Jennifer Dill, PhD
Director
Professor, Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
503-725-5173 | jdill@pdx.edu
https://jenniferdill.net/
 TREC Researcher Profile

Dr. Jennifer Dill is a professor in the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University (PSU) and Director of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at PSU. Dr. Dill is also the editor-in-chief of the Transportation Research Record. 

Professor Dill is an internationally known scholar researching the relationships between transportation, land use, health and the environment, focusing on active transportation. Before entering academia, Professor Dill worked as an environmental and transportation planner in California. That experience motivates her teaching and research, which aims to inform practice and policy. She has published extensively in peer-review journals and has served as principal investigator or co-PI on over $4.3M in research projects and over $28M in federal center funding. Her research has been covered by Wired, Governing, USA Today, the PBS NewsHour, Here and Now, Marketplace and the Atlantic. She has served on and chaired Transportation Research Board committees and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Transportation and Health, Transportation Research Record and the Journal of Transportation and Land Use. 

Dr. Dill has a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley, an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA, and a BS in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning from UC Davis. She is also an aluma of the Eno Future Leaders program.

Becca Bornstein
Events & Office Coordinator
503-725-2896 | brebecca@pdx.edu

Rebecca is the Events & Office Coordinator for TREC, providing administrative support and managing logistics for TREC's events. She has a background in creative writing, and holds an M.F.A. from North Carolina State University. When she's not working, she likes to spend time reading and writing poetry, riding her bicycle, and snuggling with her cat. 

Joseph Broach, Ph.D.
Research Associate
jbroach@pdx.edu
Website | Researcher Profile

Joseph Broach is a ​Research Associate with the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), an Instructor in the School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, and a Senior Researcher and Modeler at Metro (MPO). H​is work primarily ​focuses ​on transportation data​, behavior,​ and modeling, and ​he ​helped design the ​Portland region's ​next-generation bicycle model in conjunction with Metro. Joe's research projects include Incorporate Emerging Travel Modes in the Regional Strategic Planning Model (RSPM) Tool, Transferability & forecasting of the Pedestrian Index Environment (PIE) for modeling applications, and Travel Mode Choice Framework Incorporating Realistic Bike and Walk Routes.

Basem Elazzabi, PhD
Senior Research Associate
elazzabi@pdx.edu

Basem is the head of programming and development for the PORTAL and BikePed Portal projects at TREC. He is responsible for maintaining and developing the database and the infrastructure of both projects. He also does various data analysis and visualization tasks. Basem received a PhD in Computer Science from Portland State University with a focus in database and data analysis. He also received his BS in Computer Science also from Portland State University. He has almost 20 years of experience in system analysis and development. His main interests are database systems, data analysis, distributed systems, and big data. His main research topics focus on how to facilitate data analysis for typical and non-technical data analysts. One of the main research topics that he works on is how to build the next generation data-analysis ecosystem in which institutions (government and private) can easily store their massive data and have easy access to data analysis tools to support and improve data-driven decision making.

Lacey Friedly
Communications Coordinator
503-725-8545 | rlacey@pdx.edu

Lacey is the communications coordinator for TREC. She connects with researchers, writes articles, and documents (through pictures, videos, and model towns) the value of the transportation research being done at TREC and through the NITC program. Before TREC, Lacey was the acquisitions editor for Dark Discoveries magazine. She also managed the editing department at Ooligan Press, Portland State University's student-run publishing house. She graduated from PSU in 2013 with a master's in book publishing. In her spare time Lacey enjoys swimming, reading, and making stop-motion animation videos. she/her/hers

Kyuri Kim, PhD
Adjunct Research Associate
kyuri@pdx.edu

Kyuri Kim is an adjunct research associate for TREC, working on multiple projects related to active transportation and the safety of vulnerable road users, including literature review, data collection, analysis, and visualization. Her primary research interest is improving pedestrian safety, and her dissertation topic was to understand the relationship between pedestrian crash factors and perceived safety for her PhD. She loves to walk, bike, and try new micro-mobility modes and keeps studying vulnerable road users' safety to create walkable and bike-friendly cities. She received her PhD in urban studies at PSU and BS and MS in urban planning and engineering at Yonsei University in South Korea.

Tammy Lee, PhD
Transportation Data Program Administrator
503-725-2884 | leetam@pdx.edu

Tammy is working on a variety of projects for TREC, including documentation, data synthesis, analysis, and visualization supporting ongoing work with PORTAL and Bike-Ped Portal. Tammy received a BS in Genetics & Plant Biology from UC Berkeley before earning a PhD in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences from WSU. Prior to joining TREC she worked as a data scientist for a political digital media consulting firm. When not working she's either hiding in the forest or experimenting in the kitchen.

