Roadway Safety Institute News (Summer 2016, vol. 3, no. 3)

Articles include: Research explores how road sign alternatives might affect driver safety; Institute teaches transportation concepts, safety to summer campers; Workshops highlight innovative applications of LIDAR; Researcher spotlight: Brian Davis; New videos highlight Institute work

Roadway Safety Institute News (Fall 2017, vol. 4, no. 2)

Articles include: Research shows pedestrians and bicyclists benefit from "safety in numbers"; In-vehicle warnings show promise for improving work-zone safety; Investigating unintended effects of I-35W safety improvements; Summer camps spark students' interest in transportation; Infrastructure award to improve University's driving simulators; Morris named HumanFIRST Lab director; Seminar series moving to spring semeste

Roadway Safety Institute: Summary Report 2013-2019

This summary report highlights Roadway Safety Institute (RSI) research, education, and technology transfer activities from 2013 to 2019 and includes a summary of research projects. The focus at RSI has been to explore difficult road safety problems. Topics include driver-assist systems, pedestrian and bicycle safety, safety on tribal lands, connected and automated vehicles, safety policy, rail crossing safety, driver distraction, intersection safety, safety for design and operations, vulnerable users, work-zone safety, and wrong-way driving

Roadway Safety Institute News (Spring 2019, vol. 6, no. 1)

Articles include: Research explores ways to improve GPS accuracy for traffic safety applications; Better prediction of train arrival times promises safety benefits; Transporting crash modification factors to a future with automated vehicles; Sensor technology key to automated vehicles; Sleep apnea study honored with research partnership award; Institute awards Student of the Yea

Roadway Safety Institute News (Spring 2017, vol. 4, no. 1)

Articles include: Charting a path toward automated speed enforcement; New ‘hot-spot’ mapping to help combat impaired driving; Improving safety through partnerships with tribal communities; New exhibit teaches kids about reflectivity and safety; Research shared—and awarded—at TRB national conference; Institute selects Student of the Year, travel awards; Workshop shares ways to improve pedestrian safety, cultur

Estimating Nest Densities for Marbled Murrelets in Three Habitat Suitability Categories in the Ursus Valley, Clayoquot Sound

We investigated nest densities and breeding habitat preferences of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in unfragmented old-growth habitat in the Ursus Valley, Clayoquot Sound in 1998, 1999 and 2000. The study covered three habitat suitability categories, ranked as Excellent, Good and Sub-optimal by the habitat suitability model of Bahn and Newsom (this volume Ch. 6). Our objectives were to: 1) compare habitat structure and abundance of potential murrelet nest structures in the habitat categories; 2) document micro-habitat and forest structures which describe murrelet nest habitat preferences; and 3) estimate murrelet nest densities by climbing randomly selected clusters of trees with potential nest platforms. Trees were sampled in a manner similar to stratified cluster sampling. In total, 44 vegetation plots were randomly selected and 467 trees with potential nest platforms were climbed. Vegetation plot data indicated that trees in habitat rated as Excellent had thicker epiphyte growth, were taller and had greater diameter at breast height than trees in Good or Sub-optimal habitats. Tree density was lower and canopy closure was higher in Excellent habitat than in Good and Sub-optimal habitats. Good and Excellent habitats had higher densities of platforms and higher densities of trees with platforms than Suboptimal habitat. Trees with platforms climbed in Excellent habitat were taller, had larger diameters, greater numbers of mossy platforms per tree and more abundant and thicker epiphyte cover than trees with platforms climbed in other habitat classes. Of 240 trees with potential nesting platforms that were climbed in Excellent habitat, five nests were found; no nests were found in Good (n = 139 trees) or Sub-optimal (n = 88) habitats. The five nests found included one used in the current year and four used in previous years. All nest site characteristics were within the ranges found in other nest sites in BC. Within Excellent habitat, trees with nests (n = 5) had significantly larger stem diameters than trees that had potential nest platforms but no visible nests (n = 235); no other tree characteristics were significantly different. The density of trees (± SD) with potential nest platforms was 30 ± 14, 37 ± 27 and 12 ± 11 per ha in Excellent, Good and Sub-optimal habitats, respectively. Considering only nests active in the year of discovery, nest density was 0 for Good and Sub-optimal habitats and 0.11 ± 0.12 per ha (95% CI = 0 to 0.35) in Excellent habitat. Future work should increase sample sizes and optimize study design in order to improve density estimates, and should examine the applicability of these findings to fragmented and more modified landscapes