OTREC Newsletter May 2011

If the posters lining the wall showed how visionary the Sustainable City Year model can be, the Salem city officials attending the May 20 reception testified how practical it can be as well. The reception recapped the work of the second Sustainable City Year, now drawing to a close.

Sustainable City Year is a program of the Sustainable Cities Initiative, one of three OTREC initiatives. In the program, 500 students on two campuses worked on 16 projects to help Salem meet sustainability goals. Although work continues in Salem and at the University of Oregon and Portland State University, May 20 was an opportunity to thank the participants and punctuate a second successfully year, following the inaugural efforts in Gresham, Ore. Next year’s Sustainable City Year will focus on Springfield, Ore. Read more...
 
Research: nearly a fifth of crashes related to driveways
By one count, nearly one in five crashes on city streets is related to driveways. Despite this, driveway design has attracted little attention in transportation circles until recently. Jim Gattis wants to change this.

Gattis, a University of Arkansas engineering professor, shared some of the lessons of his research as an OTREC visiting scholar. While the needs of different road users sometimes conflict, a smart design often can accommodate all users without much, or any, inconvenience. Read more...
 
Even as complex visual representations of data become common, many people still don’t understand what land-use and transportation modelers do. In April, state and local planning directors met to address that and other issues they’ll increasingly face in the coming years. The Oregon Modeling Collaborative convened the Oregon Transportation Policy Forum for guidance in developing the tools agencies will need and to keep agencies talking about transportation issues. Read more...
 
University of Oregon among bike elite, but could improve, visiting speaker says
When the executive director of the League of American Bicyclists came to Eugene May 5, the University of Oregon LiveMove transportation student group gave him more than just a photo opportunity in front of Johnson Hall. They took him out bicycling. Andy Clarke returned in time to award the university a Bicycle Friendly Silver award. Read more...
 
China offers lessons, cautions for electric vehicle adoption
As Portland prepares to welcome the first shipment of all-electric vehicles, other countries offer lessons on encouraging the vehicles’ adoption. On April 29, Jianhong Ye provided an overview of China’s electric vehicle promotional programs during a seminar at Portland State University. Read more...
 
Visiting scholar shares research on why people walk, bicycle
As a bicycle and pedestrian planning consultant, it bothered Robert Schneider that no one seemed to know exactly what made people choose to walk or bicycle. So he set out to change that. “There was also a big need for more detailed research and an understanding of what motivates people to walk and bicycle,” Schneider said. Read more...