Digital Commons Network^™

Wireless Data Collection System For Real-Time Arterial Travel Time Estimates, David S. Kim, J. David Porter, Mario E. Magana, Sejoon Park, Amirali Saeedi

TREC Final Reports

This project pursued several objectives conducive to the implementation and testing of a Bluetooth (BT) based system to collect travel time data, including the deployment of a BT-based travel time data collection system to perform comprehensive testing on all the components. Two different BT-based travel time data collection systems were installed. The first system, composed of two DCUs, was installed on a corridor located in Salem, OR. Extensive testing was done on this system, including the collection of travel time samples. A second system composed of five DCUs was installed along 99W in the city of Tigard, OR. Very limited …

Interview With Jim Middaugh, Metro, 2011 (Audio), Jim Middaugh

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Jim Middaugh by Teddy Messan on February 25th, 2011.

The interview index is available for download.

Exploratory Methods For Truck Re-Identification In A Statewide Network Based On Axle Weight And Axle Spacing Data To Enhance Freight Metrics, Christopher M. Monsere, Mecit Cetin, Andrew Nichols

TREC Final Reports

The main objective of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of re-identifying commercial trucks based on vehicle-attribute data automatically collected by sensors installed at traffic data collection stations. To support this work, archived data from weigh-in-motion (WIM) stations in Oregon are used for developing, calibrating, and testing vehicle re-identification algorithms. The vehicle re-identification methods developed in this research consist of two main stages. In the first stage, each vehicle from the downstream station is matched to the most “similar” upstream vehicle by using a Bayesian model. In the second stage, several methods are introduced to screen out those vehicles …

Assessment And Refinement Of Real-Time Travel Time Algorithms For Use In Practice, Phase Ii, Kristin A. Tufte, Soyoung Ahn, Sirisha Murthy Kothuri

TREC Final Reports

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has put a high priority on the use of existing dynamic message signs (DMS) to provide travel time estimates to the public. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has three DMS in the Portland metropolitan area configured to display travel time information. In the near future, ODOT would like to make travel time estimates available on additional DMS, over the Internet on tripcheck.com and via 511. Travel time estimates are valuable to the traveling public; however, the estimates must be accurate to be useful. The purpose of this study is to extend prior travel time …

Information Disclosure And Environmental Performance, Mark Stephan

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Scholars and policymakers increasingly argue that information disclosure programs such as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) should be used to supplement conventional environmental regulation. Yet we lack a clear understanding of how such programs work as well as the empirical data to confirm their success in achieving environmental quality objectives. To better understand the impacts of environmental information disclosure on corporate decision making, this paper develops an analytic framework drawn from theories of risk perception and communication, individual and corporate decision making, and social capital. I examine the importance of the TRI for facility level behavior through an analysis of …

Evaluation Of Innovative Bicycle Facilities: Sw Broadway Cycle Track And Sw Stark/Oak Street Buffered Bike Lanes, Christopher Michael Monsere, Nathan Mcneil, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two innovative bicycle facilities installed in late summer and early fall 2009 in downtown Portland by the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) were evaluated to understand how they are functioning on multiple levels. All of these facilities involved removing a motor vehicle lane by restriping to provide additional roadway space to bicyclists. The facilities include:

• A cycle track (a seven-foot bike lane separated from motor vehicle traffic by a row of parked cars and a painted three-foot pedestrian buffer), on SW Broadway from SW Clay to SW Jackson through the Portland State University campus, and
• A couplet of …

Town Center Vision, Caroline Chapman, Jacqueline Gruber, Neil Riordan

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

In December 2010, City Council passed Resolution 2261 which directed the City’s Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI) to prepare a more formal action plan for smart growth and sustainability. Emerald Solutions, a team of Portland State Master’s students, was tasked with furthering these efforts by completing a Sustainability and Smart Growth Pilot Plan for the Town Center Pilot Area (TCPA). The plan works to develop a complete concept, structure, and community outreach process that will guide the City in the creation of a broader, citywide plan. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sumner Sharpe and Ellen Bassett.

