Prof Monsere represented Portland Stateís ITS Lab at the second conference on traffic management sponsored by FHWA, Office of Research and Development and USDOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). The workshop was designed to help coordinate and guide research at university transportation centers (UTCs). It featured presentations from Federal staff and university researchers in adaptive signal timing, microsimulation, traffic data, intelligent infrastructure and vehicles. Robust discussion identified potential collaboration and research areas. Prof. Monsere highlighted related research by OTREC faculty. The workshop concluded with a tour of the research laboratories at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, which hosted the conference.
OTREC, in partnership with the Womenís Transportation Seminar Portland Chapter and Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association, is pleased to announce the 1st Annual Oregon Transportation Summit. The event, which will include professional development opportunities for academic and practicing transportation professionals, will be held on Friday, September 11 at Portland State University. Your input is desired to shape the agenda. Please complete a short online survey to rank or suggest topics for the training and workshop sessions. If you have any other questions, please email Jon Makler.
Northeastern Universityís Peter Furth is known equally for his research in public transportation, bike planning and traffic signals. Furth brings his diverse interests to Portland for the holiday-shortened week of May 25th. On Tuesday, 5/26, there will be a seminar on his traffic signal priority work and on Wednesday, 5/27, there will be another seminar on his work regarding cycle tracks. In addition, Furth will have a variety of meetings with local transportation practitioners, including a bike tour by staff from the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The visit is co-sponsored by OTREC and IBPI. For more information about the seminars, visit PSU's Center for Transportation Studies.
Mondayís New York Times featured an article on the car-free city of Vauban, Germany. University of Oregonís Marc Schlossberg was invited to contribute to the online ìRoom for Debateî discussion that followed. In his initial entry, Dr. Schlossberg emphasizes street connectivity and the need to eliminate parking minimums. There were over 400 comments in the first 24 hours, responding to the perspectives shared by Schlossberg and six others: Witold Rybczynski, D.J. Waldie, Dolores Hayden, Christopher Leinberger, Alex Marshall and J.H. Crawford. (Photo: Martin Specht for the New York Times)
In mid-April, a group of Oregon State transportation students were led on a bike tour of Portland by alumnus Peter Koonce (Kittleson & Associates). Accompanied by one peer from Portland State, the group witnessed several design techniques that can be seen around the city: bike-only passages, left-turn lanes for bikes, traffic signals with a bike-only phase, special signage for bicyclist safety (bike boxes) and the innovative "beacon," which is a special signal designed to regulate interactions between bikes, motor vehicles and pedestrians. According to Raul Avelar, president of OSU's ITE Student Chapter, the tour had the right mix of fun and learning.
Dr. Quadrifoglio is an Assistant Professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering Professor at Texas A&M University. On Friday, May 8, 2009, Dr. Quadrifoglio presented “Zoning Strategy Effect in ADA paratransit services: A Simulation Study in Los Angeles, CA” for Portland State Universityís Transportation Seminar Series. Dr. Quadrifoglio discussed paratransit demand responsive transit (DRT) complexity and routing strategies using a simulation model of the operations of DRT providers on a network based on data for DRT service in Los Angeles County . The appearance was made possible by OTRECís Visiting Scholars Program. For more information on Dr.Quadrifoglio’s research, visit his home page.
OTREC would like to congratulate PSU Professor Jennifer Dill for earning the 2009 Woman of the Year award from the WTS Portland Chapter. Professor Dill will being honored along with other award recipients at a banquet on May 14th. In addition to the award, Dill also had an article, ìBicycling for Transportation and Health: The Role of Infrastructureî published recently in the Journal of Public Health Policy.
The Spring 2009 issue of OTREC's newsletter is now available, with news from students and faculty on all four OTREC campuses. The feature article examines UO Professor Nico Larco's work on "sustainable suburbs." Also included: highlights of recently completed research reports, an interview with OSU's Jason Ideker, and updates from our student groups. Do you know what OIT is doing with the National Park Service? Did you hear how PSUís Miller Grant is addressing sustainable transportation? Are you aware of the conferences and training opportunities that will be nearby this summer? Spend your next break with the OTREC Newsletter! Please email us if you would like a hard copy or to receive email notification of future issues.
OTREC would like to congratulate Heba Alwakiel and Mariah VanZerr for receiving the 2009 WTS Portland Scholarships. The WTS Annual Meeting will be held in Seattle, May 20-22, and the OTREC Education Program will cover the costs for the scholarship winners to attend.
HEBA ALWAKIEL
Heba Alwakiel is a Civil Engineering graduate student from Portland State University who will be graduating in 2010. The committee was impressed by Heba’s drive to eventually pursue a Ph.D., as she believes that “the best person is one who learns and teaches what she learned to others.” Heba excels in er academic work while also serving as a Graduate Research Assistant, participating in groups such as STEP and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and volunteering for WTS. Heba worked in Egypt as a civil engineer from 1999 to 2007, where she worked on a variety of projects. In her personal statement, Heba said she grew up in a country suffering from severe transportation problems. This led her to seek graduate transportation studies in the United States. In a recommendation letter, one professor wrote that WTS’ investment in Heba, “…would be multiplied many times as she matures into a promising young professional.”
MARIAH VANZERR
Mariah graduated in June 2009 with a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University. The committee recommended Mariah based on her commitment to building better communities through transportation...
Read moreCarroll Visiting Professor Brian Ladd presents ìTransportation Planning and Automobile Dependence: Historical Reflectionsî on Wednesday, 4/29 at 2pm in Hendricks Hall at the University of Oregon. Sponsored by OTREC and UOís Department of Public Policy, Planning and Management, Laddís talk will ìtry to make sense of a century of transportation planning.î Ladd is an independent historian who received his Ph.D. from Yale University. He has taught history at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a research associate in the history department at the University of Albany, State University of New York. He is the author of Autophobia: Love and Hate in the Automotive Age and The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape, also published by the University of Chicago Press.