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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A Comprehensive Examination of Electronic Wayfinding Technology for Visually Impaired Travelers in an Urban Environment
Martin Swobodzinski
Amy Parker
Human wayfinding and navigation are key organizing activities that allow human beings to acquire knowledge about the environment and develop cognitive representations in support of such essential tasks as route planning and travel. These activities are non-trivial in that they afford the activation of various cognitive systems and functions pertaining to wayfinding and navigation. Irrespective of the continuing proliferation of electronic travel aids and their evident facilitation of human wa...
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