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• 1. [Article] Investigations In Transportation

  The Investigations in Transportation program is an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project that will engage science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Investigations In Transportation Author: Becker, William G., Biskupic Knight, Carol Year: 2015 The Investigations in Transportation program is an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project that will engage science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals in school-based activities and projects that will bring real-world applications to elementary classrooms for grades 3-5. The Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP) is providing leadership and facilitation to a team of educators from Portland State University, Beaverton School District and Hillsboro School District who will work with volunteers from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to design, develop, implement and assess the impact of an in-class unit entitled "Investigations in Transportation". This report presents a study of a transportation education partnership and curriculum development project that harnessed the professional expertise, experience and enthusiasm of transportation-sector STEM workers by creating a mechanism and set of protocols by which they engaged with elementary school teachers to develop and implement an instructional unit. This STEM-connected instructional unit and lessons allowed students to explore and investigate issues central to transportation. The unit incorporated and enhanced the content and practice standards outlined by the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, and relied heavily on the instructional and curriculum expertise and experience of classroom teachers to develop an age- and interest-appropriate unit of study. This collaboration resulted in the development of an Investigations in Transportation instructional unit that provided students with rich, engaging learning opportunities set in the context of real-world problems around a school parking lot dilemma focused on safety, sustainability and health concerns. The education project team utilized a coherent and cohesive curriculum development process for unit creation and evaluated the development, implementation and reflection of the unit through teacher and student surveys/assessments of attitudes, identity and conceptual understanding. The report describes the process successes, challenges and replication opportunities. Title: Investigations In Transportation Author: Becker, William G., Biskupic Knight, Carol Year: 2015 The Investigations in Transportation program is an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project that will engage science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals in school-based activities and projects that will bring real-world applications to elementary classrooms for grades 3-5. The Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP) is providing leadership and facilitation to a team of educators from Portland State University, Beaverton School District and Hillsboro School District who will work with volunteers from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to design, develop, implement and assess the impact of an in-class unit entitled "Investigations in Transportation". This report presents a study of a transportation education partnership and curriculum development project that harnessed the professional expertise, experience and enthusiasm of transportation-sector STEM workers by creating a mechanism and set of protocols by which they engaged with elementary school teachers to develop and implement an instructional unit. This STEM-connected instructional unit and lessons allowed students to explore and investigate issues central to transportation. The unit incorporated and enhanced the content and practice standards outlined by the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, and relied heavily on the instructional and curriculum expertise and experience of classroom teachers to develop an age- and interest-appropriate unit of study. This collaboration resulted in the development of an Investigations in Transportation instructional unit that provided students with rich, engaging learning opportunities set in the context of real-world problems around a school parking lot dilemma focused on safety, sustainability and health concerns. The education project team utilized a coherent and cohesive curriculum development process for unit creation and evaluated the development, implementation and reflection of the unit through teacher and student surveys/assessments of attitudes, identity and conceptual understanding. The report describes the process successes, challenges and replication opportunities. Close

• 2. [Article] Development of the Idaho Statewide Travel Demand Model Trip Matrices Using Cell Phone OD Data and Origin Destination Matrix Estimation

