USU Engineering Professor Awarded for Efforts With UDOT

Utah State University Associate Professor Patrick Singleton is this year’s Trailblazer Award winner, selected by the Utah Department of Transportation. This award is given annually to a UDOT staff member or external research partner who conducts valuable transportation research or champions its implementation.

Singleton has worked at USU since 2017 and is a research partner at UDOT. He’s already secured over $600,000 worth of sponsored research. Singleton’s research spans the areas of travel behavior, transportation planning and traffic safety, specializing in active transportation, data analysis and health, and his work with UDOT mirrors these areas.

“Everyone is affected by transportation,” Singleton said. “Research expands our understanding of the ways transportation affects our economy, environment, communities and health and wellbeing, giving leaders and decision-makers insights and opportunities to improve quality of life. Research is a key way in which the transportation field continues to improve and innovate.”

With UDOT, Singleton and his team recorded videos at intersections, comparing the number of button-presses to the number of pedestrians crossing the street and developed mathematical models to relate the two. This was the first project to be completed, at scale, anywhere in the world.

“Through this research, we were able to add nearly 2,000 pedestrian volume data collection locations to UDOT’s traffic monitoring network, without having to install costly new infrastructure,” he said.

Singleton enjoys the way research allows him to use his knowledge together with science to illuminate and help solve societal challenges. He loves working with his students and watching their progress as they advance through the academic world and into successful careers.

“I am extremely honored by this recognition of the research my students and I have done for UDOT,” he said. “I look forward to continuing to work closely with UDOT on transportation research in the years to come, and I think this is a big reason why we have a strong and capable network of transportation professionals here in Utah.”