Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Applying An Equity Lens To Automated Payment Solutions For Public Transportation, Aaron Golub, John Macarthur, Anne Brown, Candace Brakewood

TREC Final Reports

Many transit agencies plan to automate their fare collection and limit the use of cash for payment, with the goals of improving boarding and data collection while lowering operating costs. Still, about 10% of adults in the United States lack a bank account or credit card, and many either rely on restrictive cell-phone data plans or don’t have access to internet or a smartphone, making it very challenging for these riders to ride. In light of these potential challenges, this project was developed by a group of transit agencies and consultants interested in the barriers faced by riders, and what …

Oregon Walks Pedestrian Crash Report: Causes, Effects, And Recommendations, Ashton Simpson, Scott Kocher, Brandon Summers

PSU Transportation Seminars

Perhaps you’ve seen a public meeting about pedestrian safety (or infrastructure projects) deteriorate into speculation about texting pedestrians or drunk drivers. What do the data say? The Oregon Walks Pedestrian Crash Report reviews police reports and available information for all 48 fatal pedestrian crashes in Portland from 2017-2019. The authors will summarize their most notable findings relating to infrastructure, other systemic factors, equity and the information that the public receives about crashes. Participants may wish to review the report or articles describing it to prepare for a robust discussion: You’re Driving Too Damn Fast, Willamette Week, March 17, 2021 Oregon …

Evaluation Of A Transportation Incentive Program For Affordable Housing Residents, Roshin Kurian, Huijun Tan, Nathan Mcneil, John Macarthur

PSU Transportation Seminars

This seminar presents the results from the Transportation Wallet for Residents of Affordable Housing (TWRAH) pilot program launched by the City of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). The program provided a set of transportation incentives for low-income participants including a $308 pre-paid visa card which could be applied to public transit or other transportation services, a free bike share membership, and access to discounted rates on several services. The researchers conducted a survey with the program’s participants to understand how they used the Transportation Wallet and how the program helped them use different modes to get around. The main findings …

2020 Annual Population Report Tables (April 15, 2021), Portland State University. Population Research Center

Oregon Population Estimates and Reports

The population data in the 2020 annual report tables were compiled by the Population Research Center, Portland State University, 4/15/2021.

The tables in this workbook present the 2020 population estimates produced by the Population Research Center, Portland State University. The July 1 estimates of total population for counties and cities and towns were certified December 15, 2020.

Some tables include the U.S. Census Bureau's decennial Census counts and historical population estimates produced by our Center, and other tables include calculations of change since Census 2010. Also included are population estimates for broad age groups and 5-year age groups; the estimates …

Racial Bias In Driver Yielding Behavior At Crosswalks, Kimberly Kahn, Peter Koonce, George Stern

PSU Transportation Seminars

This seminar discusses how pedestrian race and gender can influence drivers’ behavior in interactions with pedestrians at crosswalks. Three speakers will present different lenses to look at this topic. Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, a researcher at Portland State University, will discuss research exploring how pedestrian race and gender influence drivers’ behavior in interactions with pedestrians at crosswalks. One dangerous potential point of conflict for pedestrians within the transportation system is interactions with drivers at crosswalks, and racial minorities are disproportionately represented in pedestrian fatalities. Research tested the hypothesis that drivers’ would demonstrate unequitable yielding based on pedestrians’ race and gender in …

Regional Supportive Housing Impact Fund Report: Equitable Evaluation Framework And Governance Recommendations, Marisa Zapata, L. Bentley Moses, Sarah Mercurio, Ritu Ghosul, Greg Townley

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

The Regional Supportive Housing Impact Fund (RSHIF) was launched in 2020 by a set of partners in health systems, homelessness services, business, and philanthropy. This program responded to the growing need for permanent supportive housing (PSH) for people experiencing homelessness with serious health care needs in the Portland metropolitan region. Health Share of Oregon (Health Share), an Oregon Coordinated Care Organization, is now convening RSHIF.

