ITS Lab News

ITS Lab Hosts workshop on developing a WIM data archive

The ITS Lab hosted Dr. Andrew Nichols (Marshall University) (pictured left in center) and Dr. Chris Higgins (Oregon State University) for a two-day workshop focused on developing a WIM data archive. The archive is part of an OTREC sponsored research project (involving 2 national UTCs - Nichols is a PI Marshall University's Appalachian Transportation Institute ) to collect, sort, filter, and archive WIM data to permit development of long-term continuous records of high-quality WIM data and use the WIM data archive to monitor WIM sensor health, develop loads for asphalt design, load models for bridge rating and deck design, and monitor freight movement on the highway system, specifically the volume, weight, safety, and time demands. The workshop included a tour of the Woodburn POE by David McKane, ODOT Motor Carrier Investigations, Safety and Federal Programs manager.

Bertini Participates in Symposium on the Fundamental Diagram (Greenshields 75), Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Prof. Bertini participated in the Symposium on the Fundamental Diagram: 75 Years (Greenshields 75 Symposium) and the TRB Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics Committee Summer Meeting, held at the J. Erik Jonsson Woods Hole Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, July 8-10, 2008. Bruce D. Greenshields was a traffic theory pioneer who developed the first empirical "fundamental diagram" in 1933. This symposium, a brainchild of Symposium Chair Professor Reinhart Kuehne of the University of Stuttgart and the German Aerospace Center, and Co-Chair Professor Nathan Gartner of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, celebrated the 75th Anniversary of Greenshields' accomplishment. Bertini moderated a session entitled "The Fundamental Diagram: From Theory to Practice," and also participated in the committee's summer meeting as its Secretary. Bertini also participated in a panel discussion, "Perspectives on Traffic Flow Theory: Beyond Greenshields." Further details about the symposium will be available via the Committee website. Bertini also collected some empirical data on the bicycle paths of Martha's Vineyard.

ITS Lab Welcomes Visiting Scholar Qin Ou from Delft University of Technology

ITS Lab faculty and students welcomed visiting scholar Qin Ou (we call him "Ocean") to the ITS Lab on Thursday July 3, 2008. Also attending was Prof. Randy Guensler, Georgia Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. student Ann Xu. Ocean will be spending the summer in Portland working on an OTREC project with Prof. Bertini as well as advancing his own ITS data fusion research. We're pleased to welcome Ocean to Portland!

Bertini Testifies for Congressional Committee

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation invited Prof. Bertini to provide testimony before the subcommittee on June 24, 2008. Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) called the hearing to review ongoing research and development related to surface transportation infrastructure. Other panelists included RITA Administrator Paul Brubaker, Caltrans Chief Deputy Director Randell Iwasaki, American Concrete Pavement Association President Gerald Voigt, and Dr. Christopher Poe from the Texas Transportation Institute. Detailed testimony and other information can be found on the committee website. Bertini's written testimony can be found here and the archived video of the entire hearing can be found here (Bertini's portion begins at 25:48). Additional photos: one two three

Bertini Presents at 2008 Freeway and Tollway Operations Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Prof. Bertini presented "Empirical Evaluation of Oregon's System-wide Adaptive Ramp Metering System" at the 2008 2008 Freeway and Tollway Operations Conference, held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, June 15-18, 2008. The paper was co-authored with graduate student Oren Eshel and Prof. Christopher Monsere. Bertini also had a chance to meet with many other colleagues working on freeway operations, including Prof. Yinhai Wang, University of Washington, and Prof. Mohammed Hadi, Florida International University (shown at right).

ITS Lab Students and Faculty Participate in PSU Commencement

Portland State University's Commencement awarded 4,738 degrees for the 2007-08 academic year, including 3,200 bachelor's degrees, 1,485 master's degrees and 53 doctoral degrees. The ceremonies took place on Saturday, June 14, at 10 a.m. in Portland's Rose Garden Arena. Nearly 1,700 grads were on hand to receive degrees, with 12,000 friends and family in attendance. ITS Lab students Chengyu Dai (shown here with Prof. Monsere and Bertini) and Zachary Horowitz received B.S. and M.S. degrees respectively. This year's graduates represented 136 towns and cities in Oregon, 41 states and 47 countries from around the world. The youngest graduate was 17, and the oldest was 65. Women represented 59 percent of this year's grads. The top undergraduate majors are business administration, arts and letters, psychology, social science, speech communication and English.

ITS Lab Students Initiated into Chi Epsilon Oregon Alpha Chapter

ITS Lab Students Heba Alwakiel, Alex Bigazzi, Josh Crain, and Lisa Dierksen and were initiated into the founding class of the newly installed Oregon Alpha chapter of the Chi Epsilon National Civil Engineering Honor Society at Portland State University. The PSU chapter is the first chapter of the Chi Epsilon to be established in Oregon. Chi Epsilon was organized to recognize the characteristics of the individual civil engineer deemed to be fundamental to the successful pursuit of an engineering career, and to aid in the development of those characteristics in the civil engineering student. Currently and there are 123 active chapters at major engineering universities throughout the United States. Congratulations to all and special thanks to chapter advisor Prof. Chris Monsere!

Figliozzi Wins Best Paper Award at International Conference on Applications of Advanced Technologies in Transportation

Prof. Figliozzi participated in the 10th International Conference on Applications of Advanced Technologies in Transportation (AATT), held in Athens, Greece, May 28-30, 2008. Figliozzi presented a peer reviewed paper: "An Iterative Route Construction and Improvement Algorithm for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Soft and Hard Time Windows," which was selected for the conference Best Paper Award in the transportation planning category. The paper appears in the conference proceedings. Figliozzi also chaired session "INTER-4" during the conference. Congratulations to Prof. Figliozzi for this great honor (pictured with conference chairs Prof. Matthew Karlaftis and Prof. Samer Madanat).

Bertini Participates in International Conference on Applications of Advanced Technologies in Transportation

Prof. Bertini participated in the 10th International Conference on Applications of Advanced Technologies in Transportation (AATT), held in Athens, Greece, May 28-30, 2008. Bertini presented two peer reviewed papers: "Toward an Automated Incident Analysis Process Using Archived Data on the Portland Oregon Freeway System," co-authored with Suman Tasnim and Christopher Monsere; and "Using Archived Data to Systematically Identify and Prioritize Freeway Bottlenecks," co-authored with Huan Li, Jerzy Wieczorek and Rafael Fernandez. Both papers appear in the conference proceedings. Bertini also chaired session "TRAF-4" during the conference, and had a chance to travel by bicycle on some Greek roadways.

Visiting Scholar Heiko Jentsch Gives Seminar in ITS Lab

Visiting scholar Heiko Jentsch from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, gave a seminar for ITS lab faculty and students on Friday May 23, 2008. Heiko spent three weeks with us and is heading to Seattle next before he returns to Germany. We wish him well and hope we can stay in touch and find additional ways to collaborate with him and his advisor, Professor Manfred Boltze, in the future!

Professor Laurent Sass of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador Visits ITS Lab

Professor Laurent Sass, Director of the Mechanical Engineering Department in the Polytechnic College of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador Visited the ITS Lab on May 22 to discuss an ongoing partnership with the Oregon University System. We will explore ways to encourage student exchange in the transportation area and look forward to finding ways to work together in the future!

ITS Lab Welcomes Prospective Students at First Annual Engineering Discovery Showcase

The Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science held the first annual Engineering Discovery Showcase on Friday May 19, 2008, and ITS lab students and faculty were active participants! Students staffed a STEP table and Dr. Monsere led tours of the ITS lab. The Discovery Showcase is designed to be a fun, hands-on, interactive event for prospective freshman and transfer students. This was a great opportunity to meet PSU's engineering and computer science faculty and students, learn about the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science Degree Programs, engage in interactive lab tours and learn about innovative research opportunities, and discover student life and the many project opportunities for hands-on design and research. Thanks to all who participated!

ITS Lab Welcomes Visiting Scholar Heiko Jentsch from Darmstadt, Germany

The ITS Lab faculty and students welcomed Heiko Jentsch, a Ph.D. student at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, to Portland as a visiting scholar. Heiko (shown third from right in photo) is spending time in Portland and Seattle as a part of his Ph.D. dissertation project, "Design of an Integrated Quality Management System for Urban Transportation." Heiko works under Prof. Manfred Boltze, who is the Chair of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering at TU Darmstadt. His project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, the German Research Foundation). We hope this will be the beginning of a strong collaboration between PSU and TU Darmstadt!

USDOT Research and Innovative Technology Administation Leadership Visits ITS Lab

On May 1, 2008, Paul Brubaker, Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) visited the ITS Lab as part of a site visit to the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC). Accompanying Administrator Brubaker was Tom Marchessault, UTC Liaison for RITA. Students and faculty had the opportunity to present their ongoing research, and graduate student Lisa Diercksen introduced Matthew Garrett, Director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, who in turn introduced Administrator Brubaker to an audience of faculty, students and external partners.

ITS Lab Students Participate in 2008 CITE District and Quad Regional Conference

ITS Lab students and faculty were active participants in the 2008 Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers (CITE) District and Quad Regional Conference, held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, April 27-30, 2008. The "Quad Conference" is an annual regional conference jointly sponsored by the Vancouver Island, Greater Vancouver, Washington and Oregon Sections of ITE, and the ITS Lab has a strong tradition in participating in this great regional event. This year, the combined conference with the CITE event made it even more worthwhile. Graduate students Michael Wolfe presented "Using Automatic Vehicle Location Data to Determine Detector Placement," Priya Chavan presented "Use of Archived ITS Data As a Potential Management Tool to Evaluate Traveler Information on Dynamic Message Signs," and Jerzy Wieczorek presented "Bottleneck Identification and Forecasting in Traveler Information Systems." Other students Huan Li, Lisa Diercksen, and Leah Tomlinson, and Prof. Bertini also attended. Bertini joined 40 other attendees for an afternoon bicycle tour of Victoria's impressive cycling infrastructure.

ITS Lab Hosts Computer Science Faculty

Professor Bertini (CEE & USP) and Black (CS) co-hosted a collaboration meeting between ITS Lab researchers and Computer Science faculty. A brief introduction of the existing strong ties between CS and the ITS Lab was followed by an update on the research efforts of ITS Lab faculty. Thanks to all that participated and we look forward to future joint work together!

Monsere Visits University of Washington

Professor Monsere presented "Safety Effects of Lighting Reductions for Energy Conservation" to the University of Washington's CEE 500 Transportation & Construction Seminar. Monsere was invited by Professor Yinhai Wang who also hosted Monsere for a short tour of the STAR Lab. Professor Wang's lab is doing impressive work!

