News | Transportation Research and Education Center

Beyond Transit: Collaborative Strategies for Public Transportation Agencies in Responding to Homelessness

posted on Thursday, January 18, 2024

Public transportation agencies are well acquainted with the consequences of unsheltered homelessness. A new report published this month provides timely and valuable information about how transit agencies can support people experiencing homelessness in our communities and minimize the impacts on public transportation services and facilities.

The report, funded by the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TRCP), was co-authored by TREC's sustainable transportation program manager John MacArthur along with Marisa Zapata, Anna Rockhill and Rebeca Petean of Portland State University's Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC). The researchers will present on the project in an upcoming webinar (date TBA) in March 2024, hosted by the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

While transit agencies cannot address the underlying causes of homelessness, there are opportunities to work with local partners to be a part of helping individuals in need, while providing a safe, reliable, and customer-friendly experience for all riders.

"I think transit agencies can no longer look at themselves as just providing transit. Their role in the way a community functions is so much bigger than that. Transit is the connection that gets a lot of people to essential services that will improve their lives. Transit agencies need to rethink how they are serving all riders, including people experiencing homelessness, and how they can - more humanely and with...

Transforming the School Commute: PSU Researchers Explore the Impact of Bike Buses

posted on Thursday, January 18, 2024

The trip to and from school is made by nearly every child in Oregon every school day. Bike and walk buses, organized groups of school children, parents, and ride/walk leaders, seek to encourage biking and walking to school. A new research project at Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) will gather information on bike buses nationwide, inspired by the success of Sam Balto's bike bus initiative at Alameda Elementary School in Portland, Oregon.

Balto, a physical education teacher, catapulted into the limelight in 2022 after establishing a weekly bike bus involving over 100 students commuting to school on two wheels. Its success and popularity prompted a broader initiative to understand and promote the benefits of bike and walk buses across the United States.

Researchers John MacArthur and Nathan McNeil, along with Evan Howington, a student in the Master of Urban and...

PSU MURP Team Wins Student Group Award for Planning and Policy from National Council of University Transportation Centers

posted on Friday, January 5, 2024

A team of students in Portland State University's Master of Urban & Regional Planning (MURP) program has won an award from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC). CUTC presents its National Student Awards at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), which takes place next week in Washington D.C. This year is the first year that CUTC has included an award category for group projects, and the PSU team is the first to win the new CUTC Graduate-Level Student Group Award.

Team members Owen Christofferson, Sara Goldstein, Nick Hadfield, Zhouheng (Brian) Liu, Jenny Mazzella and Victoria Young won the award for the MURP workshop project, Nixyáawii Watikš.

The student team partnered with the planning office of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to plan a multi-use trail to improve walkability and connectivity in the community.

"We consulted with the tribal government to build a multi-use path that would connect a neighborhood in the reservation called "Mission" where there is commercial activity as well as a government center, a health center, educational facilities and a neighborhood being planned. Our job is find the best alignment to connect it to the Pendleton Riverwalk to allow walking, biking, and equestrian use for the tribal community to be able to access, in a much more safe and...

Transportation Academy Researchers Win Charley V. Wootan Award

posted on Monday, December 18, 2023

Nathan McNeil, a Research Associate at PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), and co-authors Keith Bartholomew and Matt Ryan (University of Utah), have been selected for a Charley V. Wootan Award for their paper "Transportation Academies as Catalysts for Civic Engagement in Transportation Decision-making." They will be presented with the award in January at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

The paper, published in Transportation Research Record (TRR): The Journal of the Transportation Research Board, draws on findings from a project funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), with additional support from Salt Lake City Transportation Division; Wasatch Front Regional Council; Utah Department of Transportation; Utah Transit Authority; University of Utah; Salt Lake County, Regional Planning and Transportation; and the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Read more about the project: Launching the Wasatch Transportation Academy.

The article will also appear in a promotional issue of the TRR journal, physical copies of which will be available in the TRB Annual Meeting Exhibitor Hall in Washington, D.C. during the annual meeting. Stop by the TRR Journal booth for a copy.

The...

Portland State University Transportation Research Highlights at TRB 2024

posted on Monday, December 18, 2023

The 103rd annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) will be held January 7–11, 2024 in Washington, D.C., and Portland State University transportation faculty and researchers will be sharing their expertise in 15 sessions at the world's largest transportation conference. The TRB annual meeting attracts thousands of transportation professionals from around the globe to address transportation policy, practice, and plans for the future.

VIEW THE ONLINE GUIDE TO PSU AT TRB

Some highlights from the PSU Program

Sunday, January 7 - Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Fusion: Learning from Each Other

Sirisha Kothuri of Portland State University will present in this workshop, sharing "Exploring Data Fusion Techniques to Estimate Network-Wide Bicycle Volumes."

