Portland State University students Nikki Wheeler, Lindsay Walker, Peter Pelzer and Josh Steiner won the Rudin Center/APA graduate student award in transportation planning. The award recognizes student projects with a substantial transportation planning and design component that demonstrate an understanding of planning principals and a spirit of innovation.
The winning project designed two bicycle boulevards in northwest Portland as part of a graduate-level bicycle and pedestrian design studio at PSU.
An approximately 1-mile segment of Northwest 24th Avenue and an approximately 2/3-mile segment of Northwest Flanders Street were selected as the project routes. Although identified as bicycle boulevards in the City’s Bicycle Master Plan, these routes were largely unimproved for bicycle travel and failed to function as bicycle boulevards.
In the last of the livability seminar series, OTREC's visiting scholars program welcomed Shawn Turner from the Texas Transportation Institute. Shawn's research spans the gamut of intelligent transportation systems data to bicycle and pedestrian issues. Most recently, Shawn participated in the International Scan on Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility. His presentation compared his experiences on the scan in Europe to those in China. During his presentation, he posed three challenges to Oregon:
- How does active transportation contribute to economic development?
- What is the tipping point for behavior and behavioral change?
- Can vanity play a role in social acceptance?
His presentation was followed by a discussion with local agencies, faculty, students and partners along with a 10-mile tour of innovative bike infrastructure in Portland. Thank goodness...
Read moreIn the last of the livability seminar series, OTREC’s visiting scholars program welcomed Shawn Turner†from the Texas Transportation Institute.†Shawn’s research spans the gamut of intelligent transportation systems data to bicycle and pedestrian issues.† Most recently, Shawn participated in the International Scan on Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility.† His presentation†compared his experiences on the†scan in Europe to those in China.† During his presentation, he posed three challenges to Oregon:
- How does active transportation contribute to economic development?
- What is the tipping point for behavior and behavioral change?
- Can vanity play a role†in social acceptance?
His presentation was followed by a discussion with local agencies, faculty, students and partners along with a 10-mile tour of innovative bike infrastructure in Portland.† Thank goodness the weather held up!
designBridge is a student-based organization at the University of Oregon that exposes students to real architectural and planning projects in their community. The organization promotes studentsí engagement in their community while providing them with professional experience that will benefit them in their careers. In this OTREC-funded education project, led by Professor Nico Larco, the students of designBridge undertook the design and construction of a new transportation shelter for Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene, Oregon. The project results include not only the completion of the shelter but also the continued development of a service learning program that can effectively address small community transportation-related needs. To learn more about the project, down the final report at: https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/docs/detail/2172
Suburban multifamily housing makes up the fastest-growing housing market in the country. Townhouses, condos and apartment complexes bring density to suburbia. They are also often located close to commercial areas. For these reasons, they offer the potential for active transportation and mixed-use development. Yet this potential rarely becomes a reality. Professor Nico Larcoís OTREC project explores why inaccessible, disconnected forms of suburban multifamily development dominate. The project draws on interviews with architects, planners, developers, and property managers of developments in four states. It proposes ways in which current practices might shift in order to create more livable, less congested, and multi-modal suburban communities. To read the report in its entirety go to: https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/OTREC-RR-10-03_final.pdf
To look at how buses, light rail, street cars, and bicycling have all become prominent modes in Portland, you need to trace back to important land use decisions made three decades ago. In 1974, Oregon adopted statewide land use planning goals. These goals shifted planning efforts away from freeway-building, toward investment in alternative forms of transportation. Since then, Oregon has been a leader in pushing back against car-centric landscapes and lifestyles. In this OTREC project, Professor Carl Abbott and Sam Lowry of Portland State University traced the history of land use planning in Oregon from 1890-1974. One of the projectís aims is to make transportation planning relevant and compelling to a broad audience. To do so, Abbott and Lowry gathered stories and information from a wide range of sources who enthusiastically shared their knowledge of transportation history. You can download the report to read more: https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/OTREC-TT-10-01.pdf
Examining Oregon's Medically At-Risk Driver Program Oregon is one of six states with mandatory physician reporting requirements for drivers with significant medical impairments. In 2003, the State revised its Medically At-Risk Driver program to cover a wider range of cognitive and functional impairments. Professor James Strathman's project examined the new program. The ODOT/OTREC co-sponsored study involved two sections. First, the researchers performed an assessment of the safety risk posed by drivers whose licenses were suspended after the DMV received a physicianís report on their condition. The second part of the study involved interviews with program stakeholders, including primary care physicians, providers of driving assessment services, and program administrators. To read more about the project, download the report at: https://trec.pdx.edu/OTRECUS/project/80
Tensile strain, or strain from heavy loads, causes pavement to crack. But innovations in pavement design aim to reduce such damage. Currently, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is in the process of adopting a new pavement design procedure. This involves examining data from existing pavement to predict how much cracking will likely occur in the new pavement. Analysts have already made predictions about how much tensile strain will occur in the new pavement using a procedure known as layered elastic analysis. Dr. Todd Scholzís project gathered key data in order to assess the validity of these key predictions. Want to learn more? You can download the OTREC report at: https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/OTREC-RR-10-02.pdf.
Dr. Yizhao Yangís OTREC project on understanding school travel examined the relationships between school transportation, neighborhood walkability, and where families choose to live. The study involved a 5,500-household survey of families with children attending selected public schools in Eugene, Oregon. In general, parents did consider school transportation in the process of deciding where to live. Unfortunately, housing opportunities around schools and in walkable communities are often limited. Dr. Yangís project suggests a need for greater coordination between community land use planning and school planning. The study also points to the value of continuing to educate the community about safe and active transportation options to school. The final report can be downloaded at: https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/OTREC-RR-10-01.pdf.
As a part of OTREC’s visiting scholars program, Professor Rick Willson from Cal Poly Pomona presented on the the next generation of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) on February 12.† In a nutshell, TOD is “the intersection of good transit planning and good development planning.”† The initial implementation of TOD in California focused on vertical mixed development, fixed rail and property within a quarter mile.† It was a good step in the right direction of creating more livable and sustainable communities.† However, it had some shortcomings such as using cheap right of way, dispersed origin-destination, and counter incentives. New legislation in California and other states focused on vehicle-miles traveled greenhouse gas emissions reduction provides an opportunity to update TOD to use the lessons learned and improve on some shortcomings.† If you missed Prof. Willson’s recent seminar, you can view the streaming video and access presentation online. (Image Credit: Rick Willson)