Taming Stormwater with Green Streets

Friday, February 24, 2006, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

The video begins at 12:44.

Abstract: Average Portland rainfall is nearly 37 inches a year. This rainfall usually runs off streets and other impervious surfaces such as roofs and into the sewer system, but this can cause two major problems. First, disposing of runoff in a storm sewer that drains to a river or stream sends dirt, metals, oil, pesticides, and other pollutants right into the water. Second, in neighborhoods with combined sewers, (that is, sewage systems that combine household sewage with the runoff waters from rain), after a heavy rainfall, the high volume of sewage sent to be treated can overwhelm the treatment center and lead to raw sewage discharges into the Willamette River. About 27% of the city is covered by buildings, streets, sidewalks, and other hard, or impervious, surfaces. Paved streets cover about 19% of Portland’s land area, but those streets account for nearly half of Portland’s impervious surfaces. Paved streets contribute 66% of the total annual stormwater runoff and 77% of the pollutants in the runoff. To address this problem, the City of Portland has begun investing in ways to treat stormwater runoff before it enters the sewer system. The city has built and is developing a number of “green street” projects that mimic what happens to rain when it falls on undeveloped areas. A green street uses landscaped curb extensions, lowered infiltration planters and basins, swales, trees,...

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Observations of Dynamic Traffic Flow Phenomena on a German Autobahn

Friday, February 17, 2006, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

The video begins at 1:15.

Traffic conditions were examined along a 30-km section of northbound Autobahn 5 near Frankfurt, Germany, using archived inductive loop detector data recorded at one-minute intervals. By focusing on the spatio-temporal evolution of traffic between freely flowing and queued conditions, it was possible to identify bottleneck activations and characterize reproducible features related to their formation, discharge and dissipation. This was accomplished by systematically probing the excess vehicle accumulation (spatial) and excess travel time (temporal) that arose between measurement locations. It is shown that bottlenecks became active in the vicinity of on-ramps and off-ramps. Further, the evolution of a several shocks of low flow, low velocity, and relatively short duration were traced over an approximately 16 km distance. It is shown that once a bottleneck became active, its measured outflow was reproducible across multiple activations and across multiple days. The analysis tools used in this study were transformed curves of cumulative vehicle count and cumulative time-mean velocity, using loop detector data in their most raw form. These cumulative curves provided the resolution necessary to reveal the spatial and temporal aspects of dynamic freeway traffic flow phenomena. With increasing availability of reliable freeway sensor data, it is important to continue the systematic...

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Oil and the Internal Combustion Engine: End of an Era?

Friday, February 3, 2006, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

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Abstract: Today’s vehicles are vast improvements over the Model T of a hundred years ago. They are much more reliable, comfortable, safer, efficient, powerful, and cleaner burning. But in some ways, they’ve barely changed. They are functionally identical and continue to consume large amounts of energy. Why haven’t they changed more? This talk will address the future of combustion engines and petroleum fuels, and what it means for transportation funding, air pollution, climate change, and the future of the US auto industry.

Speaker Biography: Daniel Sperling is Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy, and founding Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis) at the University of California, Davis. He is also co-director of UC Davis's Hydrogen Pathways Program and New Mobility Center. Dr. Sperling is recognized as a leading international expert on transportation technology assessment, energy and environmental aspects of transportation, and transportation policy. In the past 20 years, he has authored or co-authored over 200 technical papers and reports and eight books. He was selected as a lifetime National Associate of The National Academies in 2004, is founding chair and emeritus member of the Alternative Transportation Fuels Committee of the U.S. Transportation Research Board, and...

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Bicycle and Pedestrian Trails: Planning to Implementation

Friday, January 27, 2006, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

The video begins at 3:55.

Blueprint for Better Biking: 40 Ways to Get There

Friday, January 20, 2006, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

The video begins at 17:40.

Variable Speed Limits -AND- Travel Time Evaluation

Friday, January 13, 2006, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

The video begins at 5:20.

Willamette River Ferry Options

Friday, December 2, 2005, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

The video begins at 2:48.

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Seattle Value Pricing Demonstration Project

Friday, November 18, 2005, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

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Future of the I-5/I-405 Freeway Loop

Friday, November 4, 2005, 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST

The video begins at 4:55.

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