Twenty-nine Portland State University students have been awarded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) scholarships for the 2022/23 academic year. We're very proud to acknowledge their hard work and dedication. The NITC Scholarship program recognizes outstanding students working on transportation projects. Financial support for students helps to develop the workforce by directing talented individuals toward research and practice, raising the number and caliber of graduates in transportation. 

Meet the NITC Scholars of PSU:

Mackenzie Aamodt, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Mackenzie Aamodt is a student in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program at Portland State University. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest and having access to green spaces, trails, and bike paths heavily influenced her decision to pursue a planning career. What interests Mackenzie most is how forgotten pieces of land or infrastructure can be used to build trails and areas of recreation in our communities. The rails to trails projects across the country have inspired her to pursue ways to provide access to nature and promote economic growth in urban and rural communities. In her free time she enjoys camping with her husband, cycling, reading, or learning to cook new recipes. In addition, Mackenzie is an active volunteer for Clackamas County Search & Rescue.

Connect with Mackenzie on LinkedIn.

Phil Armand, Bachelors in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Phil Armand is a bachelor of science in civil engineering (BSCE) senior at Portland State University, with a focus in transportation. His transportation interests include mass transit, pedestrian and bike design and safety, signal timing, lighting analysis, transportation justice and outreach. Phil is an Engineering Associate with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) Signals, Street Lighting and ITS Division, and is a member of the Bureau’s Transportation Justice Steering committee. Prior to working for the City, Phil served the Oregon Department of Transportation Traffic Data Division and the Florida Department of Transportation State Materials Office. Phil is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers STEP and was recently nominated as Portland State University's ITE-STEP Community service and outreach chair.

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn.

Jamie Arnau, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Jamie Arnau is a second-year MURP student studying urban design. She is passionate about public space design, equity, and improving walking and transit experiences for all. She is a Junior Transportation Planner at Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, supporting the firm's nationally recognized work in multimodal planning, demand management, and active transportation. Before pursuing a career in urban planning, she worked in her hometown of Los Angeles as a marketing manager in the hospitality, entertainment, and non-profit sectors. Outside of work, she enjoys singing karaoke and daydreaming about train rides in France and Japan. She earned her Bachelor's in Global Studies from UCLA in 2013.

Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn.

Cameron Bennett, Masters in Civil & Environmental Engineering

Cameron is a second-year master’s student in transportation engineering at PSU. His work as a graduate research assistant focuses on promoting and facilitating the uptake of active transportation modes. He serves as president of the PSU ITE-STEP (Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning) student group. He received Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowships presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation at the Transportation Research Board 2022 and 2023 annual meetings. His passion lies in the promotion of cycling in all its forms through engineering design, planning, policy, advocacy, and community-driven engagement. In his free time, you can usually find him moving through the mountains on a bike, vertical rock, a pair of skis, or his own two feet.

Connect with Cameron on LinkedIn.

Minji Cho, PhD in Urban Studies

Minji Cho is a PhD student and research assistant in Urban Studies. She worked with Dr. Jennifer Dill and Dr. Jenny Liu on a research project for Portland Metro, investigating the economic impacts of active transportation investments. Metro funded the research to better understand the role of these investments in building stronger communities in the region, and in implementing the Metro 2040 Growth Concept. Prior to coming to PSU, Minji was a full-time researcher at the Gyeonggi Research Institute in Gyeonggi, South Korea, working on the 2030 Gyeonggi Housing Plan (Housing and Welfare Policy).

Connect with Minji on LinkedIn.

Summer Cook, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Summer is a graduate student at Portland State University pursuing a Master's in Urban and Regional Planning with a focus on environmental planning, active transportation, and sustainable energy. She is an avid cyclist, zero-waste advocate, data nerd, reader, learner, and outdoorswoman.

Connect with Summer on LinkedIn.

Chris Corral, Dual Degree: Masters of Urban & Regional Planning + Masters of Public Health

Chris Corral is pursuing a dual degree in urban & regional planning and public health at Portland State University. He is passionate about ensuring all communities have access to safe, convenient, and healthy options for active transportation. Chris's most fulfilling work has been organizing adult and youth bike safety education programs in the Bay Area, including Safe Routes to School programming. This field combines his passion for biking and walking with his desire to improve the health of the communities he grew up in. Chris enters this program with a strong background in education, bike repair, and social theory.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.

Owen Christofferson, Masters of Urban and Regional Planning

Owen Christofferson is a second-year MURP student at Portland State University. He is interested in bike and pedestrian planning, transportation policy, and emerging transportation technologies. He serves as Vice President of Finance & Conferences for ITE-STEP, the PSU transportation student group, and as Chair of the Transportation Network Company (TNC) Advisory Committee for the Portland Bureau of Transportation. He has also worked as a Transportation Options intern for the City of Wilsonville, Oregon.

Connect with Owen on LinkedIn.

Miguel Gelin Ferreira, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Miguel is a MURP student at Portland State University.

Connect with Miguel on LinkedIn.

Sam Gallagher, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Sam is a graduate student pursuing a Master Degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Portland State University. Her career aspirations involve mainstreaming climate decisions and energy efficiency into economic development initiatives while making the cost of living more affordable. Sam previously worked on utility and affordable housing disputes for the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. She is from the Midwest but now call the Pacific Northwest her home.

Connect with Sam on LinkedIn.

Christian Galiza, Bachelors in Civil Engineering

Christian Galiza is a senior in civil engineering. He is the Vice President of Communications for STEP, and also works as a structural engineering intern for Eclipse Engineering. He is the recipient of an ITE Regional Travel Scholarship to attend the 2022 ITE Western District Annual Meeting in Palm Springs, CA. Christian enjoys transportation because it's fascinating to think about the relationship between building sustainable infrastructure and transportation planning and its impact on how people move every day.

Connect with Christian on LinkedIn.

Cole Grisham, PhD in Public Affairs and Policy

Cole Grisham is a Transportation Systems Planner with FHWA Western Federal Lands. His work focuses on long range transportation planning, particularly in the areas of regional and intergovernmental policy in the American Northwest. He is a certified planner through the American Planning Association and holds a B.A. in Political Science and M.U.P. in Regional Planning from the University of Michigan. Cole is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Portland State University.

Connect with Cole on LinkedIn.

