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 STEP helps City of Portland with Safe Routes to School Program • June 2008
STEP members assisted the City of Portland with efforts to evaluate the Safe Routes to School program. Ten STEP members counted parked bikes at 25 participating Safe Routes schools during one of three weeks between May 12 and June 6. The results will be correlated with student surveys completed in class during the same week. STEP members plan to assist the City with the analysis over the summer. |
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 Parsons Brinckerhoff Office Visit • May 2008
Isabella Bejarano, a PSU graduate and Civil Engineer at PB, invited STEP to PB's Portland offices on Wednesday the 28th of May. The visit included a tour of the offices and presentations by practicing engineers on topics such as BRT, the "Road Diet" and Oregon statewide transportation modeling.
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 PSU Engineering Discovery Showcase • May 2008
The ITS Lab and STEP volunteered at the Engineering Discovery Showcase, an interactive event for prospective freshman and transfer students. It was held on May 16, 2008 in the Engineering Building Atrium. Students were given lab tours and learned about research and student life in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science program. STEP enjoyed talking with prospective students about transportation engineering. |
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 City of Portland Transportation Operations Center Tour • May 2008
STEP took a field trip to the PDOT Traffic Operations Center (TOC) in May 2008. Willie Rotich, an ITS Engineer at the City of Portland's Office of Transportation, gave STEP a tour of the TOC and talked about the applications, technology and operations involved within the center. |
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Transportation Student-Faculty Happy Hour • April 2008
April. STEP Faculty-Student Happy Hour. STEP hosted a happy hour for transportation students and faculty at the end of the second week of Spring term. The 20 or so students and faculty who attended enjoyed catching up and a view of Mt. Hood on a beautiful Friday afternoon. |
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 PSU Design Competition • February 2008
The ITS Lab and STEP students volunteered at the 2008 PSU Design Competition. The main purpose of the competition is to promote interest in engineering and computer science areas of study to middle and high school students. A 3-D microsimulation animation was shown as well as common traffic analysis plots. ITS Lab and STEP students interacted with the middle and high school students by facilitating questions. |
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 STEP Social Event: Bowling • February 2008
STEP enjoyed a night of bowling at the Smith Memorial Student Union Viking Game Room. Undergraduate students, graduate students, PhD students, alumni and faculty from several departments including civil engineering, urban planning, and computer science socialized over bowling and food. |
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 Transportation Careers with Kittelson and Associates • February 2008
Brian Ray and Julia Knudsen spoke to several STEP students about careers and specifically the intern program with Kittelson and Associates. They provided insight into what opportunities the intern program could provide a student and what types of projects they could expect to work on. Additionally they shared their experiences working in the transportation field, talked about differences in working for the public and private sector, and gave advice on what skills employers look for, and what students should consider when contemplating who to work for. |
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 Transportation Careers with DKS Associates • January 2008
Chris Maciejewski and Brian Copeland from DKS Associates discussed transportation opportunities with several STEP students. They focused their discussion on opportunities within their firm and also described projects DKS Associates are currently working on. |
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 STEP Attends TRB Annual Meeting • January 2008
Fifteen students from PSU attended the Transportation Research Board’s 87th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Students attended many presentations and workshops, interspersed with some time taking in the sights of Washington, D.C. Portland State University students presented three posters and one paper at TRB, in addition to a number of presentations by faculty.
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 Columbia River Crossing Field Trip • December 2007
About ten STEP members went on the Fall field trip to the Columbia River Crossing project on the day after finals. We met PSU alum Zach Horowitz at the CRC project office in Vancouver, Washington. Zach gave a overview of the project and, following a pizza lunch and office tour, the group walked across the multi-use paths on both sides of the bridge spans. Zach pointed out key features of the project, including the location of the former toll plaza. The group was struck by the degree of truck noise and the poor quality of the bike and pedestrian environment. Thank you Zach for organizing the tour!
Pictures will be posted shortly on the STEP website. |
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 5th Annual TransNow Student Conference • November 2007
STEP members helped organize the 5th Annual TransNow Transportation Student Conference, held at PSU's Native American Student Center. About 65 students attended from Northwest universities, including University of Alaska. STEP members Ariana Tipper and Mathew Berkow were among the 10 students who presented. A number of students also fielded posters. The conference featured a panel with Bob Hastings of TriMet, Brian Ray of Kittelson & Associates, and Rick Kuehn of CH2MHill, and a keynote address from UCLA Professor Brian Taylor on the topic of Rethinking Congestion. The conference was a great opportunity for students to share their work and interact. Students from the University of Washington waited out I-5 evening congestion with PSU students at a happy hour at Market Street Pub.
