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
Human Centricity through AI - Innovating Public Engagement for Transportation Projects with Large Language Models
Antonie Jetter
Ameeta Agrawal
Researchers created a qualitative dataset of public planning documents, community comments, forum conversations, newspaper articles, etc., about the SW Corridor Lightrail project in Portland, OR. The team will use this dataset to set up a series of experiments enabled by the ChatGPT4 LLM from Open.AI. This will provide preliminary insights into the potential of LLMs as data interpretation aids.
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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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