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Portland’s transportation planning to be featured on PBS series


Mayor-elect Sam Adams in a screen
grab from an upcoming PBS series.

Portland is set to be featured in an episode of a PBS television series about the “economies of being environmentally conscious”.

The series, e2 transport, is in its third season. The Portland segment is titled: Portland: a Sense of Place. A trailer for the series — which is being shot in high-def and has a very impressive, cinematic feel (meaning, this is no dry and wonky series) — U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Mayor-elect Adams, and others are interviewed.

In the episode, Blumenauer says, “What was happening across the landscape in the United States with sprawl, congestion, surrendering communities to the automobile was a wake-up call to us in Oregon.” Adams questions whether or not Portland’s “serious amount of money” invested in transit will “see the kind of benefits” they expect. Also shown in the trailer is Ethan Seltzer, the director of PSU’s School of Urban Studies and Planning, who says, “Portland chose a future based on accessibility rather than mobility.”

No word yet on whether or not the Portland episode will mention bicycles, but one source at City Hall agreed that “it would be surprising” if it doesn’t.

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Other segments in the series include a close-up look at Paris’ Velib bike sharing program, an episode on “Food Miles”, and other topics.

Learn more about the series here. I’ve recorded audio from the Portland segment of the trailer for your listening convenience below:
[audio:pbs_portland 1.mp3]

The e2 transport series will air on OPB Saturdays at 5:30pm and on OPB-Plus on Sundays at 5:30am beginning on December 14th. You can also watch episodes on the Webcast page on the series website. The Portland episode is scheduled for 12/22/08.

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