Peter Dirks Email & Phone Number

Saint Paul, Mn, Us

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Chicago, Illinois, United States

- Collaborate with colleagues to produce Cook County's first bicycle plan- Develop Python and PostgreSQL based tool to analyze access to parks and trails by bicycle using open-source Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) analysis tools to assess the equity of access, identify underserved areas and populations, and quantify the impacts of proposed facilities- Establish County-wide bike and pedestrian counting program to provide quantitative data on mode share, measure facility utilization, and assess project impacts- Create maps and data visualizations in ArcGIS Pro- Analyze rail-related incidents resulting in property damage, injury, and/or death in the 7-county region to identify hotspots and appropriate interventions- Establish Cook County Rail Safety Workgroup - a multiagency, multidiscipline team with the goal of eliminating rail-related injuries and fatalities in Cook County- Identify gaps and barriers in the bicycle network and propose options for bridging those gaps and barriers- Develop evaluation criteria and calculation heuristic for bike projects submitted to the Invest In Cook (IIC) grant program- Serve as liaison to Southwest Conference of Mayors

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

- Collect data in field using innovative, self-contained video recording system.- Build spreadsheets for data collection and analysis- Manage and train student workers on data collection for major projects.- Collaborate with industry professionals to identify and explore knowledge gaps in transportation engineering and operations.- Write project proposals for MnDOT-sponsored projects.- Write research papers and present on driver, cyclist, and pedestrian safety and transit operations.- Produce design guidance for the design and maintenance of separated bike lanes.- Coordinate staff meetings and day-to-day lab operations.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

- Manage student workers by planning and managing workflow on major projects.- Lead author and presenter of paper on Queue-Warning System for TRB 2017- Analyze traffic data using computer vision software (created template for data review and wrote manual used by other research aides)- Collaborate with manufacturers and University faculty to improve software and methods- Recipient of the 2015-2016 Outstanding Student Employee Award

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

- Assisted survey crew chief in performing preliminary surveys, providing marks and measurements for construction crews, and reviewing submitted plan sets- Learned basic survey skills, exercised problem solving on job sites, and exercised public relations skills when answering community members’ questions- Assisted in “damage control” on projects where mistakes needed to be corrected or standards needed to be met (or exemptions granted by PEs)

Master'S Degree, Transportation Engineering

Bachelor'S Degree, Civil Engineering