Kristina Henry Hall, B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Kristina Henry Hall is a Civil Engineering/Business Analytics Student pursuing strategic planning & program management. She is a US Army & Air Force Veteran. An entrepreneur at heart, Kristina loves transforming visions into reality. Her mantra is: Successful businesses serve people passionately with a purpose. Besides people, her passions include philosophy, real estate, and new ideas. 

Connect with Kristina on LinkedIn.

Meredith Herbst, Masters of Urban and Regional Planning

Meredith Herbst is a first-year MURP student at Portland State University. She currently interns as a Comprehensive Plan Project Assistant for the City of Vancouver, Washington, where she provides assistance and support to Long Range Planning Staff with general project management, research, and data analysis for the update process to the City’s Comprehensive Plan. She earned her BS in Geography from the University of Georgia (UGA), and serves as the Philanthropy Chair for the UGA Alumni Association's Portland Chapter. Originally from Dallas, Meredith is enjoying becoming immersed in the Pacific Northwest community.

Connect with Meredith on LinkedIn.

David Hoang, B.S. in Urban & Public Affairs

David Hoang is an undergraduate studying urban & public affairs at PSU. He grew up in different neighborhoods across Portland. As a young teen, he joined the Multnomah Youth Commission where his team advocated for policies in education and transportation justice, which included pushing the YouthPass bus fare program out into high schools like David Douglas and Parkrose. In 2021, he worked as a Safe Routes to School Program Assistant for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). David is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineering, the Institute of Real Estate Management, and is currently on the leadership board for the STEP (Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning) student group.

Connect with David on LinkedIn.

Kyu Ri Kim, PhD in Urban Studies

Kyu Ri is a Ph.D. student in urban studies at the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. She is a recipient of the Nohad and Dirce Toulan Endowed Scholarship and a Ph.D. student rep for this 2021-22 academic year. She is studying on pedestrian safety and active transportation with Dr. Jennifer Dill. She also worked for the Research Roadmap for the AASHTO Council on Active Transportation and Active Transportation Return on Invenstment Study at PSU. She achieved B.S. and M.S. degrees in Urban Planning and Engineering from Yonsei University in South Korea and worked as a researcher for Korea Environment Institute and The Seoul Institute. She is a 2022 recipient of the IBPI Excellence in Active Transportation Scholarship.

Connect with Kyu Ri on LinkedIn.

Minju Kim, PhD in Urban Studies

Minju Kim is a PhD student in Urban Studies in the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning with a specialization in transportation and gerontology, and candidates graduate certificate program in the Institute of Aging. She received a Master's degree in Transportation Studies from Seoul National University and studied in Urban Planning for Bachelor from Chung-Ang University from South Korea. Her current research interest focuses on transportation for older people, and she would like to research the differences in preference and trends of older adults. She worked on a TREC project about the impacts of shared E-scooter operations during the 2019-2020 Portland Pilot Program with John MacArthur and Jennifer Dill. In order to improve the accessibility and sustainability of micromobility systems to the citizens of Portland, this research focuses on the impacts of scooter operations on VMT, including scooter deployment, rebalancing, and charging.

Connect with Minju on LinkedIn.

William McKenzie, Master of Civil and Environmental Engineering

A master of science in civil & environmental engineering student, Will has been preoccupied with people, planes, trains, and automobiles since as long as he can remember. He is keen on mobility and electric vehicles (EVs), equal access/opportunity for all, statistics, data, logistics, behavior, planning, and policy.

Connect with William on LinkedIn.

Megan Lee, Masters in Civil & Environmental Engineering

Megan Lee is a civil engineering master's student at Portland State University. She serves as the Vice President of Events for ITE-STEP, the PSU transportation student group, and during her undergraduate study at Oregon State University, she also served as the Community Service Chair for their ITE student chapter. She worked as an engineering intern for the Washington State Department of Transportation in 2020, and is currently interning as a Student Design Trainee at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

Connect with Megan on LinkedIn.

Elias Peters, Dual Degree: Masters in Urban & Regional Planning + Masters in Civil & Environmental Engineering

Elias is an adventurous, hard-working graduate student at Portland State University. They are a first year dual masters degree student in Urban and Regional Planning and Civil Engineering. Elias has a love for public transit and active transportation, and they are interested in learning how to improve transportation route planning and infrastructure so it is more community centered, safe, efficient, and accessible for all. Elias is the current Vice President of Communications for ITE-STEP, the PSU ITE student chapter. They graduated from Western Washington University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and a minor in Environmental Science, and now work for Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

Connect with Elias on LinkedIn.

Maddy Poehlein, Dual Degree: Masters of Urban and Regional Planning + Masters of Public Health

Maddy is a dual master's degree candidate in Public Health and Urban and Regional Planning at Portland State University. She is interested in studying how unequal access to services, such as public transportation, and how individuals are situated within the built physical environment impacts population health. Maddy earned a BA in Environmental Studies and Politics with Honors from Whitman College, taking classes in environmental policy, environmental justice, and environmental health. She views the intersection of planning and public health as a way to work towards environmental and climate justice. She also is an avid cyclist, outdoors person and a certified Wilderness First Responder.

Connect with Maddy on LinkedIn.

Gabriel Quiñones-Zambrana, PhD in Urban Studies

Gabriel Quiñones-Zambrana is a first-year Ph.D. student in urban studies at the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. He studies transit & transportation planning, transit equity, land use planning, complete streets, and active modes of transportation. Before coming to study at PSU he worked in the private sector as a Transit and Transportation Planner, and in the public sector as the Director of a Planning Department in a municipality, for more than 8 years combined. Currently he works as a graduate research assistant (GRA) for PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), supporting advisor Hau Hagedorn in tasks related to the Better Block PSU program and various research projects.

Connect with Gabriel on LinkedIn.

Aidan Simpson, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Aidan Simpson is a current Masters of Urban and Regional Planning student at Portland State University interested in transportation and transportation equity. In 2022, Aidan was part of a team (along with Cameron Bennett, Owen Christofferson and Emily D’Antonio) that created a Downtown Portland Living Streets Plan centered around a new street typology for Portland: Living Streets. Like the public plazas common in cities outside the US, living streets are defined by slow speeds and shared space. But unlike European old towns, Dutch Woonerfs or Barcelona's Superblocks, Living Streets were designed specifically with Portland in mind.

