Research Projects

The ENTERPRISE Pooled Fund Study advances innovation in highway operations and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) through research and technology transfer. Athey Creek provided technical support for ENTERPRISE Phase II completing 20 research projects identified by ENTERPRISE members. Projects completed included applied research, evaluations, and exploratory research. Topics investigated by Athey Creek included a wide range of transportation technology applications and practices. To complete each research project, Athey Creek performed literature reviews, prepared project summary materials, designed and conducted surveys, completed interviews with transportation agency staff, assessed the data collected, generated findings, and prepared technical research reports documenting the methodology and results.

Athey Creek provides program management support and technical research support for the seven-state North/West Passage Pooled Fund Study. Recent technical research topic areas investigated by Athey Creek include benefits of traveler information, corridor safety and mobility assessment, department of transportation (DOT) traveler Information website crowdsourcing practices, DOT traveler information website features and usage, responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, state weather messaging coordination, traveler information work zone alerts, work zone data initiative, and workforce needs.

Athey Creek supported the Minnesota Department of Transportation in their effort to upgrade traveler information services from displaying still images to streaming video. As a first step, Athey Creek conducted a literature review to identify applicable products related to the delivery of streaming video and developed a discussion guide to use while interviewing state transportation agencies about their practices and lessons learned with streaming video. Through interviews with transportation agencies, Athey Creek identified how other transportation agencies were integrating streaming video with their traveler information services. In addition, Athey Creek interviewed vendors to discover what options were available for video sharing. The project final deliverable was a technical memorandum that summarized key findings from the literature review and interviews, outlined a process for delivering streaming video to user groups with varying needs and requirements, and developed preliminary and final requirements adhering to their Video Switch Concept of Operations and Systems Requirements documentation.