The latest NITC report offers improved tools for pedestrian modeling.
Led by Kelly Clifton of Portland State University, researchers had previously created the the MoPeD pedestrian demand model as well as a pedestrian index of the environment (PIE) for forecasting pedestrian travel. The PIE index improved the sensitivity of walk trip models by incorporating contextual features of the built environment that affect walking behavior in the Portland, Oregon region. Read about Clifton's previous body of work on context-specific modeling.
Useful for academic researchers in transportation, Clifton's research provides a framework for incorporating pedestrian travel behavior forecasts into traditional four-step travel demand models.
Since the method was based on Portland, the next step was to adapt the tools for wider use. In this new report, Clifton and...
Read more
We're offering two week-long transportation residence camps at Portland State University this summer:
June 23–29 Oregon Summer Transportation Institute 2019 at Portland State University
July 14–20 National Summer Transportation Institute 2019 at Portland State University
We are looking for Residential Counselors to provide supervision for campers and ensure their safety and well-being. Counselors are expected to serve as leaders, boundary setters, and role models throughout the program, including during class time. Counselors are available to the campers and staff 24 hours per day during the camp session. During the day when campers are in class, counselors will assist in the classroom and be of general assistance to the other program directors and instructors. All counselors will be in residence on the Campus for the duration of the Institute.
Interested in applying? Download the job description (PDF) for more information.
The Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University is home to the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and...
Read more
The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) program has released its 2019 general research request for proposals. Faculty at NITC's partner universities* are invited to submit abstracts by March 29, 2019.
Through funding provided by the U.S. DOT, we will award up to $1,000,000 to research projects that support NITC’s theme: improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities. Our theme includes a few key topics:
- Increasing access to opportunities
- Improving multi-modal planning and shared use of infrastructure
- Advancing innovation and smart cities
- Developing data, models, and tools
2019 RESEARCH PRIORITIES
The NITC Advisory Board has provided input into several research priorities that relate to multimodal transportation data and the transportation-land use-housing connection. NITC is prioritizing the funding of proposals that directly addresses research questions related to:
Developing Data, Models and Tools. Agencies are confronting a plethora of new mobility options along with new data sources to support transportation research, planning, and analysis. Several priority research areas have been identified to increase understanding:
- Collection of multimodal...
This article was authored by Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland on February 28, 2019. See the original article here.
Most close watchers of the Portland transportation world have heard of Better Block PDX. They’re the scrappy group of tactical urbanism activists who burst onto the scene by creating a public plaza in auto parking spaces along a block of SW Harvey Milk Street in 2013. They went on to lead successful projects on SW 3rd Avenue and Naito Parkway that led to permanent changes in our streetscape.
What you might not realize is the reason they’ve been quiet for the past few years isn’t because they’ve gone away. It’s...
Read more
A new report by Christopher Monsere and Sirisha Kothuri, researchers in Portland State University's department of civil and environmental engineering, found a direct correlation between increased speed limits and an increase in serious crashes in Eastern Oregon. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) funded the study examining issues related to changes in posted speed limits.
Speed limits on approximately 1,400 miles of highways and interstates in Eastern Oregon were increased by the Oregon legislature effective March 1, 2016. Using four years of data, Monsere, Kothuri and researcher Jason Anderson examined speeds in relation to crash frequency and severity from the year after the speed limits increased compared with the three previous years. On sections where the speed limit was raised to 65 mph for trucks (primarily the interstates), truck-involved crashes more than doubled.
In response to this study, ODOT is already taking some safety measures after PSU’s analysis. Learn more in the East...
Read more
For the second year in a row, we're opening up an exciting opportunity for undergraduate students interested in transportation: Spend a summer at Portland State University to learn more about the world of research in transportation through our Transportation Undergraduate Research Fellowship (TURF) program. This program is open to current undergraduate students from any university who are interested in learning more about transportation engineering or planning research.
Hosted at PSU, selected students will be paired with a PSU faculty mentor (from either the College of Urban and Public Affairs or the Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science). The student will carry out research on a transportation project for ten weeks at 40 hours per week. TURF Fellows are provided a $7,500 stipend, but must find and fund their own lodging.
Decisions will be made by March 29, 2019. Contact us at asktrec@pdx.edu with any questions.
APPLY FOR TURF 2019 (by Feb 15th)
"Conducting...
Read more
Seven Portland State University graduate students received Eisenhower Fellowships presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation at this year's annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB): Mike McQueen, Travis Glick, Greg Norton, Jael Wettach-Glosser and Santiago Espinosa Wild of the Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science, and Baxter Shandobil and Kelly Rodgers of the Nohad Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University.
Glick, Norton and Wettach-Glosser also won Eisenhower Fellowships last year, making this their second year in a row to earn the prestigious award.
If you missed seeing these students present at TRB, it's not too late to check out their research! You can catch up with them on February 7 at TRB Aftershock, where Portland State students' TRB posters will be on display in the Engineering Building.
Read about other Portland State University research at TRB by checking out our 2019 Highlights.
...
Read more
Each year, Portland State University researchers make a showing at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and 2019 so far is living up to expectations. See below for a few highlights from the more than 26 PSU researchers (including 11 students) who are presenting this year in D.C., and follow us on Twitter for live updates. See when & where all PSU researchers will be presenting in our handy guide.
Download the PSU at TRB 2019 Guide (PDF).
Also, we invite you to a scavenger hunt: Visit PSU poster sessions to collect all of this year's TREC at TRB sticker variants!
Monday, January 14 (3:45pm–5:30pm)
Current Issues in Alternative Transportation Fuels and Technologies Poster Session
John Macarthur of the Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) and graduate student Michael Harpool will present "Survey of Oregon Electric Vehicle Owners: Understanding...
Read more
THE NEW PROJECT
As transit agencies modernize their fare payment systems, opportunities to pay with cash diminish. This speeds boarding and lowers the cost of operations, while also creating new sources of ridership data. Arguably, service is improved for riders as well, where payment systems work across modes, and in some cases different transit providers, creating a more seamless and simplified experience. Still, about 15% of adults in the United States are without a bank account or credit card, and many rely on restrictive cell-phone data plans or don’t have access to a smartphone. These shares are even higher for public transit users. As transit fare technologies move further from cash, these digitally-excluded riders will find it more difficult to conveniently pay their transit fares.
In the latest project to be funded under the National...
Read more
This article was cross-posted from Portland State University news.
The Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University is pleased to announce that Professor Kelly Clifton has accepted the position of Associate Dean for Research (ADR). This role will provide leadership for research excellence that supports the mission and vision of the College. The ADR will oversee the research portfolio in the College and will be responsible for growing the College’s funded research portfolio. Dr. Clifton brings much research experience to the position, as well as a career involving interdisciplinary collaboration, development of partnerships, engineering and planning expertise, and more.
Dr. Clifton looks forward to her new role and stated, “As the Associate Dean of Research for MCECS, I am excited to be a part of this next phase of growth and development of the college. I look forward to working with our talented faculty, staff, and students to advance our research enterprise and grow our capacity to engage in scientific exploration and discovery. At MCECS and the larger PSU community, we direct our energies toward activities that aim to make a difference.”
Dr. Clifton will...
Read more