The student and keynote presentations are posted on the TransNow website. |
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 STEP Participates in Traffic Bowl • November 2007
STEP members participated in the social event of the year for the Oregon Section of ITE the Traffic Bowl. PSU's team tussled with University of Portland and the University of Washington in the jeopardy-style game but came up on the short end, finishing with 800 points and losing to the eventually winner -- the Pilots of UP. The team didn't get a ruling on a traffic flow theory question to go their way but did correctly answer a question about Orchard Field (the predecessor to Chicago O'Hare). Students from the University of Idaho, Oregon State University, and Oregon Institute of Technology also participated. |
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Transportation Faculty and Student Happy Hour • November 2007
About 30 transportation students and faculty from different departments and programs at PSU, including Urban Planning, Urban Studies, Civil Engineering, and Computer Science got together for an informal happy hour. Students and faculty introduced themselves, with faculty sharing stories about their career paths. The event was a great opportunity for everyone to meet and consensus was that the event should be repeated at least annually. |
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 Transportation Careers with Fehr & Peers • October 2007
Aviva Laurenti, a civil engineer with Fehr & Peers' San Francisco office and several years out of school, talked about transportation planning and engineering careers and gave an overview of the working environment at Fehr & Peers, as well as several of the firm's projects. |
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 STEP Active at District 6 ITE Conference • July 2007
Students and faculty from Portland State University, OTREC, and the Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory were very active at the recent Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) District 6 Annual Meeting, covering 13 western states, and held in Portland from July 15-18, 2007. Students enjoyed the conference! |
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 STEP Tour Portland Aerial Tram • April 2007
The Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (STEP) toured the new Portland Aerial Tram on Thursday April 26. Wonderful views and the examination of this unique transport technology were enjoyed by all. |
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 TransNow Student Conference • March 2007
On March 2nd, six students in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning and Masters of Civil and Environmental Engineering programs from Portland State University attended the TransNow Student Conference in Boise, Idaho. This year's conference was hosted by students at the University of Idaho. Students gave presentations of completed or current work, listened to three presentations by the Idaho Department of Transportation, Washington Department of Transportation, and ITS America. Highlights from these professional presentations included learning about a transportation planning project in Spokane, WA, what the transportation profession entailed and life after graduation, and the future of intelligent transportation in the United States. While students spent much of the day learning about transportation, there was a lot of time spent getting to know the approximately 20 other students through a fun icebreaker event and an intense battle of "Family Feud", transportation style. Students had to predict the answers to common transportation questions such as which state has the most miles of freeway. |
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 Road User Fee Pilot Program Field Trip • February 2007
Several transportation students attended the Road User Fee Pilot Program on February 23rd, a mileage fee test program sponsored by the Oregon Department of Transportation. The mileage fee pilot project tested several key aspects of charging a per mile fee at the pump in lieu of paying the state gas tax. Volunteers for the one-year pilot used a mileage-counting device for in-state travel and purchased gas at select service stations in northeast and southeast Portland. PSU students witnessed the transaction at the pumping station. |
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 Transportation Careers with Kittelson and Associates • February 2007
Peter Koonce and David Daly spoke to several STEP students about careers and specifically the intern program with Kittelson and Associates. They provided insight into what opportunities the intern program could provide a student and what types of projects they could expect to work on. Additionally they shared their experiences working in the transportation field, talked about differences in working for the public and private sector, and gave advice on what skills employers look for, and what students should consider when contemplating who to work for. |
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 STEP Funds Travel to TRB 86th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. • January 2007
Twelve students from PSU attended the Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Students attended the many presentations and workshops at the week long event as well spent some time taking in the sights of Washington, D.C. At this years Annual Meeting, Portland State University was asked present six poster presentations and seven report presentations throughout the Annual Meeting. |
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 Port of Portland Tour • November 2006
Seven PSU students toured the Marine facilities of the Port of Portland in November 2006. Students specifically toured the Rivergate and Terminal 6 areas, learning about the Port of Portland, its current projects, and seeing how cargo was moved by sea and land. |
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 Transportation Careers with DKS Associates • October 2006
DKS Associates, a national transportation and planning firm, met with several STEP students to discuss upcoming opportunities with the firm. Peter Coffey, an engineer with DKS, also provided advice on studying for a career in transportation, and what to consider when looking for a job. |
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 Women in Transportation Panel • April 2006
STEP held a panel discussion with 5 distinguished women working in the Portland area in transportation. The panelists included: Eileen Argentina, the Bureau Director for Systems Management at PDOT, Cathy Nelson, Interim Region 1 Director for ODOT, Tara Weidner, a Senior Engineer with Parsons Brinckerhoff and Beth Wemple, a Senior Engineer with Kittelson and Associates. The panelists discussed a number of issues in the engineering and planning profession, with a focus on women's concerns. Lunch was provided for all, and Erin Wilson and River Hwang did a wonderful job of coordinating the meeting. |
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 Methods and Credit Card/Debit Card Adaptation • March 2006
Tomas Oliva from TriMet discussed TriMet fare collection methods and credit card/debit card adaptation. Like other public transit agencies, TriMet is concerned with keeping costs down and providing the best service to their customers. Therefore, TriMet is exploring and planning to do a pilot project whereby one light rail station will be equipped with credit card/debit card only fare machines. Tomas made a presentation about TriMet’s move toward this new technologies and then looked to the gathered group of STEP students as a marketing focus group as he asked us for suggestions as to how we would like to see the pilot project go. Overall, it was a great presentation and provided a look at the business side of public transit. |
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 Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder • March 2006
Rex Burkholder visited PSU and spent about an hour discussing local transportation planning issues and challenges that we face. The focus were on potential solutions that would improve our existing transportation system in the Portland Metropolitan area. This meeting featured strong attendance from members of the urban and regional planning program. |
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 Reno A&E Loop Detector Training • March 2006
Reno A&E, a leading manufacturer of hardware used in inductive loop detector subsystems, sponsored an all-day training with the Portland Department of Transportation. Attendees were given a series of lectures on measuring and maximizing loop inductance, different materials used during the loop manufacturing process and a tutorial in the newest controller hardware built by Reno.