Friends Of Green Loop: Food Cartology, Andrew Wester, Nora Stoelting, Ben Acord-Becker, Kenny Werth, Laura Shumway, Andrew Reyna

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

We partnered with Friends of Green Loop (FOGL) and City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) to conduct a study on the status of the food cart industry in Portland. This was intended to focus on factors contributing to economic resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and other changes to the city’s landscape, as well as barriers to accessibility within the industry for individual vendors. Friends of Green Loop intended this study to be an update to the 2008 MURP workshop Food Cartology, which explored the then recent emergence of the food cart industry in Portland …

Does Gender Climate Influence Climate Change? The Multidimensionality Of Gender Equality And Its Countervailing Effects On The Carbon Intensity Of Well-Being, Christina Ergas, Patrick Trent Greiner, Julius Alexander Mcgee, Matthew Thomas Clement

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB) (a ratio measuring the amount of CO₂ emitted per unit of life expectancy at birth) is an increasingly popular way to measure the ecological efficiency of nations. Although research demonstrates that economic development typically reduces this efficiency, little research has explored the extent to which social equality improves it. This study uses panel data for 70 nations between 1995 and 2013 to assess how various aspects of gender equality affect the ecological efficiency of nations. We estimate a series of Prais-Winsten regression models with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) to assess how increases in …

The Impact Of Ride Hail Services On The Accessibility Of Nonprofit Services, Dyana P. Mason, Miranda Menard

TREC Final Reports

Nonprofit organizations are responsible for providing a significant level of human services across the United States, often in collaboration with government agencies. In this work, they address some of the most pressing social issues in society – including homelessness, poverty, health care and education. While many of these organizations consider location and accessibility crucial to supporting their clients – often locating services near bus or train stops, for example – little is known about the impact of new technologies, including ride hail services like Lyft and Uber, on nonprofit accessibility. These technologies, which are re-shaping transportation in both urban and …

Reclamation Towards The Futurity Of Central Albina, Ariel Kane, Aubrey Carlsen, Stephen Greenslade, Jude Thaddaeus, Zachary Mettler

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

In partnership with The Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2 (EDPA2), the FutureLab team has sought to document the wide ranging impacts that racist planning and urban renewal practices have had on Portland’s Black community, with a focus on those forced out of Central Albina as a result of the Emanuel Hospital Urban Renewal Project. Using historical property identification files from the project area, archival photographs, stories from EDPA2 members, and other sources, we have developed an interactive StoryMap illustrating the neighborhood that was demolished for the ill-fated renewal project. Lastly, we have worked with EDPA2 in developing a set of …

Rockwood Identity Project, Phil Longenecker, Ana Navia, Natalie Chavez, Francisco Ibarra, Max Nonnamaker, Eric Trinh

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Rockwood Identity Atlas is a data collection initiative that aims provide the Rockwood Community Development Corporation (CDC) with information about the community it serves. Through maps, data, and stories that highlight the identity, geography, and living conditions of the Rockwood community, this atlas aims to support Rockwood CDC and partner organizations better understand the challenges and opportunities facing the neighborhood. Although the atlas is an attempt to synthesize a more unified narrative about the identity of Rockwood, the report can be viewed in three distinct sections. We explored the three sections in three phases during March-May 2021:

• Phase I: …

Equity And Sustainability Planning For Employment Zones In Tigard, Mac Cunningham, Gregory Mallon, Rob Hemphill, Rebecca Rockom, Paul Runge

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

As the City of Tigard updates its zoning code for its industrial and commercial lands, opportunity exists to center equity and sustainability in the project. Tigard would be the first city to implement a zoning reform with these values integrated into the process. Further, through the operationalizing of equity in sustainability in the zoning code, Tigard can build a healthy community, one resilient to economic and environmental changes and nurturing for businesses of diverse backgrounds and communities. Though no other city we could identify has explicitly implemented both equity and sustainability in their zoning code, there are lessons from other …

