Urban Studies Commons^™

Consistent Vmt Mapping And Modeling In California: How Can We Better Assess The Vmt Impacts Of State And Local Transportation Projects?, Serena E. Alexander, Shams Tanvir, Syed Tanvir Ahmed, Annie Jones

Mineta Transportation Institute

Despite California’s ambitious target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, the state is not reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from personal vehicle travel, and per capita Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and GHG emissions continue to increase. One central challenge of climate planning facing California is the lack of consistent methods to measure the VMT impacts of transportation projects. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, this research answers the question: “What are the advantages and limitations of existing VMT calculators to determine the climate impacts of transportation projects to help meet California’s climate goals?” Research methods included: (1) a quantitative analysis …

Ev Charging At Multifamily Properties: Moving Beyond Barriers, Whit Jamieson, Anna Guida, Connor Herman

PSU Transportation Seminars

Transportation is the top contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the US and light-duty vehicles are the #1 contributor to transportation emissions. Mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is key in the fight toward a more sustainable future, but there are several factors that have delayed our transition to EVs.

EV charging at home is the most convenient and cost-effective charging option for EV drivers, but people living in multifamily housing face serious barriers to accessing home charging. During this session, we will explore why EV charging at multifamily housing is critical to mass adoption of EVs, barriers to charging …

Bike Buses: An Evaluation Of An Emerging Active Transportation To School Intervention, Evan Howington, Nathan Mcneil, John Macarthur

TREC Faculty and Staff Publications

Bike buses are a relatively new form of active transportation to school (ATS) that have primarily emerged in Europe and the United States. A form of coordinated, group bike riding along a defined route to school, bike buses are an outgrowth of Safe Routes to School interventions in North America that seek to reverse the declining rates of walking and biking to school among children. Our initial phase of research included a literature review of social and environmental factors affecting ATS in the contemporary North American context, and two convenience surveys of bike bus coordinators and parent participants. This initial …

Addressing Transportation Emissions Through State Climate And Energy Policy, Amy Schlusser

PSU Transportation Seminars

Oregon has adopted policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and transportation sectors. This presentation will provide some background on these policy frameworks and explore how these policies impact transportation fuels and the transportation sector more broadly.

Fast-Tracking Transit: Unveiling Portland's First Bus Rapid Transit Line And Signal Optimization Strategies, Mark Haines, Jesse Stemmler

PSU Transportation Seminars

This presentation on the Division Transit Project will provide an overview of the project elements including roadway design, bus station design, traffic signal timing and operations and the Next Gen Transit Signal Priority (TSP) system. We will discuss some lessons learned and provide before and after results from the project.

Let Knowledge Serve The City! A Decade Of Better Block Psu Projects, Ryan Hashagen

PSU Transportation Seminars

Better Block PSU works with Planning and Civil Engineering students to bring community ideas to life! Over the last 10 years, the pathway has resulted in many real world pop ups and capital projects implemented by volunteers and PBOT.

The Impacts Of A Multimodal Safety Project On North Lombard Street In Portland, Oregon, Jason Anderson

PSU Transportation Seminars

North Lombard Street/US-30 Bypass is a critical corridor in North Portland, serving both commercial and residential interests. This corridor is also ranked 11th in terms of fatal and serious injury crashes in Portland. The Oregon Department of Transportation and the Portland Bureau of Transportation undertook a reconfiguration to improve multimodal safety and accessibility for all users. The reconfiguration happened between North Fiske Ave and North Boston Ave. Improvements included additional curb ramps that meet ADA standards, safer crosswalks with fewer lanes to cross, buffered bike lanes, new pavement and center turn lanes, traffic signals, and RRFBs and median refuge islands. …

Transportation Decarbonization: A State Perspective, Tara Weidner

PSU Transportation Seminars

Oregon continues to be a leader in Transportation Decarbonization efforts nationally. The webinar will outline the state’s transportation GHG reduction roadmap, developed in 2012 to tackle legislatively mandated GHG reduction goals, with associated GHG targets for the state’s 8 metropolitan areas. Learn how this north star has guided our collective efforts within the state. How monitoring and new initiatives and regulations have kept us on course to these ambitious goals. And what actions remain to close the gap, both systematic changes at state and local levels, as well as individual choices by private firms and households. Actions that will both …