Olde Towne St Helens Historic Design Guidelines, Sadie Carney, Caitlin Francis, Drew Meisel, Victor Sanders

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Throughout the northwest, portside communities are capitalizing on their rich cultural heritage by concentrating investment in their historic districts and waterfronts. From Astoria to Port Townsend, historic communities are benefiting from renewed economic vitality based on heritage tourism and the increased numbers of new businesses drawn to the district. As a former center of industry and manufacturing, Olde Towne St Helens boasts a rich heritage in its collection of buildings along the Strand and First Street. These structures offer a glimpse into the working-class, industrial past of the town and the era of shipbuilding and raw goods manufacturing that shaped …

Reinventing The Wheel, Amy Hesse, April Cutter, Spencer Williams, Reza Farhoodi

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Reinventing the Wheel project is the process of developing a Bicycle Refinement Plan for the City of Redmond. A group of volunteer urban & regional planning graduate students from Portland State University, known as b:spoke Planning & Design, has been charged with developing strategies to increase bicycle ridership and remove barriers to transit options in Redmond. The project is a "refinement plan", as it involves the refinement of and building upon existing City plans such as the Transportation Systems Plan (TSP), Bicycle Master Plan, and Parks & Recreation Trails Master Plan. This project was conducted under the supervision of …

Clinton Street Max Urban Vision, Darryl Abe, Allison Duncan, Sheri Fisher, Jay Higgins, Shawn Petch, Susan Rosenthal, Joel Stein, Huifu Xu

Urban Design Workshop

This document is the product of the 2011 Urban Design Workshop at Portland State University which worked to develop an urban design vision for the future Clinton Street MAX Station, part of the Portland- Milwaukie Light Rail line. This project follows two previous years of PSU workshops that investigated the urban design potential of Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail stations within the Hosford-Abernethy and Brooklyn neighborhoods in southeast Portland.

While previous efforts were broad in scope, our project specifically addresses two oversized blocks immediately adjacent to the Clinton Street Station, refered to as the Powell Triangle. The blocks are bordered by 12th …

Portland State University's Second (R)Evolution: Partnering To Anchor The Institution In Sustainable Communities, Wim Wiewel, Kevin Kecskes, Shelia A. Martin

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland State University has become internationally known for its whole-university approach to community-university engagement. Many academic leaders from around the world are now drawing on models for engagement that originated at Portland State. As the university takes stock of its successes, of changing economic conditions, and of the increasingly urgent need to focus on sustainability, the campus with its new leadership has begun to look closely at how to expand and refine the models. This paper on Portland State's Second (R)evolution provides models and ideas that show great promise of reinvigorating community-university partnerships nationally and internationally.

Amplify Pdx, Becky Bodonyi, Julia Crain, Rowan Steele, David West

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

A two-pronged process, AmplifyPDX required managing two parallel and concurrent but mutually informative processes: creation of the Community Assessment Workbook as well as implementation of the Workbook in a particular community. To develop the Workbook, Mosaic Planning Group conducted a literature review, assembled an Advisory Committee and interviewed key informants with expertise on neighborhood planning, community organizing, and the Portland metropolitan region. Finally, in order to develop a user-friendly and effective community assessment workbook, Mosaic Planning Group tested certain elements of the Workbook in the Southeast Portland neighborhoods of Brentwood-Darlington and Woodstock. This project was conducted under the supervision of …

Reimagining Weston, Nathan Emerson, Zach Gustafson, Holly Howell, Carrie Pipinich, Matthew Rohrbach

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Weston was once a prosperous city, home to pioneers, farmers, and an active downtown. Today however, Weston faces many challenges common to communities throughout rural Oregon. The key question for this small city is: How can Weston capitalize on homegrown and regional assets in order to revitalize downtown and maximize the well-being of the community as a whole? Reimagining Weston provides a blueprint for the community to answer this question. This plan is a proactive effort by Weston residents to shape the livability and prosperity of their community over the next 20 years. Reimagining Weston consists of three primary parts: …

David Hill Urban Reserve Concept Plan, Joey Shearer, Misty Schymtzik, Lisa Peffer, Ryan Michie, Lindsey Kuipers, Krissy Hostetler

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

As the City of Forest Grove continues to grow, the David Hill Urban Reserve presents opportunities to accommodate development needs for the next 20 to 50 years. While this type of growth is not expected to occur for many years, a concept plan for the area is required by Metro to guide how the area should develop.The Concept Plan for the DHUR begins to create a framework for accommodating future development in an efficient manner, sensitive to natural features, topography, and views. This plan is not intended to be a complete “concept plan” under Metro’s definition and does not meet …

