the UW, and another master’s degree in construction management (1991) and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering (1989) from Tsinghua University in China. Dr. Wang’s active research fields include traffic sensing, e-science of transportation, big-data analytics, traffic operations and simulation, smart urban mobility, transportation safety, etc. He has published over 120 peer reviewed journal articles and delivered more than 130 invited talks and nearly 220 other academic presentations.
Dr. Wang serves as a member of the Transportation Information Systems and Technology Committee and Highway Capacity and Quality of Service Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). He is currently a member of the steering committee for the IEEE Smart Cities and an elected governor for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI), scheduled to serve as president of ASCE T&DI in 2018. He is a co-chair of the Third IEEE International Smart Cities Conference to be held in Wuxi China in 2017 and the ASCE International Conference on Transportation and Development to be held in Indianapolis in 2018. He was a principal investigator for 75 important research projects with a total amount of funding over 51 million dollars. Additionally, Dr. Wang is associate editor for three journals: Journal of ITS, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, and Journal of Transportation Engineering. He was the winner of the ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering Best Paper Award for 2003.
Communities in Rural, Isolated, Tribal, or Indigenous (RITI) areas are considered disadvantaged from a transportation safety perspective. Safety approaches must be developed that are sensitive to heritage, traditional ways of knowing and learning, and the preservation of culture. Culturally sensitive solutions are needed that will reduce RITI injuries and fatalities. It is important to better understand travelers’ attitudes and preferences in RITI communities based on their general and unique travel modes. However, it is widely recognized that traffic safety data are simply not available for some RITI communities in Washington State, which impedes a deeper understanding of travelers’ traditional adhesion and cultural heterogeneity and their impacts on RITI safety regulation, policy compliance.
Transportation safety data collection, management, integration, improvement, and analysis activities are integral to develop a robust data program and lead to more informed decision making, better targeted safety investments, and overall improved safety outcomes. Without sufficient data or data management systems, communities are not eligible to receive funds for safety improvements. There is a critical need to develop connections with RITI communities and engage relevant parties to improve and enhance safety data collection, management, and analysis activities through outreach activities. This project will develop outreach connections with RITI communities and engage relevant parties in Washington State. This project will help to foster relationships with people who value a sense of community and want to improve transportation safety in RITI areas of Washington State, and develop a comprehensive understanding of needs and priorities with regard to safety data management and analysis for RITI communities.