One underlying goal of the National Summer Transportation Institute is participation by people from groups traditionally underrepresented in the transportation sector – in the case of the Portland institute, our outreach efforts focused on contacting organizations supporting girls of color in STEM. We had 19 girls participate in this year’s camp.
Grade distribution in applications (grade as of Fall 2017):
9th graders: 12%
10th graders: 28%
11th graders: 24%
12th graders: 36%
Racial/ethnic identification (self-identified in application materials):
African/African American: >8%
Caucasian: 28%
Chicano/Latino: 24%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 20%
Other, not of Hispanic origin: 8%
Other Hispanic : 16%
Schools represented in applications:
Beaverton High School
Benson Polytechnic
Cleveland High School
Evergreen High School
Forest Grove High School
Milwaukie Arts and Sciences
Reynolds High School
Ridgeview High School
Riverdale High School
Roosevelt High School
Southridge High School
St. Mary’s Academy
Sunset High School
Trinity Lutheran
Valor Christian Academy
Westview High School
Hillsboro High School
The broad outline for the curriculum at this camp focused on two subjects: women involved in the field of transportation and issues related to livability. Below is an outline of the curriculum with guiding questions and central activities.
Day 1: What are we doing here? Where do we come from? What is transportation? What is equity?
- Visits from Dr. Jennifer Dill, Director of the Transportation Research and Education Center (PSU) and Zan Gibbs, Equity and Inclusion Program Manager, Portland Bureau of Transportation
- Scavenger hunt based on discovery of PSU Campus
- Introduction to the two-week project
- Getting-to-know you activities at the Rec Center
Day 2: What is the downtown core? What is the Orange Line? How and why should transportation infrastructure be beautiful?
- Orange Line tour with Paige Schlupp, TriMet Guideways Manager
- Downtown scavenger hunt to explore Portland’s transportation core
- Richa Khandelwal, Women Who Code workshop
Day 3: Planning streetscapes, learning about the Southwest Corridor project and visit Trimet’s office.
- Visit from Mary Stewart, Alta Design and Planning, with workshop on transportation infrastructure planning, tradeoffs and decision-making
- Visit to the TriMet headquarters and presentation with Leah Robbins, Michelle Traver and Amy Fandrich
- Self-Management and College Success with Jenna Geracitano, PSU Learning Center
Day 4: What does field research in transportation look and feel like? What are the benefits and burdens for different populations who are impacted by transportation planning?
- Lesson on community involvement and transportation planning, as well as the uses of qualitative and quantitative data with Amy Lubitow, PSU sociology department
- Walking tour of N-NE Portland with Cameron Whitten, Know Your City, discussing transportation decision making, planning, construction and displacement (I-5 corridor, arena and convention center, Emanuel Hospital)
- Movie night “Hidden Figures”
Day 5: The first highways in Oregon in the Gorge; Safety engineering (What is the relationship between speed and safety?), and self-advocacy.
- Visit from Kristen Stallman, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Coordinator Oregon Department of Transportation Region 1
- Visit from Beth Wemple, HDR safety engineer, STEM exercise on stopping distance and texting
- Visit from Erica Bestpitch, PSU Women's Resource Center: “Advocating for Yourself”
- Ended with a fun night at Oak’s Park roller skating
Day 6: Weekend exploring
- Breakfast at the Farmer’s Market, PSU and Saturday Market Visit
- Rail Heritage Museum and Oregon Pacific Rail sightseeing train
- OMSI visit and OMSI Star Party at Rooster Rock State Park for a meteor shower viewing
Day 7: Weekend exploring
- An all-day Columbia Gorge outing
- Tilikum Crossing light walk in the evening
Day 8: What does Portland look like from the river? What is environmental justice and how does it fit into larger questions about transportation planning and decision making? What is youth activism? How do trains play a role in American popular music?
- Learned about transportation on the Willamette River on a jet boat ride
- Visit from María Hernández Segoviano, Opal Environmental Justice, to discuss environmental justice
- Visit by Ali Colleen Neff, ethnomusicologist
- Rock climbing and other PSU Rec Center activities
Day 9: What kinds of jobs can a person do at the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT)? What do different women’s career trajectories look like? What are some of Portland’s most interesting places to bike and how has Portland made itself bike-friendly?
- Visit from 15 PBOT staff people with speed-interviewing for all
- Bike ride with Hau Hagedorn from TREC
- Rock climbing and other Rec Center activities
Day 10: What do people do at Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)? What are different jobs and backgrounds of people who work there? What do they do at their jobs? What is the East Powell Project and how are decisions made for a project like this?
- Presentation on community input and big projects from Shelli Romero, ODOT
- Presentation by economist Lani Pennington, demonstrating how to determine cost-benefit structures for large transportation projects
- Guided tour of the Outer Powell project (SE 122nd & Powell) with Jessica Horning and Susan Peithman, ODOT
- Bike workshop at the PSU Bike Hub
Day 11: What is the 4-T trail?
- Bus to OHSU and tram ride; walk through a corridor that we also visited by bike, tram and light rail on the South Waterfront
- Movie night: “Wonder Woman”
Day 12: How does safety on public transportation impact me as a girl? How can I defend myself on public transportation? How can citizens get involved with the shape and feel of their neighborhood transportation system?
- Self-defense on transit workshop with Jodi Darby
- Description of the Better Block project with Gwen Shaw, Toole Design Group
- Final presentations for classmates, family and friends
See more pictures from this year's NSTI camp, or read about the final projects.