A new report from the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University (PSU) finds that e-bike incentive programs across North America are evolving rapidly, with a growing focus on point-of-sale discounts, equity, and safety standards. Check out the online e-bike incentive tracker.

“An Update of E-Bike Purchase Incentive Programs in North America (PDF),” authored by TREC researchers John MacArthur, Kyu Ri Kim, and Cameron Bennett, provides an updated scan of 118 e-bike incentive programs in the United States and Canada. The report builds on a previous 2022 scan and offers insights for policymakers seeking to ex…

For transportation planners and engineers, the problem is visible every day: the sidewalk that ends abruptly in the grass, the bike lane that vanishes at a dangerous intersection, or the neighborhood cut off from a nearby park by a highway. These are gaps in the active transportation network. While the need to fix them is obvious, quantifying the benefits to justify the funding has historically been a stumbling block.

A newly published report, Estimating Benefits of Closing Gaps in Active Transportation Networks: A Guide, aims to solve this problem. 

Developed by a research team led by Alta Planning + Design, in partnership with Portland State University (PSU), Safe Streets Research + Consulting, and Cambridge Systematics, the guide provides a comprehensive framework for agencies to estimate the economic, health, and social benefits of connecting th…

Tara Goddard graduated from Portland State University in 2017 with a Ph.D. in Urban Studies & Planning. She now works as an assistant professor of civil engineering at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Previously, she was an assistant, then associate, professor of urban planning at Texas A&M University.

Connect with Tara on LinkedIn

What do you do in your current role, and what does a typical day look like?

Like most faculty, my days vary a lot, which is something I love about being an academic. Depending on the day of the week, my time is differently split between teaching, research, and service or administrative tasks. For teaching, I may be prepping class or lab, doing teacher trainings, teaching class and lab, grading, arranging guest speakers or field visits, or talking with students in office hours. For research, I may have meetings with r…

Students in Portland State University’s Urban and Regional Planning program are helping imagine safer, more welcoming streets across Portland. 

As part of the Active Transportation Planning–Design Studio, student teams worked directly with community partners to identify solutions that are both realistic and affordable. Last month, three student groups presented final projects that propose improvements for walking and biking in three Portland neighborhoods. The projects were developed through Better Block PSU, a program that connects PSU students with local partners to test ideas and advance people-centered street design.

Together, the projects show how small, strategic changes can make a meaningful difference for safety, accessibility, and neighborhood connectivity.

Northeast San Rafael Street: Improving Safety and Accessibility

One team focused o…

Adam Moore graduated from Portland State University in 2012 with a Master's of Science in Civil Engineering. He now works as a traffic engineer for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) in Portland, Oregon, where he helped shape the signals and street lighting for Portland's SW Fourth Avenue Improvement Project. BikePortland rode the new 4th Ave route as soon as it opened – check out the video here!

Connect with Adam on LinkedIn

What do you do in your current role, and what does a typical day look like?

I work at the Portland Bureau of Transportation as a traffic engineer in the Signals, Street Lighting, and ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) Division. I focus on Southwest Portland, where I oversee a few hundred t…