John MacArthur
Sustainable Transportation Program Manager
503-725-2866 | jhmacart@pdx.edu
TREC Researcher Profile

Mr. John MacArthur is the Sustainable Transportation Program Manager at TREC at Portland State University and an instructor in civil and environmental engineering, teaching on new & emerging technologies in transportation. He is active in research related to sustainable and equitable transportation, particularly in the areas of emerging tech such as e-bikes, bike share, transit, and the relationship between transportation and public health. Mr. MacArthur is the Section Chair for Transportation Research Board’s AME00 Transportation and Society and a member of Innovative Public Transportation Services and Technologies (AP020). He received his BS in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and a MS in Environmental Health Sciences from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.

Nathan McNeil
Research Associate
503-725-8581 | nmcneil@pdx.edu
Researcher Profile

Nathan McNeil is a Research Associate at Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center. His research focuses on active  transportation safety and travel behavior, emerging mobility and data sources, and how to make sustainable transportation accessible and easy for all people. Nathan received a master of urban and regional planning from Portland State University (PSU) and studied history at Columbia University as an undergraduate. Prior to PSU, Nathan worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City as a performance auditor where he evaluated capital programs and contractors.

Saurav Kumar Singh
Adjunct Researcher

Holding a Master's in Computer Science and 6 years of experience, Saurav brings a deep proficiency in Python, machine learning, LLM, and cloud computing. His expertise extends to AI application development, where he has successfully contributed to Generative AI Projects, AI chatbots, and scalable cloud solutions.

We inform transportation decision making through research, building the capacity of the transportation workforce, supporting the education of transportation professionals, and engaging students in research. 

The Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University (PSU) is a multidisciplinary hub for all things transportation.

We are home to the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), the data programs PORTAL and BikePed Portal, the Better Block PSU program, and PSU's membership in PacTrans, the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium. Our continuing goal is to produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education, seminars, and participation in research. 

Annual Reports

• 2023 TREC Annual Report
• 2022 TREC Annual Report
• Previous annual and semiannual reports were created for the National Institute for Transportation & Communities (NITC), a U.S. DOT-funded university transportation center which was headquartered at TREC from 2012–2024.

Learn more about our transportation research and education programs.

Our History at Portland State University

In 1966, Dr. Walter H. Kramer founded the first transportation studies center in the Department of Marketing. Since then our transportation faculty and staff expertise has grown to worldwide recognition and expanded to include the multitude of disciplines that inform transportation decision-making: planning, engineering, economics, design, psychology, information technology and more. After decades of investment in PSU's transportation studies, our faculty and staff expertise earned PSU a USDOT-funded a regional university transportation center (UTC) from 2006 - 2024. Our center and staff have grown far beyond the initial UTC grants, and now encompass a wide variety of programs. Our researchers do work locally with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the Oregon DOT, Metro, TriMet, and other agencies; as well as being tapped to take on national projects. 

As Oregon's only urban public global research university, Portland State University offers tremendous opportunity to nearly 28,000 students from all backgrounds. Our mission to "Let Knowledge Serve the City" reflects our dedication to finding creative, sustainable solutions to local and global problems. 

The Ann Niles Active Transportation Lecture, first established by an endowment from Ann Niles in 2011, is a unique opportunity to bring world-class thinkers on pedestrian and bicycle issues to PSU and our local community. The annual lecture serves as a legacy to Ann Niles who was a strong advocate for livable neighborhoods and safer pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and served on many transportation-focused boards and committees in Portland. The Ann Niles speakers offer a fresh perspective and driving passion for safe, healthy, and sustainable active transportation. By promoting dialogue across disciplines and interests, this lecture series supports PSU's mission to "let knowledge serve the city."

Since 2007, IBPI has supported the next generation of bicycle and pedestrian professionals through two scholarships for PSU students who go above and beyond to advance active transportation design, programs, and community engagement practices: IBPI Active Transportation Scholarship and the IBPI Excellence in Active Transportation. All 34 of our past IBPI scholars have professions in active transportation, building the healthy, safe, and active future that we want to see.

The Innovation in Active Transportation Endowed Scholarship was begun through the generous donation of a local philanthropist and several local firms, and you can help us fund the future of active transportation with your donation!

We support people at every stage in their transportation education pursuits. Through our PSU faculty, partners, and TREC program staff we offer skills and knowledge for a career-ready transportation workforce and community partnerships.

Lifelong Learning

We host in-person and online events, largely free to the public, to educate current transportation professionals and community members:

• Professional development events: Since 2000 we have invited the public to join us at PSU for our Friday Transportation Seminar series featuring local and visiting transportation experts. We also host monthly webinars on research from our U.S. DOT funded NITC program, a transportation data webinar series, bicycle and pedestrian design training, annual summit, workshops, and active transportation lecture series.
• PSU Graduate Certificate in Transportation: Through the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science and College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State offers a 21 credit transportation graduate certificate program.
• Portland Traffic and Transportation Class at PSU: Designed for community members seeking empowerment in transportation concepts and language to better advocate for the change they want to see. Held in partnership between PSU and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) since 1991, this fall class is open to PSU students as well as for free for the general public.

University Students

Our students conduct cutting-edge research under the guidance of the world’s foremost transportation research faculty in planning and engineering. With an emphasis on learning by doing, students work on real transportation system projects with partners in our community. These partnerships lead to internships and rewarding careers after graduation. 

