Paving The Way: Recruiting Students into the Transportation Professions, MTI Report 08-03

The transportation industry faces a growing shortage of professional engineers and planners. One key strategy in solving this problem will be to encourage more civil engineering and urban planning students to specialize in transportation while completing their degrees, so that employers have a larger pool of likely recruits. However, very little is known about how these students choose a specialization. To help fill that gap, this report examines the factors that lead civil engineering undergraduates and urban planning masters students to specialize in transportation, as opposed to other sub-disciplines within the two fields. The primary data collection methods were web-based surveys of 1,852 civil engineering undergraduates and 869 planning masters students. The study results suggest steps the transportation community can take to increase the number of civil engineering and planning students who choose to specialize in transportation

Getting From Here to There in the Region

This paper examines personal travel by area residents

Impacts of Trip Permit Program Changes on Vehicle Operations and Inspections

This research project has two inter-related parts: (1) an assessment of the equity of implications of the emissions inspection program in the State of Oregon and elsewhere; and (2) an assessment of the impacts of the new trip permit program on vehicle operations. The study provides a better understanding of the benefits and equity impacts of the inspection program and the recent change to the trip permit system. The findings will be of use to Oregon, as well as all public agencies that oversee vehicle inspection programs throughout the country. The research includes specific recommendations for addressing equity concerns and improving the effectiveness of the program

“Green” Transportation Taxes and Fees: A Survey Of Californians, MTI Report 08-05

This report explores public opinion on a new and promising concept—green transportation taxes and fees. These are taxes and fees set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. This approach to transportation taxes and fees adapts the traditional transportation finance system to achieve two critical public benefits at once: encouraging drivers to choose more environmentally-friendly transportation options and raising revenue for needed transportation programs. To test public support for green transportation taxes and fees, the authors conducted a random telephone survey of 1,500 Californians that asked respondents their views on five hypothetical tax and fee options: a flat-rate and a green vehicle registration fee, a flat-rate and a green mileage fee, and a “feebate” program for new vehicle purchases under which more-polluting vehicles would be charged a tax and less-polluting vehicles would receive a rebate. The survey results show that the concept of green transportation taxes and fees strongly appeals to Californians. The survey tested this in two ways: by testing support for the three hypothetical green transportation tax and fee policies, and also by comparing support levels for flat-rate versus green versions of two taxes. Majorities of the respondents supported all three green taxes and fees tested. Another striking finding from the survey is that support for the green taxes and fees did not vary greatly by population subgroups; a diverse range of Californians supported the green taxes and fees. An analysis comparing support for the green and flat-rate vehicle registration fee and feebate proposals confirmed that in every subgroup, more people within that subgroup supported the green than the flat version of the two taxes tested

The Intersection of Urban Form and Mileage Fees: Findings from the Oregon Road User Fee Pilot Program, Research Report 10-04

This report analyzes data from the 2006-2007 Oregon Road User Fee Pilot program to assess if and how urban form variables correlate with travel behavior changes that participants made in response to the mileage-based fee program. It finds that charging a noticeably higher fee for driving in congested conditions can successfully motivate households to reduce their VMT in those times and places where congestion is most a problem. Households in both traditional (mixed use, dense, transit-accessible) and suburban (single-use, low density) neighborhoods will likely reduce their peak-hour and overall travel under a charging scheme that charges a high-rate for peak-hour travel, though households in the traditional neighborhoods will do so more. It also finds that a mileage fee program that charges a high rate during the peak hour is likely to strengthen the underlying influence of urban form on travel behavior. In other words, land use probably will matter more to transportation planning if the nation shifts to a new paradigm of mileage-based financing and pricing system. For transportation policy-makers, this raises another layer of consideration when designing the optimal rate structure to achieve policy goals—either reduced VMT and congestion or sustained funding sources. For urban planners, this offers a wonderful opportunity to move towards a sustainable built environment through revised and compatible land use regulation under the context of a mileage-based fee. The research also reveals that program design could significantly affect a household’s response to a mileage-based fee program. Particularly in Portland, the establishment of an endowment account for participants actually increased household VMT when a flat-rate fee was charged, the opposite to policy-makers’ expectation. One possible explanation is that paying the mileage-based fees once a month, instead of paying the gas tax at each visit to the pump, may have encouraged households to drive more due to the reduced gas price at the pump

2014 Transit Oriented Developments Survey

This report presents results from surveys of residents at several transit-oriented developments (TODs) in Portland, Hillsboro, Tigard, and unincorporated Clackamas County. The research complements our previous survey work for Metro done at eight TODs in 2010 and 11 TODs in 2007

Do People’s Perceptions of Neighborhood Bikeability Match “Reality”?