Traditional bicycle counters can provide data for limited sections of the bike network, often these counters are installed at important locations like trails or bridges. While limited in location, they count everyone who bikes by. Meanwhile, GPS & mobile data cover the entire transportation network,...

Year in Review: Transportation Research Projects Launched at PSU in 2023

posted on Thursday, November 30, 2023

It has been a record-breaking year in research for Portland State University, and transportation research at the university is also on a roll. As 2023 wraps up we're taking a moment to look back at all the new transportation research and education projects awarded at PSU in the past year. Browse the list of projects below, and follow the links to learn more about these and other initiatives supported by PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC).

Partnership in a Regional University Transportation Center

The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) is the Regional University Transportation Center (UTC) for Federal Region 10. As a result of a recent federal competition, Portland State University is now part of PacTrans, which is based at the University of Washington. Being a part of this center will mean that PSU will receive support for projects looking into various topics such as e-bikes and structural engineering solutions.

Funding Amount: ~$400,000 per year for PSU

...

A Fond Farewell to TREC Associate Director Hau Hagedorn

posted on Tuesday, November 28, 2023

After 17 years of service to TREC, Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center, associate director Hau Hagedorn is moving on to a new position as the Community Investments Manager for Oregon Metro. We will miss her as a colleague, as a model for transportation photos (here she is on the cover of our 2022 Annual Report) and as a seemingly inexhaustible source of energy and inspiration!

During her time at TREC, Hau devoted tireless efforts to improving access to transportation and mobility for people of all ages, communities, and incomes. Her perseverance and commitment have been recognized in the form of numerous accolades and awards. In 2020, she received the CUTC-ARTBA Award for Administrative Leadership from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) and the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), and the same year she was appointed ...

PSU Transportation Students Win 2023 Oregon ITE Traffic Bowl

posted on Monday, November 27, 2023

Earlier this month, Portland State University’s Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (ITE-STEP) group competed in the 32nd annual Bill Kloos Traffic Bowl Competition held by Oregon ITE.

It was a tight finish against University of Washington and Oregon Tech, but the PSU student team took first place and impressed the crowd with their knowledge of signs, MUTCD, roundabouts, factors, and all things transportation. They won a $600 cash prize to support STEP activities. Because of this win, the team will now have the opportunity to compete in the 2024 ITE Western District Traffic Bowl.

Portland State University 2023 Team

STEP Community Service Officer Phil Armand, Undergraduate Student, B.S. Civil Engineering
STEP VP of Communications Elias Peters, Graduate Student, M.S. Civil Engineering and Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP)
Head of STEP Committee to Fun Isa Swain, Undergraduate Student, B.S. Civil Engineering
STEP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Elizabeth Yates, Graduate Student, M.S. Civil Engineering

PSU Civil Engineering student Mouhamad (Moe) Taha was also a member of the team; he competed in the preliminary round and switched out with Elias Peters for the final round of competition.

...

PSU Student Kayla Sorenson Receives Eisenhower Fellowship

posted on Monday, November 20, 2023

This is a reprint of a news story originally published by the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science.

We are proud to congratulate Portland State University Civil & Environmental Engineering PhD student Kayla Sorenson, who has been awarded the 2023 Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Kayla is also the recipient of the 2023-2024 fellowship for Earthquake Risk Mitigation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). She has served on the EERI's Student Leadership Council since 2020, serving as co-president last year. Kayla is also involved in the EERI PSU student chapter, attending multiple outreach events aimed at strengthening the ties between the community, industry professionals, and local government officials. Additionally, she received both a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Portland State University. Her work focuses on the liquefaction susceptibility of fine-graned soils using the emerging method of microbially induced desaturation (MID).

Liquefaction is...

TREC Trained Washington DOT Employees on Sustainable Mobility and Transportation Operations

posted on Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Managing the entire transportation system requires an integrated understanding of all modes. While the focus of transportation system management and operations (TSMO) has been largely focused on vehicles, understanding how the transportation system can work better for bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit can help provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation options to improve communities and economic vitality for people and businesses.

To encourage practical grounding of transportation from the different vulnerable road user perspectives, PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) held a two-day training workshop for a cohort of around 100 Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) staff members.

The two-day workshop, which featured classroom presentations as well as mobile tours on bike, foot, and public transportation, was held September 26-28 at Portland State University. Presentations on topics like Transportation System Management, Safety, and Innovative Transportation Operations Solutions were given by both professionals of WSDOT—including Statewide TSMO Development Engineer Pam Vasudeva, and Director of Transportation Operations Dongho Chang—as well as guest speakers including Peter Koonce of the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Jingtao Ma of Traffic Technology Services.

Learning objectives included:

Identify transportation operation practices and approaches that promote...

Some highlights from the PSU Program

Partnership in a Regional University Transportation Center

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