  As part of the initial phase of development for the Idaho Statewide Travel Demand Model, Parsons Brinckerhoff developed a base year auto and truck trip matrix using AirSage cell phone OD data, a statewide ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Development of the Idaho Statewide Travel Demand Model Trip Matrices Using Cell Phone OD Data and Origin Destination Matrix Estimation Author: Stabler, Ben Year: 2016 As part of the initial phase of development for the Idaho Statewide Travel Demand Model, Parsons Brinckerhoff developed a base year auto and truck trip matrix using AirSage cell phone OD data, a statewide network in Cube, traffic counts, and origin-destination matrix estimation (ODME) procedures. To begin, the 4000+ statewide zone system was aggregated into a 700 super zone system for collecting the cell phone OD data. Next, the cell phone data was collected for the month of September 2013 for the following market segments: Average weekday resident HBW, HBO, NHB, and visitor NHB trips. The cell phone trips were then disaggregated to zones using each zone’s share of super zone population and employment. These initial trip matrices were assigned to the daily statewide network using free flow travel time for route impedance and iteratively adjusted to minimize the difference between the estimated link volumes and traffic counts by user class. This iterative trip matrix balancing procedure, also known as ODME, converged nicely by user class and facility type and produced reasonable flows. The resulting trip matrix trip length frequencies matched fairly well with the Census Journey to Work trip distances as well as the COMPASS (Boise area) MPO surveyed trip lengths. The goodness-of-fit between the synthesized trip lengths and the observed trip lengths was analyzed across multiple dimensions, including urban versus rural, by zone, and by trip purpose, and some differences were observed. The use of cell phone OD data, in conjunction with ODME, is an innovative and promising solution for developing statewide travel OD data with limited resources. Title: Development of the Idaho Statewide Travel Demand Model Trip Matrices Using Cell Phone OD Data and Origin Destination Matrix Estimation Author: Stabler, Ben Year: 2016 As part of the initial phase of development for the Idaho Statewide Travel Demand Model, Parsons Brinckerhoff developed a base year auto and truck trip matrix using AirSage cell phone OD data, a statewide network in Cube, traffic counts, and origin-destination matrix estimation (ODME) procedures. To begin, the 4000+ statewide zone system was aggregated into a 700 super zone system for collecting the cell phone OD data. Next, the cell phone data was collected for the month of September 2013 for the following market segments: Average weekday resident HBW, HBO, NHB, and visitor NHB trips. The cell phone trips were then disaggregated to zones using each zone’s share of super zone population and employment. These initial trip matrices were assigned to the daily statewide network using free flow travel time for route impedance and iteratively adjusted to minimize the difference between the estimated link volumes and traffic counts by user class. This iterative trip matrix balancing procedure, also known as ODME, converged nicely by user class and facility type and produced reasonable flows. The resulting trip matrix trip length frequencies matched fairly well with the Census Journey to Work trip distances as well as the COMPASS (Boise area) MPO surveyed trip lengths. The goodness-of-fit between the synthesized trip lengths and the observed trip lengths was analyzed across multiple dimensions, including urban versus rural, by zone, and by trip purpose, and some differences were observed. The use of cell phone OD data, in conjunction with ODME, is an innovative and promising solution for developing statewide travel OD data with limited resources. Close

• 3. [Article] Seminar #294: Transforming Transportation Through Connectivity

  The transportation system is the backbone of the United States' economy, and transportation is an essential part of everyday life for American citizens. It is essential that the transportation system continue ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Seminar #294: Transforming Transportation Through Connectivity Author: Bertini, Robert L. Year: 2014 The transportation system is the backbone of the United States' economy, and transportation is an essential part of everyday life for American citizens. It is essential that the transportation system continue to provide accessibility and connectivity to an ever-evolving global economy. A key way to do so is to embrace, develop and implement new technologies. One of the newest and most promising facets of transportation-related technology is in the field of connected mobility. The vision behind connected mobility is of a transportation system where vehicles, travelers, and infrastructure are all wirelessly connected with one another and able to transmit real-time data about things like weather, location, and vehicle and infrastructure status. Such a degree of connectivity could have substantial benefits for the safety, mobility, and sustainability of the domestic transportation system, including accident prevention and congestion reduction. In recent years, major strides have been made into the research and development of connected mobility technology and some field-testing has commenced, but there is a need for more attention and investment from stakeholders throughout the transportation community and beyond. Title: Seminar #294: Transforming Transportation Through Connectivity Author: Bertini, Robert L. Year: 2014 The transportation system is the backbone of the United States' economy, and transportation is an essential part of everyday life for American citizens. It is essential that the transportation system continue to provide accessibility and connectivity to an ever-evolving global economy. A key way to do so is to embrace, develop and implement new technologies. One of the newest and most promising facets of transportation-related technology is in the field of connected mobility. The vision behind connected mobility is of a transportation system where vehicles, travelers, and infrastructure are all wirelessly connected with one another and able to transmit real-time data about things like weather, location, and vehicle and infrastructure status. Such a degree of connectivity could have substantial benefits for the safety, mobility, and sustainability of the domestic transportation system, including accident prevention and congestion reduction. In recent years, major strides have been made into the research and development of connected mobility technology and some field-testing has commenced, but there is a need for more attention and investment from stakeholders throughout the transportation community and beyond. Close

• 4. [Article] Bike Planning Methods in Oregon Communities

  In this seminar, Tara Weidner will discuss changes in the works to the State Analysis Procedures Manual (APM) to include three graduated levels of bike planning methods for use in Oregon communities, based ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Bike Planning Methods in Oregon Communities Author: Weidner, Tara Year: 2014 In this seminar, Tara Weidner will discuss changes in the works to the State Analysis Procedures Manual (APM) to include three graduated levels of bike planning methods for use in Oregon communities, based on community size, data needs, and planning stage. These include the Bike Level of Traffic Stress (BLTS), a sketch tool used to assess bike network connectivity, the data-heavy Highway Capacity Manual Multi-modal Level of Service (MMLOS) procedures, and a simplified MMLOS developed by the same researchers. Title: Bike Planning Methods in Oregon Communities Author: Weidner, Tara Year: 2014 In this seminar, Tara Weidner will discuss changes in the works to the State Analysis Procedures Manual (APM) to include three graduated levels of bike planning methods for use in Oregon communities, based on community size, data needs, and planning stage. These include the Bike Level of Traffic Stress (BLTS), a sketch tool used to assess bike network connectivity, the data-heavy Highway Capacity Manual Multi-modal Level of Service (MMLOS) procedures, and a simplified MMLOS developed by the same researchers. Close