Outside of the classroom, we also support programming and funding for the STEP transportation student group, annual scholarships, and our summer TURF undergraduate research program. Learn more about studying transportation at PSU.

K-12 Students

Sparking an interest in transportation can start early, and we are always looking for ways to engage students in transportation before they reach college. Through nationally-funded research, we support new STEM curriculum and programs that introduce middle- and high-school students to transportation concepts and careers. We're best known for our annual summer transportation camp offered for free to Oregon high schoolers. Learn more about the summer camp.

Better Block PSU is a partnership program between the volunteer-led group Better Block PDX and PSU - encouraging everyone to imagine what spaces could be when they are designed for people. Every year local community partners and advocates submit their project ideas to be considered for the university pathway program. These projects promote equitable placemaking, community building and empowerment, and active transportation advocacy. 

Integrated into PSU planning and engineering classes, PSU students support community members with the technical aspects of infrastructure improvements–elevating and materializing their ideas by developing plans, designs, and engineering concepts. It’s a shift from the status quo with a ground-up approach, and their transportation expertise can help community members in navigating the permit process or proposing informed solutions to the city.

The Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI) program advances active transportation research and design for professionals, educators, and university students through training, curriculum development and scholarships. 

Founded in 2007, we work closely with PSU faculty in urban studies and planning and civil engineering to conduct interdisciplinary research and integrate bicycle and pedestrian topics into our university courses and support the next generation of professionals. Our location in Portland, Oregon – a national leader in multimodal travel – provides the ideal environment to teach safe, convenient and accessible active transportation and promote a culture of walking and biking.

Data-driven policy and strategy are critical to meeting transportation goals. To that end, we’ve focused our research efforts on filling gaps in data and education. In addition to hosting transportation data webinars, we house two national data clearinghouses – PORTAL and BikePed Portal – aimed at making transportation data more easily accessible to researchers and practitioners.

PORTAL

PORTAL provides a centralized, electronic database that facilitates the collection, archiving, and sharing of transportation data and information for public agencies. The data stored in PORTAL includes 20-second granularity loop detector data from freeways in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region, arterial signal data, travel time data, weather data, incident data, VAS/VMS message data, truck volumes, transit data, and arterial signal data.

BikePed Portal

BikePed Portal, a national non-motorized count data archive, provides a centralized standard count database for public agencies, researchers, educators, and other curious members of the public to view and download bicycle and pedestrian count data. It includes automated and manual counts from across the country, and supports screenline and turning movement counts.

Matthew Cramer

Advisor: John MacArthur

LinkedIn

Matthew is master's student in Urban & Regional Planning at the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. He worked with John MacArthur and Dr. Aaron Golub to research the impact automated fare payments may have on vulnerable community members as transit agencies modernize their fare payment systems.

Minju Kim

Advisor: John MacArthur

LinkedIn

Minju Kim is a PhD student in Urban Studies from 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.

Michael McQueen

Advisor: John MacArthur

LinkedIn

Mike McQueen is a master's student who worked with John MacArthur of TREC and Kelly Clifton of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Mike is researched e-bike travel behavior and micromobility as an Eisenhower Fellow. In the past he has studied e-bike purchase incentive programs, potential positive environmental impact of e-bikes in Portland, BIKETOWN, and the demographics of zero car households.

Max Nonnamaker

Advisor: Jennifer Dill

LinkedIn

Max is a master's student in Urban & Regional Planning and Public Health. Coming from Milwaukee, WI, most of Max's previous work has been in the public health and social sectors with a focus on advocacy and community engagement. Max graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2014 with a BS in Kinesiology and a certificate in African Studies and shortly after began working as a Community Health Advisor with the Peace Corps in Madagascar from 2015 - 2017. At TREC, Max worked with Dr. Jennifer Dill and Metro/ODOT on the Region Mobility Policy Update by conducting background research on existing and new mobility measures and approaches to be recommended for implementation in the next Regional Transportation Plan update.

Nicholas Puczkowskyj

Advisor: John MacArthur

LinkedIn

Nick Puczkowskyj is an Urban Studies PhD student at the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. He worked with Prof. Dill and John MacArthur to examine the impacts of e-scooter operations on VMTs in Portland, OR. His dissertation research seeks to challenge the binary approaches to transportation research by using feminist, queer, and travel behavior theory to address the noticeable gap of transgender/genderqueer data and research in the transportation field. Nick hopes to use this research to expand and redefine inclusive transportation policy and practices. Nick's other research interests include: mobility justice, active transportation, micromobility, and transit.

Aman Singh Solanki

Advisor: Hau Hagedorn

LinkedIn

Aman is a versatile, results-driven software engineer who loves to solve real-world problems by writing software. When he is not doing that, he loves to be outdoors and hang out with friends and try new food carts. He worked as a research assistant with TREC, particularly on the BikePed Portal project. He created a filter application to help users easily view all the transportation research work in one place. He is also helping to design UI for some awesome applications being made here at TREC. To learn more, check out his portfolio.