Mark Hallenbeck is the director of the Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC) at the University of Washington. Mark has been with TRAC for over 32 years. Much of Mark’s research involves the collection, use, summarization, and reporting of data that describe transportation system use and performance, and then using that information to work with the public and decision makers as they make major transportation and land use investment decisions.

He is currently working with multiple agencies in the region to examine how “big data” and new technology can be used to improve regional mobility, while examining how changing mobility options are effecting land use decisions. Specific projects he is working on include:

• the ability to measure and report statewide roadway delay and performance to meet federal reporting requirements,
  the use of electronic fare card data for public transit planning, operational improvements, and social benefit,
• the development of multi-modal arterial performance monitoring to meet the safety and mobility needs of growing urban centers,
• the collection and use of sidewalk network data for use routing pedestrians of all mobility levels,
• the fusion of public and private sector transportation data sources in ways that increase data utility, while guarding personal and business privacy and data ownership rights, and,
• the collection and use of last-mile freight delivery data to both optimize real time freight deliveries and plan for improving the infrastructure required to meet those delivery needs within the context of dense multi-use urban environments.

New data sources being generated by cell phones and other electronic devices have dramatically changed the amount and type of data available for use describing transportation system use and performance. Mark is heavily involved in developing new systems that can take advantage of these new data sources. This includes building systems which understand and can account for the ownership of the data, usage restrictions placed on those data due to concerns about both individual privacy and proprietary business activities, and the quality and sample limitations of these new data sources.