Understanding Travel Behavior And Accessibility For Older Adults: A Comprehensive Framework, Andy Hong, Cathy Liu, Ja Young Kim, Zihao Wen

TREC Final Reports

This study used a mixed-method design to examine travel behavior and accessibility of older adults. The research team conducted a statewide survey and focus groups to gather travel behavior data of older adults (50+) residing in Utah. The study also employed a two-step floating catchment area method, a novel spatial technique, and integrated the survey data to accurately measure travel accessibility of older adults. Using the survey data of 724 older adults as well as the focus group interviews of 18 older individuals, we found a significant dissatisfaction and vulnerability experienced by older adults with limited mobility. The distribution patterns …

Toward Equitable Micromobility: Lessons From Austin E-Scooter Sharing Program, Shunhua Bai, Junfeng Jiao

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study revealed the inequitable societal impacts of E-scooters on disadvantaged populations. The study conducted a population distribution analysis to compare the use opportunities and space intrusion burdens of E-scooter sharing on four vulnerable population groups in Austin, Texas. Nearly all minority population experienced fewer E-scooter use opportunities. Ten percent of the minority population waited for a disproportionately longer time before a disturbance could be resolved. Ten percent of the low-income population were in a disadvantaged position in high opportunities and moderate burdens. Twenty percent of the physically disabled population faced more moderate-level burdens. The result did not show significant …

Forecasting Commercial Vehicle Miles Traveled (Vmt) In Urban California Areas, Steve Chung, Jaymin Kwon, Yushin Ahn

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study investigates commercial truck vehicle miles traveled (VMT) across six diverse California counties from 2000 to 2020. The counties—Imperial, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and San Francisco—represent a broad spectrum of California’s demographics, economies, and landscapes. Using a rich dataset spanning demographics, economics, and pollution variables, we aim to understand the factors influencing commercial VMT. We first visually represent the geographic distribution of the counties, highlighting their unique characteristics. Linear regression models, particularly the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and elastic net regressions are employed to identify key predictors of total commercial VMT. LASSO regression …

Webinar: Building Capacity In Gateway Communities Through The Gnar Academy, Jordan Katcher, Elizabeth Sodja

TREC Webinar Series

Small towns and cities near national parks, public lands, and other natural amenities across the West are experiencing rapid growth and increased tourism. As we have documented via our prior NITC-funded research, this has created a range of big city challenges for these “gateway communities,” particularly in the form of interconnected transportation, land use, and housing issues. Seeking to help gateway communities better prepare for and respond to their transportation and planning challenges, the Gateway and Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) Initiative team translated the findings from our research on planning and development challenges in gateway communities into an online learning …

Wasted Space: Using Parking Lots & Vacant Land To Improve Neighborhood Completeness, Ryan Martyn

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This study conducts a spatial analysis of Portland, Oregon, focusing on leveraging underutilized areas like parking lots and vacant land—termed "wasted space"—to improve the city's completeness. Central to this investigation is the concept of a "complete neighborhood," characterized by access to daily necessities within convenient active transportation trip. This comprehensive idea encompasses walkability, equitable access to services, and sustainability.

This paper aims to redefine the concept of a complete neighborhood with precision and delve into its implications. The research looks at five regional, town, and neighborhood centers as defined by the city of Portland. These centers act as pivotal hubs …

Power To The Pedal: Assessing Barriers To Adoption Of Closed-Access Bike Share In Low-Income Communities, Jordan Del Valle Tonoian

University Honors Theses

Power to the Pedal is a fare-free, closed-access e-bike share program, operating more similarly to a lending library. The program aims to provide two low-income communities access to a reliable, low-emissions, electric assisted, active transportation option. The research conducted aimed to identify barriers faced by the community to adopting the bike sharing program. A survey and interviews conducted found that infrastructure, safety, cargo, financial ability, household structure, health, and culture all play a role when deciding when to use the program. Several recommendations are made to the program owner, operator, and other stakeholders both about improving the program directly, and …

Hillsboro: Bike And Pedestrian Implementation Recommended Strategy, Maddy Poehlein, Chris Corral, Sierra Willems, Ciara Williams, Lise Ferguson, Shane Seaman

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

This project presents a contextualized Bike and Pedestrian Implementation Strategy for the City of Hillsboro. The goal was to develop an actionable approach to expand and improve the City’s active transportation network. The strategy incorporates 23 criteria for project selection informed by existing conditions and the City’s priorities. Finally, the report culminates with a recommended implementation approach using two top scoring projects as examples.