Figliozzi Appointed to National Academies' Freight Cooperative Research Program Panel

Professor Miguel Figliozzi was appointed to a National Academies' Freight Cooperative Research Program panel that focuses on urban freight and logistics problems. Figliozzi was appointed by the Transportation Research Board, and as a panel member, he will help provide technical guidance and counsel throughout the life of the project. The panel will prepare project statements and select the project contractor based on evaluation of the proposals received. Project review and guidance is anticipated to continue until 2011.

Sirisha Kothuri and Lisa Diercksen Win Eisenhower Graduate Fellowships

ITS Lab graduate students Sirisha Kothuri (Ph.D. student) and Lisa Diercksen (M.S. student) were recently notified that they have been selected to receive 2008 Dwight D. Eisenhower Graduate Fellowships from the U.S. Department of Transportation! Congratulations to Sirisha and Lisa!

Bertini Quoted in Daily Journal of Commerce

Prof. Bertini was quoted in the Daily Journal of Commerce (see article), which discussed the ITS Lab's travel time related research and and described the value of improving travel time estimation capabilities for reducing congestion and improving freight mobility.

Bertini Delivers Center for Transportation Studies' 200th Transportation Seminar

Prof. Bertini was the speaker at the Center for Transportation Studies 200th Transportation Seminar on Friday, April 4, 2008. With the title "Travel Time Estimation for Traffic Management and Traveler Information," Bertini discussed advances in travel time measurement and estimation, with a review of previous work done by PSU's ITS lab over the last several years. Regarding the Seminar series, Bertini commented on the fact that he had given the first seminar in this series back in October 2000, and that now there are 145 archived seminars available for free download or streaming, plus 30 podcasts available through Itunes from the most recent seminars. We look forward to the next 200 seminars!

Julie Tippens from Congressman Wu's Staff Visits ITS Lab

Julie Tippens, Congressman David Wu's chief of staff, visited the ITS Lab on March 26, 2008. Julie met with Prof. Bertini to discuss ongoing research projects and for an update on the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium. Despite the fact that it was spring break, Julie also met with graduate students Oren Eshel, Huan Li, Michael Wolfe and Jerzy Wieczorek to discuss their research projects. We appreciated Julie's visit!

Bertini Appointed to National Academies' Transit Cooperative Research Program Panel

Prof. Bertini has been appointed to the National Academies' Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Panel H-39, which focuses on "Methodology for Determining the Economic Development Impacts of Transit Investments." Bertini was appointed by the Transportation Research Board, and as a panel member, he will help provide technical guidance and counsel throughout the life of the project. The panel will prepare project statements and select the project contractor based on evaluation of the proposals received. It is anticipated that this exciting project will continue through 2010.

ITS Lab Winter Snowshoe

In preparation for the end of the winter quarter, ITS Lab faculty and students snowshoed 2.5 miles to Lower Twin Lake, just off the PCT in the Mt. Hood National forest. After a wet start, the day turned gorgeous. More pictures of the hike can be found here

Monsere Appointed to Oregon Highway Cost Allocation Study Review Team

Professor Monsere was appointed to the Oregon Highway Cost Allocation Study Review Team by State Economist Tom Potiowsky. Conducted every two years (the first in 1937), the Highway Cost Allocation Study reviews cost responsibilities for highway construction and maintenance to determine changes in weight-mile and fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. More information and past studies can be found at the the Office of Economic Analysis web page.

Bertini Participates in Traffic and Transport 2030 Workshop, Darmstadt, Germany

Prof. Bertini participated in the Traffic and Transport 2030 International Workshop and Congress held at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, February 27-29, 2008. Invited by Prof. Manfred Boltze, Bertini served as a member of several working groups, including one on Traffic Management and Traffic Engineering, which aimed to articulate important developments in the field between now and the year 2030. The international participants included representatives from China, India, Tanzania, Vietnam, many European countries and the U.S. It is hoped that this represents a potentially growing cooperation between Portland State and TU Darmstadt. The event also included a day-long Congress, and technical tours to the Verkehrszentrale Hessen (the Traffic Control Centre of the State of Hessen seen here), the Integrierte Gesamtverkehrs-Leitzentrale der Stadt Frankfurt/Main (Integrated Traffic Control Centre of the City of Frankfurt/Main) and the Deutsche Flugsicherung Langen (German Air Traffic Control Centre).

Bertini Visits BMW Group, Munich, Germany

Prof. Bertini visited the BMW Group in Munich, Germany, as part of the partnership between the ITS Lab and BMW. Bertini presented "The BMW Group & Portland State University Partnership: History and Outlook." Special thanks to Dr. Heidrun Belzner for hosting the visit. Bertini also had a chance to visit the new BMW Welt and travel by bicycle through the city, using its extensive bike lane network and also riding through the Englischer Garten, one of the world's largest urban parks.

ITS Lab Students Participate in MCECS Design Competition

ITS lab students, Chengyu Dai, Enas Fayed and Leah Tomlinson participated in the PSU 2008 Design Competition to help kids see what Engineering is all about. The interactive showcase involved middle and high school students designing vehicles, bridges, mouse traps, edible cars, egg drops and trebuchets.

ITS Lab Students Receive ITS Oregon Scholarships

ITS Oregon, the Oregon chapter of ITS America, recently awarded $500 scholarships to three ITS lab students: Huan Li, Lisa Diercksen, and Rafael Fernandez. The scholarships were also co-sponsored by Athey Creek Consultants. You can read more about the scholarship and our great recipients by viewing the ITS Oregon website. Congratulations to the winners!

ITS Lab Participates in the Northwest Transportation Conference

Faculty from the ITS Lab participated in the 2008 Northwest Transportation Conference (NWTC) held at the Oregon State University. The conference, hosted by ODOT, had the theme "Making the Most of What We Have." Professor Tufte presented about her work in travel time reliability. Dr. Figliozzi participated in a round table discussion on how all modes of the freight system are working together. Lastly, Dr. Monsere presented "Taking the City of Portland's High Crash Intersection Identification to the Next Level".

Congressman David Wu's Staff Members Visit ITS Lab

The ITS Lab and OTREC were pleased to welcome staff members from Congressman David Wu's office this morning for a lab tour and research update. Staffers visiting included Ramona Perrault (Portland), Joan Whiting (DC), Randy Broz (DC), and Rachel Jagoda-Brunette (DC-Science Committee Staff). Prof. Bertini, Monsere and Figliozzi, along with many students, discussed ongoing projects, progress and prospects for the future with the staff members who were spending part of the morning visiting the PSU campus. We all thank Ramona, Joan, Randy and Rachel for their visit!

Monsere Publishes Article in Transportation Research Record

Prof. Monsere published "Online Tool for Delivering Research Results: Update to Oregon Department of Transportation Database of Crash Reduction Factors" in the Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2009, pp. 113-120. Co-authors include Aaron Breakstone of Metro, Robert L. Bertini, and Douglas W. Bish of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Active Participation in the Transportation Research Board's 87th Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Students and faculty from the Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab were very active at the Transportation Research Board's 87th Annual Meeting, held January 13-17, 2008 in Washington, D.C. Students and faculty presented a total of 15 peer-reviewed papers, and participated in committee meetings and other activities. Student travel was supported by OTREC. A full summary of our involvement can be found below:

Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University and Kate Lyman, URS Corporation
Session 254: Performance Measurement
Using Travel Time Reliability Measures to Improve Regional Transportation Planning and Operations (08-0302)
Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University and Jonathan Makler, City of Portland
Session 258: Traffic Monitoring Data: News from the Front
Beyond Archiving: Developing and Attracting Users of an Archived Data User Service (08-0671)
Priya Chavan, Kristin A. Tufte, Christopher M. Monsere, Max Stephens and Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University
Session 258: Traffic Monitoring Data: News from the Front
Extending Use of Archived ITS Data as Potential Management Tool to Evaluate Traveler Information on Dynamic Message Signs (08-1024)
Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University
Session 301: Traffic Flow Behavior: New Modeling Techniques
Presiding officer
Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University and David Lovell, University of Maryland
Session 325: Freeway Operations
Developing an Optimal Sensing Strategy for Accurate Freeway Travel Time Estimation and Traveler Information (08-2886)
Huan Li and Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University
Session 548: Simulation and Modeling for Urban Bus Operations
Evaluating Impacts of Bus Facility Design Features on Transit Operations in Beijing, China: Simulation Approach (08-2640)
Benjamin Zielke, GESTE Engineering, Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University, and Martin Treiber, Technical University of Dresden
Session 596: Traffic Flow Theory: Safety, Stability, Oscillations, and Diversion
Empirical Measurement of Freeway Oscillation Characteristics: International Comparison (08-0300)
Benjamin Auffray, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat, Christopher M. Monsere and Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University
Session 623: Relating Visibility to Safety and Efficiency
Empirical Investigation of Impacts of Sun-Related Glare on Traffic Flow (08-0773)
Mathew Berkow, Michael Wolfe, Christopher Monsere and Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University
Session 650: Performance-Based Traffic Signal Systems
Using Signal System Data and Buses as Probe Vehicles to Define the Congested Regime on Arterials (08-0301)
Miguel Figliozzi, Portland State University
Session 217: Modeling Freight Operational Efficiency
Impacts of Congestion on Commercial Vehicle Tour Characteristics and Costs (08-2013)
Stephen Greaves, University of Sydney, Australia and Miguel Figliozzi, Portland State University
Session 249: Using Freight Data to Produce Results Today for Solving Tomorrow's Transportation Problems
Commercial Vehicle Tour Data Collection Using Passive GPS Technology: Issues and Potential Applications (08-1294)
Miguel Figliozzi, Portland State University
Session 515: Network Models for Routing, Transit, and Supply Chains
Planning Approximations to Average Length of Vehicle Routing Problems with Varying Customer Demand and Routing Constraints (08-1955)
Miguel Figliozzi, Portland State University
Session 711: Recent Advances in Network Modeling
Planning Approximations to the Average Length of Vehicle Routing Problems with Varying Customer Demands and Routing Constraints (08-1955)
Christopher Monsere, Portland State University and Edward Fischer, Oregon Department of Transportation
Session 623: Relating Visibility to Safety and Efficiency
Safety Effects of Reducing Highway Illumination for Energy Conservation (08-0321)
Christopher Monsere, Portland State University, James Peters, DKS Associates, Inc., Li Huan and Maisha Mahmud, Portland State University, Steven Boice, DKS Associates, Inc.
Session 650: Performance-Based Traffic Signal Systems
Field-Based Evaluation of Corridor Performance After Deployment of an Adaptive Signal Control System in Gresham, Oregon (08-0774)
Sirisha Kothuri, Kristin A. Tufte, Enas Fayed and Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University
Session 633: Advances on the Urban Data Front
Toward Understanding and Reducing Errors in Real-Time Estimation of Travel Times (08-1023)

In addition, a group of students representing the Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (STEP) chapter attended, including:

Josh Crain
Chengyu Dai
Lisa Diercksen
Oren Eshel
Rafael Fernandez
Terra Lingley
Maisha Mahmud
Amanda Owings
Leah Tomlinson

Oren Eshel Named OTREC Student of the Year

Oren Eshel, a second year Master of Urban and Regional Planning student, and graduate research assistant in the ITS Lab, was named OTREC Student of the Year for 2007-08. Oren received this award (including $1,000 plus his trip to TRB) at the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Banquet prior to the 87th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board on January 12, 2008 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Oren was selected based on his high academic qualifications, for his work as a research assistant on the evaluation of ODOT's SWARM ramp metering system, and for being a student leader. Oren is serving as President of the PSU transportation student group and ITE chapter (STEP) and also coordinated the Fifth Annual TransNow Student Conference, which attracted over 70 students from across the region during the fall of 2007. Congratulations Oren!!

