OTREC hosted the first annual Oregon Transportation Summit. Over 200 transportation faculty, professionals, and students participated in the day long event to discuss relevant and pressing transportation research issues for Oregon. It was an opportunity to also show appreciation for partners and faculty that have helped to shape OTREC. Recipients of the inaugural Peter DeFazio Hall of Fame award included: Dick Feeney (Person of the Year), ODOT (Partner of the Year), and B. Starr McMullen (Researcher of the Year). The Oregon Transportation Summit was sponsored by the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC), the Portland chapter of WTS, the Oregon chapter of APA, and the Oregon section of ITE. Thank you to our partners and Mayor Sam Adams, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Congressman Peter DeFazio, Wim Wiewel, and Tom Vanderbilt for making this a memorable and successful event.
OTREC recently co-sponsored the National Rural Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Conference in Seaside, OR August 23-27. Prof. Roger Lindgren (OTREC Associate Director from OIT) presented his research Butte Creek Ice Detection and Advanced Warning System Evaluation. Prof. Andrew Nichols (OTREC affiliate faculty from Marshall University) presented Extracting Freight Corridor Performance from Weigh-In-Motion Data. Prof. Chris Monsere was the principal investigator on this project.
Dr. Kristen Tufte led a debriefing of the PSU ITS Lab on August 26 for Shelley Row, ITS Joint Program Office Director. Students Huan Li (Detection of Bottleneck Activation Historically and in Real-Time), Alex Bigazzi (“Greening” PORTAL), Heba Alwakiel (Developing Corridor-Level Truck Travel Time Estimates and Other Freight Performance Measures from Archived ITS Data), and Ryan Conrad (Algorithms and Methodologies to Analyze the Impacts of Congestion on Time-dependent Real-world Urban Networks) gave presentations on their OTREC-supported work. TransPort representatives Deena Platman (METRO), Dennis Mitchell (ODOT), and Jim Gelhar (City of Gresham) also provided an overview of their work. The debriefing was followed by a reception that was co-sponsored by WTS and OTREC.
The Second Safe Routes to School National Conference (SRTS) National Conference convened on August 19-21 in Portland, OR. Sylvan Cambier (UO student) presented a poster on designBridge - Student Led Community Design Build. Dr. Marc Schlossberg (OTREC Associate Director and UO Associate Professor) and Dr. Lynn Weigand, (Director of the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation and OTREC-Affiliate faculty) were part of the SRTS Steering Committee. SRTS research and activities relate to the intersection of OTREC’s theme of healthy communities and integration of land use and transportation.
Robert Bertini, OTREC Director, has been appointed to the post of Deputy Administrator for the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). He has left an indelible mark in Oregon from creating the Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab to launching the transportation seminar series at Portland State University. The ITS Lab currently supports 30 students and over $4.5 million of transportation research. Over 200 seminars have been offered to date. Most recently and significantly, he was paramount in establishing the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC). With his leadership and vision, the Consortium currently has funded over 100 research, education and technology transfer projects and supporting the work of over 80 faculty.
Rob was promoted to Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Urban Studies and Planning in 2008, and has been an incredible mentor to other faculty and students during his time at PSU. He is well respected internationally for his notable work on ITS, traffic flow theory, and transportation systems (to name a few). His tireless work, vision, leadership, and ability to inspire collaboration will surely be...
OTREC was pleased to brief members of the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation on August 3, 2009. Staff provided an members with an overview of the OTREC’s research, education, and technology transfer programs. Students Nikki Wheeler and Nathan McNeil summarized their involvement in two projecs: “Investigation of Intersection Safety for Cyclists by Age and Gender” a “Evaluation of Bike Boxes at Signalized Intersections”. Additional faculty participated by providing a summary of their research focus.
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood proclaims “Portland is the transportation capital of the United States…” as part of his speech unveiling the Portland-made streetcar, the first to be built in the US in nearly 60 years. OTREC staff were present to witness this historic moment for Portland, in addition to having the opportunity to meet and talk with other leaders in transportation from Oregon. Pictured left: Jon Makler, Lily Makler, Congressman Peter DeFazio, and Hau Hagedorn Pictured right: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
OTREC has completed the proposal review process for its 2009-2010 funding cycle. OTREC received a total of 48 proposals with a request of $3.9 million for consideration. We would like to thank Michael Wolfe for managing the peer review process and to recognize the 110 peer reviewers who contributed to this important selection procedure. Twenty proposals were selected for funding by the OTREC Executive Committee at our meeting Monday afternoon. The complete list can be viewed here: http://www.otrec.us/main/projects.php?year=2010
OTREC urges principal investigators to view the results of their peer reviews and OTREC comments for their proposal by logging into the OTREC proposal and project management system at: http://www.otrec.us/main/login.php.
Those with proposals that were not selected but fit well with the OTREC theme of Advanced Technology, Integration of Land Use and Transportation, and Healthy Communities are engrouraged to strengthen their approach, linkage with transportation and consider resubmitting it for the 2010-2011 funding year.
OTREC would like to congratulate Josh Crain and Lisa Diercksen, winners of the 2009 Oregon ITE undergraduate and graduate scholarships, respectively. Josh, a native of Oregon, is earning a BS in Civil Engineering at Portland State University and developed an interest in transportation while flying as a Load Master on C-17A cargo aircraft in the Air Force. Lisa, who has a BSCE from Iowa State University, will graduate this month with an MSCE from Portland State. Lisa will also be inducted into the Denice Dee Denton Women Engineers Hall of Fame. Both Josh and Lisa have worked as research assistants in PSUís ITS Lab. Pictured, left to right: Pam OíBrien (DKS Associates), Josh Crain, Lisa Diercksen, Chris Tiesler (Kittelson and Associates) and Bikram Raghubansh (Clackamas County).
The CSS National Dialog is currently seeking submissions of best practices in the application of Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) principles to transportation projects, programs and plans. Selected case studies will be presented at a series of one-day Workshops. Submissions are welcome from transportation agencies, planning agencies, communities and other organizations. To submit your transportation project, program or plan, visit the National Dialog Website. Submissions will be accepted until June 30, 2009. Submissions accepted in the following four categories: Implementation of CSS in Transportation Project Design and Construction, CSS in Transportation Planning, Context-Sensitive Programs for Project Delivery, and Organizational and Institutional Advancements for Systematic Implementation of CSS.