Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

A Capping Case Study: Integrating Freight Rail Into A Community Setting, Jeff Schnabel, Tristan Brasseur

TREC Final Reports

This investigation seeks to explore specific design solutions that could potentially enhance the capabilities of heavy rail facilities while increasing their safety and reducing their environmental and community impacts.

Using Portland's Brooklyn Rail Yard as the study site, this case study explored the potential of structural platforms (caps) built above the existing rail yards to provide development space for expanding rail capacity and rail related activities. The potential for capping to reduce /eliminate conflicts between rail and non-rail uses will also be investigated. Finally, the various designs were presented for caps at the rail yard.

Capping projects (the development of …

Design Of A Dynamic Activity Travel Modeling System For Metro, John Gliebe

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Trip-based models are no longer adequate for some of the more complex questions. They fail to account for time of day sensitivity, dynamic congestion effects, variable pricing and tolls, and the reliability of both highways and transit. Existing activity/tour-based models lack the enhanced temporal element provided by a more dynamic, activity-based microsimulation. DASH is the next-generation model being developed by the Metro Research Center.

2010 Transit Oriented Developments Survey, Jennifer Dill

TREC Final Reports

This report presents results from surveys of residents at several transit-oriented developments (TODs) in Portland, Gresham, Hillsboro, and Happy Valley. The research complements survey work done in 2005 at sites near three MAX stations in Hillsboro and Beaverton (west of downtown) and the Merrick apartments near the Convention Center in Portland, and in 2007 at 11 sites in the eastside of Portland and Gresham.

Value Of Travel-Time Reliability: Commuters’ Route-Choice Behavior In The Twin Cities, Carlos Carrion-Madera, David Levinson, Kathleen Harder, Miguel A. Figliozzi

TREC Final Reports

Travel-time variability is a noteworthy factor in network performance. It measures the temporal uncertainty experienced by users in their movement between any two nodes in a network. The importance of the time variance depends on the penalties incurred by the users. In road networks, travelers consider the existence of this journey uncertainty in their selection of routes. This choice process takes into account travel-time variability and other characteristics of the travelers and the road network. In this complex behavioral response, a feasible decision is spawned based on not only the amalgamation of attributes, but also on the experience travelers incurred …

Green And Economic Fleet Replacement Modeling: Part I, David S. Kim, Miguel A. Figliozzi, J. David Porter

TREC Final Reports

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how equipment replacement decisions are supported with data collection and quantitative models at state DOTs, and to determine if models found in the research literature offer any better decision support when applied to realistic fleet usage and cost data. This study also addressed the current state of equipment replacement at state DOTs with respect to using measurable “green” criteria in replacement decisions, and the development of new quantitative replacement models utilizing such criteria. The responses from 25 state DOTs indicates that there is little consistency in the criteria …

Combined Seismic Plus Live Load Analysis Of Highway Bridges, Michael H. Scott, Minjie Zhu

TREC Final Reports

The combination of seismic and vehicle live loadings on bridges is an important design consideration. There are well-established design provisions for how the individual loadings affect bridge response: structural components that carry vertical live loads are designed to remain well within the linear-elastic range while lateral load carrying components are designed to yield under large seismic excitations. The weight of the bridge superstructure is taken in to account as dead load in structural analysis for seismic loads; however, the effects of additional mass and damping of live loads on the bridge deck are neglected. To improve the design of highway …

Periodic Atlas Of The Metroscape: Seeing The Past In The Present - A Snapshot Of The Relationship Between Urban Growth And Transportation, Meg Merrick

Metroscape

With this edition of the periodic atlas, we explore the waves of growth and changes in urban form that have occurred over the last century in Metro's tri-county region using historic maps and the year-built information provided by Metro's Regional Land Information System (RLIS) for tax lots.

Evaluation Of Transportation Microenvironments Through Assessment Of Cyclysts' Exposure To Traffic-Related Particulate Matter, Linda A. George, Miguel A. Figliozzi, Christopher M. Monsere, Christine M. Kendrick, Alexander Y. Bigazzi, Adam Moore

TREC Final Reports

It is well established that vehicles powered by carbon-based fuels (e.g. gasoline, diesel) have a negative impact on air quality, especially in urban centers. Traditionally, air quality conformity studies analyze the macroenvironmental impact of transportation corridors, as they relate to regional air quality management concerns. Urban residents spend a considerable amount of outdoor time in transportation microenvironments as pedestrians, bicycle commuters, people waiting to use public transport, residents and workers situated along roadways, and commuters within vehicles. An emerging area of research has shown that human health impacts within transport microenvironments can be considerable, but have not been well-characterized. As …

Safety Evaluation Of Curve Warning Speed Signs, Karen K. Dixon, Raul Eduardo Avelar, Ida Schalkwyk

TREC Final Reports

This report presents a review of a research effort to evaluate the safety implications of advisory speeds at horizontal curve locations on Oregon rural two-lane highways. The primary goals of this research effort were to characterize driving operations at rural two-lane highway curve locations where advisory speed signs were present, and to determine to what extent these signs play a role in enhancing safety. Placement of advisory speed signs at horizontal curve locations in the State of Oregon is a practice aided by unique and specific state-level policies and, as such, may vary from nationally accepted procedures. Speed data was …

Providing Capacity In Rural Communities: Planning For Alternative Transportation, Megan Smith

TREC Final Reports

This technology transfer proposal linked service learning with rural multimodal transportation planning through a collaborative partnership between University of Oregon (UO) experiential learning programs and three rural Oregon communities. As this planning and technical support to rural communities occurred, lessons learned were gathered and will support future servicelearning projects focused on transportation planning. The primary products for this project are the: (1) Completion of multimodal transportation planning projects that increase rural community capacity; and (2) a website with resources for communities, faculty and students. Three further outcomes were: (1) Increased capacity for transportation planning in rural communities; (2) Increased capacity …

Overlooked Density: Re-Thinking Transportation Options In Suburbia, Phase Ii, Nico Larco

TREC Final Reports

Comprising over 9 million units in this country, suburban multifamily housing is a widespread and overlooked example of density located within walking distance to commercial development in suburbia. This report focuses on resident demographics, attitudes, and perceptions as they relate to mode choice in 14 suburban multifamily sites in Eugene, Oregon. Through site analysis and resident surveys, our study shows that site design and connectivity is a significant predictor of resident mode choice. Residents of more-connected developments walk and bike to their local commercial area for more than 40% of their trips, nearly twice the rate of residents of less-connected …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …