Transportation Livability Hub

Comparing Active Transportation Approaches in China and Europe

In the last of the livability seminar series, OTREC's visiting scholars program welcomed Shawn Turner from the Texas Transportation Institute. Shawn's research spans the gamut of intelligent transportation systems data to bicycle and pedestrian issues.  Most recently, Shawn participated in the International Scan on Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility.  His presentation compared his experiences on the scan in Europe to those in China.  During his presentation, he posed three challenges to Oregon:

• How does active transportation contribute to economic development?
• What is the tipping point for behavior and behavioral change?
• Can vanity play a role in social acceptance?

His presentation was followed by a discussion with local agencies, faculty, students and partners along with a 10-mile tour of innovative bike infrastructure in Portland.  Thank goodness the weather held up!

University Students Design a New Bicycle Shelter for Their Community

designBridge is a student-based organization at the University of Oregon that exposes students to real architectural and planning projects in their community. The organization promotes students’ engagement in their community while providing them with professional experience that will benefit them in their careers. In this OTREC-funded education project, led by Professor Nico Larco, the students of designBridge undertook the design and construction of a new transportation shelter for Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene, Oregon. The project results include not only the completion of the shelter but also the continued development of a service learning program that can effectively address small community transportation-related needs. To learn more about the project, down the final report at: http://otrec.us/project/247

New Visions for Suburbia

Suburban multifamily housing makes up the fastest-growing housing market in the country. Townhouses, condos and apartment complexes bring density to suburbia. They are also often located close to commercial areas. For these reasons, they offer the potential for active transportation and mixed-use development. Yet this potential rarely becomes a reality. Professor Nico Larco’s OTREC project explores why inaccessible, disconnected forms of suburban multifamily development dominate. The project draws on interviews with architects, planners, developers, and property managers of developments in four states. It proposes ways in which current practices might shift in order to create more livable, less congested, and multi-modal suburban communities. To read the report in it's entirety go to: http://otrec.us/project/152

Telling Oregon’s Transportation & Land Use Tales

To look at how buses, light rail, street cars, and bicycling have all become prominent modes in Portland, you need to trace back to important land use decisions made three decades ago. In 1974, Oregon adopted statewide land use planning goals. These goals shifted planning efforts away from freeway-building, toward investment in alternative forms of transportation. Since then, Oregon has been a leader in pushing back against car-centric landscapes and lifestyles. In this OTREC project, Professor Carl Abbott and Sam Lowry of Portland State University traced the history of land use planning in Oregon from 1890-1974. One of the project’s aims is to make transportation planning relevant and compelling to a broad audience. To do so, Abbott and Lowry gathered stories and information from a wide range of sources who enthusiastically shared their knowledge of transportation history. You can download the report to read more: http://otrec.us/project/138

Does transportation to school affect families’ housing choices?

Dr. Yizhao Yang’s OTREC project on understanding school travel examined the relationships between school transportation, neighborhood walkability, and where families choose to live. The study involved a 5,500-household survey of families with children attending selected public schools in Eugene, Oregon. In general, parents did consider school transportation in the process of deciding where to live. Unfortunately, housing opportunities around schools and in walkable communities are often limited. Dr. Yang’s project suggests a need for greater coordination between community land use planning and school planning. The study also points to the value of continuing to educate the community about safe and active transportation options to school. The final report can be downloaded at: http://otrec.us/project/184.

OTREC's Feedback to USDOT Strategic Research Direction

In January 2010, the USDOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration issued a request for public comment regarding their Strategic Research Direction, Research Priority Areas and Performance Metrics To Guide Departmental Strategic Plan for Research, Development and Technology Activities (2010—2015). OTREC and our partners crafted a three part response that identified barriers and ways to research innovation, including:

• Broadening federal match for University Transportation Centers (UTCs);
• Embracing the cross-modal perspective on transportation;
• Better tracking of how research is implemented;
• Increasing the role of national university transportation centers; and
• Making better linkages between research groups.

In regards to the key priorities, areas that could be further emphasized and perhaps not fully captured in the key priorities as currently stated included:

• Resiliency in the face of climate change & natural disasters;
• Considering equity issues across all priorities; and
• Recognizing active transportation as a mode.

To view the full OTREC memo, go to: http://otrec.us/RefDocuments/RDT_OTREC_Final.pdf

Livability, a Transportation "Threefer"

OTREC was used as a UTC Spotlight on livable communities. Livable communities are places that achieve economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social equity -the "three Es" of sustainability. In terms of transportation, they are places where transportation modes other than driving are viable for activities such as walking or biking to school. The built environment of a livable community yields lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dependence on foreign oil, and improvements in public health (which are associated with lower health care costs). Interest in livability has been accelerated recently by an increased focus on the relationship between urban form and transportation. The childhood obesity epidemic has fueled interest in events such as "bike and walk to school day" across the country.

Several OTREC researchers who are currently involved in livability research include: Dr. Yizhao Yang's who's research examines whether and how getting to school influences where parents decide to live; Nico Larco's and his investigation into Sustainable Suburbs; and Dr. Marc Schlossberg and his extensive development of participatory mapping tools for accessing walkable communities.

Expanding Portland State’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Design Curriculum

This OTREC educational project took students at Portland State University beyond the lecture hall and the library. Dr. Lynn Weigand expanded the bicycle and pedestrian design curriculum at PSU by turning an existing three-credit course into a five-credit course with an applied lab. The new course gave students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they gained in class to real projects in their community. Working in teams, the students developed projects that focused on improving bicycle and pedestrian connections to the PSU campus. The course received excellent reviews from the students, and the department recognized the course’s value by offering it again the following year. The report can be downloaded at: http://otrec.us/project/279
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Transportation Health Equity Seminar

On January 28th, OTREC co-hosted a brown bag seminar on The Impacts and Opportunities for Building Healthy, Equitable Communities.  Shireen Malekafzali, PolicyLink, was the guest speaker of the seminar. She discussed the impacts of transportation on health, the challenges with existing policy,and the opportunities for influencing new policy with transportation authorization on the federal agenda.  Some of the recommendations for policy changes that better consider the impact of health equity include prioritizing and encouraging investments in public transprtation, pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure, and transit-oriented development.  The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Transportation Reform in America, a publication produced by PolicyLink and Prevention Instituted further explores the link between transportation, health and equity.  The seminar was well-attended, with a standing room only crowd of folks that represented public, private, non-profit, and university partners in both health and transportation fields. The seminar followed on the heels of the on the recent publication of the book, Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research.

Healthy Transportation Policy & Vehicles Miles Traveled

On January 22, as part of the Friday transportation seminar series at Portland State University Mel Rader (Upstream Public Health) presented on the results of a recently completed study,  Health Impact Assessment on Policies Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled in Oregon Metropolitan Areas. In Oregon, VMT reduction goals is a part of an overall strategy fits into the Governor's sustainable transportation initiatives. The study evaluated 11 specific policies to reduce VMT and the potential impact on public health.  The recommendations that resulted from the study included:

• Increase population density/develop within urban growth boundary;
• Create more mixed-use neighborhoods;
• Increase access to public transit; and
• Increase costs of driving.

The study was funded by the Northwest Heath Foundation with an expert advisory committee that included transportation-based agencies across Oregon.  These agencies included the Oregon Department of Transportation Region 1, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Bend Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Corvallis Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.