Monsere Appointed to Journal of Comprehensive Transportation Safety Editorial Board

Prof. Monsere was recently appointed to the Editorial Board for the newly launched Journal of Comprehensive Transportation Safety. The journal is sponsored by the Southeastern Transportation Center (STC) and is a peer-reviewed, academic-based journal. The Southeastern Transportation Center (STC), a consortium of 10 universities from five states in DOT region IV, is chartered under the theme of "Transportation Safety."

Bertini Appointed to Journal of Transportation Systems Engineering and Information Technology Editorial Board

Prof. Bertini has been appointed to the international editorial advisory board of the Journal of Transportation Systems Engineering and Information Technology. Originated in 2001, the journal is sponsored by the Systems Engineering Society of China and published bimonthly by Science Press in Beijing, China. The scope of the journal includes decision-making and policy analysis in transport systems, planning, design and construction of integrated transport systems, intelligent transportation systems and information technology, applications of systems engineering theory and methodology in transportation, and case studies of transport modeling & simulation technologies.

Josh Crain Receives Coral Sales Scholarship

Josh Crain, undergraduate research assistant, received the Coral Sales scholarship during the fall of 2007. Congratulations Josh!

Figliozzi Presents at National Urban Freight Conference

Prof. Figliozzi presented two reviewed papers at the technical sessions of the 2nd Annual National Urban Freight Conference 2007 in Long Beach, California: "The Impacts of Congestion on Commercial Vehicle Tours Characteristics and Costs," and "Analysis of Freight Tours in a Congested Urban Area Using Disaggregated Data: Characteristics and Data Collection Challenges" (with L. Kingdon, and A. Wilkitzki). These two papers appear in the conference proceedings. For full pdf go to Prof. Figliozzi's website.

ITS Lab Students Organize and Participate in Fifth Annual TransNow Student Conference at PSU

Over 60 students from eight universities around the northwest visited PSU on November 16 to participate in the Fifth Annual TransNow Student Conference, a transportation research conference organized by and for students. Following a welcome breakfast, a panel consisting of representatives from TriMet, CH2M Hill, Port of Portland and Kittelson & Associates discussed "big picture" transportation issues with students. Ten students gave presentations about research or practice, and many of the students presented posters. The conference concluded with a keynote address from Professor Brian Taylor from UCLA on the topic of "Rethinking Congestion." Special thanks to graduate student Oren Eshel, who led the conference organization and did an outstanding job.

ITS Lab Students Participate in Oregon ITE's Traffic Bowl

ITS Lab students 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.

OSU ITS Students Visit ITS Lab

Graduate students in Dr. Kate Hunter-Zaworski's ITS class visited the ITS Lab as part of their tour of Portland's ITS infrastructure. Students shared lunch with PSU's transportation in the ITS Lab then listened to a presentation from Dr. Monsere on the lab research projects. OSU students also visited ODOT's Region 1 TMOC and the City of Portland's operations center.

Majid Sarvi Visits ITS Lab

Dr. Majid Sarvi from the Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University, Australia visited the ITS Lab and presented a special seminar titled "Development of a Framework for Roadspace Reallocation in Relation to Transit Priority". Students and faculty appreciated Dr. Sarvi making time to visit us while on other business in Portland.

Figliozzi Presents at INFORMS Meeting in Seattle

Prof. Figliozzi presented his research on "Planning Approximations to the Average Length of Vehicle Routing Problems" at one of the sessions sponsored by the Transportation and Logistics Society of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS). The 2007 INFORMS annual meeting took place in Seattle from November 4-8.

RITA Staff Visit ITS Lab as Part of OTREC Site Visit

Robin Kline, Amy Stearns and Lydia Mercado from the USDOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) visited the ITS Lab and met with students on November 5 during their OTREC site visit. Also shown is Satvinder Sandhu, Federal Highway Administration, who is a member of the OTREC Executive Committee.

FHWA Oregon Division Administrator Visits ITS Lab

The new Federal Highway Administration Oregon Division Administrator Phillip Ditzler visited the ITS Lab on November 1, 2007. Along with Nathaniel Price and Satvinder Sandhu of the Oregon Division and Amit Armstrong of the FHWA Federal Lands office in Vancouver, Mr. Ditzler discussed the status and activities of the ITS Lab as they relate to FHWA initiatives. We appreciate the support of the Oregon Division and look forward to continuing our strong relationship.

Nissan Officials Visit Lab

Three officials from Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. visited the ITS Lab on October 31, 2007. Mr. Nobuo Okubo, Senior Advisor to the Board (Technology), Ryogo Takagi, Manager of Technology Planning and Assistant to Mr. Okubo, and Hayato Akizuki, Director, Technology Planning, visited the lab and met with Jon Makler of Metro and Dennis Mitchell of ODOT to discuss technology applications in Portland and Oregon. The guests were welcomed to PSU by Interim President Michael Reardon and Vice Provost for Research William Feyerherm. They had an opportunity to ride light rail, TriMet's bus system, and ended the day with a ride on the Portland Streetcar and Portland Aerial Tram.

Figliozzi Participates in RITA/TRB

Prof. Figliozzi has participated in the workshops of the "Research Issues in Freight Transportation: Congestion and System Performance" meeting. The meeting was organized by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and supported by Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) as one of the annual spotlight conferences.

Monsere Presents to ASCE Capital Branch

Prof. Monsere was invited to present about the ITS Lab's current research activities to the ASCE Capital Branch in Salem, Oregon. Following lunch at Kwan's, Monsere highlighted four lab projects "Evaluation of SWARM Ramp Metering Algorithm", "Arterial Performance Measurement", "Update on Crash Reduction Factors Database" and "Using Existing ITS Commercial Vehicle Operation (ITS/CVO) Data to Develop Truck Travel Time Estimates and Other Freight Measures".

Bertini Participates in Fourteenth World Congress on ITS, Beijing, China

Prof. Bertini was an active participant in the Fourteenth World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, in Beijing, China, October 9-13, 2007. Bertini presented two reviewed papers at technical sessions: "Regional Collaboration: A Model for Successful ITS Implementation in Portland, Oregon," (co-authored with Jon Makler and Max Coffman), and "Building Planning and Operations Analysis Tools on an Archived ITS Data Platform: Who Are the Users?" These two papers appear in the conference proceedings. Bertini also chaired a technical session on ITS Interoperability and Integration. Further, Bertini participated in a Special Session on ITS in Cities (Benchmarking) organized by Transport for London, where he presented "State of ITS Benchmarking in Portland, Oregon and the U.S." He also had the opportunity to travel by bicycle several times in Beijing, which were very interesting experiences! There were many streets with very wide and smooth bike lanes, numerous special bike signals (with left turn waiting areas marked in the intersection), and it is believed that Bertini was the only person using a helmet on that particular day in Beijing. "TEST"

Bertini Delivers Invited Lecture at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Prof. Bertini recently visited the Institute of Systems Engineering, Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, in Beijing, China on October 12, 2007. Tsinghua is the top engineering university in China. Thanks to the generous hospitality of Prof. Jianming Hu, Bertini presented an invited lecture "Unlocking the Mysteries of Freeway Sensor Data to Diagnose Detailed Bottleneck Dynamics." He also had the chance to meet with several students (Yudong Chen and Ye Tian), along with Prof. Wen-Long Jin of the University of Science and Technology of China and Dr. Lianyu Chu of the U.C. Berkeley California Center for Innovative Transportation.

Acknowledgment of Support for ITS Lab Development

A new public acknowledgment of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration ITS Integration Program, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the TransPort ITS Coordinating Committee will be posted outside the PSU transportation laboratories in the new Northwest Center for Engineering Science and Technology (NWCEST). We are very pleased to acknowledge the strong support of our colleagues and collaborators at FHWA, ODOT, and the many partners who comprise the TransPort Committee. Thank you all!!

Costantinos Antoniou Visits ITS Lab

Constantinos Antoniou, from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, visited the ITS Lab on October 5, 2007, and also presented a seminar On-line Calibration for Dynamic Traffic Assignment at the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) Friday Seminar. We appreciated Dr. Antoniou's visit and enjoyed the chance to learn more about his research.

ITS Lab Team Active at IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference

ITS Lab students and faculty were very active at the 10th International IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (ITSC) held in Seattle, Washington, September 30-October 3, 2007. Rafael Fernandez-Moctezuma presented "Toward Management and Imputation of Unavailable Data in Online Advanced Traveler Information Systems," (co-authors Kristin Tufte, David Maier and Robert Bertini) and Michael Wolfe presented "Improving Arterial Performance Measurement Using Traffic Signal System Data" (co-authors Christopher Monsere, Peter Koonce and Robert Bertini). Prof. Bertini presented "Toward Optimal Sensor Density for Improved Freeway Travel Time Estimation and Traveler Information" and "Lessons from Developing an Archived Data User Service in Portland, Oregon: Who Is Using It?" (co-authors Sirisha Kothuri and Jonathan Makler). The four peer-reviewed papers appear in the conference proceedings. Prof. Bertini had also served on the International Program Committee and chaired the session "Traffic Information and Guidance--Sensors."

Fall 2007 ITS Lab Team Meets

The fall 2007 ITS Lab team met for the first organizational meeting on Thursday, September 27, 2007. We look forward to a great, productive and fun fall term! Welcome to all new and continuing members!

Prof. Miguel Figliozzi Joins ITS Lab and CEE as Assistant Professor

After a rigorous international search, Dr. Miguel Figliozzi has joined the PSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the ITS Lab as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Figliozzi specializes in freight and logistics, and holds a Ph.D. in transportation engineering from the University of Maryland, and before joining us at PSU served as a Senior Lecturer in Logistics Management at the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney, Australia. We are very excited to have Prof. Figliozzi join us and expand our work in the area of freight transportation. Welcome, Dr. Figliozzi!

