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

Reducing VMT, Encouraging Walk Trips, and Facilitating Efficient Trip Chains through Polycentric Development

Reid Ewing
A "polycentric" region is a network of compact developments (centers) that are connected with each other through high-quality transportation options. As the antidote to sprawling suburbs, compact centers can encourage all the things that sprawl discourages: public health, environmental sustainability, social cohesion, and economic diversity. But how can metropolitan planning organizations ensure that their regional plans will actually meet these goals? Polycentric development has been… Read More

S.T.E.A.M. TRAINing: Engaging High School Girls in Transportation and Equity Issues through GIS

Randy Morris Nancee Hunter
The Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies’ Community Geography program wishes to apply for a grant to develop the curriculum for a 1-2 week lab course in transportation-focused mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), to be held in the summer of 2019. The course will be geared towards girls of middle school and high school age, and would teach digital mapping and analysis, as well as spatial and geographic concepts, all relating to themes around transportation and transportation… Read More