Since 2016, the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University has hosted a free transportation summer camp for high school students. Isa Swain, an incoming sophomore in civil engineering at Portland State University, exemplifies why TREC engages in K-12 education: students' interest in transportation doesn't have to wait until the university. After attending the summer camp in 2020, Swain came to PSU to study civil engineering last year and is now on track to become a transportation professional. She also served as a camp counselor for this year's cohort of students. We interviewed Isa to get her perspective on the PSU summer camp and what it offers to students.

ABOUT THE CAMP

The 2023 transportation summer camp was held last month, with activities including bike tours, a jet boat tour, an exploration of the inside of a couple of Portland's bridges, a bridge-building contest, and of course the presentation of students' final projects to friends and family. Guest instructors shared their expertise and career insights with students, coming from local organizations including PSU, the City of Portland, The Street Trust, the Oregon Department of Transportation, Cycle Oregon, and Alta Planning + Design. 

Free for students to attend, the camp is supported through the Federal Highway Administration's National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) program as well as funding from the Oregon Department of Transportation. One goal of the program is to attract more students into the transportation industry, particularly those from groups traditionally underrepresented in the transportation workforce, including women and students of color.

As a high school junior, Isa Swain attended the virtual version of the camp in 2020. This year, she was one of several counselors for the traditional in-person version.

INTERVIEW WITH ISA SWAIN

Did being a part of the summer transportation camp impact your decision on what to study? 

Yes! I'm pretty set on a transportation career trajectory. And what's interesting is before I attended the camp, I wasn't very interested in transportation. I like biking and walking, but it wasn't in the front of my mind. And when I went, it opened my eyes to a new way to see the world. I feel like that was the moment, along with other things; I was reading books and watching Youtube videos and stuff. And I think all of that combined just made it so that whenever I was outside, I was thinking about transportation. 

What value did you get from participating in the camp as a student?

My participation in the camp when I was a high school student opened up my eyes to social justice and equity issues within transportation systems in my own neighborhood. I had never really thought about how social justice issues could show up in infrastructure until the camp. I remember we talked about the I-5 corridor, and how it was built through Black neighborhoods, and learned about redlining and all that stuff. And then, going into my community I started noticing how areas with more residents that were Black and brown, had worse sidewalks or things like that. I remember realizing that, where I live, there's only one grocery store nearby, and it can only easily be accessed by car. And so I see a lot of people who are walking or biking on the poorly maintained sidewalks nearby, and it's not ideal for them. I've just started noticing it more and more. Once you learn about it, it's a very tangible thing.

What value did you get from participating in the camp as a counselor?

As a counselor, it made me realize how many kids who are younger than me are interested in transportation. Because when I went into the camp, I wasn't interested in transportation, and then the camp made me interested in transportation. So, seeing how many campers going into it are already interested in transportation kind of gives me hope for the future of walkability and bikeability. So that was really cool for me to see. I've always really liked the creativity of middle schoolers and high schoolers and their energy. I had been a camp counselor for multiple summers in high school, supervising middle school students in a robotics camp and an environmental camp. I feel like just being around them, their enthusiasm rubs off on me a little bit, and inspires me to follow my passions with that same energy.

Having participated in both versions, what would you say are the tradeoffs between in-person and virtual summer camp?

The biggest difference is how much the campers got to interact with each other. Like, I remember the online version. It was mostly attending speaker events and breakout rooms and stuff. Even though we did have those breakout rooms, I don't really remember the people that I talked with, except for some counselors. So there definitely wasn't as much opportunity for connections between campers. In the in-person one, it felt like everybody became best friends. Or at least everybody found somebody to connect with and become friends with, and a lot of them shared social media with each other afterwards, and said that they want to keep in touch. So that's what I thought was the biggest difference.

I will say there were some pros to the virtual version. It was a little sad that I didn't get to go to Portland and experience Portland's transportation systems. But for me having it online gave me the opportunity to go into my own neighborhood. And that was what was really impactful for me. It was super well planned out, and they had a lot of speakers—maybe more speakers than we could have in an in-person session. And being able to get out into my own neighborhood, and see how these transportation systems impact where I live, allowed me to start seeing transportation issues wherever I'm walking or biking.

What do you hope to accomplish in your future career?