• 5. [Article] New Probe Data Sources to Measure Cycling Behavior and Safety

  Emerging probe data sources from smartphones on on-board devices are able to measure behavior of cyclists with very high resolution. From this, for the first time, we are able to measure relatively precise ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: New Probe Data Sources to Measure Cycling Behavior and Safety Author: Cherry, Christopher Year: 2017 Emerging probe data sources from smartphones on on-board devices are able to measure behavior of cyclists with very high resolution. From this, for the first time, we are able to measure relatively precise behavior that allows new insights into exposure, route choice, safety behavior, or technology choice. Probe data, merged with other data sources, can begin to develop a more complete picture of cyclists on-road behavior. This presentation will offer examples of analyses done to investigate cyclists behavior using app-based and on-board GPS data in the context of individual cyclists behavior (i.e., app users) and behavior of bikeshare users (i.e., on-board GPS fleet tracking devices). The applications will cover route choice, travel patterns, surrogate safety behaviors like wrong-way riding, and will investigate differences between conventional- and electric-bike users. Title: New Probe Data Sources to Measure Cycling Behavior and Safety Author: Cherry, Christopher Year: 2017 Emerging probe data sources from smartphones on on-board devices are able to measure behavior of cyclists with very high resolution. From this, for the first time, we are able to measure relatively precise behavior that allows new insights into exposure, route choice, safety behavior, or technology choice. Probe data, merged with other data sources, can begin to develop a more complete picture of cyclists on-road behavior. This presentation will offer examples of analyses done to investigate cyclists behavior using app-based and on-board GPS data in the context of individual cyclists behavior (i.e., app users) and behavior of bikeshare users (i.e., on-board GPS fleet tracking devices). The applications will cover route choice, travel patterns, surrogate safety behaviors like wrong-way riding, and will investigate differences between conventional- and electric-bike users. Close

• 6. [Article] Crowdsourcing Cycling Safety and Route Data with the “ORcycle” Smartphone App

  ORcycle is a new smartphone application (for both Android and iOS) developed by Transportation, Technology, and People (TTP) lab researchers at Portland State University as part of an Oregon Department ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Crowdsourcing Cycling Safety and Route Data with the “ORcycle” Smartphone App Author: Figliozzi, Miguel Year: 2015 ORcycle is a new smartphone application (for both Android and iOS) developed by Transportation, Technology, and People (TTP) lab researchers at Portland State University as part of an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) research project. ORcycle collects user, route, infrastructure, crash, and safety data. ORcycle was successfully launched in early November 2014 and presents many improvements over existing or similar apps. Initial data findings and insights will be presented. Lessons learned as well as opportunities and challenges associated with smartphone data collection methods will be discussed. More information about the app can be found here: http://www.pdx.edu/transportation-lab/orcycle. Title: Crowdsourcing Cycling Safety and Route Data with the “ORcycle” Smartphone App Author: Figliozzi, Miguel Year: 2015 ORcycle is a new smartphone application (for both Android and iOS) developed by Transportation, Technology, and People (TTP) lab researchers at Portland State University as part of an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) research project. ORcycle collects user, route, infrastructure, crash, and safety data. ORcycle was successfully launched in early November 2014 and presents many improvements over existing or similar apps. Initial data findings and insights will be presented. Lessons learned as well as opportunities and challenges associated with smartphone data collection methods will be discussed. More information about the app can be found here: http://www.pdx.edu/transportation-lab/orcycle. Close

• 7. [Article] Peak Pedaling: Has Portland Bicycling reached the Top of the Logistic Curve?

