State freight plan and FTTS data review aim to improve prioritization and visualization tools

Agency staff told the board the draft statewide freight plan is ready for FHWA review and stressed chapters on industries, performance and emerging trends will help guide future investments; they noted the plan must be federally compliant for formula freight funds. "The freight plan is a very supply chain‑focused plan," staff said, and urged board members to submit comments during the remaining tribal comment period.

Separately, WSU economists reviewing FTTS data recommended refining segment definitions, expanding counting technology and considering additional metrics beyond tonnage—such as crash exposure and freight‑generating activity hubs—for prioritization. They noted camera algorithms and satellite imagery are improving and could reduce the burden of temporary counts while increasing coverage for underserved network segments.