Prof. John Gliebe Joins ITS Lab as Affiliated Faculty Member

Prof. John Gliebe, Assistant Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University has joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the ITS Lab as an affiliated faculty member. We are very pleased to have Dr. Gliebe take this step toward deeper collaboration with our students and faculty. Congratulations and welcome, Dr. Gliebe!

ITS Lab Summer Hike

Members of the ITS Lab celebrated a successful summer by taking a great hike along the Salmon River (see detailed description. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great day.

Bertini Testifies at Portland City Council

Prof. Bertini testified at the Portland City Council meeting today in support of a resolution celebrating the life of Debbie Murdock and her impact on the City of Portland and Portland State University. Bertini joined student Hannah Fish, alum John Wykoff, State Senator Kate Brown, and Gretchen Kafouri in testifying in support of the resolution.

University of Washington Colleagues Visit ITS Lab

Our great colleagues Prof. Yinhai Wang and graduate student Patikhom Cheevarunothai from the STAR Lab at the University of Washington (see www.uwstarlab.org visited the ITS Lab and also worked with Prof. Bertini and Dr. Tufte to identify and improve several Oregon Department of Transportation loop detector controller stations on northbound I-5. The PSU ITS Lab team really appreciates the chance to work with our colleagues at the University of Washington!

ITS Lab Faculty Present to Oregon Transportation Commission

ITS Lab faculty member Prof. Bertini was honored to have the opportunity to participate in a workshop with the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) discussing the status of statewide system operations projects and programs. Bertini, with the input and participation of Prof. Monsere and students Oren Eshel and Li Huan, updated the OTC on the Systemwide Adaptive Ramp Metering (SWARM) Evaluation funded by ODOT Research, and the evaluation of the City of Gresham's Adaptive Signal Control System, funded by the FHWA ITS Evaluation Program. The Gresham project is being done in partnership with DKS Associates (Jim Peters and Steven Boice) and the City of Gresham (Jay McCoy). Galen McGill of ODOT's ITS Unit invited the lab staff to participate.

Monsere Participates in TRB Highway Safety Manual Mid-Year Meeting in Irvine, CA

Prof. Monsere participated in the mid-year meeting for the TRB Task Force for the Highway Safety Manual, ANB25T, on August 20-22, 2007. The meeting included presentations, working sessions, sub-committee work, and social events at the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering's Beckman Center on the University of California Irvine campus. Prof. Monsere is a member of the committee.

ITS Lab Mourns Passing of Debbie Murdock

The ITS Lab faculty and students were saddened to learn of the death of the PSU Special Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning, Public Policy & Government Relations Debbie Murdock, at age 52 (shown at left while completing the 2006 Bridge Pedal with Debbie Kirkland and Robert Bertini). Debbie was passionate about students, PSU, public service, politics, and transportation (even ITS!) and was instrumental in the development of the ITS Lab through several Congressional earmarks, and for the creation of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC). We will miss her energy, enthusiasm, passion, optimism, support, and friendship deeply. As Chancellor Pernsteiner said, "she made us believe in ourselves much more than we did ourselves." In recognition of Debbie's passion for students and their success, the PSU Foundation has established a Debbie Murdock Scholarship (see foundation website and be sure to denote the Debbie Murdock Scholarship for your gift). There will be a campus memorial service at 3 pm in the SMSU Ballroom on Sunday, September 23 to celebrate Debbie's life and her impact on PSU and the broader community.

Allison Dane from Congressman DeFazio's Office Visits ITS Lab and OTREC

Allison Dane, staff member from Congressman Peter DeFazio's office, and specializing in work with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, visited Portland State University on August 13, 2007 for an update on transportation research conducted in the ITS Lab, at PSU and within the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC). PSU faculty, including Professors Bertini, Dusicka, Smith, Tufte and Maier discussed their ongoing research efforts. Prof. Higgins from OSU, and Betsy Boyd from UO, plus OTREC staff (Hau Hagedorn, Jenny Kincaid and Rie Anderson) also participated in the meeting.

Coral Sales Visits the ITS Lab

Carolyn Vail, President of Coral Sales Company, and Mitch Moffett, ITS Regional Manager at Coral Sales Company, visited the ITS Lab to learn about existing projects and activities. Coral Sales and founder Doug Daniels are strong supporters of PSU and the ITS Lab. Coral Sales is the sponsor of the Transportation and GIS Lab space. Coral Sales is based in Milwaukie, Oregon, and supplies highway safety hardware and intelligent transportation system equipment to the transportation industry throughout the Pacific Northwest.

High School Students from FUSE Project Visit ITS Lab

A team of high school students from the PSU Feedbacks Between Urban Systems and the Environment (FUSE) project summer institute visited the ITS Lab on Friday August 3, 2007. The institute participants are visiting PSU's various labs as they learn various aspects of meteorological and air quality measurements and contribute meaningful measurements to the overall FUSE research endeavor. They also learn how to use important analysis tools including Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and remotely-sensed satellite data. Prof. Bertini and ITS Lab students were pleased to host this tour.

Bertini Visits Dublin, Ireland

Prof. Bertini visited Dublin, Ireland recently including the city center with its new exclusive bus lanes, the Dublin Bus (1,125 of their fleet of 1,199 buses are double decker), and their Luas tram (light rail) system. Visits to Trinity College (at left), University College Dublin (UCD) and Killiney (photo at right at Killiney Bay) were highlights. Interestingly, UCD has a bike shop where one can rent bikes for single or multiple day touring around Ireland. It was great to see the university linked to bicycle transport in that way. Also a highlight was the two hour bike tour of central Dublin's sights (something that Portland should have!). One other thing was that cars can park facing either direction on both sides of the street--this was very confusing for my "right side of the road" brain when trying to stick to the left side of the road!

Bertini Participates in International Symposium on Traffic and Transportation Theory in London

Prof. Bertini participated in the 17th International Symposium on Traffic and Transportation Theory (ISTTT) held in London, and organized by Imperial College London and University College London. Led by convenor Prof. Carlos Daganzo (shown at left with Bertini and Prof. Michael Cassidy in the British Parliament at the New Palace of Westminster), the ISTTT is the main gathering for the world's transportation and traffic theorists, and those who are interested in contributing to or gaining a deeper understanding of the field. London is also a fascinating place to observe transportation phenomena--with its congestion charging scheme, underground and extensive bus system. It is interesting to note that the average commute for a Londoner is 60 minutes (almost three times the Portland average). There is also a great Thames river path that connects London with Greenwich (see photo at Tower Bridge at right).

Bertini Joins Tour of Tomorrow 40 Mile Regional Bike Ride

Prof. Bertini participated in the "Tour of Tomorrow, a Bi-State Bicycle Ride" on July 20, 2007. This year's 40-mile route attracted over 100 riders (including new PSU IBPI director Lynn Weigandt and adjunct faculty Mia Birk, pictured with Bertini at left) and traveled from the Sellwood Bridge and north well into Vancouver, including crossings of the Interstate and Steel Bridges. According to ride organizers, the goal this year was to, "explore ways to connect the bi-state metropolitan region with the emerging network of state-sponsored trails in Oregon and Washington. The ride is about creating a shared vision for a regional bicycle route network that is a part of the Portland-Vancouver parks and trails system." Lunch was held at the Pearson Airfield museum in Washington and other highlights included the Burnt Creek Bridge, the Peninsula Crossing Trail, and the South Waterfront. Just to be safe, the organizers even arranged for a full police escort over the Sellwood Bridge!

Active Participation in the ITE District 6 Annual Meeting in Portland

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. An inventory of our involvement includes:

Local Arrangements Committee: Dr. Chris Monsere led the development of the Website, Publicity and Technical Paper Review as part of the local arrangements committee.

Technical Tour: The ITS Lab hosted more than 40 conference attendees at a technical tour of the ITS Lab on Monday, July 16, 2007.

Speakers:

Sirisha Kothuri: Session A6 Best Practices in Travel Time Estimation and Prediction
Rafael Fernandez: Session A8 Using the PORTAL ADUS to Develop Strategies to Manage and Impute Missing Data
John Chee: Session A8 Using Bus Probes to Measure Arterial Performance
Michael Wolfe: Session A8 Arterial Performance Measures for Real Time Information
Max Coffman/Jon Makler: Session A6 Using an Incident Autopsy to Improve Travel Reliability
Dr. Robert Bertini: Session E4 So You Want to be a Transportation Professional

Posters:

Kate Lyman: Session E7 The Uses of Travel Time Reliability Indicators in Regional Transportation Plans
Jaspreet Anand: Session E6 Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities and Injuries: An Analysis of the Relationship of Roadway, Driver, Vehicle
Dr. Chris Monsere: Session E6 Safety Effects of Roadway Illumination Reductions
Delia Chi: Session E6 Impact of Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants
Oren Eshel: Session E6 System-Wide Adaptive Ramp Metering Evaluation
Zach Horowitz: Session E6 Using PORTAL Data to Diagnose Freeway Bottlenecks
Max Coffman: Session E7 Toward the Integration of Carsharing with the Broader Transportation Context
Zach Horowitz: Session E7 Freight Railroad Capacity Alternatives In The Pacific Northwest: An Analysis of Class I Cooperation In The Columbia River Gorge

Moderators: Four faculty and staff served as session moderators.

Dr. Jennifer Dill: Session B2 General Planning
Dr. Chris Monsere: Session D9 Interchange Designs
Dr. Robert Bertini: Session A6 Freeway Topics
Hau Hagedorn: Session E8 ITS Applications

Booths: Jenny Kincaid of OTREC and the Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning had booths in the vendor display area, and actively publicized PSU education opportunities and OTREC research, education and technology transfer activities.

Awards: students, faculty and partners received four awards!

Josh Crain, PSU CEE undergraduate student and ITS Lab undergraduate research assistant was on the winning team for the James Kell Student Competition!
Dr. Chris Monsere won the Best Chapter/Section Website Award for the Oregon Section website.
Best Annual Meeting Paper Award: the paper Evaluating an Adaptive Signal Control System in Gresham, by James M. Peters, DKS Associates, Jay McCoy, City of Gresham and Dr. Robert Bertini was selected as the Annual Meeting's best paper.
WesternITE Editorial Award: the paper Transportation Gets Googled, by Randy McCourt, Tim Welch, Dr. Kristin Tufte and Dr. Robert Bertini (published in WesternITE in January-February 2007) received the WesternITE Editorial Award.

Special thanks to Peter Koonce, LAC Chair, of Kittelson & Associates, Inc., for making the conference so accessible to students. The next District 6 Annual Meeting will be held in Anaheim, California in 2008.