Connect with Aidan on LinkedIn.

Caleb Susuras, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Caleb Susuras is a second-year MURP student who earned his BA from Ambrose University. He has experience as a voucher specialist with the Denver Regional Council of Governments, and has also worked for the Denver Regional Mobility and Access Council. He is committed to safe, equitable, and green streets.

Connect with Caleb on LinkedIn.

Isa Swain, B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Isa is a first-year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in civil engineering at Portland State University. As someone who is passionate about sustainable urban design, she wants to continue learning about how transportation systems impact the environment and the health of communities. She currently serves as an officer for PSU'S ITE student chapter, Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (ITE-STEP).

Connect with Isa on LinkedIn.

Dawn Walter, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Dawn is a first-year Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at Portland State. She is also pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology. Her focus within the planning program is transportation with a special emphasis on improving mobility for older adults and persons with disabilities. She is also the Spring/Summer Transportation Intern at the Portland office of WSP and serves on the Fixing Our Streets Oversight Committee for the City of Portland. Before pursuing a career in urban planning, she worked in arts administration at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Connect with Dawn on LinkedIn. 

Ciara Williams, Masters of Urban & Regional Planning

Ciara is a graduate student of Portland State University studying Urban Design, Public Interest Design, and Active Transportation.

Connect with Ciara on LinkedIn.

Cassie Wilson, B.S. in Liberal Studies; minor in Community Development

Cassie Wilson is a current undergraduate student at Portland State University working on a degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Community Development. Her interests are transportation, land use, housing, planning, local government and politics, climate action, and disability and social justice.

Connect with Cassie on LinkedIn.

Elizabeth Yates, Master of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Elizabeth Yates is a graduate student of transportation engineering at Portland State University.

Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn.

NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University. This PSU-led research partnership also includes the Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Utah. Faculty committees at each of our partner universities nominate students for the scholarship program. Learn more about the NITC scholarship program and see the NITC scholars from other member campuses.

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research.

In the 1970's, Portland had a dream: to create a "pleasurable human environment" by giving space to people rather than cars. Several car-free areas were identified in the city's ambitious 1972 Downtown Plan, approved by city council at the time.

Four Portland State University (PSU) students took that dream a little further this year. In the Fall 2022 term, Cameron Bennett, Owen Christofferson, Emily D’Antonio and Aidan Simpson created a Downtown Portland Living Streets Plan centered around a new street typology for Portland: Living Streets.

Like the public plazas common in cities outside the US, living streets are defined by slow speeds and shared space. But unlike European old towns, Dutch Woonerfs or Barcelona's Superblocks, Living Streets were designed specifically with Portland in mind. Bennett describes them as "a pedestrian-focused equivalent to the neighborhood greenways in Portland: Not explicitly car-free, but kind of implicitly. It's a street where through the design it's shown that it's a space for pedestrians first and cars second: a street where people can feel comfortable lingering, mingling, and enjoying being in public space."

The class was Active Transportation Planning and Design Studio, an urban studies & planning course taught by PSU instructors Derek Abe and Kirk Paulsen. As part of the course, students create plans for real-world clients. The client for this group was Cathy Tuttle, an urban planning consultant & community organizer of BikeLoud PDX. Learn more about her connection to the project in this 2022 PSU Transportation Seminar: Why Your City Needs a Car Master Plan.

WHAT'S IN THE DOWNTOWN PORTLAND LIVING STREETS PLAN

Living Streets are defined in the plan as streets that "support street life and a high density of commercial and residential activity through extensive traffic calming, pedestrian-scale design, and activation of the streetscape." They are distinct from another familiar concept, Complete Streets, because they have no dedicated automobile-only traffic lanes. Flexibility and adaptability is built into the concept, making such changes less committing than they may initially seem for political leaders and community members alike.

"It wasn't just one type of street that we imagined. We realized that there are different types of living streets for different use cases, and different places in downtown Portland," Christofferson said.

The plan suggests that PBOT adopt a new street typology with explicit guidelines to reduce vehicle volumes, amplify crossing opportunities, and design for accessibility, safety, and vibrancy rather than for throughput. A standardized toolkit for Living Streets could streamline the planning and design process for new pedestrianized spaces throughout the city, reducing the barriers to wholesale street design changes.

The students first referred to the 1972 plan with an eye toward updating and modernizing it, doing a corridor-level analysis rather than an area-level analysis. Based on this work, their Portland Downtown Living Streets Plan is an effort to create a network of pedestrian-oriented streets within the downtown core. The plan identifies twelve "opportunity areas" and provides specific design elements for four of them: Old Town, the Burnside Wedge, the Extended Halprin Sequence (a continuation of the original Halprin Sequence, a series of fountains and parks connected by pedestrian pathways), and the Transit Mall.

Starting with an overview of existing conditions for each of the four areas, the students propose designs for facilities to improve access. These include plaza activation through public art, street furniture and food trucks; moveable bollards to define access areas at different times; shortened pedestrian crossings; the replacement of automobile travel lanes with alternative uses of curb space; and other features. See the full plan for details.

A GOOD TIME TO EMBRACE A NEW STREET

"There's a lot of conversation about revitalizing downtown, and that means different things to different people. Some discussions are on houselessness, some are on transportation, some are discussions around economic vitality. I think that a vision like this promotes a lot of those goals. This is a way to revitalize downtown. That, you know, is well proven. These sorts of car-free streets are not a new concept. I think this is potentially really powerful, specifically in Portland," Bennett said.

Group member Owen Christofferson concurs that the time is ripe for a reimagining of downtown. "We're at this very interesting point in the pandemic; Portland's downtown has struggled a lot recently, and is in need of some out-of-the-box thinking. There's the potential for a real blank-slate reimagining of what downtown could be, in the wake of this massive global event that has really changed a lot of the ways cities interact with their own downtowns. It's good timing for innovative thinking in that part of the city," Christofferson said.

Known for its "Let Knowledge Serve the City" motto, Portland State University places great emphasis on students learning by doing. The benefits of this educational model are easy to see on the students' side; they gain professional experience that can lead to career opportunities. On the clients' side however, there are significant gains as well. By doing this downtown plan as a class project, the students were unconstrained by permits or regulations, and were free to dream big. 

