It has been a record-breaking year in research for Portland State University, and transportation research at the university is also on a roll. As 2023 wraps up we're taking a moment to look back at all the new transportation research and education projects awarded at PSU in the past year. Browse the list of projects below, and follow the links to learn more about these and other initiatives supported by PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC).

Partnership in a Regional University Transportation Center

The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) is the Regional University Transportation Center (UTC) for Federal Region 10. As a result of a recent federal competition, Portland State University is now part of PacTrans, which is based at the University of Washington. Being a part of this center will mean that PSU will receive support for projects looking into various topics such as e-bikes and structural engineering solutions.

Funding Amount: ~$400,000 per year for PSU

PSU Team Lead: Jennifer Dill, TREC at PSU and Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning

PSU Project Leads (Year 1): David Yang, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Diane Moug, Civil & Environmental Engineering; Aaron Golub, Urban Studies & Planning; John MacArthur, TREC

Funder: U.S. Department of Transportation

New Funding for Bike and Pedestrian Data 

Project: Bike Ped Portal Year 4

Funding Amount: $103,000

Project Lead:  Tammy Lee and Basem Elazzabi, TREC at PSU

Funder: National Park Service - National Capital Region (Learn more about BikePed Portal's work with the National Park Service)

New Funding for Transportation Education and Workforce Development

Project: Sustainable Transportation Study Abroad Scholarships

Funding Amount: $20,000

Project Lead: John MacArthur

Funder: ScanDesign Foundation

Project: National Transportation Summer Institute

Funding Amount: $68,468

Project Lead: Hau Hagedorn, TREC Associate Director, and Becca Bornstein, TREC Events Coordinator

Funder: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)

Project: WSDOT Mobility Workshop

Funding Amount: $47,654 

Project Lead: Hau Hagedorn, TREC Associate Director, and Becca Bornstein, TREC Events Coordinator

Funder: Washington Department of Transportation

New Funding for Research

Project: Validation of the New Speed Zoning Method for Urban Arterials and High-Speed Roadways in Terms of Speed Compliance and Safety Outcomes

Funding Amount: $168,900

Principal Investigator: Jason Anderson, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Funder: Oregon Department of Transportation

Project: Creation of Walking and Bicycling Data Collection Toolkit and On-Call Support for the FHWA Pedestrian and Bike Program

Funding Amount: $72,000 (first phase)

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Dill, TREC at PSU and Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning

Funder: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), via ICF 

Project: Effects of Neighborhood Greenways on Active Transportation Behavior and Perceptions in Portland, Oregon

Funding Amount: $50,000

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Dill, TREC at PSU and Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning

Funder: Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), Shiga University

Project: Trends and Challenges Posed by Medium-Duty Trucks to the Operation and Safety of Oregon Highways

Funding Amount: $247,000

Principal Investigator: Miguel Figliozzi, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Transportation Technology and People (TTP) Lab

Funder: Oregon Department of Transportation

Project: E-commerce Impacts on Oregon Household Level Deliveries, Trips, and VMT

Funding Amount: $163,000

Principal Investigator: Miguel Figliozzi, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Transportation Technology and People (TTP) Lab

Funder: Oregon Department of Transportation

Project: Improving Guidance for Automated Speed Enforcement

Funding Amount: $70,000

Principal Investigator: Miguel Figliozzi, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Transportation Technology and People (TTP) Lab

Funder: Oregon Department of Transportation

Project: Equity Roadmap for American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

Funding Amount: $250,000

Principal Investigator: Aaron Golub, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at PSU

Funder: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)

Project: FORTH project through DOE (Amplified Mobility Platform) for electric car-sharing in affordable housing communities. 