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 I-205/New Light Rail Extension Tour • February 2006
STEP students visited with TriMet staff on the new I-205/New Light Rail Extension Project. Everyone met at TriMet headquarters and piled into an official TriMet tour bus (van), and headed out. We first drove south along I-205 as our tour guides pointed out featured along the highway that will be part of the new light rail extension alignment. Our first stop was at the terminus of the new line, at Clackamas Town Center were the design of the new station and a 2-story parking facility were discussed. Returning back to headquarters on local streets, we stopped several times the future location of stations, points were environmental concerns were most pressing, the location of new parking facilities and places were the light rail line will cross streets and on elevated bridges. It was a very informative tour for all. |
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 Ruby Junction Tour with TriMet • November 2005
Students visited the Ruby Junction maintenance, operations and dispatch facility with TriMet assistant manager in Operation Command Center for Field Operations, Mr. Denis R. VanDyke. Ruby Junction is one of TriMet’s light rail cart maintenance facilities. Students also visited the system control center located at Ruby Junction. |
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Career Opportunities in Transportation Field - Kittelson and Associates, Inc. • November 2005
Marc Butorac, Principal Engineer from local transportation engineering firm Kittelson and Associates, Inc., aka KAI, discussed potential career opportunities, importance of internships, and compared and contrasted public and private sector from a professional’s point of view with students. |
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 Winners!!! Traffic Bowl 2005 • November 2005
PSU took first place in the 2005 Traffic Bowl, besting Oregon State, Univeristy of Portland, University of Idaho and the Univerity of Washington in a resounding victory! This year's Traffic Bowl teams members were: Rodger Gutierrez, Jamen Giffen, Jonathan Horowitz and Zachary Horowitz. The event was held at McMenanims Edgefield and generously sponsored by a number of engineering firms and agencies. Many current students and alumni attended the event in support of team. |
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 October WTS Luncheon • October 2005
Several Portland State engineering and planning students attended the October WTS luncheon in Portland. Washington State representative Deb Wallace shared her views about changing transportation policies in Washington State, specifically the potential repeal of the gas tax and the impact it would have on road improvements. Representative Wallace's experiences with transportation policy are particularly insightful because she has worked as a transportation planner in SW Washington for many years. She currently serves as vice-chair of the transportation committee in the legislature. It was inspiring to hear from a transportation professional who has moved up to the highest level of policy work and is a strong voice for our field. |
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 ITE Oregon Luncheon • September 2005
Commissioner Sam Adams was the guest speaker at the Oregon ITE 2005 kick-off meeting on Tuesday, September 27th at the University Place Hotel at PSU. Commissioner Adams oversees the Portland Department of Transportation (PDOT) and sits on Metro’s Joint Policy Advisory Council on Transportation (JPACT). Sam presented his viewpoints on recent successes in providing transportation solutions for the community, as well as where he sees the next big challenges. |
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 ITS Lab Students and Faculty Preview New Streetcar Extension • March 2005
Several ITS Lab students and faculty toured the new Portland Streetcar extension to River Place on March 2, 2005. The new extension from the PSU's Urban Center Plaza to River Place will open on March 11, 2005. |
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 ITS Lab Students and Faculty Attend the Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board - January 2005 • January 2005
The ITS lab faculty and students had an active week at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January 9-13, 2005. Review our papers and presentations online. |
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 MAX Yellow Line • April 2004
During an April field trip, PSU students were treated to a special test-run of the Interstate MAX Yellow Line, the newest extension of Portland's TriMet, the regional transportation authority is proud to provide this new service. |
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 Oregon ITE Traffic Bowl • November 2003
PSU student members participated in the 2002 Oregon ITE Meeting at McMenamins Edgefield, Troutdale, OR. Also we came back to PSU with the first place victory of the Traffic Bowl.
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• December 1969
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  STEP attends 2008 ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibit in Anaheim, CA • December 1969
STEP members attended the 2008 ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibit in Anaheim, California. Students were able to interact with professionals from all over the country and learn about case studies that were divided into four categories; traffic engineering and design, safety, planning, management and operations, and conversation circles. Members also went on a special tour of the toll lanes on California State Route 91. This congestion priced road is one of the country |
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