Ian Edmiston Visits ITS Lab

Ian Edmiston, visiting from near Chicago, Illinois, visited the ITS lab with his grandmother on July 17, 2007. Ian is very interested in public transportation and buses in particular, so Dr. Bertini demonstrated several new technologies related to bus transit. The PSU lab wishes Ian the best and hopes that he will stay in touch and consider the transportation field as a future career! Thanks to Mary Coniglio of the PSU alumni association for arranging this visit!

ITS Lab Hosts Oregon Urban Leadership Program Students from Catlin Gabel School

Prof. Monsere and Prof. Bertini hosted seven students and their instructor from the Oregon Urban Leadership Program, an innovative summer course in experiential urban studies for high school students. Students in the program meet with Portland city leaders and experts on essential urban issues, visit core infrastructure projects, and conduct interviews with key government and non-profit personnel to form the core of the curriculum. The combination of experiential and analytical inquiry sets the stage to evaluate various strategies, including school closings/reconfigurations, the Big Pipe stormwater runoff project, the newly completed Portland Tram, the South Waterfront development, and the reconfiguration of the Transportation Mall. Students walk away with a passion for and rich understanding of urban phenomena through immersion in the city experience.

ITS Lab Hosts British Official

Prof. Bertini, the ITS Lab, plus Nathaniel Price of the Federal Highway Administration, Bill Kloos of the City of Portland, and Jonathan Makler of Metro hosted Alex Plant, Deputy Regional Director for Development and Infrastructure of the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East) on July 10, 2007. Mr. Plant was participating in the World Affairs Council of Oregon's International Visitor Program. The discussion centered around regional transportation collaboration and intelligent transportation system solutions for reducing congestion and managing growth. Each year, 4,500 foreign visitors identified by United States Embassies as the future leaders in their countries, participate in U.S. Department of State-sponsored study tours to the United States. The visitors, representing over 100 countries and a wide range of professional interests, meet Americans of different ages and backgrounds, and learn about the traditions and ideas which characterize the United States and make it unique. Each visitor spends approximately 30 days in the country and visits 4-5 different states. Nearly five hundred visitors come to Oregon each year. The World Affairs Council of Oregon arranges personalized itineraries for each visitor including professional meetings, sightseeing tours and home hospitality. This person-to-person program builds international friendships and promotes international understanding.

ITS Lab Research Helps Change Oregon Laws

According to an article in the Oregonian research conducted by ITS Lab faculty Professors Bertini and Monsere and students Max Coffman and Maisha Mahmud was used to support two important changes to Oregon law that will improve safety and reduce delay on Oregon freeways. House Bill 2936 will allow a $180 fine for failing to move cars to the shoulder after a minor accident. The ITS Lab's "Autopsy of a Crash" report highlighted the significant delay caused by just one incident (nearly $150,000 in economic impact). Motorists should move vehicles to the shoulder as soon as possible after minor accidents. Senate Bill 567 allows the Oregon Department of Transportation to tow vehicles left on the freeway shoulder at any time. An ITS Lab analysis found that from 1995 to 2005 a total of 268 crashes involved parked vehicles over the ten year period, including 6 fatalities and 102 injuries. Removing vehicles as soon as possible will likely improve safety.

City of Beaverton Donates Traffic Signal Cabinet to ITS Lab

ITS Lab Alumni Tu Ho coordinated a donation from the City of Beaverton to the ITS Lab of a traffic signal cabinet. The cabinet is part of long-term plans to outfit the Traffic Signal Lab with teaching and research equipment. Thank you City of Beaverton!

Bertini Presents at ITS Europe Conference in Aalborg, Denmark

Prof. Bertini presented "Developing Improved Travel Time Reliability Measures For Real-Time and Archived ITS Data Applications," co-authored with student Kate Lyman, at the 6th European Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems and Services in Aalborg, Denmark on June 20, 2007. The paper also appears in the conference proceedings. Bertini also visited Copenhagen (Denmark) and Stockholm, Sweden (see photo at right) to experience their multimodal transportation systems first-hand (Two Wheel Tours).

ITS Lab Students Graduate

Several ITS Lab students received their degrees at Portland State University's spring commencement ceremony on June 16, 2007 at the Rose Garden Arena. Suman Tasmin and Jaspreet Anand received their M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Delia Chi, Max Coffman, Kate Lyman, Laurie Miskimins and Amber Springberg received the Master's of Urban and Regional Planning. Nick Carey received his B.S. in Civil Engineering. Good luck to all graduates!

Bertini Presents Paper at ITS America Annual Meeting

Prof. Bertini presented "Leveraging Archived Freeway Sensor Data for Regional Transportation Performance Measurement" at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America 2007 Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Palm Springs, California, June 6, 2007. The paper will also appear in the conference proceedings.

ITS Lab Team Celebrates End of Academic Year

The ITS lab students, faculty and friends gathered at Prof. Bertini's home to celebrate the end of the spring term and academic year, and to congratulate graduates. Bicycle travel was encouraged and beautiful spring weather made the evening enjoyable for all! Thanks to Rafael Fernandez for the great photos!

Bertini Speaks at Professional Engineers of Oregon Joint Engineering Conference in Bend

Prof. Bertini was a featured speaker at the Joint Engineering Conference sponsored by the Professional Engineers of Oregon, and held in Bend, Oregon on May 17, 2007. Bertini presented "Multimodal Transportation Planning and Engineering Challenges," and discussed ongoing research and education initiatives at Portland State University and with the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC).

Bertini Receives Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award at PSU Salutes

Professor Robert L. Bertini received the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award at PSU Salutes on May 10, 2007. PSU Salutes, the university's annual awards recognition event, celebrates the outstanding achievements of alumni, faculty, and friends of Portland State University. Held each year in May, the event recognizes the contributions of our alumni, faculty, and friends to the university, to their professions, and to the greater community. PSU Salutes is sponsored by the PSU Alumni Association, with additional support from the office of University Relations. Prof. Bertini was honored to have several ITS Lab alumni and students in attendance, including Monica Leal, Edward Anderson, Aaron Myton, Michael Rose, Steve Hansen, Shazia Malik, Sirisha Kothuri and Lynn Peterson. The award states "The PSU Alumni Association's Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award recognizes your excellence in teaching and research and your dedication to the University and community." Dr. Bertini dedicated the award to his students and thanked the members of his family who attended.

PSU Students and Alumni Win Awards from WTS

The Portland Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) is honored to announce that PSU student Jen Segal (BSCE) is the 2007 Portland Undergraduate Scholarship ($2,000) winner and Sirisha Kothuri (Ph.D.) is one of the 2007 Portland Graduate Scholarship ($2,000) winners. PSU Alumna Sumi Malik was also honored with the chapter's "New Voice" award. Congratulations to all winners!!!

ITS Lab Bids Farewell to Ben Zielke

The ITS Lab and STEP students gathered at Rock Bottom Brewery to bid Auf Wiedersehen to Benjamin Zielke, who has been a visiting master's student from the Technical University of Dresden since the fall of 2006. Ben contributed a lot to the lab and to his fellow lab mates, and we all enjoyed getting to know and work with him. Ben you will be missed, please stay in touch!

ITS Lab and OTREC Host Northwest Academic Forum

Dr. Bertini and Dr. Monsere hosted members of the Northwest Academic Forum as part of their annual meeting on Friday April 27, 2007. University academic leaders from around the west visited the Northwest Center for Engineering Science and Technology and were briefed on the status and activities of the ITS Lab and OTREC.

Bertini Speaks to Road Ecology Class and ESR Seminar

Dr. Bertini was a guest speaker for the new Road Ecology Class in PSU's ESR department (April 5, 2007) and also for the weekly ESR Seminar on April 27, 2007.

ITS Lab Students and STEP Tour Portland Aerial Tram

The Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (STEP), including ITS Lab students toured the new Portland Aerial Tram on Thursday April 26. Wonderful views and the examination of this unique transport technology were enjoyed by all.

Monsere Featured in Portland Tribune Article

Dr. Monsere and his research on parked vehicle crashes was featured in today's Portland Tribune (see article).

Max Coffman Receives ITS Oregon Scholarship

ITS Lab graduate research assistant (GRA) Max Coffman was awarded the annual ITS Oregon Scholarship on April 20, 2007. Pictured with Max is ITS OR Scholarship chair Dean Deeter. ITS Oregon (see website) is the state chapter of the ITS America organization, and this is the third year of their scholarship program. The ITS Lab was pleased to host the regular ITS Oregon meeting and congratulates Max on his achievements!

ITS Lab Bike Ride

Michael Wolfe led an ITS Lab bike ride on April 15, which included the East Bank Esplanade, the Springwater Corridor (including three new bridges), the I-205 corridor (light rail construction) and then along the Columbia River. Joining Michael were Matt Berkow, Oren Eshel, Ben Zielke, and Dr. Bertini. The route can be found by clicking here. Thanks to Michael for leading the beautiful ride!

ITS Lab Featured in ITE Westernite

The ITS Lab was featured in a recent issue of ITE's Westernite Newsletter. The article can be found here: http://www.its.pdx.edu/pdf/its_lab_westernite.pdf

Dr. Joesph Sussman Visits Portland State University and ITS Lab

Professor Joesph Sussman, JR East Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, engaged the Portland transportation community on March 9, 2007 with his perspectives. Dr. Sussman first met with engineering faculty to discuss MIT's open courseware and trends in civil engineering education. The Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (STEP) hosted an interactive discussion which was followed by his seminar "Where Transportation in Going: Transportation in the CLIOS System Era" as part of the transportation seminar series. Finally, ITS Oregon hosted a lunch in the ITS Lab. Dr. Sussman's visit was sponsored by Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium Visiting Scholar Program.

Portland State University Students Attend Fourth Annual TransNow Student Conference in Boise, Idaho

On March 2, 2007, six PSU students in the Master's of Urban and Regional Planning and Master's of Civil and Environmental Engineering programs from Portland State University attended the 4th Annual 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. Portland State University students would like to thank TransNow and commend the University of Idaho on a fabulous job in the planning of the conference.

ITS Lab Hosts Oregon ITE Section Meeting

Nearly 50 Oregon ITE members attended a tour and lunch of the ITS Lab at Portland State University. ITE Western Section President Dalene Whitlock was in attendance and proclaimed February 27, 2007 to "Ed Fischer Day" for service to the profession and section. ITS Lab students Matt Berkow and Michael Wolfe gave a presentation on their work towards measuring arterial performance with TriMet's bus dispatch data and the City of Portland's central signal system loop data. Following their presentation, members met with students to discuss current projects.

ITS Lab Project Google Traffic Featured in Westernite

A recent ITS lab project, Google Traffic, part of PORTAL, was featured in the latest edition of Westernite, the newsletter for the Institute of Transportation Engineers' District 6 (thirteen western states). The Google Traffic project was performed by Tim Welch, who worked closely with Randy McCourt of DKS Associates to implement a web based system for managing traffic data files via a Google map interface. The article can be read here: http://www.its.pdx.edu/pdf/google_westernite.pdf.

