Many states, including Oregon, are adopting the Safe System approach to improve traffic safety. One key element of this approach is safer speeds. To help make Oregon's road safer for everyone, Portland State University (PSU) is launching a new study, funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), to improve safety at intersections using traffic signals.

The project is led by Sirisha Kothuri of Portland State's civil and environmental engineering department, with Patrick Singleton of Utah State University.

It is generally accepted that automobile speeds play a key role in safety: The faster a car is traveling, the greater the risk of severe injury to vulnerable road users in a collision (especially people who are walking or bicycling). Most pedestrian crashes occur on higher-speed, multi-lane arterials.

To manage speed in the urban environment, one emerging str…

The Better Block PSU program at Portland State University (PSU) has opened our annual call for community organizations to reimagine their streets and underused public spaces in a way to bring people together and reclaim it for their community’s future. 

A partnership between the public spaces advocacy nonprofit Better Block PDX and the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at PSU, students in the Better Block PSU program have developed plans and designs for many community-driven projects that promote equitable placemaking, community building, and active transportation–including the well-known Better Naito project. What began as a PSU student-led initiative for safer and higher capacity bicycle and pedestrian facilities along the Waterfront Park, has gained so much public support that it was permanently im…

Pedestrians are unlikely to use a marked crosswalk if it is too far out of their way. So how far is too far?

Like so many other things in transportation engineering, the answer is dependent on the context. In this case, variables may include the surrounding roadway characteristics, traffic, and the type of crossing facilities that are available. A pedestrian's decisions can also be affected by how far they are walking, how many streets they have to cross, and other factors.

Researchers at Portland State University (PSU) are embarking on a new study to determine the optimal spacing between marked crosswalks.

Based on their findings, the team will create a tool to inform transportation agencies when to add marked crosswalks (also known as zebra crossings) at unmarked intersections and midblock crossing locations.

Funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), the research team is led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and…

Two Portland State University students were awarded Dwight D. Eisenhower transportation fellowships this month at the 104th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Kayla Sorenson and Ana Tijerina Esquino, both graduate students in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at PSU, were presented with the awards by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT). This was the second Eisenhower for Sorenson, who also received the fellowship last year. See below for a short interview with each of the PSU Eisenhower Fellows, and if you missed TRB this year, check out some of the PSU research highlights.

Ana Tijerina Esquino

Ana Tijerina Esquino is a civil engineering masters student and graduate research assistant. She is currently researching ways…

The 104th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) will take place in Washington, DC. from January 5–9, 2025. Faculty and students from Portland State University (PSU) will be sharing their research and expertise across multiple sessions at the event, which typically attracts over 13,000 attendees each year, making it one of the largest gatherings of transportation professionals and researchers in the world. See below for a few highlights from sessions involving PSU faculty, and check out our student feature story to see what PSU students are doing at TRB. For a full list of sessions with PSU presenters, see the PSU at TRB 2025 Program.

Data Showcase: PORTAL and BikePed Portal

PORTAL and BikePed Portal…