Oregon Agricultural Trust: Mid-Columbia Research And Engagement Report, Nicole Underwood, Bryan Bruckman, Josh Linden, Briana Orr, Taylor Potter, Lisa Wasson-Seilo

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Oregon Agricultural Trust (OAT) is developing their first Strategic Conservation Plan which will guide their farm and ranchland protection work in 2022-2027. Our role was to identify the agricultural interests, needs and opportunities in the Mid-Columbia region (defined as Wasco, Sherman, and Hood River Counties) and identify gaps in current agricultural protection measures along with recommendations to address those gaps. Contextualized with a history of agriculture in the region including land access and ownership distribution, this report starts by examining the existing conditions in the Mid-Columbia Region, utilizing an equity lens. It then details the existing agricultural resources, threats, and …

The Soniferous Experience Of Public Space: A Soundscape Approach, Kenya Dubois Williams

Dissertations and Theses

This research explores the awareness and perceptions of practitioners regarding the role of the soundscape in understanding and managing public spaces. Without considering the role of the soundscape as part of public spaces, urban planners, designers, and policy officials cannot accurately engage in placemaking that provides a complete sensory experience. The antiquated practice of enforcing noise codes has been the traditional approach to mitigate noise (unwanted sounds). However, sound is an overlooked element in the sensory experience of cities and how individuals and communities construct a "sense of place." This study considers the implications of the soundscape approach and soundwalks …

Translating Land Justice Through Comparison: A Us-French Dialogue And Research Agenda., Megan Horst, Nathan Mcclintock, Adrien Baysse-Lainé, Ségolène Darly, Flaminia Paddeu, Coline Perrin, Kristin Reynolds, Christophe-Toussaint Soulard

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this discussion piece, eight scholars in geography, urban planning, and agri-food studies from the United States (US) and France engage in a bi-national comparison to deepen our collective understanding of food and land justice. We specifically contextualize land justice as a critical component of food justice in both the US and France in three key areas: access to land for cultivation, urban agriculture, and non-agricultural forms of food provisioning. The US and France are interesting cases to compare, considering the differences and similarities in their colonial and agricultural histories, persistent and systemic race and class-based inequities in land access, …

Forging Equity In Cities: Using Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (Etod) As A Blueprint For Policy And Practice, Roberto Requejo

PSU Transportation Seminars

Racial equity, wealth building, public health and climate resilience goals are only possible through cross sectional engagement that includes city, state, and regional governments, community-based organizations, and private sector partners. Please join us for this jointly sponsored seminar and workshop to learn about models of community engagement for equitable transportation and housing development. In this seminar, Roberto Requejo, Program Director at Elevated Chicago, will discuss their community organizing and empowerment work to create equitable transit oriented development (eTOD) in Chicago. Their efforts to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into planning and infrastructure investments center on community-focused benefits such as access …

Bi-Objective Optimization For Battery Electric Bus Deployment Considering Cost And Environmental Equity, Xiaoyue Cathy Liu, Yirong Zhou, Ran Wei, Aaron Golub, Devin Macarthur

TREC Final Reports

Public transit, compared with passenger cars, can effectively help conserve energy, reduce air pollution, and optimize flow on roadways. In recent years, Battery Electric Bus (BEB) is receiving an increasing amount of attention from the transit vehicle industry and transit agencies due to recent advances in battery technologies and the direct environmental benefits it can offer (e.g., zero emissions, less noise). However, limited efforts have been attempted on the effective deployment planning of the BEB system due to the unique spatiotemporal features associated with the system itself (e.g., driving range, bus scheduling). In this project, we developed an innovative spatiotemporal …

Rethinking Streets For Physical Distancing, Marc Schlossberg, Rebecca Lewis, Aliza Whalen, Clare Haley, Danielle Lewis, Natalie Kataoka, John Larson-Friend

