Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Winning The Fight For Better Bus Service, Steven Higashide

PSU Transportation Seminars

The "right to the city" depends on the right to access the city, and U.S. regions are marked by profoundly unequal access. One of the clearest manifestations of this is the state of U.S. bus transit. Bus service is simple to improve and has vast potential to better people's lives, but has been constrained by the racist planning and politics that shape every American city.

How can we fulfill the promise of better buses and create abundant transit networks that expand access to opportunity? In this seminar, Higashide unpacks the elements of effective bus service – and cites examples from …

What Do People Experiencing Homelessness Need?, Marisa Zapata

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This is an opinion piece about a survey in Portland that reveals profound racial disparities even in basic answers about where people sleep.

Lake Oswego School District Population And Enrollment Forecast 2021-22 To 2030-31, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Mac Cunningham

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents the results of a demographic study conducted by the Portland State University Population Research Center (PRC) for the Lake Oswego School District (LOSD). The study includes analyses of population, housing and enrollment, and forecasts of district‐wide school enrollments for the 2021‐22 to 2030‐31 school years. Due to the unusual circumstances of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the base, or “launch” year for the forecasts is 2019‐20, not 2020‐21.

Racial Disparities In Traffic Enforcement, Mike Dolan Fliss

PSU Transportation Seminars

Law enforcement traffic stops are one of the most common entryways to the US justice system, with significant downstream impacts for both individuals and communities. Group-specific rates are typically based on jurisdiction resident populations; these rates, like many justice-system indicators, demonstrate race-ethnicity disparities. Residential-based rates implicitly assume race-ethnicity groups have equal vehicle access, equal driving volume, and that all driving occurs in resident’s jurisdictions. In contrast, surveys suggest Black non-Hispanic and Hispanic households have less access and drive less than white non-Hispanic households. Models incorporating US Census data and race-ethnicity driving factors from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey showed …

Curating Equitable Transportation, Nikotris Perkins

PSU Transportation Seminars

Getting people and goods from here to there is central to the ways we live, work, and play in the United States. The transportation networks we create as planners, engineers, geologists, contractors, consultants, advocates, and citizens involve a multitude of decisions. These decisions have great impact on who can get where, when and how; often connected to our structures of social power. This seminar connects those dots, questions our ability to make change, and calls participants to be actively involved in a transportation system that is curated for those it targets: everyone.

Webinar: Bus Stops: Access And Equity, Keith Bartholomew

TREC Webinar Series

Improving bus stops by providing shelters, seating, signage, and sidewalks is relatively inexpensive and popular among riders and local officials. Making such improvements, however, is not often a priority for U.S. transit providers because of competing demands for capital funds and a perception that amenities are not tied to measurable increases in system effectiveness or efficiency. This webinar focuses on the role that bus stops play as the point of first contact between transit agencies and their potential riders, and how the quality of that contact can influence both ridership and accessibility for riders with mobility-related disabilities. The webinar will …

At The Intersection Of Safety + Race + Transportation, Charlene Mcgee

PSU Transportation Seminars

Transportation policies at the local, regional, state and national levels have a direct impact on urban land use and development patterns. Transportation intersects with multiple areas including public health, education, climate change, physical activity, health outcomes, build environment, violence, safety, social cohesion and the wellness of communities. For the health outcomes influenced by transportation, disparities exist by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in Multnomah County. Disproportionate exposure to injury, air pollution, and noise contributes to inequitable burdens of injuries and chronic disease among race and ethnic groups. This is exacerbated by lack of access to safe places for active transportation …

Bus Stops Improvements Along Utah Corridor Increase Ridership And Ada Accessibility, Keith Bartholomew

TREC Project Briefs

A bus stop can be anything from a simple signpost stuck in the grass, to a comfortable shelter with seating and paved access to the sidewalk. For many U.S. transit agencies across the country, improving facilities at bus stops is a priority. But how much do these improvements actually affect ridership? A lot, it turns out. A new NITC study, co-funded by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and led by Keith Bartholomew of the University of Utah, found a 5.9% increase in boardings after improvements were made to a series of bus stops in Salt Lake City - compared to …

