摘要: |
This is the 2008 Annual Report on the research activities of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. This report focuses on the programs and activities managed by the Research and Library Unit while also describing partnership efforts across the department, state and nation. In many ways, 2008 will be remembered as a year of change. An economic recession produced changing stock markets and major financial fluctuations. A historic national election led to change at the highest levels of public office. The transportation sector was also subject to many changes. Fuel prices raced to record highs and then dropped to five-year lows, all in the space of a few months. Transit and passenger rail ridership surged, while highway use dropped slightly. In Wisconsin, record snowfalls in winter followed by catastrophic flooding in spring and summer led to long-term closures even on the busiest highways. |