Monsere Presents at Oregon ITE Technical Workshop

Professor Monsere presented a module on "Estimating Safety Performance: Current and Future Tools" at the Oregon Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers Technical Workshop on Context Sensitive Design on January 30, 2007. The workshop was attended by nearly 60 professionals. Other presenters shown include Brian Ray (Kittelson), Marcy Schwartz (Ch2MHill), and John Mason (Penn State).

Prof. Bertini Inducted Into Omega Rho International Honor Society

Prof. Bertini was inducted into the Omega Rho International Honor Society for Operations Research and Management Science. The Portland State University Omega Rho Student Chapter conducted the induction ceremony on January 26, 2007. Omega Rho, founded in 1976, is the honor society for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and focuses on maintaining high standards in the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in higher education. The objectives of the Omega Rho International Honor Society are to encourage the study of Operations Research and Management Science related disciplines and to recognize academic excellence and leadership potential in these areas.

ITS Lab Activities at 86th Annual Meeting of Transportation Research Board

The ITS Lab was very busy at the 86th Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Sciences' Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C., January 21-25, 2007. Students and faculty presented 9 peer-reviewed papers. Student Oren Eshel presented "Incorporating Incident Data into a Freeway Data Archive for Improved Performance Measurement" (Paper 07-0414, co-authored by Jessica Potter, Suman Tasnim, Dr. Kristin A. Tufte, and Prof. Bertini). Student Sirisha Kothuri presented "Using Archived ITS Data to Generate Improved Freeway Travel Time Estimates" (Paper 07-0401 co-authored with Dr. Kristin A. Tufte, Prof. Soyoung Ahn, Arizona State University, and Prof. Bertini. Prof. Soyoung Ahn, Arizona State University, presented "Evaluating Benefits of Systemwide Adaptive Ramp-Metering Strategy in Portland, Oregon" (Paper 07-2016, co-authored with Prof. Bertini, Benjamin Auffray, Ecole Nationale des Travaux publics de l'Etat, France, and June Ross, Oregon Department of Transportation. Student Ben Zielke presented "Toward Systematic Improvement of Data Quality in Portland, Oregon, Regional Transportation Archive Listing" (Paper 07-1561, co-authored by Dr. Kristin A. Tufte, Prof. Soyoung Ahn, Arizona State University, Prof. Bertini, Benjamin Auffray, and James Rucker. Student Delia Chi presented "Implementing a User-Oriented Web-Based Traffic Data Management and Archive System" (Paper 07-0452, co-authored by Timothy J. Welch, Dr. Kristin A. Tufte, Prof. Bertini and Ransford S. McCourt and Alan Snook of DKS Associates. Student Zachary Horowitz presented "Using Portland Archival Listing Data to Empirically Diagnose Freeway Bottlenecks Located on Oregon Highway 217" (Paper 07-1656, co-authored with Prof. Bertini. Student Max T. Coffman presented "State of ITS: Telling Intelligent Transportation Systems Success Story for Portland, Oregon" (paper 07-2902, co-authored with Jonathan Makler). Prof. Monsere presented "Developing Online Tool for Delivering Research Results: Update to Oregon Department of Transportation's Crash Reduction Factor Database" (Paper 07-0456, co-authored with student Aaron Breakstone, Prof. Bertini, and Douglas Bish, Oregon Department of Transportation. Prof. Monsere also presented "Exploring Methods for Ranking Speed and Winter-Weather-Related Crash Locations in Oregon by Combining Climate, Crash, and Highway Data" (Paper 07-1030, co-authored with student Peter Bosa and Prof. Bertini. Prof. Bertini chaired a session on Combined Lane-Changing and Merging Behavior, served as secretary for the meeting of the Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics, presented "Lessons from Developing an Archived Data User Service in Portland, Oregon," at a workshop entitled "Linking Archived Data User Service, Performance Measures and Freeway Operations to Improve Mobility," and presented "Improving Collaboration in the Northwest," at the annual meeting of the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).

Max Coffman of ITS Lab Selected as first OTREC Student of the Year

The Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) is pleased to announce the selection of its first Student of the Year, Max Coffman, who is a graduate research assistant in the ITS Lab. This national award was presented as part of the annual Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Banquet at the Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) on January 20, 2007. For the past 15 years, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has honored an outstanding student from each University Transportation Center (UTC) at this special ceremony. Each student receives $1,000 plus the cost of attendance at TRB from his/her Center, and a certificate from USDOT. Criteria for this graduate student award include technical merit and research accomplishments, academic performance, professionalism and leadership. Shown (left to right) are OTREC Director Robert Bertini, Max Coffman, and former Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. Congratulations Max!

Bertini Joins TransNow Advisory Committee

Prof. Robert Bertini has joined the Transportation Northwest (TransNow) Advisory Committee, effective January 2007. TransNow is the Region X University Transportation Center, established in 1988 as one of the original 10 regional UTCs administered by the USDOT. Bertini has served as a PI on several past TransNow projects, has provided peer reviews on previous TransNow proposals and final reports, and also works with TransNow as a partner in the Northwest University Transportation Consortium.

ITS Lab and Bertini Featured in Portland Business Journal

The Portland Business Journal (December 15, 2006) featured an article describing the developments in the ITS lab since we moved into the new Engineering Building. See the article, entitled "Calming the Traffic Beast."

ITS Lab Alumni and Current Students Celebrate End of Winter Term

ITS Lab alumni, current students and faculty gathered at Harbor Place to celebrate the end of Winter 2006 Term and catch up. Happy Holidays!

Dr. Christine Johnson of FHWA Visits ITS Lab

Dr. Christine Johnson, Director of Field Services - West, of the Federal Highway Administration, based in Salt Lake City, visited the ITS Lab on December 7, 2006. Accompanying Dr. Johnson was David Cox, the FHWA Administrator of the Oregon Division, as well as other FHWA staff. In addition to PSU faculty and students, Dennis Mitchell of ODOT and Jon Makler of Metro also participated in the meeting.

ITS Lab and Bertini Featured in Portland Tribune Feature on Rethinking Portland

The ITS Lab and Director Bertini were featured in an article in the Portland Tribune on November 28, 2006 as part of their Rethinking Portland series. To read the article please follow this link.

Portland State Takes Second Place in 16th Annual Traffic Bowl

The defending champion Portland State University Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter (also known as Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning, STEP) took Second Place in the ITE Oregon Section's 16th Annual Traffic Bowl, held at McMenamins Edgefield on November 16, 2006. Six universities competed this year: Portland State, Oregon State University, University of Portland, University of Washington, University of Idaho and Boise State University. More than 60 students attended. The PSU team consisted of: Erin Qureshi, Ben Zielke, Nick Carey, Matt Dorado and Michael Wolfe. Six other PSU students and two faculty members (including advisor Dr. Chris Monsere) also attended. Our congratulations to the PSU team and to our colleagues at the University of Idaho who took First Place this year.

Monsere Visits University of Idaho for Simulation Research Workshop

Prof. Monsere met with other researchers at the University of Idaho on November 9-10, 2006 to discuss ways the region's university transportation centers can advance FHWA's research agenda for the Next Generation Simulation project. The meeting was organized by Prof. Michael Kyte (UI) and attended by Profs. Michael Dixon (UI), Lei Xhang (OSU), Mark Hallenbeck (UW), Ahmed Abdel-Rahim (UI). James Colyar (FHWA) and Kiel Ova (PTV) also attended. Monsere was also given a tour of NIATT's transportation signal labs. Thanks to UI for hosting the event!

Alan Pisarski, Author of "Commuting in America," Visits ITS Lab

Alan Pisarski, well-known transportation expert and author of "Commuting in America" visit Portland, and spoke at a breakfast meeting co-sponsored by WTS and OTREC, was PSU's CTS Seminar speaker, and also visited the ITS lab.

Jeff Paniati, Associate FHWA Administrator Visits ITS Lab

ITS Lab faculty, students and community partners hosted Jeff Paniati, Associate FHWA Administrator for Operations and Acting ITS Joint Program Office Program Manager in the ITS Lab Thursday morning. Paniati was given a tour of the lab, introduced to current projects, and was shown the PORTAL archive.

Bertini Speaks at "State of ITS" Event in Portland

Professor Bertini was a featured speaker at the "State of ITS" event at the Oregon Convention Center on October 26, 2006. Also featured was Rich Capka, Administrator of the Federal Highway Administrator; Gail Achterman, Oregon Transportation Commission; Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams; Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder; and TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen. The "State of ITS" meeting focused on the recently released Metropolitan Mobility the Smart Way, in which the Portland State University Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab is featured (see ITS Lab Brochure).

ITS Lab Students Attend Streetcar Opening

Continuing a tradition of riding on new light rail line openings, several ITS Lab students toured the new Portland Streetcar extension to South Warterfront on October 20, 2006. The new extension from River Place to South Waterfront connects with new development and the aerial tram to OHSU.

ITS Lab Featured in PSU Magazine

The research of the ITS Lab was featured in Portland State University's magazine "Portland State". The article will appear online soon

Bertini Featured in Flexcar Ad

Professor Bertini, who participated in the Low Car Diet earlier this summer, was featured in a recent Flexcar ad in Willamette Week.

Monsere Presents at APWA Fall Conference

Prof. Monsere was invited to present an update on Oregon's new national university transportation center - OTREC (Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium) - at the annual fall APWA meeting in Pendleton, Oregon. At the conference, PSU Civil Engineering senior Niki Stephanson, was presented with the APWA scholarship.

Bertini Presents at ITS World Congress in London

Professor Bertini participated in the 13th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems held in London, October 8-12, 2006. Bertini presented: "Estimating Truck Flows on a Freeway Network to Improve Freight Operations and Planning," co-authors Kristin Tufte and Zachary Horowitz (student); "Improving the Accuracy of Freeway Travel Time Estimates Using Archived ITS Data," co-authors Sirisha Kothuri (student), Sue Ahn and Kristin Tufte; and "Influence of Variable Speed Limit and Driver Information System on Key Traffic Flow Parameters on a German Autobahn," co-authors Steven Boice (student), Sue Ahn and Klaus Bogenboger.

Bertini Presents at IEEE ITSC in Toronto

Professor Bertini participated in the Ninth IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference held in Toronto, Canada, September 17-21, 2006. Bertini presented: "Development of an ITS Data Archive Application for Improving Freeway Travel Time Estimation,"

Monsere Accepts Tenure Track Position at Portland State University

Dr. Chris Monsere, Research Assistant Professor, has accepted a tenure track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Portland State University! We are very pleased that Chris will be stepping up to this next level in his career and wish him the very best in this new role.

