PacTrans Calendar of Events
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PacTrans-Sponsored Transportation Talk
April 12, 2013 @ 10:30 am - 11:20 am
Title: Confessions of a Traffic Engineer: The Misuse of Level of Service and its Impact on Active Transportation
Speaker: Peter Koonce, City of Portland Bureau of Transportation
[Abstract] The transportation engineering community is advancing methodologies to encourage active transportation. Adoption of new methodologies and standards has not been widely accepted because there remain gaps in the standards by which we determine facilities are adequate, particularly in the development review process. This is highlighted in the vocabulary we use on a daily basis, we continue to consider auto traffic congestion as something that should be reduced, when in reality it can support the encouragement of active transportation. This session will describe these challenges and identify technical procedures that would allow the development of a more balanced transportation system supportive of the local policies of the community. The case study of Portland will be used to describe specific actions where the City has acted consistent with the local policy rather than blindly accepting the national Level of Service thresholds identified in the Highway Capacity Manual.
[Short Biography] Peter Koonce, P.E., is Division Manager for the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Signals, Street Lighting, & ITS Division. Prior to serving with the City, he worked with Kittelson & Associates, Inc. He has served as an adjunct professor at Portland State University teaching graduate level courses in transportation engineering. Last year, he established a study abroad course in the Netherlands with Northeastern University and the Technical University in Delft. He is currently past president of the Oregon Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and was recently appointed Chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Traffic Signal Systems.
