Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
DC Streetsblog

Portland’s Transport Research Guru Headed to Obama Administration

The U.S. DOT is expected to announce today that it has tapped Robert Bertini,
a Portland State University professor who headed Oregon's state-wide
transport research effort, as the No. 2 at the Research and Innovative
Technology Administration -- the government's home for stats on all
things transportation.

large_Rob_Bertini_1.jpgRobert Bertini (Photo: Oregonian)

Bertini's
hiring is an uber-wonky personnel move, to be sure. But it also signals
the ascent of a reason-based approach to transportation policy, with a
focus on increasing efficiency by helping communities shift a greater
share of trips onto transit.

In testimony before Congress
last year, Bertini outlined the dizzying array of projects his Oregon
research consortium, known as OTREC, has embarked upon after its
founding in 2005 (with a grant from the federal DOT). Here's just a
sampling of what OTREC has studied:

  • The socio-economic impacts of imposing a new vehicle miles traveled tax
  • The
    relationship between transportation planning and land use, assuming "a
    certain set of goals are determined and pursued by politicians and
    planners," as Bertini put it
  • How to shift suburban multi-family housing developments to a broader mix of transport modes
  • Using technology to encourage more neighborhood pedestrian activity
  • How community safety affects public health for lower-income children
  • Stay in touch

    Sign up for our free newsletter

    More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

    July 2024 Metro Board Meeting: Ridership Up, Security Measures, LAX, and More

    LAX station will open this November. Metro will expand security measures, from TAP-to-Exit to turnstile hardening. Plus more Metro action!

    July 25, 2024

    Covina to Begin Construction on Recreation Village

    The new facility will be next to the Metrolink station and include a variety of opportunities for fitness and amusement

    July 25, 2024

    Incomplete Streets Part 2: in OC Caltrans Ignores Caltrans Policy on Bike and Pedestrian Needs

    Caltrans has a policy requiring Complete Streets in its projects, but Caltrans Districts routinely ignore it

    July 24, 2024
    See all posts