international inspiration | National Institute for Transportation and Communities

PSU offers transportation study abroad opportunity in the Netherlands

Oct 22, 2013

Most people in transportation circles have heard all about the Netherlands as a bicyclist’s mecca, a place where thirty-five percent of the population regularly commutes by bike. What may be less commonly known is how recent this achievement is.

In 1967, bicycling in the Netherlands was “tantamount to attempting suicide,” according to Amsterdam’s chief inspector of traffic police.

Today, the Netherlands is the safest place in the world to operate a bicycle, based on injury and fatality rates per miles traveled. In less than fifty years, their bicycle safety rates have soared and the Dutch have built a bicycle infrastructure that is the envy of the rest of the world. How did they do it?

Could Americans possibly do the same?

That’s what Portland State University transportation students aim to find out.

When PSU student Kirk Paulsen signed up to spend two weeks in the Netherlands as part of the first PSU civil engineering study abroad program, he wasn’t sure what exactly he might get out of it, but knew that he wanted to see famed Dutch bicycling facilities for himself. Paulsen was one of seven transportation students in the pilot class of 2011, and now has this to say about the experience:

“This short study abroad course is by far your best opportunity while enrolled at PSU to observe real world...

Seminar explores bicycle-and-transit trips

Jun 19, 2013

OTREC at Portland State University welcomed Eva Heinen of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, for a special seminar June 18. Around 40 people attended the presentation, held at the Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory and titled “Cycling in the Netherlands and Multi-Modality.”

Eva Heinen is assistant professor of infrastructure planning and mobility at the Department of Spatial Planning and Environment, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen. She earned a Ph.D. from Delft University of Technology in 2011 focusing on bicycle commuting.

Many people in Groningen and The Netherlands as a whole combine transit and bicycling for trips. A typical configuration involves cycling from home to a train station and then renting another bicycle to reach the final destination, Heinen said.

Few people take bicycles on transit, Heinen said, and buses don’t offer bike racks or other accommodations. Folding bikes, whose compact size allows for portability, are one exception, Heinen said. Electric-assist bikes are also popular, particularly with older people.

Heinen has published many papers on cycling in international and national journals and has a large international network in cycling. She spent three months at the University of California in Davis as a visiting scholar. She is a member of the editorial board of Rooilijn, a Dutch journal for science and policy in spatial planning; a member of the Bicycle Committee; co-chair of the...

PeopleForBikes Tape Measure Tour

PeopleForBikes study tours combine networking meetings with local experts, site visits by bike, and discussions on how to bring the best ideas from world-class bike infrastructure to cities back home.

The Tape Measure Tour is designed for transportation engineers, urban planners, and others interested in in-depth engineering and planning examples of bikeway innovation. This tour covers the fundamentals of bikeway design through an intensive week of interactive classroom sessions, field tours and design exercises.

Offered in partnership with Portland State University’s Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), this 5-day workshop is typically eligible for ~30 hours of training, the equivalent of 30 CMs or 30 PDHs. IBPI applies to the AICP for Certification Maintenance credit for each course. We will provide an attendance certificate to those who document their professional development hours.

The cost to attend is $5,500 per person and includes five-nights single occupancy hotel room, all meals, all ground transportation, bike rental, course materials, speaker fees and professional guides. Note airfare is not included in this fee.