The next Summer Study Abroad course on “Redesigning Cities for People on Bike” will take place in summer 2025 with applications open in Fall 2024.

Please visit the official page to apply or my Study Abroad page for more information and let me or Professor Rebecca Lewis know you are interested.  It is a transformative experience and  space is definitely limited. 

This is a critical time for planning with a lot of opportunity to figure out an entirely new way of making cities. The policies of the last 70 years have led to unsustainable sprawl, a development pattern that reduces physical activity, a transportation system that creates dependency on the private automobile, and a city form that is not prepared to meet our urgent climate change challenges. And now, the introduction of e-bikes, the rise and uncertainty of ridehailing, and new forms of space-efficient micromobility like e-scooters and dockless bikeshare present a challenge and opportunity equal to that of the original introduction of the private automobile in terms of the future shape and function and sustainability of our cities.  These are big issues and planners can be key players in forging a new direction.  Climate change and structural equality policy and interest from the US national government are likely to be front and center in the Biden administration, yet it will be cities where innovation and solutions to some of society’s most pressing issues get dreamed up and implemented.

My own work explores the relationship of urban form to active modes of transportation (walking, biking, scooters), the role of higher education in catalyzing societal change, and anything else that might help us get to where we need to more quickly. Please have a look at the classes I teach, research I engage in, and campus organizations I co-lead for more context on my part for bringing about change.

I’m currently geeking out on the potential use of augmented reality to help accelerate redesign of our streets by making it easier for a general public to ‘see’ what streets around them could look like if best practices from around the world were applied to their local streets.  This is still an exploratory area, but I’m having fun looking for ways to find an appropriate use of this new technology to accelerate knowledge to practice,

There are six things I’d like to draw your attention to:

1. The Transportation area of focus of PPPM – we look at transportation as a means to an end and not an end in itself, thus we focus on transportation and its impacts on society.  This necessitates a focus on sustainability broadly defined – transportation that meets the overlapping urgencies to do something about climate change, household affordability, structural inequity, social trust and cohesion, taxpayer affordability, happiness, public health, and freedom.
2. FutureView: Rethinking Streets with Augmented Reality – this is a brand new area for me and Im very into it.  One of the biggest barriers to having communities where it is easier to drive less and walk/bike/scooter more is that most people simply cannot imagine what redesigned streets could look like and therefore often oppose or water down any city-suggested design ideas. So, i wondered if that could be overcome by giving people the ability, with their existing phone, to walk through an actual redesign of a street in their community using an augmented reality interface. This is a very exciting avenue of exploration and creation, so either stay tuned or let me know immediately if you are interested because the more the merrier.  Click on the link in this item to see a quick video of what I’m talking about and why.
3. Rethinking Streets: A Three Book Case Study Series – Download – for FREE – one, two, or three case study books on redesigned streets that make it easier to walk or bike more of the time for more people.  The first book focuses on the idea of ‘Complete Streets’, the second book focuses on redesigning for bikes (my personal favorite), and their looks at things that different cities did during COVID to create more public space more quickly than usual.
4. Rethinking Streets in an Era of Driverless Vehicles – This 2018 report lays out how driverless vehicles are likely to free up space on our streets in a variety of ways and what cities can begin doing to reclaim that space for better uses than the movement and storage of vehicles.
5. Urbanism Next – Have you wondered how driverless vehicles, e-commerce, and the sharing economy might impact how and where we live?  Did you know that 2/3 of US households have an Amazon Prime account and wonder what that means for the corner store?  What if driverless car-sharing companies like Lyft become the norm – what will we do with the 90% of parking spaces that might not ever be needed again?  How will cities finance themselves when there are no more parking revenue, speeding tickets, or gas taxes to collect?  Very interesting stuff and extremely time critical, so follow along and engage. Urbanism Next is a primary research initiative by the Sustainable Cities Institute (SCI), an applied think-tank on sustainability and cities at the University of Oregon.
6. EPIC-N – Universities can play a much bigger role in helping communities address critical environmental, economic, and social goals and the EPIC model is an innovative way to make that happen.  What began as an innovative university-community partnership program at the UO in 2009 has now spawned over 30 other iterations at universities across the US and internationally. EPIC-N is a global spin off from the UO’s Sustainable City Year Program by the Sustainable Cities Institute (SCI), an applied think-tank on sustainability and cities at the University of Oregon.

A few other relate entities for the sustainable transportation minded in PPPM:

• LiveMove is an incredibly active student organization around issues of transportation, livability and sustainable city design.
• The Transportation Research Group (TRG) is an intellectual community open to students at every level from every discipline to geek out a bit and talk transportation with others.  There are no assignments and due dates, but just regular gatherings to discuss pressing issues and developments related to sustainable transportation and big societal issues. Anyone can participate or just listen, all without having to know much as we are a supportive group to explore and learn together.  There is a sign-up sheet on the main transportation page.
•  NITC is a national university transportation center that is a leader at the intersection of transportation and livability and supports faculty and student research at the University of Oregon.

On the fun side, the department often has a few ultimate frisbee teams open to all levels of players; here is a how-to manual on playing the friendly game that I created when I first moved to Oregon and learned the sport.