Funding Amount: $130,000

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur, Sustainable Transportation Program Manager, TREC at PSU

Funder: 

Project: PeopleforBikes- Living Lab Evaluation

Funding Amount: $65,000

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur, Sustainable Transportation Program Manager, TREC at PSU

Funder: PeopleForBikes

Project: PeopleForBikes National E-bike Survey

Funding Amount: $10,000

Principal Investigator: John MacArthur, Sustainable Transportation Program Manager, TREC at PSU

Funder: PeopleForBikes

Project: Developing Guidance On Leading Pedestrian Intervals And Curb Extensions To Improve Pedestrian Safety At Signalized Intersections

Funding Amount: $90,000

PSU Team Lead: Chris Monsere, Interim Vice Provost For Faculty Success and Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Funder: Oregon Department of Transportation

Project: Guide for Addressing Encampments on State Transportation Rights-of-Way

Funding Amount: $351,000

Principal Investigator: Marisa Zapata, Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC) at PSU

Funder: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)

As we head into 2024, we're anticipating another year of progress toward a more sustainable, multimodal transportation industry – one project at a time. To get updates about these and other ongoing initiatives at TREC, sign up for our monthly newsletter!

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.

After 17 years of service to TREC, Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center, associate director Hau Hagedorn is moving on to a new position as the Community Investments Manager for Oregon Metro. We will miss her as a colleague, as a model for transportation photos (here she is on the cover of our 2022 Annual Report) and as a seemingly inexhaustible source of energy and inspiration!

During her time at TREC, Hau devoted tireless efforts to improving access to transportation and mobility for people of all ages, communities, and incomes. Her perseverance and commitment have been recognized in the form of numerous accolades and awards. In 2020, she received the CUTC-ARTBA Award for Administrative Leadership from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) and the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), and the same year she was appointed Chair of Oregon's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Earlier this year she was part of an interdisciplinary team of educators who traveled to Vietnam and Hawaii looking for new curriculum to support PSU's newly established Pacific Islander & Asian American (PIAA) Studies Program. 

Hau Hagedorn speaks at the 2011 Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) summer meeting 

In addition to managing the research program for two USDOT-funded university transportation centers based at PSU, OTREC (Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium) and NITC (National Institute for Transportation and Communities), Hau served as director of the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), which delivers research-based professional development programs to dozens of transportation professionals each year. For the past eight years, Hau has helped develop and administer annual summer camps for high school students focused on transportation. If that wasn’t enough, Hau completed a second masters degree while at PSU, in Public Administration. Her thesis project, "Policy Implications of ORS 366.514 – The Oregon Bike Bill," offered a contextual analysis of the bill and its limitations. Read BikePortland's 2022 coverage of her research.

Hau’s impact extends beyond PSU and TREC. She has been very active in the Transportation Research Board, serving on several committees, as well as serving in numerous roles related to transportation in the Portland region and Oregon including TriMet's Crash Advisory Committee, the City of Portland's Pricing Options for Equitable Mobility group, ODOT's Region 1 Area Commission on Transportation, and the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Hau could also be counted on to bring fun to our work, from Zoom holiday party Karaoke during the pandemic, to bingo networking at NITC receptions and participating in activities like a Thriller Flash Mob on the PSU campus.

See below for a quick stroll down memory lane as we wish Hau the best in her future endeavors.

Hau warms up the crowd at the 2015 Intertwine Alliance forum

Hau at the 2012 TRB Reception, with TREC's John MacArthur and Roger Lindgren of Oregon Tech conversing in the background

Jennifer Dill and Hau Hagedorn with an Elvis impersonator at a conference reception

Hau at the 2014 TRB reception with B. Starr McMullen of Oregon State University

Hau Hagedorn and Kelly Clifton on bikes (Clifton was a PSU professor and is now at the University of British Columbia)

Hau hands out socks as a trivia prize at the 2016 TRB Reception

Hau leads a group of sixth graders on a 2013 transportation tour

Left: Hau Hagedorn demonstrates a pedestrian crossing flag in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Connect with Hau 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.

Earlier this month, Portland State University’s Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (ITE-STEP) group competed in the 32nd annual Bill Kloos Traffic Bowl Competition held by Oregon ITE.

It was a tight finish against University of Washington and Oregon Tech, but the PSU student team took first place and impressed the crowd with their knowledge of signs, MUTCD, roundabouts, factors, and all things transportation. They won a $600 cash prize to support STEP activities. Because of this win, the team will now have the opportunity to compete in the 2024 ITE Western District Traffic Bowl.