Vision Zero Oregon, Marielle Brown, Nick Falbo, Brandy Steffen, Michelle Van Tijen, Ben Weber

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Vision Zero Oregon (VZO) is a street safety philosophy that aims to create streets where no one will be killed or seriously injured. Vision Zero Oregon prioritizes road safety above all else. Every life is worth more than an increase in speeds or road capacity for vehicles. Achieving Vision Zero Oregon goals will require a shift in the focus of policy, laws and enforcement, and the formation of a new relationship between residents and their streets, and revolution in the way transportation departments operate their streets. This project takes on one part of this complex topic, focusing on community interest, …

Census Data Show Regional Disparities In Educational Attainment, Michael Burnham, Jason R. Jurjevich, Neba Noyan, Charles Rynerson

Publications, Reports and Presentations

We live in the Silicon Forest, but the landscape of educational attainment in the Portland region varies greatly from east to west and north to south.

Ecolopolis 5.0: High Speed Rail In Cascadia, Portland State University

Regional Planning and Metropolitan Growth Management Research Projects

This is a working document and is the fifth report in this series. This report is the product of term-long projects conducted by graduate students from the two universities, and taught by Professor Daniel Carlson and Professor Ethan Seltzer. The courses engaged the questions of identifying the impacts, maximizing the benefits, and exploring implementation options for high speed rail development in the Cascadia corridor. Though passenger rail has long been a shared interest in the corridor, the recent U.S. initiative proposed by the Obama administration have accelerated high speed rail activity and discussions in Cascadia. The seven papers developed by …

No More Freeways: Urban Land Use-Transportation Dynamics Without Freeway Capacity Expansion, Lei Zhang, We Xu

TREC Final Reports

Observations of the various limitations of freeway capacity expansion have led to a provocative planning and policy question – What if we completely stop building additional freeway capacity. From a theoretical perspective, as a freeway transportation network matures, there exists a saturation point beyond which any additional freeway capacity would only be counterproductive from a welfare point of view, and worsen the existing urban transportation problems. Traditional benefit/cost analysis of individual freeway capacity expansion projects often ignores long-term induced demand and land use changes and does not represent a systems approach to this important theoretical issue. From a practical perspective, …

Environmental Migrants And The Future Of The Willamette Valley: A Preliminary Exploration, Alison Wicks

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

This report reviews existing data and research on predicted impacts of climate change in the Northwestern United States, and specifically focuses on the level of preparedness to accommodate new population growth due to climate migration in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Climate change impacts in Oregon are predicted to be less severe than in other areas of the country. Generally, models project warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers in the Willamette Valley and other areas west of the Cascade Range. This will likely make the Willamette Valley a more desirable place for environmentally displaced people to locate. This report considers how …

Travel Behavior, Residential Preference, And Urban Design: A Multi-Disciplinary National Analysis, Jessica Greene, Nico Larco, Yizhao Yang, Marc Schlossberg, Daniel Rodriguez, Noreen Mcdonald, Tabitha Combs

TREC Final Reports

This report summarizes the findings of a national project to examine the travel behavior, social capital, health, and lifestyle preferences of residents of neotraditional developments (NTD) compared to more standard suburban developments. We compare survey results from residents of matched pairs of neighborhoods in seventeen U.S. cities and towns, with each pair comprised of one NTD and one typical suburban neighborhood of similar size, age, and socio-demographic composition. The study addresses salient themes in the transportation, planning and health literatures: a national study, surveying populations of diverse incomes, collecting resident information on preferences for and attitudes towards neighborhood qualities, and …

Veterans In Higher Education: What Every Adviser May Want To Know, Jose Coll, Hans Oh, Craig Joyce, Lazara C. Coll

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the current influx of soldiers returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the newly revised Post-9/11 GI Bill affords veterans the opportunity to attend state colleges free of charge, which may result in a dramatic increase in enrollment of veterans in colleges across the country. However, most learning institutions are ill-equipped to accommodate the special needs of those veteran students who may experience adjustment problems when reintegrating into a civilian setting. Veterans return with a newly acquired value system shaped by military service that can create dissonance when interacting with non-military people. Moreover, veterans may suffer from complex physical …

