TREC research addresses complex transportation problems by drawing on multiple disciplines, including engineering, planning, economics and design, from across the Portland State University campus. Use the search box at right to search for a specific project.
Research Highlights
Framing Livability: A Strategic Communications Approach to Improving Public Transportation in Oregon
Deborah Morrison Autumn Shafer , Rebecca Lewis
Oregon is recognized as a national leader in improving transportation options and limiting urban sprawl. In the 42 years since Senate Bill 100 launched Oregon's land use planning program, these efforts have gone by different names: "reducing reliance on the automobile," "reducing vehicles miles traveled," "reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation," "compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented development," "smart growth," "sustainability," and "livability," to name a few. Despite these…
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Does Compact Development Increase or Reduce Traffic Congestion?
Reid Ewing Shima Hamidi
It is now widely held, even among many state transportation departments, that you cannot “pave your way out of congestion” (at least in the long run) due to highway induced traffic and highway induced development (sprawl). Therefore, any solution to highway congestion must be multi-faceted and must, in particular, reduce the need for so much vehicular traffic. From years of other research, we know that compact development that is dense, diverse, well-designed, etc. reduces vehicle miles…
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