Portland State University 2023 Team

• STEP Community Service Officer Phil Armand, Undergraduate Student, B.S. Civil Engineering
• STEP VP of Communications Elias Peters, Graduate Student, M.S. Civil Engineering and Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP)
• Head of STEP Committee to Fun Isa Swain, Undergraduate Student,  B.S. Civil Engineering
• STEP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Elizabeth Yates, Graduate Student, M.S. Civil Engineering

PSU Civil Engineering student Mouhamad (Moe) Taha was also a member of the team; he competed in the preliminary round and switched out with Elias Peters for the final round of competition.

In addition to this annual event, Oregon ITE also offers support through their annual Oregon ITE Scholarship, whose winners last year were PSU students Moe Taha and Chris Corral, as well as the annual Bill Kloos Scholarship, won last year by Isa Swain. Applications are typically due in Spring.

Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (STEP) is Portland State University's ITE student chapter. The chapter facilitates relationships between transportation students from different disciplines, both within PSU and with other universities, with the goal of providing the opportunities that would be support students in pursuit of academic studies and professional aspirations.

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.

This is a reprint of a news story originally published by the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science.

We are proud to congratulate Portland State University Civil & Environmental Engineering PhD student Kayla Sorenson, who has been awarded the 2023 Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Kayla is also the recipient of the 2023-2024 fellowship for Earthquake Risk Mitigation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). She has served on the EERI's Student Leadership Council since 2020, serving as co-president last year. Kayla is also involved in the EERI PSU student chapter, attending multiple outreach events aimed at strengthening the ties between the community, industry professionals, and local government officials. Additionally, she received both a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Portland State University. Her work focuses on the liquefaction susceptibility of fine-graned soils using the emerging method of microbially induced desaturation (MID). 

Liquefaction is detrimental to transportation infrastructure, and many of the oldest and most vital transportation lifelines were built on vulnerable soils. While existing mitigation methods are costly, newer techniques like MID show promise by using bacteria to release gases that stabilize the soil. Kayla's ongoing research aims to determine the necessary desaturation levels in non-plastic and low-plastic soils to effectively mitigate liquefaction risk.

Connect with Kayla on LinkedIn.

The Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program advances the transportation workforce by helping to attract the nation's brightest minds to the field of transportation, encouraging future transportation professionals to seek advanced degrees, and helping to retain top talent in the U.S. transportation industry.

Connect with Kayla at TRB 2024

She will be presenting her research on "Mitigating Liquefaction Risk for Transportation Infrastructure using Microbially Induced Desaturation" in the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program Poster Session on Tuesday, January 9.

• See past PSU recipients of scholarships on the Transportation Research and Education Center scholars page

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.

Managing the entire transportation system requires an integrated understanding of all modes. While the focus of transportation system management and operations (TSMO) has been largely focused on vehicles, understanding how the transportation system can work better for bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit can help provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation options to improve communities and economic vitality for people and businesses.

To encourage practical grounding of transportation from the different vulnerable road user perspectives, PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) held a two-day training workshop for a cohort of around 100 Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) staff members.

The two-day workshop, which featured classroom presentations as well as mobile tours on bike, foot, and public transportation, was held September 26-28 at Portland State University. Presentations on topics like Transportation System Management, Safety, and Innovative Transportation Operations Solutions were given by both professionals of WSDOT—including Statewide TSMO Development Engineer Pam Vasudeva, and Director of Transportation Operations Dongho Chang—as well as guest speakers including Peter Koonce of the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Jingtao Ma of Traffic Technology Services.

Learning objectives included: 

• Identify transportation operation practices and approaches that promote active transportation.

• Identify mobility and transportation operations strategies that are responsive to the needs of active transportation or vulnerable road users.

• Understand the role of transportation operations and their impact on active transportation. 