ITS Lab Students and Faculty Gather to Wish Auffray Well

ITS lab students, faculty and alumni gathered at Henry's Tavern to thank intern Ben Auffray for his work in the ITS Lab. Ben returns to France where he is a student at ENTPE (National School of Public State Work). Ben presented a paper at the ITE District 6 meeting in June and worked a number of projects in the lab. Good Luck Ben!

ITS Lab Featured in Portland Tribune Article

The Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory at Portland State University was featured in several articles in the Portland Tribune on September 12, 2006. See "Which Commute is the Worst," [speed map] "Traffic Jams Don't Stop the Data Flows," [jpg] and "Suburban Traffic Presents a Few Twists." Special thanks to Kristin Tufte for her data analysis efforts!

ITS Lab Students Visit PDOT and ODOT Traffic Management Centers

ITS lab students visited the PDOT and ODOT Traffic Management Centers on August 24, 2006.

Bertini Presents at Fifth International Conference on Traffic and Transportation Studies, Xi'an, China

Robert L. Bertini presented "Developing Comparative Congestion Measures to Improve Transportation SystemPerformance" and "Unlocking the Mysteries of FreewaySensor Data to Diagnose Detailed Bottleneck Dynamics," and chaired a sessionon "Applications of New Technologies" at the Fifth International Conference on Traffic & Transportation Studies (ICTTS) in Xian, China on August 2-3, 2006. Bertini and colleague Prof. Zong Tian (University of Nevada Reno) also met with a group of graduate students from Beijing Jiaotong University (see left), sponsors of the conference. More photos from the Japan and China trip are available.

Sue Ahn Accepts Faculty Position at Arizona State University

Dr. Soyoung (Sue) Ahn, post-doctoral research associate in the ITS lab has accepted a tenure track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University. We will miss her and wish her the very best of luck in her new position!

Monsere Presents at International Forum on Traffic Records and Highway Information System, Palm Desert, California

Professor Monsere, ITS Lab and Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty, presented "A Methodology for Evaluating the Feasibility of Enhancing Traffic Records Processing in Oregon with Electronic Automation" at the 32nd International Forum on Traffic Records and Highway Safety Systems, Palm Desert, California, July 30 - August 3, 2006. Co-authors include Kate Lyman, Erin Wilson, and Amber Springberg, graduate research assistants in the Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab.

Bertini Presents at 5th International Symposium on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service, Yokohama, Japan

Prof. Bertini presented "Comparison of Key Freeway Capacity Parameters on North American Freeways with German Autobahns Equipped With a Variable Speed Limit System," co-authored with Steven Boice and Klaus Bogenberger, at the 5th International Symposium on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service, Yokohama, Japan, July 26, 2006.

ITS Lab Featured in Oregonian Article

The ITS Lab was featured in an article in the Oregonian on July 26, 2006, describing the process used in the evaluation of transit signal priority with the City of Portland, TriMet and Kittelson and Associates. You can see the article here as an image or as a PDF.

ITS Lab Hosts Intern Jamboree

Prof. Monsere and Prof. Bertini hosted 30 engineering interns as part of the Portland Intern Jamboree organized by Kittelson and Associates. Interns from KAI, PDOT, OTAK, PSU, and other firms and agencies participated in the two day event that included a visit to the ITS lab for a tour and a field data collection exercise. Kittelson has posted other photos here.

Sirisha Kothuri Wins Awards

Doctoral student Sirisha Kothuri has won the "Oregon Sports Lottery Graduate Scholarship" ($2500 from the PSU Office of Graduate Studies) and was also selected as the "Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant" from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for 2005-06. Congratulations Sirisha!

Tufte, Maier and Bertini Receive NSF Grant

Dr. Kristin Tufte (CS and CEE), Prof. David Maier (Computer Science) and Prof. Robert L. Bertini (CEE) have received a collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation entitled "Exploiting Live Plus Archive Data for Intelligent Transportation Systems." This is a two year project (2006-2008) with a total budget of $410,670, and will support continuing collaboration between PSU's CS and CEE departments.

Bertini Takes Flexcar Low Car Diet Challenge

See Portland Low Car Diet and http://www.flexcar.com

Students Present at ITE District 6 Annual Meeting in Honolulu

Five ITS Lab students and Prof. Bertini traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii in June 2006 to participate in the Institute of Transportation Engineers District 6 Annual Meeting. Max Coffman presented "Enhancing Targeted Traffic Enforcement Efforts in Portland, Oregon" (co-author Christopher Monsere). Benjamin Auffray presented, "Evaluation of Single-loop Detector Vehicle-Classification Algorithms using an Archived Data User Service System" (co-authors Kristin Tufte, Zachary Horowitz, Spicer Matthews, and Robert L. Bertini). Jessica Potter presented "Incorporating Incident Data into a Freeway Data Archive for Improved Performance Measurement" (co-authors Suman Tasnim, Kristin Tufte, and Robert L. Bertini). Steven Boice presented "Parking Demand for Multiplex Theaters" and "Implementing a Web-based Transportation Data Management System." Robert L. Bertini presented "Using Real Time Transportation System Performance Measures to Fuel a Regional Congestion Management System" (co-author Jonathan Makler). All papers appear in the meeting's Compendium of Technical Papers.

Boice Receives ITE Award

Steven Boice received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award for 2005-2006 from the Institute of Transportation Engineers District 6 (13 western states), at the ITE District 6 Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 27, 2006.

Bertini Receives ITE Award

Prof. Robert L. Bertini received the Outstanding Transportation Educator Award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers District 6 (13 western states) at the ITE District 6 Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 27, 2006.

Monsere Presents ITS Lab Research at NATMEC

Professor Monsere presented "Incorporating Freight Performance Measures in an Archived Data User Service" and "Comparative Analysis of Various Travel Time Estimation Algorithms to Ground Truth Data Using Archived Data" at the North American Travel Monitoring Exhibition & Conference (NATMEC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 4-7, 2006. Co-authors include Professor Robert L. Bertini, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Urban Studies and Planning faculty, Kristin Tufte, post-doctoral research assistant in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Sirisha Kothuri, graduate research assistant.

Bertini Travels to Athens

Prof. Bertini presented "Measuring the Impacts of a Variable Speed Limit System on a German Motorway" (with student Steven Boice) and "Improving Travel Time Estimation for Freeway Traffic Management and Traveler Information Systems" (with student Sirisha Kothuri), and served on a panel entitled "Speeding and Speed Limits: Are Drivers Out of Control?" at the First International Symposium on Freeway & Tollway Operations, Athens, Greece, June 4-7, 2006.

Monsere and Bertini Receive Excellence in Community-Based Research Civic Engagement Award

The Portland State University Center for Academic Excellence has honored Drs. Monsere and Bertini with the 2006 Excellence in Community-Based Research Civic Engagement Award on May 18, 2006.

Bertini Receives Diversity Leadership Award from Women's Transportation Seminar

Dr. Bertini received the 2006 Diversity Leadership Award from Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) on May 10, 2006. The award recognizes Dr. Bertini's efforts to support women and minority students in transportation by employing, mentoring, and teaching students at PSU.

Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) Members Tour New ITS Lab

On April 27th, about 30 WTS members toured the new ITS Lab and Engineering Building. Tara Weidner, on behalf of WTS, presented Professor Robert Bertini with a framed certificate congratulating him on the university's new designation as a national University Transportation Center (UTC). The remainder of the evening was devoted to discussions with students about their research work. Students shared posters or computer presentations of their research work with smaller groups at various locations around the lab

Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams visits ITS Lab

Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams visited the ITS Lab on April 24, 2006, along with Bill Kloos and Rob Burchfield of the Portland Office of Transportation. Commissioner Adams discussed his priorities for Portland's transportation system as well as opportunities to partner with PSU on future transportation research projects.

ITS Lab Students Travel to Bellevue, Washington for ITE Quad Conference

Professor Monsere and 3 ITS lab students traveled to Bellevue, Washington to attend the annual ITE Quad Conference. PSU students and faculty made 4 presentations: Zach Horowitz presented the lab's work on the Portland performance report, Sirisha Kothuri presented her work on advancing real-time travel time estimates, Kartik Srinvas co-presented his work with Dr. Monsere on illumination safety and finally, Dr. Monsere presented the results of the research project "Developing New Identification and Ranking Methods for Speed-Related Crashes in Oregon" Student travel to the conference was funded by PSU's SALP.

STEP Student Group Hosts "Women in Transportation" Panel in new ITS Lab

Nearly 25 students attended a panel presentation hosted by the Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning. The panel included a distinguished group of local leader in transportation including Eileen Argentina (PDOT), Cathy Nelson (ODOT), Tara Weidner (Parsons Brinckerhoff), Beth Wemple (Kittelson And Associates) and Bridget Weighart (METRO). The panel discussed challenges and opportunities for women in transportation. The students modeled the discussion after a panel meeting they attended at the Transportation Research Board meeting in January.

Congressman Wu Visits ITS Lab

Congressman Wu became the first member of Congress to visit the Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab during a tour of the Portland State University campus. The Congresswan was briefed on the lab's activities, met a number of the students, and was very interested in the lab's key research effort - the PORTAL transportation data archive. Congressman Wu's efforts have been critical to the designation of Portland State University (in partnership with UO, OSU, and OIT) as a National University Transportation Center.

ITS Lab Students Organize and Participate in Third Annual TransNow Student Conference at OSU

ITS Lab graduate student Steven Boice organized the Third Annual TransNow Student Conference held at Oregon State University on February 9, 2006. More than 22 students from Portland State University, Oregon State University, University of Oregon, University of Washington, and the University of British Columbia participated in the day-long event, which featured student posters, presentations, a lunchtime panel of transportation professionals and a keynote speech by Professor Robert Cervero of the University of California at Berkeley. The Fourth Annual TransNow Student Conference will be held at the University of Idaho in 2007.

ITS Lab Student River Hwang Wins Scholarship

The Portland Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) is honored to announce that River Hwang, 2005 Portland Undergraduate Scholarship ($2,000) winner, is the Winner of Sharon D. Banks WTS International Scholarship ($3000). She will receive the award at the WTS Annual Conference in May. River is pursuing a BS in Civil Engineering with a Traffic Engineering emphasis at Portland State University. Her expected graduation date is June 2006. River is an outstanding engineering student, according to Professor Robert Bertini, who wrote: "River has distinguished herself in our undergraduate civil engineering program by self-identifying as being interested in transportation and becoming active in our student organizations...River is dedicated, not afraid to tackle difficult problems, resourceful and thoughtful." River also serves as a PSU Undergraduate Research Assistant in the ITS lab (developing VISSIM hardware in the loop simulation for transit signal priority evaluation). She's held many leadership roles and is a volunteer PSU Ambassador, belongs to the ITE Student Chapter, ASCE Student Chapter, and has volunteered for the PSU Alumni Association.

