IPIT and WisDOT host annual Southeast Wisconsin Transportation Symposium

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Xiao Qin, IPIT director and the Lawrence E. Sivak Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering, opens the symposium.

One-fifth of traffic deaths in the U.S. involve pedestrians and bicyclists, a rising trend that UWM’s Robert Schneider (urban planning) and Xiao Qin (civil engineering) are examining in detail.

Schneider presented the research he and Qin are working on at the annual Southeast Wisconsin Transportation Symposium held on campus Oct. 4.

UWM’s Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT) and WisDOT co-hosted the symposium, bringing together researchers, students and transportation professionals to showcase related research and share innovative practices.

Attendance for the event set a record, with more than 200 participants registered, said Qin, IPIT director and the Lawrence E. Sivak Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering.

“This symposium carries some weight in terms of influence,” he added. “Attendees are those who collectively guide the investment strategies for WisDOT’s $4 billion annual budget.”

Is there a project you’d like to partner with IPIT on? Interdepartmental research ideas are welcomed. Contact Xiao Qin, qinx@uwm.edu

Qin and Schneider’s pedestrian fatalities project looked at two five-year time periods – 2008-2012 and 2017-2022 and sought to understand what changed to result in higher numbers of deaths in the latter period.

Data on pedestrian fatalities in the earlier period showed that fatalities in Wisconsin were fairly stable. But in the latter period, fatalities increased dramatically, spiking in 2022. Identifying the differences could lead to interventions that would reduce the death rate, Schneider said.

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CEAS Associate Dean Andy Graettinger (from left), IPIT Director Xiao Qin, WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman, UWM Provost Andrew Daire and CEAS Dean Brett Peters at the event.
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Graduate students from the lab of Tom Shi, assistant professor, civil & environmental engineering, gave symposium visitors a demonstration of their research. Shown are, from left, Fahad Muhammad (civil), Yi-Wen Su (electrical), Professor Shi, Je-Nong Lin (electrical), Narayan Rai (civil) and Xiao Liang (civil).
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An attendee enjoys a breakout session.
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Robert Schneider (right), UWM professor, urban planning, talks with audience members after his research presentation.
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David Nguyen (center), WisDOT project development chief, chats with other participants.
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Symposium attendance set a record this year, attracting a mix of students, professionals and academic researchers.

“Pedestrian fatalities nearly doubled nationally in the last decade and the majority are happening at night,” he said. “This not happening worldwide so we need to understand why the U.S. is an outlier.”

The ongoing work is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation through its University Transportation Centers and WisDOT.

Qin will be doing the statistical modeling of some of these variables as a next step, including

one of the study’s findings that areas where unemployment is high was related to an increase in pedestrian fatalities.

Symposium breakout sessions covered a wide range of other topics, such as:

  • The City of Milwaukee’s Vision Zero program to address fatal and severe traffic crashes
  • The public’s perceptions of autonomous vehicles
  • Countermeasures for preventing bridge hits
  • The Wisconsin Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program from WisDOT

Speakers included C.Y. David Yang, president and executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman. The event included a “walk-shop” where participants took a tour of the new pedestrian and bicyclist facilities on the UWM campus.