Many states are adopting the Safe System approach (USDOT, 2022) to improve traffic safety. As the role of speed in injury severity is becoming increasingly clear, one of the key elements of a Safe System approach is Safer Speeds. Specifically, higher motor vehicle speeds lead to higher injury… Read More

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 metrics, such as Post Encroachment Time, which are… Read More

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 Transportation has formally adopted the Safe System Approach… Read More

There is a significant gendered travel behavior research gap in the transportation literature. A plethora of transportation literature identifying and contrasting cisgender disparities exists, but more inclusive approaches to genderdiverse identities remain scarce. The burgeoning field of… Read More

BACKGROUND One of the most common locations for fatal motor vehicle-bicyclist crashes is at intersections, which inherently have a large number of turning conflicts. Reducing these conflicts is a key objective in improving intersection safety across all modes. Of particular concern for… Read More

https://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4763 BACKGROUND While non-separated on-street bicycle facilities have been used in the United States for many years, separated on-street bicycle facilities are becoming increasingly popular. Many state and local departments of… Read More

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 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the new software… Read More

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 understudied is how these marginalized groups, given… Read More

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 highway safety project investigation, analysis,… Read More

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 corridors. While bridge repair and replacement… Read More

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 travelled (VMT), congestion, and emissions, helping… Read More

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 pedestrian injury disparities throughout the US and… Read More