Boice and Bertini Visit BMW in Munich

Steve Boice and Professor Bertini visited BMW and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in Germany, as part of a collaboration with BMW, TUM, PSU and Imperial College, London.

ITS Lab Activities at Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of transportation researchers and practitioners, with 10,000 attendees and 2,500 presentations in 500 sessions. ITS Lab faculty, students and partners had a strong presence at the 2006 TRB meeting: presenting papers, serving on panels, and performing important committee work. Prof. Robert L. Bertini presented "You Are the Traffic Jam: Examination of Congestion Measures" (06-1419) and chaired a session on "Empirical Analysis of Car-Following Behavior." He was also a panelist at an AASHTO Research Advisory Committee Town Hall Meeting on University Transportation Centers, and at a Workshop on Sharing Data on Transportation System Operations – Benefits and Barriers. He serves as the Secretary of the Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics. Prof. Monsere chaired a session on Safety Applications and Analysis Issues, and serves as a Member of the Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation Committee, and of the Highway Safety Manual Task Force. Roger Lindgren, Oregon Institute of Technology, presented "Toward Demonstrating Predictability of Bottleneck Activation on German Autobahn" (06-1792). Graduate students Aaron Breakstone presented "Validating Dynamic Message Sign Freeway Travel Time Messages Using Ground Truth Geospatial Data," (06-0622) and Steven Boice presented "Dynamics of a Variable Speed Limit System Surrounding Bottleneck on German Autobahn" (06-2965).

Special Lab Assistants Visit ITS Lab

In order to assist with wiring the new ITS lab and Civil and Environmental Engineering office suite, Special Lab Assistants Erin and Robert Lovell visited us in January 2006. As shown in the photo to the left, the twins were great help in stringing the new network cable and were dressed for the cool temperatures.

Bertini Publishes Chapter in "Access to Destinations"

Robert L. Bertini, civil and environmental engineering and urban studies and planning faculty has published a peer reviewed book chapter, "Congestion and Its Extent." In: Access to Destinations: Rethinking the Transportation Future of our Region, Edited by David Levinson and Kevin Krizek, Elsevier, 2005.

ITS Lab Moves Into New Building!

The ITS lab students and faculty are excited to report that the move to the new lab in the Northwest Center for Engineering Science and Technology (NWCEST) is complete! Please come visit us in our new amazing space!

Traffic Bowl Victory!

Portland State Unversity's Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter won the coveted Traffic Bowl, as a result of a Jeopardy-like traffic quiz bowl competition held at McMenamin's Edgefield on November 10, 2005. PSU took first place in the 2005 Traffic Bowl, besting Oregon State University, the University 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. In addition to holding the coveted "Bowl" for the next year, the PSU Student Chapter received a financial donation. Congratulations to the team!

Bertini, Boice and Horowitz Present Papers at ITS World Congress

Robert Bertini, civil & environmental engineering and urban studies & planning faculty presented "Validating an Automated License Plate Recognition System for Predicting Rural Corridor Travel Times." (coauthored with Christopher Monsere and student Matthew Lasky) at the 12th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, San Francisco, November 10, 2005. Bertini's student Zachary Horowitz presented "PORTAL: Implementing a New Generation Archived Data User Service in Portland, Oregon," (coauthors were Bertini plus students Steven Hansen, Spicer Matthews and Andy Delcambre) and student Steven Boice presented "Impact of Variable Speed Limit and Driver Information System on Traffic Dynamics on a German Autobahn: Lessons for U.S. Applications" (coauthors Bertini and Klaus Bogenberger of BMW). All three papers also appear in the congress proceedings.

Portland Office of Transportation Director Visits ITS Lab

New Portland Office of Transportation Director Sue Keil visited the PSU ITS Lab on Wednesday October 26, 2005 for a briefing on our research activities. Director Keil was accompanied by Eileen Argentina, Bureau Director for Transportation System Management, and Signals/Street Lighting/ITS Principal Engineer, Bill Kloos

Dr. Soyoung (Sue) Ahn Joins ITS Lab Faculty

We are excited to announce that Dr. Sue Ahn has joined the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory, effective October 1, 2005. Dr. Ahn received her Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley in 2005. She also received her MSCE there in 2001, and graduated from The Ohio State University with a BSCE summa cum laude in 2000. She brings an impressive record of publications, research and teaching experience in the areas of traffic flow theory, operations and incident management. As a graduate research assistant, she evaluated the latest freeway incident management systems in California, investigated the effects of vehicle lane-changing on stop-and-go driving, studied driver turn-taking behavior at congested freeway merges, and verified an existing car-following model via statistical analysis and testing. Welcome Dr. Ahn!

Bertini Presents at IEEE Conference in Vienna

Robert L. Bertini, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Urban Studies & Planning faculty presented "Using ITS Data Fusion to Examine Traffic Dynamics on a Freeway with Variable Speed Limits" and "ITS Archived Data User Service in Portland, Oregon: Now and Into the Future" at the 8th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Vienna, Austria, September 13-16, 2005. Bertini was also co-author on two papers presented by recent Ph.D. graduate Roger Lindgren: "The German Autobahn: An ITS Test Bed for Examining Dynamic Traffic Flow Phenomena" and "Validating Predicted Rural Corridor Travel Times from an Automated License Plate Recognition System: Oregon’s Frontier Project." All papers appear in the conference proceedings. Bertini also served on the International Program Committee for the conference.

Monsere and Bertini Recognized for Teaching Excellence

Professor Chris Monsere and Professor Robert Bertini were recognized by the Portland State University Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering for teaching excellence during the 2004-2005 academic year. Bertini received the highest student evaluation scores for Fall 2004 for CE454 (undergraduate with enrollment >20) and for CE455/555 (senior/graduate with enrollment<10), and Monsere received the highest evaluation scores for senior/graduate courses with enrollment <10 for Winter 2005 (Freight) and Spring 2006 (Benefit/Cost Seminar). Congratulations to both

Students and Faculty at ITE District 6 Annual Meeting in Montana

Prof. Chris Monsere accompanied seven Portland State University students to the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) District 6 Annual Meeting in Kalispell, Montana, July 10-13, 2005. Students raised external funds to completely support their travel. The following students presented 8 papers in conference technical sessions (note that PSU students accounted for more than 7% of all technical presentations given at this 4 day event!):

Rodger Gutierrez: "Congestion War: Arterials vs. Freeways," co-authored with Prof. Robert Bertini.
David de la Houssaye: "Improving the Highway Safety Process: An Update and Enhancement to the Oregon DOT's Crash Reduction Factors List," co-authored with Prof. Chris Monsere, Prof. Robert Bertini and Peter Bosa.
Peter Bosa: "Improving Travel Time-Delay Functions for the Highway 217 Corridor Study Using a Regional ITS Data Archive," co-authored with Prof. Robert Bertini, Steven Hansen, Andrew Byrd, Andy Delcambre, Andy Rodriguez and Spicer Matthews.
Zachary Horowitz: "Toward Real Performance Measurement: Portland Oregon Regional Transportation Archive Listing (PORTAL)," co-authored with Steven Hansen, Andrew Byrd, Andy Delcambre, Andy Rodriguez, Spicer Matthews and Prof. Robert Bertini
Aaron Breakstone: "Using Ground Truth Geospatial Data to Validate Advanced Traveler Information Systems Freeway Travel Time Messages," co-authored with Prof. Chris Monsere and Prof. Robert Bertini
Zachary Horowitz: "Validating Predicted Rural Corridor Travel Times from an Automated License Plate Recognition System: Oregon's Frontier Project," co-authored with Matthew Lasky, Prof. Chris Monsere and Prof. Robert Bertini
Erin Wilson: "Enhancing the Oregon Crash Reporting Process: A Feasibility Assessment," co-authored with Prof. Chris Monsere.
Nick Carey: "ITE District 6 Data Collection Fund: Establishing Pedestrian Walking Speeds," co-authored with Scott Pulice.

All papers will appear in the conference proceedings. Congratulations to all

Monsere Receives Two ITE Awards

Professor Chris Monsere recently received two important awards from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the premier international transportation engineering professional society. President Massoud Saberian recently announced that the ITE Oregon Section awarded Dr. Monsere the 2005 Outstanding Individual Achievement Award. Chris was recognized for his outstanding contributions to transportation education, research and practice in the state of Oregon. Dr. Monsere's work was also recognized at a higher level this summer. ITE's District 6, covering the thirteen western states (Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii), recently presented Dr. Monsere with the 2005 ITE District 6 Young Professional Achievement Award. This award recognizes young professionals who have shown exceptional dedication to the transportation profession through ITE service, have significant accomplishments that benefit the profession of transportation engineering/planning, and/or have participated in mentoring transportation professionals. According to Jennifer Rosales, current ITE District 6 Secretary-Treasurer, "Chris was selected as the recipient of this award because he has shown exceptional dedication to the transportation profession. Chris has volunteered his time serving ITE as the Oregon Section webmaster, Publicity Chair for the 2007 District 6 local arrangements committee, and the PSU student chapter advisor. In addition, Chris has mentored both students and young professional throughout his career and has significant professional accomplishments benefiting the transportation industry." The award was presented in Kalispell, Montana in July 2005 (see photo, left to right, Dalene Whitlock (ITE VP), Randy McCourt (ITE Past President), Monsere, Ken Ackeret (ITE President) and Zaki Mustafa (ITE Past President). Congratulations Chris!

Nolan and Bertini Present at CUPUM 2005 London

Recent MURP graduate Casey Nolan presented Dr. Bertini presented Deriving Metropolitan Planning Performance Measures from a Real-Time Regional Transportation Data Archive (co authored with R.L. Bertini, S. Hansen, P. Bosa and A. El-Geneidy) at the 9th International Conference on Computers in Urban Planning and Urban Management Conference (CUPUM) in London on June 29, 2005. Also at CUPUM 2005, Dr. Bertini presented Exploring Spatial And Temporal Performance Measurement In Metropolitan Transportation Safety Improvement Programs, co-authored with Dr. Monsere, T. Kimpel, A. El-Geneidy and T. Moes. CUPUM 2007 is being planned in Sao Carlos, Brazil. Lab student Steven Boice also attended the conference.

Monsere and Bertini Present at ASEE Annual Meeting

Dr. Monsere presented "Using Custom Transportation Data Collection Software with Handheld Computers for Education, Research, and Practice" and Dr. Bertini presented "Educational Applications of the Portland, Oregon Regional Archived Data User Service (ADUS)" at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, June 14, 2005. Students Steve Hansen and Andrew Byrd co-authored the associated papers.