“One major constraint of the course is the short, 10-week time span that students have to complete their planning projects. That leaves very little time for a meaningful real-world community and stakeholder engagement process, so we ask the students to present us with a strategy for advancing those efforts, framing it as guidance for their community partners. In this way, they are creating the road map for their community partners and clients to advance this work beyond the end of the term,” Abe said. 

"Not having as much community input, you can really imagine whatever you want. It makes projects like this more fun, because you can reach out to [professionals] and they're willing to talk with you. They're ready to try and give you inspiration and work with you," D'Antonio said. 

Having been conceived in this environment of creative freedom doesn't mean that there's no chance of any part of the plan eventually being implemented. Sure, "the plan as a whole probably won't get adopted," D'Antonio said, but "there are pieces of it that, if it gets into the right hands of the right stakeholders, that it does give them a framework and some ideas to get inspired to reuse the spaces they already have."

As PSU alumni move into the professional community, their influence can continue to build on itself. Even the course instructors are both PSU graduates: Abe earned a master's of urban and regional planning from the Toulan School of Urban Studies & Planning before going on to work as a planning associate at Alta Planning + Design, and Paulsen earned his master's of science in civil engineering from the Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science before working as an engineer at Alta and now as a senior engineer at Parametrix. The instructors bring their own experience as students and knowledge of the local professional community to their efforts at teaching the next generation.

Photo by Dongho Chang

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research.

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 created by a multi-university research team is able to reliably observe pedestrian behavior and can help reduce conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles at signalized intersections. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is already working on implementing this new system to improve data collection at intersections.

Learn more in a free webinar May 18. 

The LiDAR system can especially improve multimodal travel at intersections with permissive left turns, which are indicated by a flashing yellow arrow. Previous research has shown that where a flashing yellow arrow, or FYA, is present, cars searching for a gap in traffic may not look for pedestrians. To remove the risk to people walking, some signals are programmed to turn off the FYA when a walk button is pushed. But what if the walk button is pushed and the pedestrian isn't really crossing there, or crosses very quickly and then leaves the crosswalk clear? Left-turning vehicles would still have to wait out the rest of the cycle.

"When crossing an intersection on a diagonal, we find that many people choose to press both walk buttons, and take whichever one changes first. So our solution will check a pedestrian's true intent to cross by tracking this pedestrian’s behavior during yellow, all-red and the first few seconds of green," said the project's principal investigator, Dr. Pengfei (Taylor) Li of the University of Texas at Arlington.

If there is not a pedestrian present, then the FYA can resume so that left-turning vehicles are once again able to turn. It's a way of increasing efficiency and throughput while prioritizing safety. 

The research team, led by Li, included graduate students Peirong (Slade) Wang and Farzana Chowdhury of the University of Texas at Arlington; Dr. Sirisha Kothuri and graduate student Katherine Keeling of Portland State University; and Dr. Xianfeng (Terry) Yang of the University of Utah then (currently the University of Maryland). Wang, a PhD candidate, works as a graduate assistant in UTA's ACTION Lab; learn more about him in our March 2023 Student Spotlight. Chowdhury received her PhD from UTA in 2022 and now works as an associate consultant traffic engineer for WSP USA. Keeling received her master's in engineering from PSU in 2022 and is now an operations analyst at TriMet. 

TESTING THE SYSTEM

The researchers deployed their LiDAR system at two intersections in Texas:

• Cooper Street at UTA Boulevard, a major intersection connecting two urban campuses of the University of Texas at Arlington with very high pedestrian volumes during semesters.
• West Walnut Hill Lane at North Belt Line Road in Irving, Texas, close to a high school.

While field-testing the LiDAR devices (see a screenshot of the system at left), they conducted two separate studies. The first was a pedestrian behavior study, analyzing things like wait time before crossing, generalized perception-reaction time to the WALK sign, and walking speed. Results reveal that pedestrian behaviors do not always match with the recommendations found in pedestrian facility design guides such as AASHTO’s “Green Book." The study also found that ADA-compliant (audible) pedestrian push buttons can significantly reduce the time it takes for pedestrians to move in response to a WALK signal.

The second study was an exploration of how to separate permissive left-turning vehicles from concurrent crossing pedestrians, using the novel dynamic flashing yellow arrow (D-FYA) solution.  The D-FYA solution was also evaluated in a simulation platform, with promising results. It will be evaluated soon at the test intersection in Salt Lake City. The findings of this study will advance the body of knowledge on equitable traffic safety, especially pedestrian safety.

Kothuri, the PSU principal investigator who led the behavior analysis study, has conducted several research studies centered around multimodal data and pedestrian-focused signal timing. She helped to evaluate recorded pedestrian behaviors and to develop the custom software which captures performance measures such as pedestrian crossing time. Dr. Yang has also done extensive work in data-driven mobility strategies for multimodal transportation and connected vehicle systems.

Mark Taylor, a traffic signal operations engineer for the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), is optimistic that the new sensor system can offer important functionality based on its improved bicycle and pedestrian detection.

"We have these goals and objectives to make our intersections and our roadways safe, and safer for all modes of travel. Not just vehicles, and not just buses and trucks, but the vulnerable road users as well; bikes as well as pedestrians, and with zero fatalities. The big thing about LiDAR is you're able to get a 3D image of everything around you and what is happening in real time. With this system, you're able to look at things like red light running and near misses for pedestrians and vehicles, and you're able to see a lot more information that the traditional detector is not able to provide you with," Taylor said.

The improved LiDAR sensors could enable UDOT to tailor traffic signals to travelers' needs, potentially adjusting signal timing in real time. The system could also integrate with vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) connected vehicle technology.

"We're looking at walking speeds, which means that we are able to provide additional crossing time for slower pedestrians if needed," Taylor said. "We are also looking at the feasibility of taking the location of the pedestrian and broadcasting that location to connected vehicle technology. Just being able to communicate to vehicles that, hey! There is a pedestrian on the corner of the intersection."

Based on this NITC project, UDOT funded another project, "Utilizing LIDAR sensors to detect pedestrian movements at signalized intersections," to deploy the pedestrian tracking system at a test intersection in Salt Lake City. This project is one of three parallel LiDAR-based projects that UDOT is working on, in order to better understand LiDAR sensors' potential to improve traffic operations.

Read more about this research in a new article, "Developing a Tracking-Based Dynamic Flash Yellow Arrow Strategy for Permissive Left-Turn Vehicles to Improve Pedestrian Safety at Intersections," published in the April 2023 issue of the Journal of Transportation Engineering.

