Western Transportation Institute > Education > REU

SAFE PASSAGES:
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES PROGRAM

Introduction:

Design and operation of the nation’s surface transportation system is moving well beyond its original objective of providing citizens with safe and efficient passage. While maintaining this basic focus, there are ever increasing efforts to also consider the safe passage of the wildlife and aquatic organisms whose habitats the system traverses. The Safe Passages REU site will research this complex issue of simultaneously providing for safe passage of humans, wildlife, and aquatic organisms through rural transportation corridors. A 90 mile stretch of U.S. Highway 191 near MSU, which follows pristine mountain waterways and traverses part of Yellowstone National Park, will provide an ideal field site for students to pursue nationally replicable solutions to these issues. The REU site is hosted by the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University (MSU), which has established a national reputation for cutting edge interdisciplinary research on rural transportation safety, operations, and system impacts on the natural environment. Experienced WTI research staff and faculty will mentor a diverse group of eight undergraduate students each summer from all fields of engineering, as well as ecology, biology, and the environmental sciences. In addition to their project involvement, the students’ REU experience will be enriched by research seminars, training workshops, and similar educational activities over the course of the 10 week program.

Program Dates:June 1 – August 6, 2010
Ten-week summer program

Location:Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana

Stipend:$4,500 (paid in three increments of $1,500)

Travel:Travel reimbursement up to $900 for travel costs to MSU

Housing:Program covers all on-campus housing expenses for participants

Eligibility:Undergraduates from all fields of engineering, ecology, biology, environmental sciences, and related fields are invited to apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Application Deadline:March 1, 2010

Program Description:

Safe Passages REU research will seek solutions for improving motorist safety, safe wildlife and fish passage across the roadway and environmental protection. The REU program will actively foster an interdisciplinary team environment in order to attain innovative solutions to problems associated with rural two-lane highways traversing environmentally sensitive regions.

The Safe Passages REU program will center around three interdisciplinary topic areas:

1. Water and Fish Passage

There is a need to better understand the effects of road Program Dates on all aquatic organisms, and to evaluate present design, construction and maintenance practices. Research in this area will focus on how roads impact fisheries, water quality, wetlands, habitat connectivity, exotic species invasions, and subsurface hydrology as well as on standards for best mitigation methods for particular species or habitats.

2. Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Movement

Habitat fragmentation, animal aversion or attraction to roadways, and wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) can all have detrimental effects on wildlife populations. REU research in this area will focus on road impacts on habitat connectivity and wildlife movements as well as on the ever evolving strategies that are being employed to mitigate these impacts.

3. Public Safety and Mobility

Rural highways provide valuable conduits for human movement. They also pose a variety of formidable challenges in ensuring the safety of the motorists that use them. Rural highways pose special challenges related to roadway alignment issues (relatively sharp horizontal and vertical curves), limited sight distances, dangerous weather conditions, relatively long incident response times (i.e., due to distances that must be traveled), and less than optimum communications (i.e., limited or no cell phone or radio communications). REU research in this area will focus on the complex issues related to public safety and mobility along U.S. 191 as a model for developing integrated solutions to improve safe human passage along rural highways nationwide, while maintaining ecosystem integrity and fiscal affordability.

The Laboratory:

All REU research will center around U.S. Highway 191 between Bozeman and West Yellowstone. U.S. 191 provides an excellent test bed for research in the three focus areas as it follows the Gallatin River, is located within the boundaries of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and is subject to inclement weather, high traffic volumes, and worrisome accident rates. As a bonus, students will have the opportunity to conduct field work and research in one of the most beautiful outdoor laboratories available.

To download an application, click here: APPLICATION FORM

Completed applications must be received by the March 1, 2010 deadline.

For additional information, contact:
Susan Gallagher
Education Program Coordinator
Western Transportation Institute
Montana State University
PO Box 174250
Bozeman , MT 59717-4250

Phone: (406)994-6559
Email: sgallagher at coe.montana.edu

2010 REU Project Descriptions

An interdisciplinary team of two undergraduate students will be selected to work together on each of the four 2010 REU projects described below. Applications should indicate or rank the project or projects of interest.

1) Examining the Relationship between Road Geometry, Speed, and Crash Data on US 191 Corridor in the Gallatin Canyon

This project will build upon the work that was achieved during the 2009 REU program. The 2009 project focused on understanding drivers’ speed selection in relevance to highway geometry using some of the most restrictive sites in the Gallatin Canyon. The new project is a natural extension from the past project and will try to answer another research question: how crash experience in the Gallatin Canyon corresponds to observed speeds or restricted highway geometry within the Canyon. The project utilizes US Highway 191 through the Gallatin Canyon between Bozeman and Big Sky, Montana, which provides an excellent test bed for the proposed research as it follows the winding course of the Gallatin River, is located within relatively difficult terrain, and is subject to inclement weather, high traffic volumes, and worrisome accident rates.