Case Studies Of Travel Demand Analysis On Transport Disadvantaged Communities, Tierra Bills

PSU Transportation Seminars

Travel Demand Models are the backbone of decision-making for public transportation infrastructure investment. Yet, critiques of these models with respect to their usefulness and performance for transport disadvantage communities are rare in the academic literature. These disadvantage communities may include (but are not limited to) low income travelers, transit dependents, un/underemployed, and the elderly. With the objective of promoting travel demand models that are better equipped for assessing transportation impacts for disadvantaged communities, this presentation highlights lessons learned from two case studies of applying travel demand analysis to understand the transportation accessibility of low income, elderly, and transit dependent communities. …

Reflection Roundtable: White Supremacy In Oregon History, Karen J. Gibson, Darrell Millner, Carmen Thompson, Adrienne Nelson

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Oregon Historical Society Panel Discussion with Dr. Karen Gibson, Dr. Darrell Millner, Dr. Carmen Thompson, and Justice Adrienne Nelson, Moderator. Reflection on Hatfield Lecture by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. October 29, 2020.

This panel reflects upon the Oregon Historical Society event two days prior, the second virtual Hatfield Lecture Series talk held October 27 that featured the one and only Henry Louis Gates, Jr., host of Finding Your Roots and author of a number of books including his latest work, Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow.

Tribal Mobility, Accessibility And Social Equity, Margo Hill

PSU Transportation Seminars

Eastern Washington University's Small Urban, Rural & Tribal Center on Mobility (SURTCOM) focuses on the mobility needs and challenges faced by tribal communities. In this presentation, SURTCOM Associate Director Margo Hill will examine the accessibility of tribal communities to basic necessities. These necessities include:

• Interstate Onramps
• Micropolitan Population Centers
• Metropolitan Population Centers
• Indian Health Service (IHS) Facilities
• Grocery Stores
• Department Stores
• Fast Food Restaurants

Destinations were chosen based on observed health disparities within the American Indian population (Jones, 2006), and the importance of accessibility to healthy foods found throughout the food desert literature.

Professor Hill will also discuss Missing and …

Dignity Infused Community Engagement In Los Angeles, Caro Vera, Kevin Ocubillo

PSU Transportation Seminars

In 2019, the LADOT Vision Zero Division launched the Vision Zero Dignity Infused Community Engagement (VZ DICE) strategy with the intent to transform the way the City engages with local communities. This planning process intentionally and holistically incorporates the viewpoints, lived experiences, and perspectives of those most impacted by a planning project and seeks to restore and atone for historic, systemic, and institutional injustices. A team of community partners, advocates, social scientists, artists, everyday residents, and technical experts came together to reach community residents in ways that reflect the local social, cultural, and racial/ethnic identity of a neighborhood. The strategy …

Biking While Black: How Planning Contributes To Unjust Policing, Jesus Barajas

PSU Transportation Seminars

Neighborhoods of color tend to be the most dangerous places for cyclists and other road users, a result in part of historic disinvestment and failure to provide basic infrastructure. Safety efforts to reduce crashes, like Vision Zero, have called for both increased investment, a qualified benefit for disenfranchised communities, and increased traffic enforcement, a response that is likely to place people of color in even greater harm based on extensively documented police injustice.

• For more about the problems of policy and planning around 'bicycling while black,' check out a Sept 9, 2020 blog post by Jesus Barajas.

To what …

Oregon's Population Estimates Program, Huda Alkitkat, Portland State University. Population Research Center

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Presentation given by Huda Alkitkat of the Population Research Center at Portland State University, in which she gives an overview of the Oregon Population Estimates Program.

Oregon 2019 American Community Survey Highlights, Charles Rynerson, Portland State University. Population Research Center

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Charles Rynerson of the Population Research Center at Portland State University discusses highlights from the Oregon 2019 American Community Survey. Topics discussed include how race can be misconstrued in data, demographic trends, poverty in Oregon, and domestic migration.

Oregon Population Forecast Program, Ethan Sharygin, Portland State University. Population Research Center

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Ethan Sharygin, the Director of the Population Research Center at Portand State University, offers an overview of the Oregon Population Forecast Program, and discusses the process by which population estimates are generated and certified.

