Research Projects | Transportation Research and Education Center

Mode-Based Benefit-Cost Analysis Calculator

Principal Investigator: Jenny Liu

Transportation decision-makers typically use benefit-cost analysis (BCA) to evaluate the tradeoffs of transportation projects. However, it is difficult to produce state-specific measures that are multimodal and can consistently evaluate the full rang ... Read More

Automated Detection, Tracking, and Safety Analysis of Pedestrians and Cyclists Using YOLOv9

Principal Investigator: Banafsheh Rekabdar

Co-Investigators: Sirisha Kothuri , Nathan McNeil

This applied research project aims to adapt and further train YOLOv9 to enhance its ability to accurately detect, track, and count cyclists and pedestrians in video data from the Portland Metro Area. The method will also extract surrogate safety metr ... Read More

Improving Accuracy and Precision of Pedestrian Volume Estimates Using Advanced Machine Learning Approaches

Principal Investigator: Sirisha Kothuri

Co-Investigator: Banafsheh Rekabdar

Counts provide the foundation for measuring nonmotorized travel along a link or a network and are also useful for monitoring trends, planning new infrastructure, and for conducting safety, health, and economic analyses. Most agencies still use manual ... Read More

PeopleforBikes- Living Lab Evaluation

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur

Researchers will conduct an evaluation of the Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) Living Lab. BBSP provided five organizations in Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Portland and Philadelphia with funding, support and resources to develop best practices a ... Read More

State DOT and Tribal Use of Active Transportation Data: Practices, Sources, Needs, and Gaps (NCHRP 07-31)

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Dill

Co-Investigators: Nathan McNeil , Sirisha Kothuri

This project is led by the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University (PSU), in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Government (ITG) at PSU, Toole Design Group, the Highway Safety Research Center at Unive ... Read More

NCHRP 08-164: Institutional Integration of Active Transportation

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Dill

Co-Investigators: John MacArthur , Nathan McNeil

The need for improving active transportation safety and mobility is clear, as the share of all road user deaths that are pedestrians or cyclists has risen nationally. The US Department of Transportation (US DOT), along with state DOTs across the nati ... Read More

Applying the Safe System Approach in Decision-Making

Principal Investigator: Sirisha Kothuri

Co-Investigator: Jason Anderson

Current fatality and serious injury trends continue to rise steeply for all road users, particularly vulnerable users, in both Washington State specifically and across the United States more broadly. While the United States Department of Transportati ... Read More

Exploring Bike Bus Programs in the United States

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur

Co-Investigator: Nathan McNeil

Photo by Jonathan Maus, BikePortland The trip to and from school is made by nearly every child in Oregon every school day. Bike and walk buses, or organized groups of school children, parents, and ride/walk leaders, seek to encourage biking and wa ... Read More

A Research Roadmap for Institutionalizing Transportation Equity (NCHRP 20-123(19))

Principal Investigator: Aaron Golub

Co-Investigator: Nathan McNeil

The American Association of State Highway Transportation (AASHTO) Strategic Plan includes a goal of promoting diversity in all AASHTO activities, collaborating with traditional and nontraditional partners to support equity and social justice objectiv ... Read More

Mobility and Accessibility Resilience of Transportation Infrastructures

Principal Investigator: David Yang

The objective is to address practical challenges related to mobility and accessibility following natural disasters. The anticipated outcome of this project will be to provide actionable insights and solutions that can be implemented in real-world tra ... Read More

E-commerce Impacts on Oregon Household Level Deliveries, Trips, and VMT

Principal Investigator: Miguel Andres Figliozzi

The last decade saw double-digit growth of e-commerce sales, both in the US and Oregon, which translates to more delivery vehicles on the roads to meet this demand. However, there is no observed data available to determine the net impacts on system u ... Read More

Examining the Geotechnical Earthquake Hazard to Transportation Assets in Oregon and Washington: Characterizing Earthquake-Induced Deformations of Silt Soils

Principal Investigator: Diane Moug

Critical transportation infrastructure in Washington and Oregon is vulnerable to damage during strong earthquake shaking, including the anticipated magnitude 9 Cascadia Subduction Zone event. A major hazard to transportation infrastructure is the fai ... Read More