  The recent City Club report on bicycling provided an opportunity to collect and analyze a number of data sets including the new Hawthorne Bridge data. One question is where Portland bicycling on the logistic ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Peak Pedaling: Has Portland Bicycling reached the Top of the Logistic Curve? Author: McCullough, Robert Year: 2016 The recent City Club report on bicycling provided an opportunity to collect and analyze a number of data sets including the new Hawthorne Bridge data. One question is where Portland bicycling on the logistic curve -- a common tool for judging the maturity of a developing product or activity. Logistic curves are used for marketing, for epidemiology, and even for visits to Indian owned casinos. The preliminary evidence is that we are reaching the horizontal area of the curve. Additional evidence Our further research into future policies indicates a shift to bicycle boulevards in order to attract more risk averse riders. Title: Peak Pedaling: Has Portland Bicycling reached the Top of the Logistic Curve? Author: McCullough, Robert Year: 2016 The recent City Club report on bicycling provided an opportunity to collect and analyze a number of data sets including the new Hawthorne Bridge data. One question is where Portland bicycling on the logistic curve -- a common tool for judging the maturity of a developing product or activity. Logistic curves are used for marketing, for epidemiology, and even for visits to Indian owned casinos. The preliminary evidence is that we are reaching the horizontal area of the curve. Additional evidence Our further research into future policies indicates a shift to bicycle boulevards in order to attract more risk averse riders. Close

• 8. [Article] A Pathway Linking Smart Growth Neighborhoods to Home-Based Pedestrian Travel

  Land development patterns, urban design, and transportation system features are inextricably linked to pedestrian travel. Accordingly, planners and decision-makers have turned to integrated transportation-land ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: A Pathway Linking Smart Growth Neighborhoods to Home-Based Pedestrian Travel Author: Gehrke, Steven R., Clifton, Kelly J. Year: 2017 Land development patterns, urban design, and transportation system features are inextricably linked to pedestrian travel. Accordingly, planners and decision-makers have turned to integrated transportation-land use policies and investments to address the pressing need for improvements in physical activity levels via the creation of walkable communities. However, policy questions regarding the identification of smart growth indicators and their connection to walking remain unanswered, because most studies of the built environment determinants of pedestrian travel: (a) represent the built environment with isolated metrics instead of as a multidimensional construct and (b) model this transportation-land use relationship outside of a multidirectional analytic framework. Using structural equation modeling, this Portland, Oregon study identifies a second-order latent construct of the built environment indicated by land use mix, density, and urban design and transportation system features. Study findings suggest this construct has a strong effect on the household-level decision to walk for transport and discretionary travel. The video of the presentation is located here: https://echo360.pdx.edu/ess/echo/presentation/3b8a6987-6c8e-4407-bace-e4e627520a97 Title: A Pathway Linking Smart Growth Neighborhoods to Home-Based Pedestrian Travel Author: Gehrke, Steven R., Clifton, Kelly J. Year: 2017 Land development patterns, urban design, and transportation system features are inextricably linked to pedestrian travel. Accordingly, planners and decision-makers have turned to integrated transportation-land use policies and investments to address the pressing need for improvements in physical activity levels via the creation of walkable communities. However, policy questions regarding the identification of smart growth indicators and their connection to walking remain unanswered, because most studies of the built environment determinants of pedestrian travel: (a) represent the built environment with isolated metrics instead of as a multidimensional construct and (b) model this transportation-land use relationship outside of a multidirectional analytic framework. Using structural equation modeling, this Portland, Oregon study identifies a second-order latent construct of the built environment indicated by land use mix, density, and urban design and transportation system features. Study findings suggest this construct has a strong effect on the household-level decision to walk for transport and discretionary travel. The video of the presentation is located here: https://echo360.pdx.edu/ess/echo/presentation/3b8a6987-6c8e-4407-bace-e4e627520a97 Close