I just want to see the communities that I live in become more accessible for pedestrians, for people who use different micromobility options, for people who use public transportation. I want to help reduce reliance on cars, because I think it's harmful in so many different ways.

Connect with Isa on LinkedIn.

Check out a Flickr album of photos from the 2023 camp, or see photo collections from past years. Learn more about the Summer Transportation Camp and the high school curriculum we have developed through it, and check out our other K-12 education programs here.

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 recent years, there has been an increase in the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the United States. People who are in this situation have nowhere to go at night or during bad weather, except places not designed for humans to sleep: like a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or rest area. Because airports tend to have amenities like public bathrooms and sheltered rest areas, many airports are struggling to respond to the rise in homelessness. A new report from the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), Strategies to Address Homelessness at Airports, explains what airports, specifically, can do to mitigate the impacts of this crisis. Researchers at TREC worked with PSU's Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC) on the project, led by the Cadmus Group.

Research at the Intersection of Transportation and Homelessness

Meeting the needs of unhoused individuals is not core to the mission of airports, and airport operators often do not have specialized expertise to address these needs. Yet, airport staff have in fact needed to address homelessness at their airports despite a lack of expertise and adequate resources. This project arose out of a need for practical guidance to help airport personnel deal with the current situation being experienced around the country. The research was funded by the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), a division of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), which is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

PSU researchers Marisa Zapata, John MacArthur, Anna Rockhill and Jacen Greene were part of a multidisciplinary team led by the Cadmus Group to develop guidance for airports to support people experiencing homelessness, while also ensuring the safety and security of airport operations. Zapata and Greene are co-founders of PSU's Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC), and Rockhill is a Senior Research Associate at PSU's Regional Research Institute (part of the School of Social Work). MacArthur is the Sustainable Transportation Program Manager for PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (HRAC). MacArthur and Zapata have partnered on other projects at the nexus of transportation and homelessness, including research centered around public transit.

In general, people experiencing homelessness seek shelter in airports because the facilities are relatively safe due to the presence of other people and security personnel, the buildings are climate controlled, there is often easy access to public transit, and a variety of facilities such as public restrooms, internet, electricity, and water are available. Airports report that they observe an increase in individuals seeking indoor shelter in extreme weather conditions. 

Without broader societal solutions to address homelessness, it remains likely that people experiencing homelessness will continue to seek shelter in airports.

How Should Airports Respond?

Measures such as closing the airport during late hours of the night, preventing access to certain areas, and closing amenities can be effective at reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness at airports—in some situations and locations—but they also adversely affect the traveling public’s customer experience. Moreover, these actions can harm people experiencing homelessness by forcing them to shelter in a less safe place. Punitive measures (such as arrests, citations, and banning individuals from facilities) have been demonstrated to be futile in addressing homelessness. More recently, airports have recognized that to implement effective change, multiple constructive solutions—such as hiring dedicated personnel and engaging in long-term partnerships with service providers—must be considered. 

After investigating the demographics of people experiencing homelessness at airports, how airport facilities were being used, and contextual factors like airport size, transit access, local climate, and existing outreach programs, the project team established a set of guiding principles for responding to this complex issue. Having these principles clearly defined is helpful in situations where staff are using their judgment or making subjective determinations in gray areas between defined airport policies and protocols.

Guiding Principles

Safety For All – Safety needs to be prioritized across all groups: travelers, employees, operators, tenants, and the public, including people who experience homelessness.

Do No Harm – Airports should invest in crisis management and harm reduction training

for public safety officers, first responders, operations staff, and other outreach and engagement employees. Training needs to be human-centered and should address how bias can affect people’s treatment of individuals experiencing homelessness.

Balanced and Appropriate Response – Airports should focus on effective, sustainable strategies that produce co-benefits (for example, improved customer experience, tenant and staff morale, and airport safety) and use resources efficiently, such as procedures for engagement, nonpunitive measures, and connection to services.

Partnerships Are Key – Airports cannot solve homelessness, nor are they social service providers, but they can be active participants in connecting individuals in need to aid and resources, and they can act as regional advocates for truly sustainable solutions, such as access to affordable housing and provision of services.

With these guiding principles as the basis, researchers developed a Strategic Action Plan that airports can use to initiate or enhance a program to address homelessness.