Future Sandy: A Multimodal Transportation Plan, Afroza Hossain Misty, Anchal Erachankandy Cheruvari, Holly Querin, Katelyn Dendas, Symeon Walker

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Coming soon.

Smart Robot Design And Implementation To Assist Pedestrian Road Crossing, Hovannes Kulhandjian

Mineta Transportation Institute

This research focuses on designing and developing a smart robot to assist pedestrians with road crossings. Pedestrian safety is a major concern, as highlighted by the high annual rates of fatalities and injuries. In 2020, the United States recorded 6,516 pedestrian fatalities and approximately 55,000 injuries, with children under 16 being especially vulnerable. This project aims to address this need by offering an innovative solution that prioritizes real-time detection and intelligent decision-making at intersections. Unlike existing studies that rely on traffic light infrastructure, our approach accurately identifies both vehicles and pedestrians at intersections, creating a comprehensive safety system. Our strategy …

Streets Are For People! Livable Streets 2.0 And Five Decades Of The Conflict, Power And Promise Of Our Streets, Bruce Appleyard

PSU Transportation Seminars

Streets constitute the majority of our urban public spaces, yet we struggle everyday with how they should be designed and operated for travel, safety, and livability. In 1969, when Dr. Bruce Appleyard was 4 years old, he was hit by a car and nearly killed. Around that time his father, Donald Appleyard, started work on what would become Livable Streets, published in 1981 – a ground-breaking and seminal work, the product of more than a decade of rigorous research and thoughtful analysis that would uncover the ill effects of traffic and laying out the seminal arguments that streets are for …

The Central Role Of Perceived Safety In Connecting Crash Risk Factors And Walking Behavior, Kyu Ri Kim

Dissertations and Theses

Despite advanced policies, plans, and facilities, many pedestrians are still injured and killed in traffic crashes in the United States. To improve pedestrian safety and the walking environment, the relationship between surrounding crash risk factors and perceived safety that influence people's behavior needs to be studied. This study aims to examine pedestrian crash risk factors, the relationship between crash risk factors and perceived safety, measured as threatened experiences and safety attitudes, and the relationship between safety attitudes and walking behavior.

The analysis used data from three primary sources: (1) an original survey of 551 residents in 10 neighborhoods in Oregon …

Oregon In Motion: Shaping Communities Through State Transportation Legislation, Cassie Wilson

PSU Transportation Seminars

About every eight years, the Oregon state legislature passes a large state transportation funding package. Transportation funding packages in Oregon have historically included funding mechanisms such as the gas tax, program areas such as Safe Routes to School, projects such as freeway widenings, and transparency and accountability measures such as establishing new reporting requirements and advisory committees. The way this legislation is developed and who has a seat at the table highly influences package contents and the public and political support needed for its passage. In this presentation, I will provide highlights from my recently published report, Oregon in Motion …

Forest Service Engineering, Lessons And Opportunities, Joe Totten

PSU Transportation Seminars

Working in the Forest Service Engineering has different challenges and benefits than other common organizations for Civil Engineers or Transportation Planners. This presentation should provide a perspective on how we utilize dynamic tensions to reach consensus, how we apply lessons learned across disciplines and agencies, and share opportunities for growth and learning.

