Research Projects | Transportation Research and Education Center

Pedestrian Wayfinding Under Consideration of Visual Impairment, Blindness, and Deafblindness: A Mixed-Method Investigation Into Individual Experiences and Supporting Elements

Principal Investigator: Martin Swobodzinski

Co-Investigator: Amy Parker

Navigating an unfamiliar place is uniquely challenging for people with disabilities. People with blindness, deafblindness, visual impairment or low vision, as well as those who use wheelchairs, can travel more independently in urban areas with the ai ... Read More

Pedestrian Behavior Study to Advance Pedestrian Safety in Smart Transportation Systems Using Innovative LIDAR Sensors

Principal Investigator: Taylor Li

Co-Investigators: Sirisha Kothuri , Xianfeng (Terry) Yang

Pedestrian safety is critical to improving walkability in cities. To that end, NITC researchers have developed a system for collecting pedestrian behavior data using LiDAR sensors. Tested at two intersections in Texas and soon to be tested at another ... Read More

Marginalized Populations’ Access to Transit: Journeys from Home and Work to Transit

Principal Investigator: Marisa Zapata

Co-Investigators: Ivis Garcia , Amy Lubitow , Miriam Abelson

Previous scholarship has shown that low-income individuals who also might identify as racial, ethnic, and gender minorities (such as transgender and gender nonconforming) are more likely to be dependent on public transportation. What remains understu ... Read More

Accessing Opportunities for Household Provisioning Post-COVID-19

Principal Investigator: Kelly Clifton

Co-Investigators: Kristina Currans , Amanda Howell

When the COVID-19 pandemic first swept across North America and led to emergency shutdowns during the spring of 2020, the way people acquired food and household necessities was dramatically impacted. As stay-at-home orders minimized personal travel, ... Read More

Statistical Inference for Multimodal Travel Time Reliability

Principal Investigator: Avinash Unnikrishnan

Co-Investigators: Miguel Andres Figliozzi , Subhash Kochar

Travel time reliability – or the consistency and dependability of travel times from day to day, and at different times of day – is a key metric that significantly affects people’s travel behavior. Since businesses rely heavily on transportation ... Read More

New Mobility For All: Can Targeted Information And Incentives Help Underserved Communities Realize The Potential Of Emerging Mobility Options?

Principal Investigator: Nathan McNeil

Co-Investigator: John MacArthur

Low-income residents, immigrants, seniors, and people with disabilities – these are people who stand to gain the most from new tools and services that reduce transportation costs and travel time. However, issues of affordability, technology adoptio ... Read More

Updating ODOT Safety Investigation Manual

Principal Investigator: Christopher Monsere

Co-Investigators: Sirisha Kothuri , Jason Anderson , David Hurwitz

Researchers at Portland State University (PSU) and Oregon State University (OSU) have updated the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Safety Investigation Manual, materials and training resources to assist ODOT traffic investigators with highw ... Read More

Exploring Data Fusion Techniques to Estimate Network-Wide Bicycle Volumes

Principal Investigator: Sirisha Kothuri

Co-Investigators: Joe Broach , Nathan McNeil , Kate Hyun , Stephen Mattingly

In order to make sure bicyclists' needs are considered when improving a transportation system, planners and engineers need to know how many people are biking, and where. Traditional bicycle counters can provide data for limited sections of the bi ... Read More

Resilient and Rapid Repair Measures for Seismically Vulnerable Bridges Following Major Earthquakes

Principal Investigator: Peter Dusicka

The Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake threatens bridges across the Pacific Northwest. Damage is expected to be geographically spread throughout the region and will have a nearly simultaneous impact on transportation through several important ... Read More

Evaluation of Portland Shared E-Scooter Pilot Program Goals and Outcomes

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur

Co-Investigator: Jennifer Dill

Shared electric scooters (e-scooters) are fast becoming a mobility option across the U.S. Many cities are permitting their operation, in part, as a way to provide another option to driving private cars. This could reduce private vehicle miles travell ... Read More

Subcontract: ODOT Understanding Pedestrian Injuries and Social Equity

Principal Investigator: Nathan McNeil

Portland State University partnered with the project PI Josh Roll of the Oregon Department of Transportation on a two-phase research project examining pedestrian injury and social equity. Past research and planning has highlighted the existence of pe ... Read More

Data-Driven Mobility Strategies for Multimodal Transportation

Principal Investigator: Yao-Jan Wu

Co-Investigators: Xianfeng (Terry) Yang , Sirisha Kothuri

How can we use a variety of data-driven speed management strategies to make transportation safer and more efficient for all modes–whether you’re driving, walking or taking transit? The project was led by Yao Jan Wu, director of the Smart Trans ... Read More