This research was funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, with additional support from the City of Arlington, Texas; the Oregon Department of Transportation, the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Utah.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

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

Taylor Li, University of Texas Arlington; Sirisha Kothuri, Portland State University; Xianfeng (Terry) Yang, University of Utah

• Download the Final Report (PDF)
• Download the Project Brief (PDF)
• Register for the May 2023 Webinar

RELATED RESEARCH

To learn more about this and other NITC research, sign up for our monthly research newsletter.

• Development of Intelligent Multimodal Traffic Monitoring using Radar Sensor at Intersections
• Data-Driven Mobility Strategies for Multimodal Transportation
• Connected Vehicle System Design for Signalized Arterials

The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is one of seven U.S. Department of Transportation national university transportation centers. NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University. This PSU-led research partnership also includes the Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Utah. We pursue our theme — improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities — through research, education and technology transfer.

Portland State University transportation researchers will partner with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to evaluate a new project on 122nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon. 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) established the "Safe Streets and Roads for All" program to provide $5-6 billion in funding to support regional, local, and Tribal initiatives to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. On Feb. 1, 2023, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $800 million in grant awards for 510 communities through the first round of funding for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program. 

See the full list of awarded projects here.

PBOT was awarded $20 million to make 122nd Avenue safer for all road users, and around $250,000 of that will go toward a research project to evaluate the effectiveness of the new safety treatments. The project will employ low-cost, high-benefit treatments on 5.5 miles of 122nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon, which is in the top 5% of the Portland metropolitan area’s most deadly and injurious streets. 

PBOT has identified five primary factors for these issues: 

• Open two-way left-turn lanes;
• Substandard street lighting;
• Long distances between pedestrian crossings;
• Speed;
• Wide intersections without protections for pedestrians or bicyclists. 

Interventions funded by the new grant will include filling gaps in street lighting; converting existing parking to four miles of protected bike lanes; making signal improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists; reducing vehicle lanes; and adding new features including:

• seven pedestrian crossings,
• raised center medians along 1.5 miles of two travel lanes,
• 11 raised medians for four travel lanes,
• street trees along the entire 5.5 mile corridor,
• nine bus stop curb extensions,
• six speed reader boards with automated enforcement, and
• one roundabout.

The evaluation team of researchers from PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) will include faculty from both the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) program as well as the College of Urban and Public Affairs (CUPA). 

Photo courtesy of Portland Bureau of Transportation

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research.

Hau Hagedorn, associate director of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University, is part of an interdisciplinary team of educators who will travel to Vietnam and Hawaii this year looking for new curriculum, research and study abroad opportunities.

After more than a decade of organization and effort, PSU is establishing a Pacific Islander & Asian American (PIAA) Studies Program, and now a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation is supporting the exploratory trip by Hagedorn and two co-leaders—Marie Lo, professor and chair of English, and Betty Izumi, professor of public health and interim associate dean for students and alumni affairs in OHSU-PSU's School of Public Health—who each bring different perspectives and academic backgrounds to the work. Read more about the project in a PSU news story by Cristina Rojas, Communications Manager of PSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Grant Makes Exploratory Trips To Vietnam, Hawaii Possible For Piaa Studies.

"This grant provides an opportunity to explore the influence of colonialism on transportation and mobility. The unintended consequences of autocentric mobility, such as pollution and traffic fatalities, are even more pronounced in places like Vietnam," Hagedorn said.

The overall goal of the program is to develop a new undergraduate course that critically examines the links between imperialism and settler colonialism and the diaspora of Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders in Oregon.

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research.

Each year, the Portland Chapter of WTS bestows scholarships to assist exceptional women in their educational pursuits in the field of transportation. The scholarships are competitive and based on the applicant’s specific goals, academic achievements, and transportation related activities. Two of the five scholarship winners this year are Portland State University transportation students in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program. Jamie Arnau and Dawn Walter were presented with their awards at the annual WTS Winter Gala on January 24, 2023.

Jamie Arnau: Helene M Overly Scholarship

Jamie Arnau is a second-year MURP student studying urban design. She is passionate about public space design, equity, and improving walking and transit experiences for all. She is currently a transportation planning intern at Nelson\Nygaard, working on active transportation, TDM, and transit planning projects. Before pursuing a career in urban planning, she worked in her hometown of Los Angeles as a digital marketer in the hospitality, entertainment, and non-profit sectors. Outside of work, she enjoys singing karaoke and daydreaming about train rides in France and Japan. She earned her Bachelor's in Global Studies from UCLA in 2013.

Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn

Dawn Walter: Leadership Legacy Scholarship

Dawn Walter is a first-year MURP student studying transportation planning. Dawn’s focus within the MURP program is pedestrian infrastructure, specifically how to improve it and connect it best with public transit to increase accessibility for all community members. When she is not passionately arguing for more curb cuts, she is attending shows, walking around museums, reading books, and imagining her next big trip. Before coming to Portland and enrolling at PSU, Dawn worked as the executive assistant to the general director of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Missouri. She earned her Bachelors in Business Administration and Theatre from Illinois State University in 2017.

Connect with Dawn on LinkedIn

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research.

Photos courtesy of WTS Portland

Christian Galiza is a senior in civil engineering. He is the Vice President of Communications for Portland State University's Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) student chapter, Students in Transportation Engineering & Planning (ITE-STEP), and also works as a structural engineering intern for Eclipse Engineering. He is the recipient of an ITE Regional Travel Scholarship to attend the 2022 ITE Western District Annual Meeting in Palm Springs, CA. He is also a 2022/23 National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) scholar. Christian enjoys transportation because it's fascinating to think about the relationship between building sustainable infrastructure and transportation planning and its impact on how people move every day.

Connect with Christian on LinkedIn.

Tell us about yourself?

I am originally from the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii, and I have been working through the B.S. Civil Engineering program at Portland State University. My transportation interests include Complete Streets, safety, and issues involving transportation equity. In January 2023, I’m excited to embark on an engineering internship with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) in their Traffic Operations section.

What (or who) has influenced your career path in transportation?