Do people perceive the built environment the same as we objectively measure it? If not, what are the relative roles of the objective versus the perceived environment on bicycling behavior? This study, based on data from Portland, Oregon, explored the match or mismatch between the objective and perceived bicycling environment and how it affects people’s bicycling behavior. The descriptive analysis indicated a fair agreement between perceived and objective measures. Older adults, women having children, less-educated and lower-income persons, and those who bicycle less tended to perceive their high-bikeable environment (measured objectively) as being a low-bikeable environment. In addition to the socio-demographics, this study also found that the social environment can play a role in the relationship between the objective and perceived environment. Finally, results of this study indicated that both the actual and perceived built environment are associated with bicycling behavior, particularly for utilitarian bicycling. For recreational bicycling, the objective environment attributes measured in this study are not significant factors, while perceptions do matte

Pedestrian Observation and Data Collection Curriculum Guide

This is a final report, NITC-ED-999, from the NITC program of TREC at Portland State University, and can be found online at: https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/999 The project brief associated with this research can be found at: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/25833This guidebook provides a comprehensive set of class exercises suitable for students in courses related to travel behavior, traffic safety, urban planning and design, community health, or civil engineering. Exercises include activities developed through this project as well as an extensive set of educational materials drawn from online resources. The exercises developed as part of this project focus on pedestrians. They include elements of both traditional traffic counts and behavioral components, the latter of which are often lacking from current data collections efforts. By encouraging students to consider behavioral interactions of roadway users, these exercises can provide students with field experience that collects data that underlie behavioral traffic theory and agent-based traffic models. The materials are organized to provide helpful guidance to instructors and provide insights gathered through the pilot testing of classroom materials. Activities drawn from existing resources provide a comprehensive set of educational materials that address different facets of pedestrian and bicycle planning. The educational curricula and resources outlined in this guide allow instructors with little or no experience to integrate pedestrian-related curriculum into their teaching. The guide may also prove useful for organizations interested in pedestrian and bicycle planning and provide additional resources for experienced instructors. Included curricula are aimed at undergraduate or graduate university students, but can be easily adaptable to high school students or community college classes interested in exploring these issues. Specific outcomes include the following: • Readings, curriculum, data collections tools, and general research design that instructors can adapt to their needs, while standardizing the data collection method. This can enrich classroom learning and facilitate fieldwork experience. • The data collected from the exercise may provide a benefit to local agencies. Local jurisdictions are often interested in partnering with local university classes on data collection, but time constraints, particularly in the quarter system, can make planning and execution of projects time-prohibitive.This project was funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) under grant number 999. Additional resources in the guide are public documents courtesy of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Pedestrian & Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), Ryan Snyder at the UCLA Department of Urban Planning, and Krista Nordback of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (UNC-HSRC)

Equity Analysis of Portland’s Draft Bicycle Master Plan – Findings

Portland\u27s current bicycle network has brought the city into the national spotlight as a leader in the provision of cycling infrastructure. As the city looks forward to 2030 with ambitions of becoming a truly world-class bicycling city, it is clear that if the Draft Plan is fully implemented, nearly all of the city will be covered by a dense network of bikeways. The question of equity in the future is therefore not so much one of network coverage or lack of coverage, but of project priority and timing of implementation. The current network, while outstanding relative to other cities, nevertheless has certain service gaps where network coverage is sparse. Identifying where service gaps overlap with disadvantaged populations can help the city prioritize projects from the Draft Plan to serve these groups. The approach of this study was guided by a Public Health/Equity Objective developed during the planning process. This objective urged action to perform equity gap analysis that includes demographic/income indicators overlaid with existing bike facility gap analysis to inform priority settings where people live, learn, work, and play. In addition to these four categories, we also address bicycle access to transit in recognition of the reality that many outlying neighborhoods are not within a 3-mile bikeable distance to important destinations

Long-Term Evaluation of Individualized Marketing Programs for Travel Demand Management

This research examines the use of individualized marketing as a transportation demand management (TDM) strategy, using the City of Portland\u27s SmartTrips program. This research project has two specific aims: (1) to evaluate whether the benefits of these individualized marketing programs continue to at least one year after the project ends; and (2) to examine whether the theory of planned behavior (TPB) can help explain the behavior changes identified. Surveys of residents conducted one or two years after the original program found that the share of daily trips made driving alone, walking, and bicycling were comparable to that found in the previous follow-up surveys, still significantly lower (for driving alone) or higher (for walking and bicycling) than the pre-surveys. This may indicate that the SmartTrips program was effective at changing behavior for a longer time period than previously measured. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) models were effective at explaining travel behavior. The models showed that attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control explain a large share (45-55%) of the variance in travel behavior. The relative influence of each component of the model differed some by mode. The findings support previous research that individualized marketing programs can be effective at changing people?s travel behavior. The findings indicate that the benefits of the programs may extend beyond one year and up to at least two years. However, the research also found that the programs may not be as effective in environments that are less conducive to walking, bicycling, and transit. The research also found that that attitudes, norms, and perceptions play a large role in travel decisions. To be most effective, individualized marketing programs need to influence these factors, though efforts that focus on social norms to influence travel behavior may be less effective than those that include attitudinal and behavioral control components. Sensitivity to regional characteristics and the specific travel mode that is the target of interest is also warranted