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. Our holistic approach to teaching delivers the state-of-the art practice in designing for active transportation, while also sharing the learning materials and resources necessary to broaden your curriculum and course design.
The importance of interactive, experiential learning is demonstrated through walking and biking tours which offer participants first-hand experience in the innovative design solutions used in Portland and 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 on June 21 - 22, 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
HOW TO REGISTER
This two-day workshop was held on June 21 - 22, 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sign up here to be notified when registration opens for 2023.
The workshop fee is $150, which includes:
- Light breakfast
- Lunch
- Electronic course materials
- Bike rental + helmet
This annual workshop is supported by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), a U.S. DOT funded center. This funding supports a lower workshop fee to increase access to this course.
Diversity Scholarship
We are able to award up to four (4) scholarships of $750 to support the cost of travel, accommodation and attendance. Payment for workshop registration upfront is required. All scholarship stipends are disbursed after successful completion of the workshop.
These scholarships serve to increase access to active transportation professional development and support a diverse profession. Scholarship applicants who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color are strongly encouraged to apply, as well as those whose identities are underrepresented in the active transportation field. Scholarships will be awarded based on the following criteria:
- The background, identities and experiences you bring to the bicycle and pedestrian academia.
- Your financial need.
- You are a current faculty teaching transportation-related courses at the university level -OR- You are a Ph.D. candidate student completing your degree program within 12 months of the workshop date and planning to teach transportation courses
If accepted, participants must complete course evaluation and brief follow-up report describing how you integrated the seminar information into the classroom.
INSTRUCTORS

This workshop offers the collective expertise of many instructors in academia and practice.
Derek Abe, Senior Planning Associate, Alta Planning + Design
Derek has a background in mechanical engineering, environmental science, and urban and regional planning and has experience working for a wide range of agencies in the Portland region including the regional government and regional transit agency. He joined Alta in 2012 and splits his time between planning and design disciplines. His focus is on multimodal systems planning and facility design and plays a lead role in Alta’s Complete Streets, Design Guidance, Transit Access, New Mobility, and Civic Analytics service areas.
Jesus Barajas, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, UC Davis
Jesus research focus lies at the intersection of transportation planning/policy and environmental justice addresses how systems of inequities influence travel behavior and how policymakers can and should respond. He has led projects on topics including travel behavior, transportation safety, and the implications of policing on transportation planning.
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, Division Manager, Signals & Street Lighting Division (PBOT), City of Portland
Peter Koonce, P.E., manages the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Signals, Street Lighting, & ITS Division and is responsible for the oversight of an annual budget in excess of $13 Million. He has 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).
Kirk Paulsen, Senior Engineer, Alta Planning + Design
A licensed Civil Engineer in the State of Oregon in 2016, Kirk aligns his passion for active transportation with his transportation engineering design skills. His work experience consists of on-street bikeway conceptual designs; Safe Routes To School plans; bicycle, pedestrian, and neighborhood safety analyses; design plans for signage, striping, traffic signals, stormwater facilities, roadway illumination, and utilities; analysis of proposed zone changes and parking demand; and development of transportation impact analyses.
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 2022, 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
"This was an excellent workshop. I will definitely continue to recommend it."
- Professor Civil Engineering, Oregon State University (2018 attendee)
"This was great! I really appreciated the opportunity to learn from the experience of PSU instructors and from the other participants. This information will be incredibly valuable as I prepare a new CEE bicycle/pedestrian course at my university."
- Assistant Professor of Transportation in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University (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.