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.

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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…

The 2025 Portland State University (PSU) Sustainable Transportation Study Abroad class has returned from Denmark, after an immersive exploration of what it takes to build a city for people rather than cars. Through daily bike and transit tours, lectures, and firsthand observations, students learned that making transportation safe and convenient isn’t about one magic policy; it’s a system of integrated decisions—like Copenhagen’s Finger Plan, its cycle superhighways, and a deeply ingrained culture of biking—that together create a vibrant, livable city.

With support from ScanDesign Foundation, the Sustainable Transportation Study Abroad program aims to introduce students to multimodal transportation and land use applications in an international context. This year's cohort of twelve students, along with instructors John MacArthur and Hau Hagedorn, met with officials from transportation organizations like the Danish Road Directorate and consultancy firms Raw Mo…

Portland State University's Class of 2025 celebrated its commencement ceremonies this past weekend, and we'd like to take a moment to highlight two graduates of the Toulan School of Urban Studies & Planning who devoted their time at PSU to improving the accessibility of transportation services.

Minju Song and Jules Plotts each focused their graduate studies on addressing transportation challenges for particular communities: Song's PhD dissertation examined ride-hailing as a potential solution for older adults who can no longer drive, and Plotts' masters thesis focused on non-daytime shift workers and their access to transit. TREC is proud to congratulate both of these outstanding grads, and looking forward to seeing their next chapter!

Jules Mai Plotts received her masters in Urban Studies, and is now doing a regional planning internship at Metro. She hopes her future career will make an impact on climate and equity. …

A report by Portland State University (PSU) researchers offers an improved framework for assessing the seismic risk of transportation structures. Earthquake preparedness is a high priority for the Pacific Northwest, and cities and state agencies will benefit from having a more accurate and consistent way to prepare.

In collaboration with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the researchers developed a method to manage bridges and tunnels using various data sources and rigorous risk definitions. Traditionally, decisions about retrofitting existing structures have been based on expert opinion, past experience, or limited data, which can be subjective and incomplete for the estimation of seismic risk. This new research developed an automated method, underpinned by scientific understanding on seismic hazard and structural fragility, to make risk assessments more accurate, consistent, and helpful for choosing which retrofitti…