TREC research addresses complex transportation problems by drawing on multiple disciplines, including engineering, planning, economics and design, from across the Portland State University campus. Use the search box at right to search for a specific project.

Research Highlights

Updating and Expanding LRT/BRT/SCT/CRT Data and Analysis

Arthur C. Nelson
This project will update and expand our station area databases (developed under previous NITC contracts 547, 650, and 763) to include new systems added since the late 2000s and more metropolitan areas. Under prior NITC contracts, we built station area databases for 12 light rail transit (LRT) systems, nine bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, four streetcar transit (SCT), and five commuter rail transit (CRT) systems. We included employment data extending annually from 2002 through 2011, and census… Read More

Data and Methodological Issues in Assessing Multimodal Transportation Impacts for Urban Development

Kristina Currans
In 1976, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) compiled their first Handbook of guidelines and methods for evaluating development-level transportation impacts, specifically vehicular impacts (Institute of Transportation Engineers 1976). Decades later, these methods— essentially the same as when they were originally conceived—are used ubiquitously across the US and Canada. Only recently, with the guidelines in its third edition of the ITE’s Trip Generation Handbook (Institute of… Read More