Various field tours on bike focused on signals and intersections, bicycle boulevards, and suburban bikeways; while walking tours showcased downtown Portland's protected bike lanes, aerial tram, and the Complete Streets retrofit of outer SE Powell Boulevard. See more photos from the event.

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.

Portland State University (PSU) researchers will create a "Research Roadmap for Institutionalizing Transportation Equity," in an attempt to identify and standardize best practices relating to social equity in transportation organizations. Led by principal investigator Aaron Golub, a professor in the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at PSU, the project is supported by a $250,000 funding contract from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). Along with PSU researchers, the project team also includes AOA (Ontiveros & Associates, LLC) and Bills Formula Consulting LL.

Read more about the project: NCHRP Project 20-123(19) Equity Research Roadmap.

WHAT WILL THE EQUITY ROADMAP DO?

All people, regardless of their background, income, or physical abilities, need access to safe, affordable, and convenient transportation options and services. State departments of transportation and their partner regional planning organizations seek to improve the equity outcomes of their decision-making practices and investments. The research roadmap will help define broad research areas and gaps for further study, along with specific research problem statements that have urgent, near-term significance.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Strategic Plan includes a goal of promoting diversity in all AASHTO activities, collaborating with traditional and nontraditional partners to support equity and social justice objectives, and ensuring that transportation policies provide safety, mobility, and access to everyone. In November 2020, the AASHTO Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution pledging to engage in the vital work of advancing racial justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Research is a key component of the AASHTO Strategic Plan. 

Many aspects of transportation equity have been studied in recent years, but additional guidance on research needs and priorities is required, as well as a synthesis of practices at state departments of transportation (DOTs). 

The research roadmap, informed by existing research and feedback from DOTs and AASHTO committees, will help identify research gaps and assist in advancing research related to equity in transportation. The project's primary goals are to:

1. provide a strategy consistent with the AASHTO Strategic Plan;
2. build upon existing research and feedback from AASHTO;
3. identify critical research gaps; and
4. prioritize research needs.

When the team has produced the research roadmap with prioritized research needs, they will share their findings with AASHTO members along with guidance on how to implement them.

THE PROJECT TEAM

TREC at Portland State University (PSU)

• Aaron Golub
• Jennifer Dill
• Nathan McNeil
• Gabriel Quiñones - Zambrana
• Amy Lubitow

AOA (Ontiveros & Associates, LLC)

• Amber Ontiveros
• Kim Stewart
• Isabelle Kennedy

Bills Formula Consulting LL

• Tierra Bills

PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) supports researchers undertaking a variety of investigations into transportation topics. TREC researchers have created other national research roadmaps in recent years, including a 2021 "Research Roadmap for the AASHTO Council on Active Transportation" funded by NCHRP and led by researchers Jennifer Dill, Chris Monsere and Nathan McNeil in partnership with Toole Design Group.

Photo by Cait McCusker

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.

Since 2011, Portland State University and the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation have offered a unique opportunity to students: a two-week study abroad course that introduces participants to cities with stellar bike cultures. In past years, classes have explored the Netherlands. This year’s class of fourteen students, led by Professor John MacArthur and supported by funding from the Scan Design Foundation, explored Denmark. See photos from the trip.

Students chose to go on the trip because they knew of the countries’ renown as excellent places to cycle and wanted to learn new strategies that they could bring back to the US. Melissa Kostelecky, a PSU student pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Transportation, was inspired to take the trip because she is on a mission to create a better world for her children. In biking, she sees “relief from the isolated, sedentary lifestyle that car dominance has,” “economic freedom,” “a way for children to roam independently of their parents and learn the navigational, time management and self-sufficiency skills they can’t get sitting in the back of a car,” and, most importantly, “the ability to someday tell [her] kids [she] refused to continue jeopardizing their future by adding more carbon dioxide to our atmosphere.” 

As Tyler Smith, a Masters in Urban & Regional Planning student, said of his expectations for the trip, “I am incredibly excited for the ways this time abroad will serve as a source of inspiration and contribute to an ethos that will guide my future career as a planner.”