TREC Final Reports

This report summarizes the primary output of this project, a book of COVID-era street reconfiguration case studies called Rethinking Streets During COVID-19: An Evidence-Based Guide to 25 Quick Redesigns for Physical Distancing, Public Use, and Spatial Equity. COVID-era needs have accelerated the process that many communities use to make street transformations due to: a need to remain physically distanced from others outside our immediate household; a need for more outdoor space close to home in every part of every community to access and enjoy; a need for more space to provide efficient mobility for essential workers in particular; and a …

Transit Impacts On Jobs, People And Real Estate, Arthur C. Nelson, Robert Hibberd, Kristina Marie Currans, Nicole Iroz-Elardo

TREC Final Reports

This is the first volume of a five-volume set of publications comprising the report titled “Transit Impacts on Jobs, People and Real Estate.” It is the culmination of four research projects funded by the the National Institute of Transportation and Communities (NITC), a US DOT funded National University Transportation Center. This volume includes a preface that review key findings of the prior four research grants, an executive summary that reviews key findings of all five volumes of the current report, the context that reviews the context of the present research including details on more than 50 fixed route transit systems …

Multnomah County Reach Transportation Crash And Safety Report: At The Intersection Of Transportation, Health, Race And Justice, Tameka Brazile, Brendon Haggerty, Charlene Mcgee

PSU Transportation Seminars

This seminar will discuss how transportation agencies are in a unique position to reduce health disparities in the African American, African Immigrant & Refugee communities through sustainable policy, systems, and environmental changes. These three speakers from the Multnomah County Health Department will present the findings of their recent Crash and Safety report. They will discuss their data and methodology to connect the dots between chronic disease disparities, leading causes of death in communities, and transportation inequities as determinants to health. They will also present policy recommendations and a call to action.

Webinar: Transportation Benefits Of Polycentric Urban Form, Reid Ewing, Sadegh Sabouri

TREC Webinar Series

A “polycentric” region consists of a network of compact developments connected with each other through high-quality transportation options. Rather than continuing the expanse of low-density development radiating from an urban core, investments can be concentrated on central nodes and transit connections. This development pattern is very popular in Europe and is linked to significant benefits. This presentation is aimed at exploring the academic literature and empirical evidence surrounding polycentric development, analyzing more than 120 regional transportation plans to see how they promote polycentric development, defining types of centers in a hierarchy of centers, quantifying the transportation benefits of polycentric development, …

A Social Systems Approach To Sustainable Waste Management: Leverage Points For Plastic Reduction In Colombo, Sri Lanka, Katie Conlon

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Global plastic production continues to increase at an exponential pace, and global waste projections show waste generation rising by 70% by 2050. Plastic waste connects to all social processes, especially within the context of urbanization and development; urban planning and land management; GHG emissions; labor; social equity; public health; rural-to-urban migration; increasing population; increasing consumption; climate change; etc. The focus of this research is an analysis of plastic waste management practices in Sri Lanka applying systems thinking, with a goal to better understand the social and ecological impacts of plastic waste in Sri Lanka. This research fills a gap in …

The Future Of Money In Oregon Politics. Recommendations For Policymakers: Equity, Accountability, Transparency And Access, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Tigard-Tualatin School District Enrollment Forecasts 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 Tigard‐Tualatin School District (TTSD). The study includes analyses of population, housing and enrollment trends affecting the District in recent years, estimates of the impacts of housing development on TTSD enrollment, and forecasts of district‐wide and individual school enrollments for the 2021‐22 to 2030‐31 school years. Typically, the most recent October enrollment count is used as a baseline, or “launch” year for enrollment forecasts. However, due to the COVID‐ 19 pandemic, October 2020 enrollment is an anomaly. Therefore, we used …

Applying Data-Driven Multimodal Speed Management Strategies For Safe, Efficient Transportation, Yao-Jan Wu, Xianfeng Yeng, Sirisha Kothuri