Webinar: Economic And Business Outcomes Of Bicycle And Pedestrian Improvements, Jenny H. Liu

TREC Webinar Series

The National Street Improvements Study, conducted by PSU in conjunction with PeopleForBikes and consulting firm Bennett Midland, researched the economic effects of bicycle infrastructure on 14 corridors across six cities — Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Memphis, Minneapolis and Indianapolis. The study found that improvements such as bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure had either positive or non-significant impacts on the local economy as measured through sales and employment. In this webinar, lead researcher Jenny Liu will share the results of the investigation and the unique methodology for investigating these economic outcomes.

This webinar is based on a study funded by the …

Data Files: The Role Of Bus Stop Features In Facilitating Accessibility, Keith Batholomew, Ja Young Kim, Divya Chandrasekhar, Reid Ewing, Arlie Adkins, Samuel Jensen

TREC Datasets and Databases

These datasets support a final report published on NITC’s website “The Role of Bus Stop Features in Facilitating Accessibility”: https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1214.

The DOI for the final report is: https://dx.doi.org/10.15760/trec.254.

David Douglas School District Enrollment Forecasts 2021-22 To 2040-41, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Mac Cunningham

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents a range of three scenarios of district‐wide enrollment forecasts by grade level for the David Douglas School District (DDSD) for the 21 year period between 2019‐20 and 2040‐41. Each enrollment forecast scenario is related to population forecasts that incorporate different assumptions about growth within the District, with the primary differences being the contribution of net migration to the District’s population and age distribution. Individual school forecasts consistent with the middle series are also presented for the 21 year period.

Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled, Encouraging Walk Trips, And Facilitating Efficient Trip Chains Through Polycentric Development, Reid Ewing, Keunhyun Park, Sadegh Sabouri, Torrey Lyons, Keuntae Kim, Dong-Ah Choi, Katherine Daly, Roya Etminani Ghasrodashti

TREC Final Reports

Compact development can result in many benefits for communities and residents. Areas can connect compact developments through high-quality transportation options, creating a network of centers, or a “polycentric” region. This development pattern is very popular in Europe and is linked to significant benefits. Salt Lake County has organically developed several small centers, and with the right strategies could continue to fuel this kind of growth. The metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the region, the Wasatch Front Regional Council, has been planning for polycentric development since the Wasatch Choice for 2040 Vision was released in 2010. Our research is aimed at …

Regional Transportation Goals: Reducing Sprawl Through Interconnected Centers, Reid Ewing

TREC Project Briefs

A “polycentric” region is a network of compact developments (centers) that are connected with each other through high-quality transportation options. As the antidote to sprawling suburbs, compact centers can encourage all the things that sprawl discourages: public health, environmental sustainability, social cohesion, and economic diversity. But how can metropolitan planning organizations ensure that their regional plans will actually meet these goals? Polycentric development has been advocated by urban and transportation planners for more than a decade. However, effective practice must be backed by solid research, and to date there has been little or no research that quantifies the transportation benefits …

The Role Of Bus Stop Features In Facilitating Accessibility, Keith Bartholomew, Ja Young Kim, Divya Chandrasekhar, Reid Ewing, Arlie Adkins, Samuel Jensen

TREC Final Reports

Although transit decision-makers and riders generally favor improving bus stops by adding shelters, benches, and similar features, it is unclear the impact such features have on transit demand and there has been little research that measures these impacts. This study examines the link between stop improvements and changes in stop-level boardings on scheduled-service buses and in ADA paratransit demand in the Salt Lake City, UT, metropolitan area between 2014 and 2017. The study also investigates current bus stop improvement practices of leading transit agencies nationwide. The study uses a number of quantitative and qualitative techniques, including propensity score matching, propensity …

Webinar: A National Scan Of Bike Share Equity Programs: Best Practices And Lessons Learned, Nathan Mcneil, John Macarthur, Adriel Thornton

