IBPI Workshop: Integrating Bike-Ped Topics into University Transportation Courses

Hosted every summer since 2012, this two-day course supports transportation planning and engineering faculty in integrating bicycle and pedestrian topics into their courses. We share the learning materials and resources necessary to broaden your curriculum and course design, and also take you through on-the-ground examples of infrastructure for active transportation.
The importance of interactive, experiential learning is demonstrated through walking and biking tours which offer a firsthand experience of the innovative solutions used in Portland, as well as other U.S. cities that prioritize designing for all types of road users. Combined with classroom instruction on the Portland State campus, participants should expect the bike tour to be up to 8 miles with some mild elevation and done at a moderate pace.
This two-day workshop will be held July 17–18, 2023 — REGISTER HERE.
This course is offered through our Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation program.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Participants should be instructors teaching within an accredited planning or engineering program, with a focus on transportation, or Ph.D. candidate students completing your degree program within 12 months of the workshop date and planning to teach transportation courses. We will follow up with participants to find out how they integrated the course information into their teaching. See photos from the IBPI trainings over the years. This map offers a snapshot of our impact to date, in the US and Canada alone:
REGISTRATION
This two-day workshop will be held July 17–18, 2023.
REGISTER HERE
The workshop fee is $350, which includes:
- Light breakfast
- Lunch
- Electronic course materials
- Bike rental + helmet
INSTRUCTORS

This workshop offers the collective expertise of instructors in academia and practice.
Drusilla van Hengel, Principal, Nelson Nygaard
Dru has more than 20 years of academic and practical transportation planning and operations experience. She focuses on bicycle and pedestrian master planning and capital project development, project evaluation, healthy communities, and safe routes to schools and parks. Her academic background and public sector work in land development, traffic operations, and community planning provides a unique perspective and rich depth of experience that has benefited communities across the country as they decide how to take their next move toward making walking and bicycling viable options for people of all ages and abilities.
Peter Koonce, Interim Director of the Traffic Systems and Operations Group, Portland Bureau of Transportation
Peter Koonce, P.E., was recently appointed Interim Traffic Systems & Operations Group Director. He began working for PBOT in 2009 to build an engineering team that would help Portland remain an innovative, multimodal leader delivering solutions that meet the city’s policies. He successfully led the $18.5 million citywide LED street lighting retrofit, the single largest energy efficiency project in the city’s history. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Portland State University teaching graduate level courses in transportation engineering. He is a member of the Bicycle Technical Committee of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and is Chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Traffic Signal Systems. Peter is active with multiple professional societies including ITE, the NACTO, and APBP.
Christopher Monsere, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Portland State University
Dr. Christopher M. Monsere is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science at Portland State University. Dr. Monsere's primary research interests are in design and operation of multimodal transportation facilities including user behavior, comprehension, preferences, and the overall safety effectiveness of transportation improvements. Dr. Monsere is a member of ANF20, the Bicycle Transportation Committee, the past co-chair of the Transportation Research Board's Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation committee (ANB20) and a past member of the TRB Task Force to develop the Highway Safety Manual (ANB25T).
AGENDA AND CURRICULUM RESOURCES
Workshop Agenda
Pioneers and leading practitioners in the field and classroom will teach the fundamentals of bikeway and pedestrian infrastructure design in the context of university education and course development. Instructors draw from their years of experience in using real-world design issues in structuring a lab and lessons learned to better design an experiential course.
The agenda for this two-day course is revised every year to incorporate the latest in transportation content. For a general idea of what the course covers, take a look at the 2019 agenda (PDF). Stay tuned for an updated agenda for 2023, which will include a greater focus on addressing transportation equity and environmental justice in your bicycle and pedestrian coursework with students.
Curriculum Resources
More resources and learning materials will be provided to attendees, but you can access our IBPI program library of bike and pedestrian curriculum here.
In the summer of 2020, transportation scholars Jennifer Dill (PSU), Kendra Levine (UC Berkeley), and Jesus Barajas (UC Davis) created a collaborative, crowd-sourced reading list for university curriculum to elevate anti-racism learning as well as BIPOC academic experts in the field of transportation planning and engineering. This resource is updated periodically.
Alumni
- 2019 attendee
HOUSING AND ACCOMMODATION
We can recommend some nearby hotels and tips for getting around town. Air B&B is another potential source to find a comfortable place to stay.
Requests for reasonable accommodations may be made to Conference & Events Office, (503) 725-CONF, email: conferences@pdx.edu or the Disability Resource Center, (503) 725-4150, e-mail: drc@pdx.edu. In order to ensure that reasonable accommodations can be provided in time for this event, please make your requests as soon as possible.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions about the workshop? See our F.A.Q. below, and reach out to asktrec@pdx.edu if you have additional questions.
- What is the refund policy?
We offer refunds up until 30 days prior to the workshop, less a $10 service fee. The registered participant is able to invite another person to substitute their place in the workshop at any time, at no charge. What COVID safety protocols will there be?
Part of the workshop will be held outside on field tours. The remainder will be held in a PSU classroom with an in-classroom air purifier. The building has undergone significant HVAC updates. The University policies around indoor space use have been changing frequently, and we will follow the most current guidelines for June 2022. Beginning March 19th the PSU campus does not require mask wearing, however participants are welcome to wear masks if they choose to. We will provide masks as needed, and sanitized surfaces. We will also have hand sanitizer available, and will maintain space between attendees.How many people will be attending this workshop?
Approximately 10 people will be attending the session, in addition to support staff and instructors.- Are accommodations provided for the students?
No, you must arrange your own accomodations for your duration in Portland, OR. Please see our guidance on accommodations here. - Are continuing education credits provided?
This 2-day workshop is eligible for approximately 13 hours of training which equals to 13 CMs or 13 PDHs, and will also be submitted for AICP credits (see our provider summary here). We will provide an attendance certificate to those who need to document their professional development hours. - Will you be able to meet my dietary needs?
We order our meals from a variety of vendors, and adjust our orders based on the needs of each year's cohort. - What should we bring on the bike tour?
A backpack or a tote bag is strongly recommended as the e-bike rentals do have a front basket with a bungee to secure a bag, but it is not sufficient to hold a water bottle (for example) on its own. We recommend bringing: Water! And, more water. Sunblock, sunglasses and personal snacks are also recommended. - Will there be time to take photos on the field tours?
Yes, we will be making frequent stops to discuss the infrastructure we're learning about.