TRB

NITC Research at TRB 2020: Link Roundup!

Feb 05, 2020

We've collected posters and presentations of NITC research at TRB. Explore the links below to see what NITC researchers brought to D.C. this year—the below projects have a connection to NITC funding, but are not necessarily representative of the full body of work that researchers at these institutions brought to the annual meeting.

Check out our TRB 2020 photo album here!

Portland State University

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The Portland Streetcar and Portland MAX are visible, along with a green Bike Signal and a pedestrian walk button.

NITC Invites Submissions for 2020 General Research RFP

Jan 27, 2020

The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) program has released its 2020 general research request for proposals. Faculty at NITC's partner universities* are invited to submit abstracts by March 23, 2020.

Through funding provided by the U.S. DOT, we will award up to $1,000,000 to research projects that support NITC’s theme: improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities. Our theme includes a few key topics:

Increasing access to opportunities.

Well-connected regions and communities can improve social equity by providing access to jobs, services, recreation, and social opportunities. Research should examine barriers to access, including the connections between transportation, land use, and housing. It should look at how to overcome these barriers and improve accessibility, affordability, and equity in our communities.

Improving multi-modal planning and shared use of infrastructure.

Improved mobility requires a range of options for moving people and goods. As concepts of mobility evolve, research is needed to understand how people and firms make mode choices so that we can design better multi-modal systems. Research should examine how different modes can share our infrastructure safely. It should look at...

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Escooter and bike parked on sidewalk

Emerging Technologies in Mid-Size Cities: Managing New Mobility

Jan 06, 2020
Photo by Andrei Stanescu/iStock
Becky Steckler and Rebecca Lewis, University of Oregon

What was...

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Jenny Liu presents a poster at TRB 2019

The NITC Guide to the 2020 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Conference

Jan 06, 2020

This page serves as a homebase for our coverage of the 2020 Transportation Research Board (TRB) annual conference. Check back here for ongoing updates, as well as our Twitter and Facebook.

  • NITC GUIDE TO TRB (PDF): Our printable schedule of where all of our NITC researchers will be presenting at lectures, poster sessions, and workshops.

  • NITC RECEPTION AT TRB: Join us for transportation bingo and networking on Monday, January 13 (8:00 –10:30 PM) nearby at Fadó Irish Pub.

  • NITC STUDENT AWARD AT CUTC BANQUET: We’ll be celebrating our 2019 NITC “Student of the Year,"  Samuel Jensen of the University of Arizona, at the annual CUTC Banquet.

NITC AT TRB 2020 HIGHLIGHTS

Below is a small sampling of the expertise NITC is bringing to TRB 2020. For the ...

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A bus on the street

Five "Small Starts" Transportation Projects Receive $100,000 in NITC Funding

Dec 04, 2019
Photo by Andrei Stanescu/iStock

Our National Institute for Transportation & Communities (NITC) research program has awarded grant funding for a new series of Small Starts projects.

The latest Small Starts Grant projects, evaluated by the NITC Advisory Board and selected by NITC's Executive Committee, will explore mobility impacts of construction workzones, transportation equity and barriers for low-income travelers, and the widespread impacts of emerging technologies like e-scooters and ride hailing.

This annual NITC funding program is a unique opportunity to tackle small-scale ($20,000 or less in scope) research projects. In contrast to our larger, annual flagship program ($30–150K), Small Starts enables us to include researchers who:

  • Bring a diverse, interdisciplinary perspective

  • Offer a new voice in the field, whether they’re untenured faculty or a researcher who has not received a NITC grant before

  • Want to kick-start a larger project by first tackling an exploratory study smaller in scope

THE...

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Webinar: Assessing the Impacts of New Mobility on Cities

Nov 25, 2019

PRESENTATION ARCHIVE

OVERVIEW

Autonomous vehicles (AVs), e-commerce and the sharing economy are rapidly changing land use and transportation in cities. City leaders and professional planners are wondering how these technologies will change how they plan and operate cities. For the past year, the University of Oregon’s Urbanism Next Center and Sustainable Year Program focused staff and students on helping the cities of Gresham and Eugene better understand the potential impacts of a wide-range of topics and  study a variety of potential responses to address the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities. These topics include issues related to safety, social equity, active transportation, sustainability and environmental impacts, design and management of the right-of-way, and the metropolitan footprint. In addition, the cities thought about city operations and budgeting and how they can inform decision-making, manage innovation, and consider the fiscal impacts and new mobility revenue.

During this webinar, the Urbanism Next researchers will discuss the research they conducted to help the cities navigate new mobility and emerging technologies. Researchers will discuss how cities are preparing for new mobility...

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A worker measures the distance from a bike light to the ground

Riding the Green Wave: Researchers Test "Green Light Optimized Speed" App for Bicyclists

Oct 09, 2019
Stephen Fickas and Marc Schlossberg, University of Oregon

NITC researchers Stephen Fickas and Marc Schlossberg of the University of Oregon are on a mission: bring the benefits of V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure communication) to bicycling. Earlier this year they published their proof-of-concept of a DIY vehicle-to-infrastructure "bike box" in Oregon for communicating with traffic signal controllers. In the most recent round of NITC grants awarded...

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A view of the ballroom with attendees eating lunch during the Summit keynote

Another Year, Another Summit! Prioritizing Housing, Multimodal Data, and Access to Active Mobility

Oct 09, 2019

The 11th annual Transportation and Communities Summit 2019, held at Portland State University (PSU) on September 19–20, drew attendees from 14 states across the U.S. Over 250 people joined us for the Summit day, and nearly 60 took part in the deep-dive workshop day. We hope the event offered new opportunities for collaboration and synergy between researchers, practitioners, and community members.

Peter DeFazio, the U.S. Representative for Oregon's 4th congressional district, kicked off the day with a video welcome message for the summit attendees, followed on the main stage by TREC director and urban planning faculty Jennifer Dill. 

At lunchtime Ben Wellington, the data storyteller behind the popular quantitative analysis blog...

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Webinar: Letting Bike Riders Catch the Green Wave

Oct 07, 2019

PRESENTATION ARCHIVE

Miss the webinar or want a look back?

OVERVIEW

The "Fast Track" project at the University of Oregon focuses on a mode of transportation that is sometimes left out of vehicle-to-infrastructure, or V2I, conversations: Bicycling. NITC researchers developed an app based on a new technology being integrated into modern cars: GLOSA, or Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory. GLOSA allows motorists to set their speed along corridors to maximize their chances of catching a "green wave" so they won't have to stop at red lights.

This project demonstrates how GLOSA can be used by bicyclists in the same way it is used by motorists, with a test site on a busy car and bike corridor feeding the University of Oregon campus: 13th Avenue in Eugene, Oregon. Researchers developed a smartphone app that tells a cyclist whether they should adjust their speed to stay in tune with the signals and catch the next green. The project demonstrates how university researchers, city traffic engineers, and signal-controller manufacturers can come together to help bicyclists be active participants in a smart transportation system.

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Three people stand waiting for a train

Advancing Transportation Equity through Inclusive Travel Survey Data Methods

Sep 11, 2019
Photo by santypan

Amy Lubitow and Julius McGee, Portland State University;  Raoul Liévanos, University of Oregon

What is the quality of travel data for underrepresented, marginalized populations? The issues go deeper than creating slicker algorithms: In a world with...

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