I used to serve in the military, so I’ve channeled through the massive global defense network that the military built to transport thousands of service members, contractors, and civilians daily to meet the country’s strategic defense objectives. Once I realized the importance of the transportation of troops and goods in the scope of the defense industry, I became interested in transportation priorities that concern the rest of the country. From this, I then became interested in exploring transportation solutions in the Portland area and beyond. My interest in transportation was also accelerated through my involvement in our ITE student chapter. I started attending events and conferences, where I started building my network with industry professionals and other students.

You've served as the VP of Communications for ITE-STEP for two years - What are you most proud of that the student group has accomplished during your time?

I’m fortunate to have served in a leadership capacity for STEP with a dedicated group of planning and engineering students who knew much more about transportation than I did when I first became involved. We wanted to share this interest collectively with other students by hosting events and giving students the chance to learn face-to-face from transportation professionals. We were recognized by ITE both locally and nationally with the Student Chapter Momentum Awards, but most importantly, we’ve developed a growing niche of students with a growing interest in transportation.

After graduation, what future work do you envision doing in transportation?

I’m very interested in working on developing transportation solutions in the Portland area, as the city has become an example for the rest of the country. In the distant future, I hope to improve transit development and travel times for people in Hawaii and other parts of the country.

Photo by Colton Jones on Unsplash

This is an installment in a series of monthly Student Spotlights we're shining on students and alumni that are involved with National Institute for Transportation & Communities (NITC) universities. NITC is a university transportation consortium funded by the U.S. DOT, and is a Portland State-led partnership with the University of Oregon, Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Utah, University of Arizona, and University of Texas at Arlington.

A new transportation comic, "Moving From Cars To People (PDF)," offers a succinct and fun introduction to a complicated topic: namely, how the built environment in the United States came to be designed for cars and what we can do about it.

Want a physical copy? Here are a few ways to get one:

• Request a free copy from our limited print run (first come, first served)
• Order a copy for just the cost of printing & shipping;
• Print one yourself at any local printer, with our high-res print-ready file (PDF);
• Attend the TRB NITC Reception on Jan 10, 2023 and win one as a prize!

The twenty-page comic includes a dialogue, taking place in various urban settings, between characters Kelly and Kristi who are based on National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) researchers Kelly Clifton of the University of British Columbia and Kristina Currans of the University of Arizona. The two have a long history of collaboration around the data, methods, and processes used to plan for multimodal transportation impacts of new development. This short graphic synopsis is an engaging, approachable way for anyone – no matter their level of expertise in this topic – to learn about their findings.

Illustrated by PSU Master of Fine Arts student Joaquin Golez, the comic was authored by Clifton and Currans and developed in conjunction with Susan Kirtley, director of the Comic Studies Program at Portland State University (PSU), and Portland, OR-based illustrator Ryan Alexander-Tanner, who has worked on academic comics before and drew on his experience to help guide the collaborative process. For more insight on that process, read a June 2022 interview with Clifton, Kirtley, and Alexander-Tanner. A Spanish-language version was created with the assistance of Urban Studies PhD student Gabriel Quiñones-Zambrana. (Download: Moviéndonos Del Automóvil A Las Personas (PDF).) Physical copies of the Spanish version will be available soon.

WHY IS THIS USEFUL?

Why communicate research results in a graphic format? First, to reach a broader audience. It's in everyone's interest for non-transportation-professionals to have a working knowledge of the conversation that's happening around sustainable transportation options. When important policy questions show up on a ballot – for example, whether businesses should be required to provide a certain amount of parking spaces, or whether the state should subsidize public transit – people who aren't in the transportation industry might not be fully aware of the tradeoffs involved in these questions. 

So it's a good idea to have the whole subject distilled into an easy format. It's also a good thing for people who are in the know already, because why not make things fun and approachable? Next week, 10,000 transportation professionals will flock to Washington, D.C. to attend the annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting and learn about what their colleagues have been doing for the past year. Attendees will do their best to absorb mountains of information relating to areas of the transportation field that overlap with their own particular focus area. They'll probably come away with a new list of books and articles to read. 

If there's a colorful, bite-sized morsel at the top of the to-be-read stack that doesn't take much mental focus to absorb, then so much the better for everyone. Because there's a lot of material covered in this body of research, and the comic gets right to the heart of it: How does all this affect real people?

CREATING THE COMIC

MFA student Joaquin Golez, who did his undergraduate work at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), has worked mainly in illustration before this.

"Doing a comic was new for me. Ryan [Alexander-Tanner] was like my art director. He's a really accomplished cartoonist, and he knows comics really well. Everyone else was from totally different wheelhouses. He's also a teacher, so he kind of was teaching me comics. For me it was super different, because I'm more used to a really detailed single image: I have one illustration, and I'm trying to pack a lot of nuance and metaphor into it. And for comics it's so much more about speed and clarity," Golez said.

Golez worked with Clifton, Currans, and Alexander-Tanner to brainstorm how to convert the research concepts into a story with visual elements. In an iterative process, he often created several sketches based on prompts from the team which were then chosen for further development.

"It was very data-heavy in the beginning, because it's research, you know. So there was that process of trying to figure out, well, what would this look like if it was a character saying it? This was part of why this opportunity was so amazing, because I've always wanted to try comics. So it was this really cool chance to work with somebody like Ryan who has so much experience doing it," Golez said.

Urban Studies PhD student Gabriel Quiñones-Zambrana, who translated the comic into Spanish, has done a fair amount of translating throughout his academic and professional career. He also collects comics. Growing up in Puerto Rico, he said, where most conversation takes place in Spanish but most education material is written in English, translating back and forth between the two languages is second nature. However, there were still some interesting challenges in translating this comic.

"We had to trim some of the Spanish sentences, because Joaquin couldn't fit them into the bubbles," Quiñones-Zambrana said, referring to how Spanish sometimes has more words and syllables than an equivalent phrase in English, and the speech-bubbles were already pre-drawn. Another challenge was deciding when to use regional variations of certain terms. There was a lot of back-and-forth between Gabriel and the researchers when trying to decipher what exactly they meant by a "slushy," or to decide if Spanish speakers from Mexico and Central America might use a different word for a small store (called a "minimart" in PR). By translating the comic into Spanish, researchers hope that these concepts might reach even more people – especially people who are directly impacted by the land use and development patterns discussed in the research.

To help other students and faculty at PSU learn to translate their research into comics, Clifton and the Comics Studies team hosted a "Research Into Comics Workshop" last October. Attendees learned the basics of using comics as a means to communicate research, and practiced creative exercises. 

