DRONES FOR IMPROVING TRAFFIC SAFETY IN RITI COMMUNITIES IN WASHINGTON STATE FINAL PROJECT REPORT by Xuegang (Jeff) Ban, Daniel Abramson, Yiran Zhang University of Washington for Center for Safety Equity in Transportation (CSET) USDOT Tier 1 University Transportation Center University of Alaska Fairbanks ELIF Suite 240, 1764 Tanana Drive Fairbanks, AK 99775-5910 In cooperation with U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. The Center for Safety Equity in Transportation, the U.S. Government and matching sponsor assume no liability for the contents or use thereof. i TECHNICAL REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Drones for Improving Traffic Safety of the RITI Communities in Washington Dec 31,2019 State 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) and Affiliations 8. Performing Organization Report No. Xuegang (Jeff) Ban, Daniel Abramson, Yiran Zhang CSET/INE 20.03 University of Washington 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Center for Safety Equity in Transportation ELIF Building Room 240, 1760 Tanana Drive 11. Contract or Grant No. Fairbanks, AK 99775-5910 12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered United States Department of Transportation Final report, 04/01/18 – 12/31/19 Research and Innovative Technology Administration 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 15. Supplementary Notes Report uploaded to: 16. Abstract Transportation and traffic safety is a primary concern in Rural, Isolated, Tribal, or Indigenous (RITI) communities in Washington (WA) State. Parallel to this, while emerging technologies (e.g., connected/autonomous vehicles, drones) have been developed and tested in addressing traffic safety issues, they are often not widely shared in RITI communities for various reasons. Compared with other technological advances, drone technologies have been rapidly improved and can be flexibly applied to multiple fields, including engineering, agriculture and disaster managements. The goal of this study is to explore and synthesize the opportunities, challenges and scenarios that drone technologies can assist to resolve traffic safety related issues and concerns in RITI communities. Through the outreach activities with the outer Pacific Coast in WA state, it is found that the principal concern within these communities are disaster management and mitigation since they are facing the threat of coastal erosion, earthquake and tsunami. Thus, the emergency management and hazard mitigation becomes the major way to further explore drone applications in the selected communities. To achieve this, we reviewed the current state of the drone technologies, conducted surveys from National Guard and coastal communities in WA, including City of Westport, South Beach Region, Grays Harbor County, Shoalwater Bay Tribe, and Quinault Indian Nation, to better understand their current needs, challenges and issues. Ultimately, recommendations of drone applications under specific scenarios are provided based upon the integration of drone technologies with community safety needs. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Transportation; Drones; Planning and Design, Outreach, Surveys 19. Security Classification (of this report) 20. Security Classification (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified. Unclassified. 127 N/A Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized. ii SI* (MODERN METRIC) CONVERSION FACTORS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Disclaimer....................................................................................................................................................... i Technical Report Documentation Page ........................................................................................................ ii SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors ..................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ vi Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.1. General Background ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Problem Statement ....................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2. Literature review of drone technology and Application ....................................................... 5 2.1. State of the Art Drone Technologies............................................................................................. 5 2.2. Practice of drones in Washington State ........................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER 3. Outreach activities ................................................................................................................ 7 3.1. Community Engagement for Coastal Resilience Studio ................................................................ 8 3.1.1. Westport/South Beach Workshop – 11/2018 (27) ............................................................. 10 3.2. WA National Guard Workshop – 6/2019 .................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 4. Online survey ...................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 5. results and recommendationS ............................................................................................ 15 5.1. Outreach Activity Findings .......................................................................................................... 15 5.1.1. Transportation and Traffic Safety in Westport ................................................................... 15 5.1.2. Learning from WA National Guard Workshop .................................................................... 17 5.2. Online Survey Results.................................................................................................................. 18 5.3. Recommendation of drone applications .................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 6. conclusion and future study ............................................................................................... 24 Reference .................................................................................................................................................... 25 Appendix A: UAV (Drones) technologies ...................................................................................................... 1 Appendix B: Workshop report for Westport Coastal Resilience................................................................... 1 Appendix C: Online Survey ............................................................................................................................ 1 Appendix D: Executive Summary of Westport Costal Resilience Report ...................................................... 1 Appendix E: Transportation Chapter of Westport Costal Resilience Report ................................................ 1 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Traffic fatality rate in Washington State ...................................................................................... 2 Figure 1.2 GMA Status of Washington counties and cities (5) ..................................................................... 3 Figure 3.1 South Beach Area (22) ................................................................................................................. 7 Figure 3.2 Geo-location of Grays Harbor County (left) and City of Westport (right) ................................... 8 Figure 3.3 Vertical evacuation facility of Westport – Ocosta School gymnasium (25) ................................. 9 Figure 3.4. Workshop Approach and Structure (27) ................................................................................... 10 Figure 3.5 “Partner workshop” on Nov 16, 2018 ........................................................................................ 11 Figure 3.6 “Community Workshop” on Nov 17, 2018 ................................................................................ 11 v LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Critical consideration items ......................................................................................................... 12 Table 5.1 Recommendation of transportation and telecommunication for Westport .............................. 15 Table 5.2 Proposed Drone Application under Different