If
so, you should consider becoming a transportation professional. Transportation
is a growing profession with opportunities for people with a wide variety
of backgrounds and strengths.
What degrees are offered?
There are currently
six graduate-level degrees and one certificate program within which students can specialize in
transportation:
Our students are
both full- and part-time.
About
Transportation at PSU
Transportation education
and research at PSU focuses on transportation systems, infrastructure,
policy, and planning. We cover all modes of transport and the relationships
and interactions of transportation systems with land use, the economy,
the environment, institutions, and people. Our programs are multidisciplinary.
Faculty conduct research on a wide range of topics, including: transit
operations; relationships between urban form, travel behavior and health;
intelligent transportation systems; safety; transportation finance; transportation
and environmental planning; and land use planning and transportation infrastructure.
What
would I do with one of these degrees?
Graduates with masters
degrees (MURP or MSCE) work in a variety of places, including cities,
counties, state agencies, private consultants, and non-profit organizations.
Graduates of PSU's degree programs include:
- Transit Service
Planner, TriMet
- Transportation
Planner, Wenatchee Valley Transportation Council
- Transportation
Planner, CH2MHill
- Transportation
Analyst, DKS Associates
- Transportation
Modeler - Metropolitan Transportation Commission
(Oakland, CA)
- ITS Engineer,
Oregon Department of Transportation
- Transportation
Planning Manager, Metro
- Assistant Planner,
Fregonese Calthorpe Associates
- Transportation
Advocate, 1000 Friends of Oregon
- And More!!
What
opportunities are there during my degree program outside of the classroom?
 PSU
faculty are involved in a variety of transportation research projects
and often hire students as graduate research assistants, including a
stipend and tuition remission. See Dr. Bertini's list of positions available
in the Intelligent Transportation Systems
Laboratory for examples. Most students
also find a wide variety of paid internships as places such as the City
of Portland, Fregonese Calthorpe Associates, Kittelson & Associates,
DKS Associates, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and 1000 Friends of Oregon. The
School of Urban Studies and Planning offers a limited number of assistantships
to students each year, which pay full tuition and a small stipend. In
addition, the Center for Urban Studies has fellowship funds available
for top transportation students.
Students in the
MURP program participate in the Planning
Workshop, where they work in small teams to develop and complete
a project for a community client of their choice. Recent transportation-related
projects included a guidebook for wildlife crossings and transportation
facilities, a plan for creating a safe bicycle route in Southeast Portland,
a feasibility study and guide for a new bicycle rail-trail, and a plan
for a shuttle for Sherwood, OR.
MURP students also
have an option to complete a Field Area
Paper, which can be a research paper or project on a transportation
topic. Recent transportation FAPs include:
- Bicycle Planning
in the City of Portland: Evaluation of the City's Bicycle Master Plan
and Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between the City's Bicycle
Network and Bicycle Commute
- Transportation
& Work: Exploring Car Usage and Employment Outcomes in the LSAL
Data
- The Mobility
of Elderly Persons in the Portland Metropolitan Region
- Street Connectivity,
Land use and Transportation, and the Master Street Plans in Portland
- Capping I-405:
Testing the Vision
- Increasing Access
to Jobs through Ridesharing
Students
in the MSCE program are responsible for preparing either a Project Report
or Thesis, and this research is connected to projects conducted in the
ITS Lab, which involve strong partnerships with local, regional and
statewide transportation agencies including the City of Portland, Metro,
TriMet and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Graduate
Certificate in Transportation
The
Center for Transportation Studies offers a campuswide graduate certificate
program in Transportation.
For more information, see the Graduate
Certificate page.
What
if I'm not interested in a degree program right now?
There are several
opportunities to attend seminars and classes:
Transportation
Seminar Series: free
and open to the public
 Fridays at noon during the academic year the
Center for Transportation Studies, in cooperation with the Center for
Urban Studies, School of Urban Studies and Planning and Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering, offers a Transportation Seminar Series.
Students, transportation professionals and community
members are welcome to participate in person and via live streaming video.
All seminars are also archived for future viewing.
PSU students may enroll in the seminar for one unit.
To receive seminar announcements, join the "Transportation"email list (https://www.lists.pdx.edu/lists/listinfo/transportation).
Current
Courses
Non-degree students can enroll in up to 8 units of PSU courses via Quick Entry. A list of courses in Urban Studies & Planning that includes transportation courses can be found here. Civil & Environmental Engineering course listings are here.
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