We inform transportation decision making through research, building the capacity of the transportation workforce, supporting the education of transportation professionals, and engaging students in research. 

The Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University (PSU) is a multidisciplinary hub for all things transportation.

We are home to the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), the data programs PORTAL and BikePed Portal, the Better Block PSU program, and PSU's membership in PacTrans, the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium. Our continuing goal is to produce impactful research and tools for transportation decision makers, expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engage students and professionals through education, seminars, and participation in research. Learn more about our transportation research and education programs.

Annual Reports

• 2023 TREC Annual Report
• 2022 TREC Annual Report
• See previous reports from the National Instutute for Transportation & Communities (NITC) program, a U.S. DOT-funded university transportation center which was headquartered at TREC from 2012–2024.

Our History at Portland State University

As Oregon's only urban public global research university, Portland State University offers tremendous opportunity to nearly 28,000 students from all backgrounds. Our mission to "Let Knowledge Serve the City" reflects our dedication to finding creative, sustainable solutions to local and global problems. In 1966, Dr. Walter H. Kramer founded the first transportation studies center in the Department of Marketing. After decades of investment in PSU's transportation studies, our faculty and staff expertise earned PSU the leadership of a USDOT-funded regional university transportation center (UTC) from 2006–2014, called the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC). We then successfully competed for more federal grants and led a national UTC, the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), from 2012 until 2024. Today we are a member of the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans), a regional UTC. Our center and staff have grown far beyond the initial UTC grants, and now encompass a wide variety of programs.