Members of the Portland State University student group STEP (Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning) met last Friday at Rogue Eastside Pub & Pilot Brewery for “TRB Aftershock.”

The event has become a tradition for PSU transportation students. 

Each January, Portland State graduate students travel to Washington, D.C., to present their research in front of a national audience at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board. 

The aftershock gathering is a chance for fellow students to see the research they presented and hear about the conference. 

Student posters from TRB were displayed in Rogue’s meeting room. NITC dissertation fellow Patrick Singleton presented his poster on conceptualizing and measuring the positive utility of travel, a product of his dissertation research.

NITC scholar Steven Gehrke presented a poster on activity-related land use mix and its connection to pedestrian travel.

Travis Glick, the outgoing STEP president, displayed his poster on measuring the determinants of bus dwell time, with new insights and potential data biases. 

Glick, who has served two terms as STEP’s president, also gave an overview of STEP’s programs and activities for prospective PSU engineering students who were attending the event.

Recent PSU graduate Bryan Blanc displayed a poster on crowdsourcing bicycle safety data with the ORcycle smartphone app.

Students browsed through the research, engaging in discussions with the poster presenters, then sat down for a more structured presentation led by David Soto, the outgoing vice president.

Soto described STEP's activities and opportunities for transportation research at PSU.

STEP member Joe Totten, whose musical submission to Oregon ITE earned him the Bill Kloos Scholarship for the 2016-2017 School Year, was also featured. The presentation included a YouTube screening of Totten’s “The Roundabout Song,” followed by a few rounds of transportation trivia.

Drinks were provided by WTS Portland and food by NITC. This is the second year in a row that the event has been held at Rogue Eastside.