2017 TCS Recap: View slides from the breakout sessions and workshops, see PDFs of the posters, revisit the PechaKucha presentations, or read instructions for recording your continuing education credits.

The two-day 2017 Transportation and Communities Summit, held at Portland State University (PSU) on September 11–12, drew 315 attendees from over 10 states and over 40 cities and towns. This was the largest summit we’ve ever hosted, and we hope it created new opportunities for collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

This event was sponsored by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), a national university transportation center managed by TREC housed at PSU. NITC is a partnership between PSU, the University of Oregon, the Oregon Institute of Technology, the University of Utah, and our newest partners - the University of Arizona and the University of Texas at Arlington.

NITC researchers at all six of the partner universities were introduced in a series of "Meet the Researcher" tweets and videos, to familiarize attendees with the research interests of NITC faculty and to open the door to potential collaborative efforts. Check out our NITC Researchers Directory here.

Portland State University's new president, Dr. Rahmat Shoureshi, in his opening remarks at the luncheon program, described his focus on academic teamwork and his appreciation of the cooperative nature of TREC's interdisciplinary transportation programs. An active researcher, Shoureshi earned advanced degrees in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a bachelor’s degree from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, his native country. We’re excited that one of his primary goals for PSU is to develop and support transdisciplinary institutes and research centers supported by government and industry.

The keynote address (watch here), delivered by Hannah Ubl of Bridgeworks, addressed generational differences and offered strategies for conflict resolution and peer management for Millennials, Generation Xers and Baby Boomers in the transportation workforce.

Over the course of two days, we offered nine breakout sessions and seven hands-on workshops, giving attendees an in-depth look at topics ranging from autonomous vehicles to equity. Six PechaKucha presentations offered a different perspective on style, each speaker having to zip through 20 slides - 20 seconds per slide. "The Pedestrian's Tale," by Brian Davis of Lancaster StreetLab was a show-stopper - sharing his Shakespearean-style lament on the problematic culture of victim-blaming in pedestrian safety efforts.

At the closing reception, TREC director Jennifer Dill gave awards to the student poster contest winners. The grand prize of $500 went to Sirwan Shahooei, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Arlington, for his poster "Operation Design and Demand Estimation of a Public Transit System for City of Arlington." A student of University of Arizona and another student from Texas won 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. A sweep from our newest NITC University Partners!

NITC is proud of the way we've grown and the growing role we're playing in the formation of transportation's future. We’re already looking forward to next year’s Summit!