Fall classes begin September 30 at Portland State, and there are some exciting transportation courses available this term. Not a current PSU student? You can still take a course: Anyone interested can register for classes through the non-degree application process, as a post-baccalaureate student, or for free if you're a senior citizen. Taking a course can be a good way to see if one of our graduate degree programs is right for you. 

Check out the listings below to see what's on offer this fall.

Urban Studies and Planning (USP)

USP 511 Active Transportation Studio

A practical approach to bicycle and pedestrian planning and design through a project-based course that focuses on all aspects of the planning process. Students research and develop solutions for a current project opportunity in the Portland region and present recommendations in report and presentation form. Also offered for undergraduate-level credit as USP 411 and may be taken only once for credit. Prerequisite: Second year graduate student, completion of USP 565, or permission of the instructor.

"USP 511 is gearing up for the Fall term with two really exciting community projects," said course instructor Derek Abe.

Both projects are part of the Better Block PSU program. One group of students in the course will redesign a portion of South Sheridan street to improve pedestrian and bicycling access to the International School of Portland. Read about that project, and what has been done so far. Another group will take advantage of the reduced traffic volume on West Burnside during the Burnside Bridge replacement to reimagine the West Burnside corridor between 3rd and Park avenues.

These interactive, real-world community planning project build on the work performed during the Spring 2024 term in USP 565, and are offered in partnership with Better Block PDX, TREC, and other local agency and community partners.

USP 510 Urban Data Science

If you are curious about what the data science fuss is all about and what it may bring for the urban studies/urban planning field, this may be the course for you. Or if you're interested in learning programming, but don't know where to start, this course is a perfect first step. Or if you're using Excel as your primary data tool but have got frustrated enough to wonder whether there's a better way, you will find the answer in this class (short answer: YES).

The course introduces urban informatics, an interdisciplinary approach to understanding, managing, and designing the city using systematic theories and methods based on new information technologies. Urban informatics builds on the science and technologies of information processing, information systems, computer science, and statistics to support the quest to develop applications to cities. There are no prerequisites, but it requires some tolerance for experimentation, self-directed trial and error, and an interest in learning to write computer code.

USP 556 Urban Transportation: Problems and Policies

An introduction to urban transportation policy from a historical and political perspective. Historical developments in transportation policy are traced from the early streetcar days up through the present. Federal, state, and local transportation policies are examined for their impact on urban spatial and economic development. An overview of current issues in transportation policy and planning includes transportation demand management strategies, transit- oriented design, road pricing, and alternative transportation modes. The intersection of environmental and transportation policy is also examined, as is the decision-making structure at the local, regional, and state level.

USP 578 Impact Assessment

Empirical techniques employed in measuring the impacts associated with land use change. Topics: goals achievement matrix approaches to impact assessment, trade-offs between community and regional welfare, distance and time in urban analysis, estimating the social profitability of land development, cost-benefit analysis applied to freeway location, techniques for valuation of non-priced resources, measuring municipal revenue and expenditure impacts, gravity models and transport demand estimation, economic base analysis for employment and population impact assessment, estimating air and noise pollution associated with land development. Recommended prerequisite: USP 515.

Civil and Environmental Engineering (CE)

Non-degree or non-PSU students should contact the Civil Engineering Academic Program Manager at ceedept@pdx.edu in order to register for a CE course, as the system requires an approval to process the registration.

CE 610 Sensing and Monitoring of Structures: Fundamentals

This course explores the fundamentals of sensing and data analysis for civil and environmental engineering systems. Students will learn about various sensor technologies, data acquisition methods, and signal processing techniques. Topics include: Sensors, data acquisition, sampling, discrete signals, digital signal processing, time domain analysis, frequency domain analysis, and data visualization and interpretation. The course emphasizes a practical approach, using real-world data, allowing students to develop the fundamentals of sensing and monitoring for environmental monitoring, non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring, as well as experimental testing. This course is a prerequisite for CE 5/610: Sensing and Monitoring of Structures: Applications, which is offered in Winter 2025/27/29.

CE 563 Transportation Optimization

Introduces students to mathematical modeling techniques including linear and non-linear programming, duality, Lagrangian, quadratic and geometric models, integer programming, basic network models and their application to transportation and logistics systems/problems. The focus is on model formulation, complexity analysis, and the utilization of software to obtain solutions and analyze system properties. The concepts taught in this course focus on civil engineering systems/ applications with an emphasis on transportation and logistics problems.

CE 558 Public Transportation Systems

Performance characteristics of public transportation systems, with emphasis on urban systems. Planning, design, and operational issues related to public transportation systems. Emerging technologies. Prerequisite: CE 351

Friday Transportation Seminars

Fridays, 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM

Friday Transportation Seminars at PSU are offered as a for-credit class in person (CE 514/USP 514). However, these seminars are also open to the public, and can be watched online from anywhere. You can always find upcoming seminars on the TREC website.

Graduate Certificate in Transportation

The two disciplines, planning and engineering, also collaborate to offer a Graduate Certificate in Transportation for established professionals looking for a deeper understanding of transportation disciplines. Increasingly, transportation professionals need multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills to anticipate social, environmental, and technological trends and incorporate them into intelligently-integrated transportation systems. The Graduate Certificate in Transportation will offer you advanced education at the intersection of urban planning and civil engineering for those seeking to build upon their knowledge and credentials.

Regional Traffic and Transportation Course

Thursday evenings, 6:40 - 8:40 PM

Formerly known as the Portland Traffic and Transportation class, Metro is partnering with Portland State University to offer this ten-week course themed on transportation with an emphasis on land use, mobility, social justice and racial equity, hosted in person at Metro Regional Center. Learn more and register for the course.

Photo courtesy of Portland State University

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research. To get updates about what's going on at TREC, sign up for our monthly newsletter or follow us at the links below.

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