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

Collaborative Regional Planning: Tools and Techniques for Teaching Collaborative Regional Planning to Enhance Livability and Sustainable Transportation

Danya Rumore Sarah Hinners , Divya Chandrasekhar
Communities throughout the nation face a variety of interconnected transportation, livability, and sustainability challenges that can only be effectively addressed through regional planning collaboration. These challenges are particularly pressing in gateway and natural amenity region communities throughout the U.S. Mountain West. This project engaged graduate students in developing curricular materials to teach planning students, professional planners, and community-members (1) the core… Read More

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… Read More