Under The Influence Of Parents: A Longitudinal Study Of Children’S Walking, Kyu Ri Kim, Jennifer Dill

Student Research Symposium

Researchers have studied children's active travel; however, they have mostly been cross-sectional studies dealing with commuting to school and parental attitudes. To find ways to promote children's active travel, this longitudinal study uses panel data (two time periods) to examine how parents' actual walking and safety perception correlated with children’s walking. Using data from 240 children aged 4-16 and their parents in Portland, Oregon, we estimated a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) to analyze the continuous relationships. We found that parents with more positive attitudes toward their walking walked more, and their children also walked more in both periods. In addition, …

Shifting Gears: Toward A New Way Of Thinking About Transportation, Susan Handy

PSU Transportation Seminars

The transportation system in the U.S. has been shaped by a core set of ideas that are embedded in professional practice. These ideas – freedom, speed, mobility, vehicles, capacity, hierarchy, separation, control, and technology – have produced a system in which most people are dependent on driving, with all the negative consequences that entails. Shifting to a system that offers people choices about their daily travel requires a shift in thinking on the part of the transportation profession. In this talk, I take a critical look at the way of thinking that, for the last century, has shaped our transportation …

Webinar: Marginalized Populations’ Access To Transit, Marisa Zapata

TREC Webinar Series

How do people with intersecting marginal identities experience social exclusion as they travel via mass transit? To answer this question, PSU researchers employed a qualitative method less common in transportation studies: photovoice. Researchers asked participants to describe the factors that shape their travel behavior and provide photographic data of their experiences. Then, they conducted in-depth video interviews to gain further depth and clarity regarding the visual data. The findings from this study can help transit system designers better understand how experiences of harassment and discrimination across the entire users’ journey affects the riders’ decisions about whether and when to take …

The X-Minute Commute City As A Planning Paradigm: An Evaluation Using Commute And Wellbeing Data From The Singapore Life Panel, Sock Yong Phang, Yeng Cong Wong, Stephen Hoskins

ROSA Journal Articles and Publications

The x-minute city has emerged as a popular concept in transport planning in the past decade. Usually associated with planning for 15-minute neighbourhoods, cities such as Sydney and Singapore have expanded the concept to include setting time targets for commutes. In Singapore, transport planners have committed to long term goals of 20minute neighbourhoods and a 45-minute city (for commuting trips) by 2040. This paper uses a dataset for 2,535 Singapore residents aged 55 to 75 years to investigate three related questions important for evaluating the 45-minute city goal: the predictors of long commutes; the relationship between commute time and life …

Webinar: Assessing Cool Corridor Heat Resilience Strategies For Human-Scale Transportation, Ladd Keith, Kristina Currans

TREC Webinar Series

Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States, and the implications of heat impacts range from individual transportation users, to emergency management services, and entire transportation networks and systems. In this presentation, we'll cover key concepts for urban planning and heat resilience, including heat mitigation and management strategies. Additionally, we will discuss the original NITC-sponsored data collection evaluating one such cool corridor strategy--PlusTI cool pavement rejuvenator--and the associated challenges of researching impacts of strategies on human-comfort in natural and built environments.

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Dancing In The Heart Of The Empire, Talisa Feliciano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dancing in the Heart of the Empire is an urban ethnography of public transit space in New York City. The work is based on five years of research on the trains of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) subway system. This work primarily focuses on Black and brown youth dancers who perform on the subways. Combining participant observation, archival research, digital social media research, and interviews, the dissertation identifies dancing as a form of resistance to the racialized structure of the train space and New York City. Public transportation is the heartbeat of the city. It is a contested site of …

What Drives Housing Choices Of Refugees And Immigrants?, Diane Mitschke, Anne Nordberg, Stephen Mattingly, Katherine Kitchens, Yasmin Al-Zubi, Farah Naz

TREC Project Briefs

When newcomers to the US initially settle, if their chosen location does not meet their expectations or needs, that often propels them to relocate. To determine what helps drive those transition decisions, the researchers interviewed people if they fulfilled one of these requirements:

• They were members of the Dallas County community who were planning to move in the next five years.

• They had recently (within the past five years) moved from their initial residence following their arrival in Dallas County.
• They also had to be immigrants to or refugees in the US who were at least eighteen years old. Out …

Incomplete Streets, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

Over 1700 complete streets policies have been adopted by state and local government; these policies typically provide that streets shall be designed to benefit all users, not just motorists. This article analyzes some complete streets policies, and concludes that even above-average policies are often too vague and underfunded to significantly change the status quo. The article suggests a variety of reforms that might make complete streets policies more effective.