RESEARCH BACKGROUND

NITC researchers have approached context-sensitive travel modeling from several angles. For example, Reid Ewing of the University of Utah developed some key enhancements to the classic four-step travel demand model, as well as examining trip and parking generation at transit-oriented developments. See below for a non-exhaustive list of NITC projects in this area.

Kelly Clifton and Kristina Currans first worked together at Portland State University when Clifton was Currans' advisor for her 2016 doctoral dissertation examining data and methodological issues in assessing multimodal transportation impacts for urban development. Both separately and in collaboration with other NITC researchers, Clifton (now a professor at the University of British Columbia) and Currans (a professor at the University of Arizona) have conducted over a decade of research into contextual trip generation: a body of work that reevaluates our whole system of travel demand forecasting. The goal is to improve travel demand forecasting so that it more accurately reflects the travel behavior of people walking, biking and riding transit. You can read a summary of some of Clifton's work in context-sensitive trip generation here. 

This research was funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, with additional support from Portland State University Comics Studies, South Tabor Neighborhood Association, and the University of Arizona.

To learn more about this and other NITC research, sign up for our monthly research newsletter.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Communicating Research through Comics: Transportation and Land Development

Kelly Clifton, Portland State University/University of British Columbia; Kristina Currans, University of Arizona

• Moving From Cars To People – View the comic on the web
• Moving From Cars To People – Download a print-ready version
• Moviéndonos Del Automóvil A Las Personas – Get the Spanish version

MORE NITC RESEARCH AROUND CONTEXT-SENSITIVE TRIP GENERATION:

• Key Enhancements to the WFRC/MAG Four-Step Travel Demand Model (Reid Ewing, 2019)
• Incorporate Emerging Travel Modes in the Regional Strategic Planning Model (RSPM) Tool (Liming Wang, 2018)
• Transferability & Forecasting of the Pedestrian Index Environment (PIE) for Modeling Applications (Kelly Clifton, 2018)
• Multimodal Trip Generation, Vehicle Ownership and Use: Characterizing The Travel Patterns of Residents of Multifamily Housing (Kelly Clifton, 2017)
• Improving Trip Generation Methods for Livable Communities (Kelly Clifton, 2016)
• Development of a Pedestrian Demand Estimation Tool (Kelly Clifton, 2016)
• Better Representation of the Pedestrian Environment in Travel Demand Models (Kelly Clifton, 2013)
• Contextual Influences on Trip Generation (Kelly Clifton, 2011)

The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is one of seven U.S. Department of Transportation national university transportation centers. NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University. This PSU-led research partnership also includes the Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Utah. We pursue our theme — improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities — through research, education and technology transfer.

In a big step forward for nonmotorized planning, a dashboard with bike data from the Washington, D.C. metro area is coming to BikePed Portal. Previously, a planner looking to see the latest biking numbers for the nation's capital would have to look at info from several jurisdictions, including Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, the District Department of Transportation, Fairfax County, Montgomery County, and the National Park Service, which manages counters on several trails and natural areas in the greater metro area.

Now, with funding from a National Park Service (NPS) Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), a unique program that facilitates partnerships between federal and non-federal entities and research institutions, Virginia Tech and the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC) are teaming up with data specialists at Portland State University (PSU) to create a new dashboard that will allow users to see all the D.C. bike data together in one place.

Housed at PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), BikePed Portal is a centralized repository that contains biking and walking count data from places all over the United States. It aims to be a one-stop shop for transportation professionals looking for clean, quality-checked, ready-to-use nonmotorized data.

DEVELOPING A DASHBOARD FOR THE DC AREA

The Washington D.C. metro area's dashboard is currently being developed at PSU, co-led by TREC's associate director, Hau Hagedorn, and transportation data program manager Tammy Lee, and should be available for use sometime in the coming year. 

Some of D.C.'s data is, in fact, already in BikePed Portal (as the image at the top shows). For a user to see all of it, however, they have to switch between different views. BikePed Portal hosts data from Maryland, Virginia, and D.C., but when a user views D.C., they are not able to see the data from Maryland and Virginia that are in the same metro area. This type of jurisdictional sprawl is common when it comes to nonmotorized data.

"It's really a lot of people that come together at the table to sort of organize, especially in such a very dense location. So we're working with all these stakeholders to put all their data in one centralized repository. Instead of having to say, you know, 'Hey, share your data with us,' or 'Can we share our data with you?' Instead, it's all in one central location where everybody has access to each other's data," Lee said.

Krista Nordback, senior research associate at UNC HSRC, is managing the project on the HRSC's end and says it is one of the "most exciting" she's worked on. She was instrumental in creating BikePed Portal while working as a research associate at PSU, back in 2014 when it was first launched with funding from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC). So she was already aware of BikePed Portal as a growing resource for nationwide bike counts, when the NPS broached the subject of creating a dashboard for DC. Rather than reinvent the wheel, Nordback suggested bringing PSU into the project. 

Arlington County’s bike education and encouragement program, BikeArlington, had originally created its own dashboard showing data from Arlington counters. They hoped to turn it into something more comprehensive, and combining their resources with BikePed Portal seemed like the way to go.

"The point is, there are a lot of counters. They're all owned by different people. They're managed by different people. Sometimes they collaborate. We're trying to help get them better data, and part of that's maintenance. Part of it's quality checking and basic validation. So we're starting to get there. As a user, instead of having to go to three different places in BikePed Portal, I want to have one view where I can see all of it," Nordback said.

As the dashboard is being developed, Virginia Tech students are gaining valuable experience – experiential learning for university students is a top priority of the NPS CESU programs – by testing, maintaining, and quality-checking the bike-ped counters in the area.

DATA VALIDATION AT VIRGINIA TECH

Virginia Tech Professors Ralph Buehler and Steve Hankey are managing several classes of students working on the project in various capacities. In Fall 2021, a graduate planning studio course kicked it off by analyzing 19 NPS counters on four trail systems (Anacostia River Trail, Capital Crescent Trail, C&O Canal, and the Mount Vernon Trail) to identify discrepancies in the data. Their final report provided recommendations for where new counters should be located.

