Transportation and the environment : a research agenda for Oregon : final report

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) has established two new research programs – the Surface Transportation Environment Planning (STEP) Cooperative Research Program and the Future Strategic Highway Research Program II (F-SHRP II). The creation of these new programs provides an opportunity for transportation professionals in government, education and industry to address research needs related to transportation and the environment.\ud In February 2006 Oregon State University hosted a workshop – Transportation and the Environment: Linking Researchers, Transportation Providers and Industry – attended by nearly 50 participants representing transportation providers, industry leaders, and academic researchers for the specific purpose of creating a transportation and the environment research agenda. The participants discussed needs and opportunities in the areas of ecology and natural systems, land-use, planning and performance measures, emerging technologies, and environmental and socioeconomic relationships. Key needs and opportunities were identified, and an attempt was made to categorize the needed research.\ud Among the needs and opportunities for transportation and the environment research, the following ideas rose to the top during the workshop:\ud -- Developing integrated decision-support systems;\ud -- Identifying, developing, and testing opportunities in green infrastructure (including the localization of industries, such as clustering transportation industries, construction material use, and use of recycled materials);\ud -- Developing a process for systematically repairing or replacing culverts within watersheds or ecoregions; and\ud -- Identifying opportunities to study the relationships between transportation and the environment within the context of the development of new cities and community developments in Central and Northern Oregon.\ud The authors recommend that the new Oregon University Transportation Center play a central role to continue and expand the momentum of this proposed research agenda, to help fulfill its potential, and to allow it to be refined and matured as collaborative partnerships grow and needs and opportunities present themselves