TREC Webinar Series

Connecting with cities and bike share operators from across the United States, Portland State University conducted a nationwide scan on what programs and initiatives were running to address equity in bike share. The report “National Scan of Bike Share Equity Programs” documents responses from over 70 bike share systems. This resource will help cities and operators navigate the range of actions that have been implemented to make bike share systems more equitable, examine successful strategies employed across the U.S., and understand how those successes (and challenges) are being measured and articulated. In doing so, we hope the report helps bike …

Comparing The Promise And Reality Of E-Scooters: A Critical Assessment Of Equity Improvements And Mode-Shift, Michael Glenn Mcqueen

Dissertations and Theses

In just three years, e-scooters have substantially disrupted and altered the urban mobility landscape. Throughout this period, they have been commonly touted as part of a larger micromobility solution that promises to erase equity barriers and solve the first-mile/last-mile problem. However, few studies in the nascent e-scooter literature have considered these claims. In this study, we surveyed students at Portland State University (n = 1,968) about the role that e-scooters, among other modes, played in meeting their general and university-related travel needs. We then estimated models that incorporated demographics, travel behavior, and latent attitudes distilled using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). …

Urban Transportation System Flood Vulnerability Assessment With Special Reference To Low Income And Minority Neighborhoods, Courtney Crosson, Daoqin Tong, Yinan Zhang

TREC Final Reports

A flood vulnerability assessment of the City of Tucson, Arizona’s transportation systems was conducted with special reference to low-income and minority neighborhoods. Short-term flooding from extreme storm events pose a serious challenge to transportation system reliability and emergency response in cities across the United States. This problem, which is anticipated to grow over the next century due to climate change, is often hardest on vulnerable populations, including low-income and minority neighborhoods. Our work aimed to advance national research methods for assessing multi-modal transportation degradation due to flooding. We identified priority locations for Tucson to make transportation improvement investments for the …

The Potential Of Green Infrastructure In Mitigating Flood Impacts On The Mobility Of Low Income And Minority Neighborhoods, Courtney Crosson, Yinan Zhang, Daoqin Tong

TREC Project Briefs

Short-term flooding from extreme storm events poses a serious transportation challenge in U.S. cities. This problem—which is anticipated to grow over the next century with our global climate crisis—is often hardest on vulnerable populations, including low-income and minority neighborhoods. This project advances national research methods for assessing flood vulnerability and prioritizing transportation improvement investments to ensure that no community is left stranded when the next flood occurs.

Housing And Food Insecurity At Portland State University, Greg Townley, Katricia Stewart, Jacen Greene, Marta Pettini

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This report presents findings from Portland State University’s first housing and food insecurity survey of students and employees. It was conducted by The Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC), a center formed to help address homelessness and its negative impact on individuals, families, and communities, with an emphasis on communities of color. Reducing homelessness in the PSU community was one of the foundational goals of the center, and this survey is an important step in that work.

This report examines the rates of housing insecurity, homelessness, and food insecurity among students and employees disaggregated by race and additional factors to …

New Government For Today's Portland Part Ii: Rethinking How We Vote, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Will Automated Vehicles Cut Parking Revenue? Not Overnight, But Cities Should Plan Ahead, Benjamin Y. Clark, Anne Brown

TREC Project Briefs

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will challenge cities in ways that are difficult to fully predict, yet critical to address. A particular challenge is the potential for AVs to upset municipal budgets, as they upend traditional auto-related funding streams like vehicle registration fees and parking revenues. To prepare for this uncertain future, cities should practice scenario planning to understand revenue implications and identify alternative solutions

What Makes Cents? How Uber Shapes Municipal On-Street Parking Revenue, Anne Brown, Benjamin Y. Clark

TREC Final Reports

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will challenge cities in many ways that are critical to address before widescale adoption. In particular, AVs may upset municipal budgets as they upend traditional auto-related funding streams like registration fees and parking revenues. This research begins to quantify the potential financial impacts of AVs by analyzing current associations between transportation network company (TNC) trips—often viewed as a precursor of AVs—and parking revenue. This report uses TNCs as a proxy for future AV travel to examine the connections between trip-making and on-street parking occupancy and revenue. Specifically, we use Uber trip data along with built environment and …