• 9. [Article] Evaluating the Level-of-Service of Protected Bike Lanes

  Summary: The most recent edition of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) contains analysis procedures for measuring the level-of-service (LOS), also referred to as quality of service, provided by an urban ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Evaluating the Level-of-Service of Protected Bike Lanes Author: Foster, Nick Year: 2014 Summary: The most recent edition of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) contains analysis procedures for measuring the level-of-service (LOS), also referred to as quality of service, provided by an urban roadway to bicyclists. The method uses different design and operating features of the roadway segment (e.g. width, motor vehicle volumes and speeds) to assess an LOS grade of A (best) to F (worst). These procedures are used by planners and engineers to recommend how existing streets could be retrofitted or new streets designed to better serve people on bicycles (and other modes). However, the current HCM does not include methods that address protected bike lanes (aka “cycle tracks” or “separated bike lanes”), only conventional striped bike lanes, shoulders, and shared streets. There are other methods for predicting comfort from a bicyclist’s perspective that do consider protected bike lanes, but they are either based only on expert opinion or on surveys in Denmark. This presentation will describe how to evaluate the level-of-service of a protected bike lane using results from surveys conducted in the United States. The model developed by this project could be used to supplement the current HCM to objectively consider a wider range of options for improving the environment for bicycling. This is increasingly important as the implementation of, and demand for, protected bike lanes surges around the US. Title: Evaluating the Level-of-Service of Protected Bike Lanes Author: Foster, Nick Year: 2014 Summary: The most recent edition of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) contains analysis procedures for measuring the level-of-service (LOS), also referred to as quality of service, provided by an urban roadway to bicyclists. The method uses different design and operating features of the roadway segment (e.g. width, motor vehicle volumes and speeds) to assess an LOS grade of A (best) to F (worst). These procedures are used by planners and engineers to recommend how existing streets could be retrofitted or new streets designed to better serve people on bicycles (and other modes). However, the current HCM does not include methods that address protected bike lanes (aka “cycle tracks” or “separated bike lanes”), only conventional striped bike lanes, shoulders, and shared streets. There are other methods for predicting comfort from a bicyclist’s perspective that do consider protected bike lanes, but they are either based only on expert opinion or on surveys in Denmark. This presentation will describe how to evaluate the level-of-service of a protected bike lane using results from surveys conducted in the United States. The model developed by this project could be used to supplement the current HCM to objectively consider a wider range of options for improving the environment for bicycling. This is increasingly important as the implementation of, and demand for, protected bike lanes surges around the US. Close

• 10. [Article] Towards Effective Design Treatment for Right Turns at Intersections with Bicycle Traffic

  The overall goal of this research was to quantify the safety performance of alternative traffic control strategies to mitigate right-turning-vehicle/bicycle collisions, often called "right-hook" crashes, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Towards Effective Design Treatment for Right Turns at Intersections with Bicycle Traffic Author: Hurwitz, David, Monsere, Christopher Year: 2016 The overall goal of this research was to quantify the safety performance of alternative traffic control strategies to mitigate right-turning-vehicle/bicycle collisions, often called "right-hook" crashes, at signalized intersections in Oregon. A two stage experiment was developed in the OSU high-fidelity driving simulator to investigate the causal factors of right-hook crashes at signalized intersections with a striped bike lane and no right-turn lane, and to then identify and evaluate alternative design treatments that could mitigate the occurrence of right-hook crashes. Experiment 1 investigated motorist and environmental related causal factors of right-hook crashes, using three different motorist performance measures: (1) visual attention, (2) situational awareness (SA) and (3) crash avoidance behavior. Data was collected from 51 participants (30 male and 21 female) turning right 820 times in 21 different experimental scenarios. It was determined that the worst case right-hook scenario occurred when a bicycle was approaching the intersection at a higher speed (16 mph) and positioned in the blind zone of the motorist. In crash and near crash situations (measured by time-to-collision) the most common cause was a failure of the driver to actively search for the adjacent bicyclist (situational awareness level 1), although failures were also determined to occur due to failures of projection (i.e. incorrectly assuming that the bicycle would yield or that there was enough time to turn in front of the bicycle). Elements of driver performance and gap acceptance collected in the first stage simulator experiment were field validated based on 144 hrs of video to provide additional confidence in the findings. Title: Towards Effective Design Treatment for Right Turns at Intersections with Bicycle Traffic Author: Hurwitz, David, Monsere, Christopher Year: 2016 The overall goal of this research was to quantify the safety performance of alternative traffic control strategies to mitigate right-turning-vehicle/bicycle collisions, often called "right-hook" crashes, at signalized intersections in Oregon. A two stage experiment was developed in the OSU high-fidelity driving simulator to investigate the causal factors of right-hook crashes at signalized intersections with a striped bike lane and no right-turn lane, and to then identify and evaluate alternative design treatments that could mitigate the occurrence of right-hook crashes. Experiment 1 investigated motorist and environmental related causal factors of right-hook crashes, using three different motorist performance measures: (1) visual attention, (2) situational awareness (SA) and (3) crash avoidance behavior. Data was collected from 51 participants (30 male and 21 female) turning right 820 times in 21 different experimental scenarios. It was determined that the worst case right-hook scenario occurred when a bicycle was approaching the intersection at a higher speed (16 mph) and positioned in the blind zone of the motorist. In crash and near crash situations (measured by time-to-collision) the most common cause was a failure of the driver to actively search for the adjacent bicyclist (situational awareness level 1), although failures were also determined to occur due to failures of projection (i.e. incorrectly assuming that the bicycle would yield or that there was enough time to turn in front of the bicycle). Elements of driver performance and gap acceptance collected in the first stage simulator experiment were field validated based on 144 hrs of video to provide additional confidence in the findings. Close