The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) and the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University are thrilled to welcome David Zipper as keynote speaker for the 11th Annual PacTrans Transportation Conference, taking place this fall on the PSU campus in Portland.

Zipper is a Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative and a nationally recognized voice on the intersections of transportation policy, technology, and society. A contributing writer for Vox and Bloomberg CityLab, his work has shed light on critical topics including road safety, oversized vehicles, climate change, and strategies to strengthen transit ridership. His insights draw from extensive experience in city government, venture capital, and startup advising—bringing a unique, prag…

Jamie Arnau graduated from Portland State University (PSU) in 2023 with a Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) degree and an Urban Design Graduate Certificate. While at PSU, she received a National Institute for Transportation and Communities scholarship and attended the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (where she scored a selfie with then-Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg!) She is now an Integrated Mobility Consultant at Mobycon.

Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn

What do you do in your current role, and what does a typical day look like? 

I’m an Integrated Mobility Consultant at Mobycon, a Dutch consulting firm with offices in the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.S. (with our U.S. offic…

Wildlife everywhere faces a growing challenge: moving safely across an increasingly fragmented landscape. Roads, urban development, and other human-made barriers can make it harder for animals to access food, shelter, and breeding areas, while also increasing the risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions. To address this issue, researchers at Portland State University (PSU) worked on a groundbreaking effort to understand and protect the travel patterns of Oregon’s wildlife.

The Oregon Connectivity Assessment and Mapping Project (OCAMP) was a multi-year collaboration aimed at mapping wild species' habitats and travel corridors across the state. The research team created an interactive Priority Wildlife Connectivity Areas Map of Oregon,…

Katherine Keeling graduated from Portland State University (PSU) in 2022 with a Master's in civil engineering. She is now a Senior Analyst in Operations & Finance Planning at TriMet.

Connect with Katherine on LinkedIn

What do you do in your current role, and what does a typical day look like? 

I am a Senior Analyst for Operations & Finance Planning. As this title suggests, my main focus is estimating the operations & maintenance costs associated with a change in transit operations. Depending on the impetus, I might be collaborating with transit planners, maintenance experts, executives, or engineering & construction project managers.

How did your experience at PSU shape your path into the transportation field?

I actually keep my PSU transportation engineering notes at my cubicle desk! When I joined a team of analysts, I felt lacking in my understanding…

Portland State University (PSU) students are once again transforming ideas into action through Better Block PSU, a program that brings community-driven transportation and placemaking projects to life. Three Better Block PSU projects made forward strides this year, thanks to teams of students in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Capstone program and the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program.

Last year, we reported on two of the projects:

• A Bridgeless Interval: Better Block PSU Reimagines Burnside Street
• Better Block PSU Gives International School of Portland a Neighborhood Makeover

These two have both made additional forward progress, and we also have updates on…