TREC Project Briefs

How can we use a variety of data-driven speed management strategies to make transportation safer and more efficient for all modes–whether you’re driving, walking or taking transit? The project was led by Yao Jan Wu, director of the Smart Transportation Lab at the University of Arizona. Co-investigators were Xianfeng Terry Yang of the University of Utah, who researches traffic operations and modeling along with connected automated vehicles, and Sirisha Kothuri of Portland State University, whose research has focused on improving signal timing to better serve pedestrians. “We want to improve mobility for all users, be it pedestrians, vehicle drivers or …

Difference In Travel Behavior Between Immigrants In The U.S. And U.S. Born Residents: The Immigrant Effect For Car-Sharing, Ride-Sharing, And Bike-Sharing Services, Sangwan Lee, Michael J. Smart, Aaron Golub

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding immigrants’ travel behavior is important to transportation planners and policymakers working to implement better transportation planning and public policies to serve those needs. The recent changes to the transportation system, specifically, the recent emergence of shared mobility services, such as car‐sharing, ride‐ sharing, and bike‐sharing, may have resulted in changes in how immigrants travel. Thus, we explored two research questions: (1) whether immigrants in the U.S. are more likely to rely on the three newly emerging transportation modes than US‐born persons, and (2) whether the assimilation theory can be applied to the modes. To answer these questions, we used …

Circular Economy: Waste-To-Wealth, Jobs The Global South, Katie Conlon, Randika Jayasinghe, Ranahansa Dasanayake

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Circular Economy [CE] is predominantly framed as a means for circulating material streams within the technosphere as economically as possible, for as long as possible, in both applications of theory and practice. Arising from requirements for regulatory compliance, some global north industries have ventured into CE, and now this model is making headway in all industrial sectors. Whereas, in the global south, CE has been conceptualized as a mechanism for keeping materials out of the waste streams otherwise destined to reach landfills, waterways etc. Characteristic haphazard waste management is a serious socio-environmental issue in Sri Lanka. As a result, CE …

Plastic Roads: Not All They’Re Paved Up To Be, Katie Conlon

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The growing, global plastic waste crisis is sparking a myriad of solutions from disparate fields. One such end-of-use solution is the application of plastic waste for paving roads. This solution is marketed as a win-win option for plastic waste, use the single-use waste material to pave roads and save money, and simultaneously tackle the accumulated plastic waste. Paving with plastic is occurring globally, but has been especially appealing in the global south contexts where waste management infrastructure is lacking, and pressure to do something about the plastic waste is high. However, there are several environmental and social considerations to paving …

Zoning Out: Urban Agriculture, Sustainability, And Development In Portland, Oregon, Brian Elliott

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines the recent history of urban planning policy in and around Portland, Oregon with respect to efforts to enhance local agriculture. Despite recent and ongoing efforts to promote distribution and direct sale of local food products in the city, I argue that the dominant effect of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) in place since the 1970s has been to push agricultural production further from the most populous areas of the city. Whereas the UGB at present cannot include areas zoned specifically for agricultural use, I argue that it must reformed to allow for "agricultural reserves" within the boundary. …

Data Files: Bi-Objective Optimization For Battery Electric Bus Deployment Considering Cost And Environmental Equity, Xiaoyue Cathy Liu, Yirong Zhou, Ran Wei, Aaron Golub

TREC Datasets and Databases

This data supports the research project Bi-objective Optimization for Battery Electric Bus Deployment Considering Cost and Environmental Equity and a final report published on NITC’s website.

Dataset collected through multiple sources and organized into different formats including CSV format, JSON format, shapefile and code repository.

Context: The research project develops a bi-objective model that aims to help transit agencies to optimally deploy BEB while considering both capital investment and environmental equity. The unique spatio-temporal characteristic of BEB system, charging limitations (on-route and in-depot charging), and operational constraints are also considered and incorporated into the model.