Are Millennials Really the Generation That Bikes?

By Jennifer Dill, Ph.D.,TREC Director

 Much has been written about millennials and their travel choices, both in the popular press and academic journals. The common theme of the storyline in the popular press is that millennials are driving less, owning fewer cars, and/or not getting their driver’s license. As a complement to that, they are early adopters of new modes, such as car sharing, bike sharing, and ridehailing. One assertion is that they would rather be using their mobile device in a Lyft car or on transit, than sitting behind the wheel. While the popular press often attributes these shifts to fundamental changes in attitudes or values, research from academics such as Noreen McDonald tells a more complicated story. McDonald found that economics, both decreased employment and the overall dampening in travel demand, explain much of the decrease in millennials’ driving. Switching modes did not, though attitudes and electronic...

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Millennials prefer walking to driving, so housing market is changing

Trick or Treatment? Impact of Route-Level Features on Decisions to Walk or Bike

The video begins at 0:34.

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Speaker: Joseph Broach, Ph.D. Candidate, Portland State University
Topic: Trick or Treatment? Impact of Route-Level Features on Decisions to Walk or Bike
Summary: Some travel routes attract people walking and cycling, while others may scare them away. What features of street environments are most important, and how do available routes affect decisions to bike or walk on a specific trip? 

Research to date has focused on either large-scale areal measures like "miles of bike lane nearby" or else has considered only shortest path routes. Neither method is suited to capturing the impact of targeted route-level policies like neighborhood greenways. This session will present a new technique for measuring bike and walk accessibility along the most likely route for a given trip. The method is applied to travel data, and results provide new insight into the relationship between route quality and travel mode choice.

Webinar: Addressing Bicycle-Vehicle Conflicts with Alternate Signal Control Strategies on Oct 16, 2018

Webinar: Addressing Bicycle-Vehicle Conflicts with Alternate Signal Control Strategies

EDUCATION LIBRARY ARCHIVE

Missed the webinar or want a look back? 

OVERVIEW

There is nationwide interest in supporting sustainable and active transportation modes such as bicycling and walking due to the many benefits associated with them, including reduced congestion, lower emissions and improved health. Although the number of bicyclists is increasing, safety remains a top concern. In urban areas, a common crash type involving bicycles at intersections is the “right hook” where a right-turning vehicle collides with a through bicyclist. While geometric treatments and pavement markings have been studied, there is a lack of research on signal timing treatments to address right-hook bicycle-vehicle conflicts.

Addressing Bicycle-Vehicle Conflicts with Alternate Signal Control Strategies, published in April 2018, is the first study to explore bicycle signal control strategies for addressing bicycle-vehicle conflicts. This study analyzed the operational impacts of traditional...

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Measuring and Modeling Cyclists’ Comfort and Stress Levels

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Measuring and modeling cyclists’ comfort and stress levels

Some researchers have tried to categorize cyclists’ levels of traffic stress utilizing facility or traffic data that can be readily measured in the field, such as motorized travel lanes, travel speeds, and type of bicycle infrastructure.

This seminar will present data and modeling results utilizing two novel data sources:

(a) real-world, on-road measurements of physiological stress as cyclists...

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Cyclist Compliance at Signalized Intersections

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Summary: Although the running of red lights is perceived by motorists as a commonplace behavior for cyclists, little research has been done on the actual rates of cyclist compliance at signalized intersections. Furthermore, little is known about the factors that influence cyclist non-compliance. This research seeks to illuminate the rates of and reasons for infringement against red lights using video footage and survey data from cyclists in Oregon. 

Bio: Sam became interested in transportation and planning while studying abroad in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. After benefiting from the efficient transit service and excellent walkability there, he came back to the states with a gusto for safe, efficient, and environmentally sustainable transportation. After finally figuring out what to do with his Civil Engineering degree, he enrolled in Portland State. Sam's research interests include cyclist behavior and the comprehension and safety implications of new infrastructure. Originally hailing from Kansas, he has grown weary of Wizard of Oz jokes but is otherwise happy to call Portland his home, especially with the abundance of good coffee, micro brews, and stellar pie that PDX has to offer.

Sam Baek and the Jajeongeo: Visiting the Bike City of Korea

The video begins at 2:13.

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Abstract: City of Davis Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Tara Goddard recently visited Sangju, South Korea as part of a "sister city" delegation. Sangju is the "Bike City" of Korea, with a bicycle mode share approximately that of Davis and Portland combined. Tara will share photos and lessons learned from that trip, compare the bicycle facilities of Sangju with that of Davis and Portland, and discuss opportunities for future bicycle research in East Asia.

Portland is good, but Copenhagen and Amsterdam are awesome: Lessons Learned from the world's best large cycling cities

The founders and board members of IBPI talk about lessons learned from the world's best large cycling cities.

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The video begins at 2:54.

Identifying the Safest Intersection Designs for Cyclists

Study: Millennials want to walk, not drive

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