Portland State University

Hau Hagedorn, the associate director of Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center and the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, has been selected by the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) and the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) to win the 2020 CUTC-ARTBA Award for Administrative Leadership.

Hau is responsible for the day-to-day management, operations and overall direction of TREC and NITC's peer-reviewed research and technology transfer programs. She also oversees programming and delivery of professional development workshops through the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation program at PSU. An active participant in national efforts on conducting and implementing research, she serves as co-Chair of both the TRB Conduct of Research Committee and the TRB Research, Innovation and Implementation Management Committee. Hau is also heavily involved at the state-level as the current Chair of the Oregon Bicycle...

In recent years, there have been over 600 bicyclist fatalities annually in the United States. This sobering statistic has motivated a number of recent studies, including the recently released National Transportation Safety Board study, “Bicyclist Safety on US Roadways: Crash Risks and Countermeasures (PDF). ” That report notes that midblock crashes account for a disproportionate number of bicyclist fatalities and severe crashes, and that separated on-street bicycle facilities may reduce the likelihood of these crashes. However, there are only limited data on the safety outcomes of separated on-street bikeways in the U.S., despite their increasing popularity...

A new paper in the Journal of Planning Literature by Michael McQueen, Gabriella Abou-Zeid, John MacArthur and Kelly Clifton of PSU took a look at micromobility. The article focuses on the role of new modes like shared e-scooters in the efforts to cultivate a more sustainable transportation system by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, providing a reliable and equitable transportation service, and enhancing the human experience. Their review of the literature shows that the sustainability impacts of these modes are at present mixed, and are likely to remain so without more targeted interventions by local stakeholders. Yet, the operations and use of micromobility systems are quickly evolving and hold promise for contributing to a more sustainable transportation system.

Read the online journal article, or access the free author version (PDF) here.

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In active transportation research, plenty of attention has been given to how different types of bike infrastructure affect people's likelihood of biking. Research has demonstrated that protected bike lanes encourage more people to bike than simple painted lanes, and that most cyclists feel safer riding through a protected intersection as opposed to navigating shared space with cars. However, relatively few empirical studies have investigated how holistically connected an entire bike network is, and how different populations can be positively or negatively impacted in their decision to bike by that level of connectivity.

Wei Shi, a recent Portland State University graduate with a PhD in urban planning, wrote her doctoral thesis on...