Currently, masters student Shazalal Tushar is conducting physical maintenance on the counters that need attention, and has also set up video cameras at several counter sites. Two undergraduate students, Monica Perez and Maggie Gibbon, are working on validating the counters' data by comparing it with the video feed. The team will then develop correction equations to account for the discrepancies. Soon, a PhD student at Virginia Tech will join the team to conduct research for a dissertation focused around this project. 

Cleaning up data from the NPS counters is only part of the story, though. The next part was getting buy-in from the regional partners.

"The National Park Service has trails running through and connecting different parts of the region, and they have placed counters on their trails. So part of the project is to get us to work with their data and validate their counters. And then the hope was that other jurisdictions would sort of start opting in, and also add their own counters to become part of that network. So it's sort of a Federal effort on the local level," Buehler said.

If the effort seems piecemeal, that's because it is. While data on the motorized side has been dialed in for decades – cars are counted via standardized methods, and agencies have less difficulty accessing information about where people are driving – the world of nonmotorized data is evolving rapidly, and unevenly. Part of the challenge lies in the fact that every large metropolitan area has more than one jurisdiction involved. Steven Hankey sees similarities and differences in how each city addresses this difficulty.

"Every place has a different project champion stepping up. And then that entity ends up driving what [data management] looks like for the area. For example, in Minnesota, it ended up being MNDOT, the state agency. And so that became more of a statewide program. This project is part of DC's story, and in many ways I think it's fair to say that the story is still unfolding," Hankey said.

In order to support better bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, policymakers and planners need accurate data on how many people are biking and walking. BikePed Portal provides a centralized, standard database for public agencies, researchers, educators, and other curious members of the public. The website allows users to explore annual, monthly, daily, and hourly pedestrian and bicycle volumes at over 600 locations across the country (and growing). 

In addition to hosting data to make it centrally available, the BikePed Portal team at PSU develops applications to help planners and other professionals get the most out of their data, such as an AADNT (average annual daily nonmotorized traffic) count tool, and basic automated quality checks. Currently under development is an annotation function, which will allow users to flag data that's been impacted by events such as marathons that increase bike/ped traffic, weather like big snow snow storms that could decrease bike/ped traffic, known counter malfunctions or vandalism incidents, and trail closures.

SEE RELATED RESEARCH

• Biking and Walking Quality Counts: Using “BikePed Portal” Counts to Develop Data Quality Checks
• BikePed Portal Phase II
• Exploring Data Fusion Techniques to Estimate Network-Wide Bicycle Volumes

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research.

The winter term at Portland State University starts January 9, and registration opens December 19 for non-degree students. (Students who are already enrolled in a PSU degree program can register online now.) Lifelong learning is a guiding principle of PSU, and anyone interested can take transportation courses through the non-degree application process or as a post-baccalaureate student. Taking a course can be a good way to see if one of our graduate degree programs is right for you. Check out the course offerings below to see what's available this coming term.

See PSU’s COVID-19 Student Resources for the latest info on campus health and safety for students and staff. The course delivery methods for each course are listed below (e.g. in-person, hybrid, or attend anywhere).

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Non-degree or non-PSU students should contact the Civil Engineering Academic Program Manager at ceedept@pdx.edu in order to register for a CEE course, as the system requires an approval to process the registration.

588 Public Transportation Systems

Instructor: Miguel Figliozzi

Delivery: In-Person, Tues/Thurs 12:00 PM – 1:50 PM

Prerequisites: CE 351

Performance characteristics of public transportation systems, with emphasis on urban systems. Planning, design, and operational issues related to public transportation systems. Emerging technologies.

563 Transportation Optimization

Instructor: Miguel Figliozzi

Delivery: In-Person, Tues/Thurs 2:00 PM – 3:50 PM

Prerequisites: Graduate standing

Introduces students to mathematical modeling techniques including linear and non-linear programming, duality, Lagrangian, quadratic and geometric models, integer programming, basic network models and their application to transportation and logistics systems/problems. The focus is on model formulation, complexity analysis, and the utilization of software to obtain solutions and analyze system properties. The concepts taught in this course focus on civil engineering systems/ applications with an emphasis on transportation and logistics problems.

Urban Studies and Planning

510 Urban Informatics

Instructor: Liming Wang

Delivery: Attend Anywhere, Mon 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

In this project-based class, students have an opportunity to develop applications that combine technical skills and domain knowledge and use information processing, analysis, and presentation to support problems solving in cities. It will introduce students to basic coding, data processing and analysis, visualization and mapping. There are no prerequisites, but it requires some tolerance for experimentation, self-directed trial and error, and an interest in learning to write computer code.

544 Urban Transportation Planning

Instructors: Ryan Farncomb and Katie Drennan

Delivery: In-Person, Mon 6:40 PM – 9:00 PM

Prerequisites: USP 535 or equivalent coursework in descriptive and inferential statistics and data presentation

Introduces fundamental concepts and methods used in multi-modal urban transportation planning, including problem identification, alternatives analysis, evaluation and decision making, plan implementation, and program management. Exposes students to processes and analytical methods from multiple disciplines, such as law, politics, engineering, sociology, economics, finance, management and marketing. Emphasis on analysis of moderately complex technical information and its interpretation for communication with decision makers.

583 Transportation Finance

Instructor: Aaron Golub

Delivery: In-Person, Tues 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Much of the current funding for roads, transit, and freight comes from fuel taxes; but increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles and the use of alternative energy sources raise questions about the long-term viability of this revenue source. This course will existing transportation finance and examine some of the proposals for alternative financing mechanisms.

Friday Transportation Seminars

Friday Transportation Seminars at PSU are scheduled sporadically throughout the winter, spring and summer terms, and are always open to the public. You can check for upcoming seminars on the TREC website.

Graduate Certificate in Transportation

The two disciplines, planning and engineering, also collaborate to offer a Graduate Certificate in Transportation for established professionals looking for a deeper understanding of transportation disciplines. Increasingly, transportation professionals need multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills to anticipate social, environmental, and technological trends and incorporate them into intelligently-integrated transportation systems. The Graduate Certificate in Transportation will offer you advanced education at the intersection of urban planning and civil engineering for those seeking to build upon their knowledge and credentials to move people and goods safely.

Photo courtesy of Portland State University

Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) is home to the U.S. DOT funded National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), PORTAL, BikePed Portal and other transportation grants and programs. We produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education and participation in research.