The main objective of the proposed research is to investigate vehicular crashes along this important corridor in terms of crash type, location, severity, frequency, and other related information with the hope of identifying patterns and relationships with highway geometry. Such an understanding is critical in devising safety countermeasures including ITS warning systems, highway safety hardware and features, or other speed control techniques.

2) Experimental Assessment of Swimming Capabilities of Selected Montana Trout Species

Our nation’s waterways are obstructed by an estimated 2.5 million aquatic barriers, with estimates in Montana alone running into the thousands. Research activities and on-the-ground projects in the aquatic barrier arena often involve assessing structures to determine their barrier status, designing improved passage around or through barriers, and studying the effects of barriers on aquatic species and habitat. Many of these projects require synthesizing hydraulic modeling results or observations of hydraulic conditions with descriptions of fish swimming capabilities (fish loco- motion) to determine if a fish can successfully pass a particular structure. For some cold water fish species important to Montana and the Northern Rockies, the literature documenting fish swimming capabilities is sparse and anecdotal, casting doubt on the use of such data for design or analysis of systems where fish mobility is at question. Past REU projects in the US 191 corridor focused on road stream crossings and the barrier effect of culverts within the Gallatin watershed. In the course of previous work, it has become apparent that the primary shortcoming of studies of fish passage in this setting is the lack of reliable information concerning fish swimming capabilities. The 2010 REU project will utilize a unique flume testbed at the Fish Technology Center in order to conduct fish performance trials. The primary aim is to determine fish swimming capabilities by species and fish size class. The REU project will investigate covariates that may impact fish swimming performance, including three-dimensional variations in water velocity.

3) Correlating Risk Perception with High Risk Crash Sites

Fatal traffic crashes are a significant public health issue, especially in rural America. Driver behavior is the main cause of fatal crashes. A fundamental skill for safe driving is the accurate perception of risk associated with hazards in the road environment. Specifically, early research has shown that drivers are motivated to maintain a preferred level of risk by adjusting their behavior and exposure to hazards. For example, a study in 1964 by Taylor found that drivers in England exhibited physiological indications of stress at road locations where there were frequent crashes. Moreover, drivers adjusted their speed such that the stress per time period was constant over the selected roadway. This seminal study has fueled contentious theories that drivers seek risk and will adapt their behavior to consume safety benefits to retain that preferred risk level – thereby diminishing the expected benefits of traditional safety engineering solution.

Despite the seminal nature of the Taylor study and its implications for driver risk taking, the research has never been replicated. This study seeks to replicate the Taylor methodology in the context of rural Montana using the psychophysiology recording equipment and instrumented vehicle(s) newly acquired by WTI. Specifically, the study will examine if driver physiological stress (and subjective risk) correspond with fatal crash locations indicated by roadside markers on route to Big Sky, Montana along US Highway 191. The study will also attempt to quantify the consistency of risk exposure by correlating the physiological indicators with vehicle speed.

4) Development of Mitigation Options for Bison-Vehicle Collisions on US 191

Yellowstone National Park is home to one of the four free roaming and genetically pure bison herds on public lands in North America. The size of the bison population in Yellowstone National Park has fluctuated between about 3,000 and 4,900 individuals in recent years. Some of the bison migrate to areas outside the Park during the winter months. North of West Yellowstone, the bison cross US Highway 191 to reach areas further to the west. The bison often remain in this area well into the birthing season in the spring. Conflicts between bison and the travelers on US 191 can be frequent, with 15 animals killed, for example, in three separate crashes within one week in the spring of 2009.

The objective of this project is to study bison issues along and associated with US 191, and to provide recommendations to address them. Project tasks are expected to include:

• Reviewing available information on bison movements and bison-vehicle collisions in this area,
• Surveying stakeholders (public agencies, non-governmental organizations and individuals) with knowledge or experience regarding this situation,
• Identifying mitigation options,
• Evaluating mitigation options, including cost-benefit analyses, and
• Providing final recommendations for specific road sections.

This work should a) provide some valuable insight into one of the predominant wildlife issues along the US 191 Yellowstone corridor, b) possibly form the foundation for a future mitigation project, and c) potentially serve as an additional template for future studies of a similar nature.

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