As you might have seen in our previous story, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has a new logo.
Turns out it’s not just a branding refresh and a new slogan, it’s part of what the agency calls the “Realize Safety Initiative.”
PBOT Communications Director John Brady reached out to share more of the context:
“The Realize Safety initiative is not directly about traffic safety. Instead it’s part of PBOT’s effort to raise awareness about the crucial importance of personal safety on our streets and sidewalks.
Realize Safety represents PBOT’s commitment to consider all Portlanders’ experience in the public right-of-way. That is, traffic safety is only one side of the coin when it comes to people feeling safe on our streets and sidewalks. Personal safety and freedom from harm also means being free from hate, bias, and other forms of discrimination and violence. These negative experiences are still far too common, especially for people who are Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), and/or from immigrant and LGBTQIA+ communities.
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PBOT staff that work in our active transportation programs like Safe Routes to School, developed the Realize Safety message after years talking with community members about their experiences facing harassment, discrimination, or other forms of violence in their day-to-day lives travelling from one place to another—walking, biking, driving, or taking transit.
Thus, Realize Safety is a message we carry with us as PBOT staff. It is reinforced in our communications by the email signature which staff are using during the month of May. And it is reinforced by the work we do in community, in the form of personal safety resources we compile and share in partnership with organizations, the public, and our own staff. This is on top of the work we already do to promote traffic safety.”
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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