Strategic Action Plan: Eight Strategies

1. Learning the Fundamentals
2. Assessing Current Conditions
3. Identifying and Working with Partners
4. Planning a Response
5. Outlining Staff and Stakeholder Responsibilities
6. Developing and Implementing a Training Program
7. Developing an Engagement Protocol
8. Tracking Progress

For each of the eight strategies, the final report includes detailed context, relevant tools and resources, an introduction to the stakeholders involved, and specific actions to consider.

The application of this strategic action plan is intended to be flexible and based on what is most useful to the airport. No matter how airports choose to use the strategic action plan, it is important to remember that homelessness is an evolving and complex issue. Best practices and available resources in response to homelessness can change over time. Therefore, airports should build flexibility into their programs so they do not remain static and can adapt to regional and local context-specific conditions.

For more details, read the final report: Strategies to Address Homelessness at Airports.

The full research team consisted of Damon Fordham of High Street Consulting; Juliana Urrego, Mia Stephens, Carrie Miller and Bridget Smith of the Cadmus Group LLC; Marisa Zapata, John MacArthur, Anna Rockhill and Jacen Greene of Portland State University; Samantha Batko, Lynden Bond and Abigail Williams of the Urban Institute, Mark Crosby, and Dennis Culhane of the University of Pennsylvania.

Photo by Geetarism/iStock

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.

As a social determinant of health, transportation significantly contributes to people's well-being. Walkable, bikable, transit-oriented communities are associated with healthier populations. People in such communities are more physically active, less likely to be injured due to a crash, and less exposed to air pollution.

Because of these and other factors, researchers and practitioners have called for health indicators as one way to integrate public health concerns into transportation decision-making. However, it is unclear how indicators are actually being used and what their impact is on policy.

Research conducted by Kelly Rodgers, a National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) Dissertation Fellow, explored how health-related indicators are being used in municipal transportation plans, whether they are institutionalized into transportation agency decision-making processes, and what influence they have on administrative decision-making.

"I have for some time been working at the intersection of health and transportation, and was interested in how health could be better integrated into transportation decision making. And I have also previously done work on performance measures. And so I kind of combined those two things, to see if health-related indicators were a way of getting transportation agencies to consider health in transportation planning," Rodgers said.

THE RESEARCH

Rodgers conducted case studies of five cities: Boston, Denver, Indianapolis, Memphis and Seattle. The cities were selected because they all have a population size between 600,000 and 900,000, and have diverse characteristics of population density, median household income, race and ethnicity, and geographic location. She interviewed city planning, transportation, and public works staff as well as people working at other agencies, such as metropolitan planning organizations and nonprofits, to find out exactly how health indicators were being used.

The final report includes an overview of various different types of health indicators, performance measures, and the metrics associated with them. Interviews from the case studies delve into how their use was integrated into transportation processes, agency routines, and administrative decision-making.

Rodgers found that the decision to use health indicators can come from various places, including elected officials, departmental staff, and nonprofits or advocates. Their use could also be impacted by financial and technical resources, elected or departmental leadership, departmental culture and routines, and reporting requirements. However, just because an agency is using health indicators, doesn't necessarily mean that they are influencing the decisions that are being made. Rodgers found that organizational factors were more important than indicator factors for influencing administrative decision-making, including the institutionalization of indicators over time.

"It's not the indicator that's important. I've had a lot of people curious about this work who want to know which are the best indicators to use and what's my favorite indicator. That matters to a degree, but it's not the main thing. You need to make sure you've got the organizational structure and support to actually implement it," Rodgers said.

Rodgers presented the results of her doctoral research in a Portland State University Transportation Seminar on April 20, 2023. To learn more, watch the recording or download the presentation slides from that seminar, or download the final report.

ABOUT THE RESEARCHER

Kelly Rodgers, PhD, MLA, LEED-AP, is the owner and principal of Streetsmart Planning, LLC, a consultancy dedicated to integrating climate, health, and equity into transportation planning. Kelly is chair of the ITE Standing Committee on Health and Transportation and serves on the steering committee of Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership (PHEAL), leading its community of practice effort. She is also a member of the Transportation Research Board Committee on Transportation and Public Health (AME70) and is a co-founder of the American Planning Association's Health Equity and Planning Interest Group.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The use and influence of health indicators in transportation decision-making

Kelly Rodgers, Portland State University

• Download the full report (PDF)
• Watch the April 2023 seminar presentation

This research was funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC).

Photo by Canetti/iStock

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.