The 102nd annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) will be held January 8–12, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation, research from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) will be featured at this annual gathering. The spotlight theme for the 2023 meeting is Rejuvenation Out of Disruption: Envisioning a Transportation System for a Dynamic Future.
Below are a few highlights of research being presented by transportation experts from our participating NITC-funded campuses: Portland State University (PSU), University of Oregon (UO), University of Utah (UU), University of Arizona (UA), and University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Check out our full NITC guide for all of the sessions:
VIEW THE ONLINE GUIDE TO NITC AT TRB 2023
*Due to the evolving status of speaker attendance and TRB programming for next week, please check your TRB schedule for the most current information in the event of changes.*
NITC Research Highlights at TRB 2023
MULTI-UNIVERSITY PROJECTS
The Outstanding Student of the Year award is presented during the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) banquet at each annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, where the U.S. Department of Transportation honors an outstanding graduate student from each UTC. Sadie Mae Palmatier will be presented with the award for NITC at this year's CUTC award ceremony. See past NITC Students of the Year.
NITC OUTSTANDING STUDENT OF THE YEAR
Sadie Mae Palmatier, University of Oregon
Connect with Sadie Mae on Linkedin
Twelve students attending partner universities of the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) are receiving Eisenhower Fellowships presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation at this year's annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Meet the NITC Eisenhower Fellows:
Cameron Bennett, Portland State University
Cameron is a second-year master’s student in transportation engineering at PSU. His work as a graduate research assistant focuses on promoting and facilitating the uptake of active transportation modes. He serves as president of the PSU ITE-STEP (Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning) student group. He received Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowships presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation at the Transportation Research Board 2022 and 2023 annual meetings. He is also the... Read more
Christian Galiza is a senior in civil engineering. He is the Vice President of Communications for Portland State University's Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) student chapter, Students in Transportation Engineering & Planning (ITE-STEP), and also works as a structural engineering intern for Eclipse Engineering. He is the recipient of an ITE Regional Travel Scholarship to attend the 2022 ITE Western District Annual Meeting in Palm Springs, CA. He is also a 2022/23 National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) scholar. Christian enjoys transportation because it's fascinating to think about the relationship between building sustainable infrastructure and transportation planning and its impact on how people move every day.
Connect with Christian on LinkedIn.
Tell us about yourself?
I am originally from the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii, and I have been working through the B.S. Civil Engineering program at Portland State University. My transportation interests include Complete Streets, safety, and issues involving transportation equity. In January 2023, I’m excited to embark on an engineering internship with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) in their Traffic Operations section...
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A new transportation comic, "Moving From Cars To People (PDF)," offers a succinct and fun introduction to a complicated topic: namely, how the built environment in the United States came to be designed for cars and what we can do about it.
Want a physical copy? Here are a few ways to get one:
- Request a free copy from our limited print run (first come, first served)
- Order a copy for just the cost of printing & shipping;
- Print one yourself at any local printer, with our high-res print-...
Leif Tuel is an undergraduate student at the Oregon Institute of Technology, studying civil engineering. He is a general member of the ASCE-AGC Oregon Tech Chapter, and has served for two terms as President of the ITE Oregon Tech Student Chapter. During Leif's tenure as the Student Chapter President, Oregon Tech has won two Oregon ITE Traffic Bowl championships. Leif has also worked as a laboratory technician for Carlson Testing, Inc and as a wildland fire suppression specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Leif Tuel, I will be graduating with my bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Oregon Tech this March 2023. I love to spend my spare time in the outdoors, hiking, mountain biking, camping or just exploring. Traveling to countries like Germany, Japan, France, and Greece helped expand my view on the world, later guiding me to the world of civil engineering. I am excited to enter the professional world of engineering here shortly!
What (or who) has influenced your career path in transportation?
I always loved the engineering world and knew I wanted to follow that path with my future career. Having grown up in Tillamook, Oregon, where every year we are faced with the summertime tourism traffic along Hwy 101....
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The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is proud to introduce our newest Dissertation Fellow, Nicholas Puczkowskyj of Portland State University, who was awarded $15,000 for his doctoral research project: Expanding Transmobilities: An Art-Informed Methodology For Genderdiverse Travel Behavior.
"My dissertation focuses on understanding how genderdiverse individuals' gender identity influences their travel behavior and travel decisions. I use an art-based methodology by operationalizing collage and mental maps to delicately capture these data. I believe this work will support mobility justice research and the greater social justice movement by further solidifying the field of transmobilities. Additionally, this research seeks to push the boundaries of transportation research by illustrating the power of art as a modality for travel behavior research," Puczkowskyj said.
There is a significant gendered travel behavior research gap in the transportation literature. A plethora of transportation literature identifying and contrasting cisgender disparities exists, but more inclusive approaches to genderdiverse identities remain scarce. The burgeoning field of transmobilities investigates transgender mobility and evolved from the nexus of mobility justice and gender studies by studying transgender experiences on public transit.
Nick's dissertation expands...
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In the latest instance of taking research to practice, researchers at Oregon Tech have completed a pilot section of trail using a NITC-developed sustainable paving method. A quarter-mile section of the Klamath Geo Trail, just east and up the hill from the Oregon Tech Klamath Falls campus, has been successfully resurfaced using volcanic ash from Mount Mazama. Learn more in a free webinar on February 23, 2023: Applying a Mt. Mazama Volcanic Ash Treatment as a Trail Accessibility Improvement.
The researchers explain and demonstrate the process in this NITC research video:
Applying a Mt. Mazama Volcanic Ash Treatment as a Trail Accessibility Improvement
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In a big step forward for nonmotorized planning, a dashboard with bike data from the Washington, D.C. metro area is coming to BikePed Portal. Previously, a planner looking to see the latest biking numbers for the nation's capital would have to look at info from several jurisdictions, including Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, the District Department of Transportation, Fairfax County, Montgomery County, and the National Park Service, which manages counters on several trails and natural areas in the greater metro area.
Now, with funding from a National Park Service (NPS) Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), a unique program that facilitates partnerships between federal and non-federal entities and research institutions, Virginia Tech and the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC) are teaming up with data specialists at Portland State University (PSU) to create a new dashboard that will allow users to see all the D.C. bike data together in one place.
Housed at PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), BikePed Portal...
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Navigating an unfamiliar place is uniquely challenging for people with disabilities. People with blindness, deafblindness, visual impairment or low vision, as well as those who use wheelchairs, can travel more independently in urban areas with the aid of effective wayfinding technology. A new report from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) explores how to leverage low-cost methods to enable people to more easily move through public, urban indoor and outdoor spaces.
The study, led by Martin Swobodzinski and Amy Parker of Portland State University, used focus groups, two case studies, and an in-person structured wayfinding experience on the PSU campus to find the most helpful ways of getting around. Tactile maps were found to be a very useful resource, with an accessible mobile app also showing promise as an orientation and mobility aid.
The researcher will share more details about this project in a free webinar on December 15: Individual Wayfinding in the Context of Visual Impairment, Blindness, and Deafblindness.
WHY IS THIS RESEARCH IMPORTANT?
Environments and...
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