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.
NOTE: If you're looking for projects from our partner campuses, use the NITC research search.
Research Highlights
Exploring the positive utility of travel and mode choice
Patrick Singleton
Traditionally, travel is considered a disutility to be minimized, and travel demand is derived from activity demand. Recently, scholars have questioned these axioms, noting that some people may like to travel, use travel time productively, find other benefits in traveling, or travel for non-utilitarian reasons. These are instances of “the positive utility of travel” (PUT). In this dissertation, I conceptually and empirically investigate PUT, its determinants, and its impacts on travel behavio...
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The E-Bike Potential: How E-Bikes Can Improve Sustainable Transportation
John MacArthur
Christopher Cherry
The electric bicycle (e-bike) is a recently introduced mode of travel that is rapidly gaining in popularity throughout the United States. The e-bike can offer a cheaper alternative to car travel (Popovich et al. 2014) and can provide users with an adequate level of physical activity intensity necessary to enhance health (Fishman and Cherry 2016). Riding an e-bike is rewarding and fun, is freeing for users with limited ability and mobility, and can even lead to a car-free household (Popovich e...
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