And inspire, it did! Over the course of the two weeks, students traveled by using multimodal transportation, namely biking, like the locals do. Professor MacArthur commented, “Everyday riding is impactful by seeing how the Danes integrate cycling into their daily lives [and] also…how they design their neighborhoods, parks, and public places with people walking and cycling in mind.” Many students were struck by the sheer number of people biking—old and young, dressed casually and formally, and very few of them wearing helmets (though as Elese Daniel, the Engagement Manager for Red Bike, observed, some were wearing “black collars ready to inflate into airbags should they be jolted or jarred enough for protection to bubble out into action,” which students later learned is called a Hövding). They saw how the infrastructure of the city encourages citizens to bike; there was even a park in Copenhagen dedicated to teaching kids about biking laws.

Image courtesy of Courtney Shannon

Biking around Copenhagen, they also encountered a Thomas Dambo Troll—an event which they can now re-experience at home due to Scan Design Foundation's supporting the artist in bringing the trolls to the Pacific Northwest.

The presentations the students attended were educational and eye-opening as well. Elizabeth Yates, a Masters in Civil Engineering student, quoted Niels Hoé, the founder of HOE360 Consulting who gave a presentation about how he has contributed to Copenhagen’s bike culture, as saying, “Copenhageners cycle because it is the fastest and most convenient way to travel through the city.” Yates deduced that “once the car becomes an inconvenient choice, if you then take care of the bicycle user with cycle tracks, bike parking, bike maintenance stations, and integration with transit, then PRESTO! VIOLA! All the magic words, your city is full of people going about their business on a bicycle. I wouldn't believe it if I weren't here, and seeing it all around me.”

The students also heard presentations from Super Cyckelstier, Metro, the Technical University of Denmark, and more about the ins and outs of cycling in the city and how the organizations are supporting it. Smith was surprised at “how accurate the accelerometer data [from the Hövding helmets] was at picking up different road surfaces,” and Daniel was struck by “how much thought and consideration there is for bicycle parking.”

Students used everything they learned during the trip to develop improvements for Portland. Clearly inspired by their biking experiences, the students’ propositions centered around making roads more multimodal, specifically by improving the bike infrastructure. The students envisioned improvements that connected the Blumenauer Bridge to Hawthorne Bridge, the Burnside Bridge to SE Ankeny Street, and NW Nicolai Street to NW Front Avenue with safer bike lanes that oftentimes still shared the road with cars.

Blumenauer Bridge is already connected to Hawthorne Bridge, but the current bike infrastructure is unsafe. There are no bike lanes at all for about two-thirds of the route, and the main intersection on the route is convoluted and confusing (for cars as well as bikes). Students proposed to make the roads more multimodal, family-friendly, and green by including bike lanes and a roundabout as well as spaces for trees, dining, and events along the roads.

Another group came up with a way to connect the Burnside Bridge to SE Ankeny Street: by making Ankeny a safe option for pedestrians and bikers and leaving 3rd Avenue as a car-centric option. They proposed to turn two of the four car lanes on Ankeny to bike lanes with added wayfinding and other safety features.

Two groups tackled the NW Nicolai Street and NW Front Avenue connection, revealing that there is not just one way to solve these problems. Both groups proposed adding bike lanes that were distinctly separated from the road, either with paint or physical separators, and changing the bike paths across intersections. One group suggested resigning the sidewalk to be shared between bikes and pedestrians and adding a BikeTown hub. The other recommended an addition of a pocket park or traffic garden, an update to a railway crossing arm, and speed adjustments, among other safety measures.

By using their experiences from the study abroad trip, the students were able to develop ways to better Portland. When we work together, whether that be on a small scale like in group projects or a massive scale like between countries, we can find the compromise that gives everyone what they need.

The two-week study abroad, from June 25–July 9, 2023, was an extension of a spring course, Sustainable Transportation in Copenhagen & Stockholm, available as part of the civil engineering as well as urban studies & planning course catalogs. Interested in potentially studying abroad in 2024? Sign up here to be notified about future study abroad opportunities.

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.