Evaluation Of Bike Boxes At Signalized Intersections, Jennifer Dill, Christopher M. Monsere, Nathan Mcneil

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report presents a before-after study of bike boxes at 10 signalized intersections in Portland, Oregon. The bike boxes, also known as advanced stop lines or advanced stop boxes, were installed to increase visibility of cyclists and reduce conflicts between motor vehicle and cyclists, particularly in potential ?right-hook? situations. Before and after video were analyzed for seven intersections with green bike boxes, three intersections with uncolored bike boxes, and two control intersections. User perceptions were measured through surveys of cyclists passing through five of the bike box intersections and of motorists working downtown, where the boxes were concentrated. Both the …

Portland Mercado: Community Economic Development To Revitalize, Uplift, And Empower, Abigail Cermak, David Ruelas, Bridger Wineman, Ellen Wyoming

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Realizing public goals of an inclusive and vibrant society requires an advocacy approach to urban planning and economic development. Adelante Planning outlines strategies based on research and case studies to successfully implement a Mercado as an economic development and business incubation strategy for Portland’s Latino community. A Mercado is a strategic planning approach targeted toward Latino populations and other minorities, particularly in gentrifying locations of the Portland Metro region.

This project was conducted under the supervision of Ellen Bassett, Lisa Bates, Karen Gibson, Ken Pirie, and Sumner Sharpe.

Power, Knowledge, Animals, Lisa Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

Although Foucault did not address the question of the animal, he asserted the assessment of whether a new politics of truth can be constituted as "the essential political problem" (1980, p. 134). Though the "essential political problem" may be considered as it relates to the politics of truth about animals, a Foucaultian perspective does not allow a prediction in response, other than the recognition that change may occur. What is understood to be "true" about animals may change if the relationships between events that exist at a given time ("conditions") require the emergence of a different way of knowing. This …

Highway Safety Investigation Manual For The Oregon Department Of Transportation, Karen Dixon, Christopher Monsere

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Across the state, region, and nation highway safety investigators have developed a wide variety of tools and techniques for highway safety investigation procedures. Analysis techniques can range from systematic evaluation approaches such as the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT’s) Safety Priority Index System (SPIS) down to specific localized safety assessment strategies. It is important to develop consistent methods for safety evaluations across Oregon to ensure that safety investigations are conducted in a similar manner. It is also important to develop a screening process for proper highway safety investigations and document the procedures used for this assessment.

The objective of this …

Freight Distribution Problems In Congested Urban Areas: Fast And Effective Solution Procedures To Time-Dependent Vehicle Routing Problems, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Congestion is a common phenomenon in all medium to large cities of the world. Reliability of freight movement in urban areas is an important issue to manufacturing or service companies whose operation is based in just-in-time approaches. These companies tend to provide high value or time sensitive products/services. As congestion increases, carriers face increasing challenges to satisfy their time sensitive customers in an economical way. Route designs or schedules which require long computation times or ignore travel time variations will result in inefficient and suboptimal solutions. Poorly designed routes that lead freight vehicles into congested arteries and streets not only …

The Native American Community In Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile, Ann Curry-Stevens, Amanda Cross-Hemmer, Coalition Of Communities Of Color

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report is the result of three years of work of true partnership between the Native American community, the Coalition of Communities of Color and Portland State University. The Portland Indian Leaders’ Roundtable, an alliance of 28 local Native American organizations, tribal organizations and Native focused programs within larger institutions, took a lead role in the implementation of the Native American research. Elders of the community reviewed the work and provided invaluable knowledge and historical context.

Our main priority is to advocate for policy decisions that improve outcomes for the Native American community. We hold institutional reform and the formation …

The Influence Of Military Culture And Veteran Worldviews On Mental Health Treatment: Practice Implications For Combat Veteran Help-Seeking And Wellness, Eugenia Weiss, Jose E. Coll

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The influence of military cultural values consisting of unit cohesion (or the subordination of individual needs over the needs of the collective)the devotion to duty and to the mission,stoicism (emotional restraint)and the importance of adhering to the chain of command become guiding belief systems for military personnel.In fact,military culture has been recognized as a distinct sub-culture of American civilian society.