Rolling up the NE Rodney neighborhood greenway. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Jenna Phillips
There are plenty of things to debate about social media these days. But there’s one thing I think we can all agree on: in the right hands, platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram can build community online. Whether or not that transfers to real life depends on whose hands are at the wheel… or should I say, the handlebars.
Jenna Phillips, who we profiled in our Carfree Portlanders series back in April, has proven to have very capable hands. After amassing a large following on TikTok (where she has over one million likes as @jennabikes) with her daily vlogs about biking in Portland, she’s now connecting with fans in real life.
I showed up to her monthly ride on Sunday and had a great time. We met at Upper Left Roasters on SE Clay and 12th, then biked north at a chill pace toward North Williams Avenue. We made a pet stop at the goat house on NE Rodney and Failing and then hung out at the excellent back patio of Migration Brewing for post-ride snacks, drinks and conversation.
Check out the photo gallery below:
Thanks Jenna! And of course don’t miss her video recap over on TikTok.
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This week’s Monday Roundup is made possible by Showers Pass, makers of quality waterproof rainwear and gear that’s proudly designed and tested right here in Portland!
Here are the most notable stories our writers and readers came across in the past seven days…
Better vision: How do you push your city to make streets safer? Offer a detailed plan for tackling Vision Zero like nonprofit Seattle Neighborhood Greenways just did. (The Urbanist)
What parking lots are good for: In France, a new law requires that every existing car parking garage with over 80 spaces must install solar panels on its roof. (Electrek)
Pedestrian rights: The city of Los Angeles has relaxed its crossing laws for people on foot thanks to passage of the “Freedom to Walk Act.” (NY Times)
Bike share competitor: Netherlands-based Swapfiets, a service that offers all-inclusive bike rentals, is booming in London and the company says they will expand to other cities with quality bike infrastructure. (Bloomberg)
When Pete Buttigieg talks about bikes and cars…: We should all listen. That’s because this US DOT Secretary is an amazing communicator and he knows how to be persuasive and politically palatable. (Fast Company)
Right turns wrong: The more I hear about cities banning right-turn-on-red, like this article about Berkeley, the more curious I am about whether we should push for it in Portland. (SF Gate)
A familiar problem: A deep dive into raging bike theft epidemic in Burlington, Vermont and how it relates to policing. The person who sent this link said the article could have been about Portland. (NY Times)
Think you can do better?: A new video game lets you be the general manager of a bus system in any city you choose. (Streetsblog USA)
Video of the Week: Seattle has built a concrete-barrier protected bike lane on a highway and it looks fantastic (Seattle Bike Blog)
Not how I like to welcome guests into my business. Sorry!
Yes, something is up.
I realize many of you have experienced errors and/or slow load times when visiting this site. There’s a very good reason for it.
Last Friday we were hit with a major bot attack. According to our web guy, it emanated from Russian sources and started as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. This is when tons of fake visitors bombard our server with requests for files. The requests overwhelm the server and it just gives up trying to respond. That attack gave way to a botnet strike that we are still not fully recovered from.
When our server host looked into the problem, they said BikePortland was, “getting totally inundated with bot traffic… an insane amount of IPs [bots] with reports of abuse.” They said there wasn’t much they could do beyond taking some basic steps because, “These bot networks are vast.”
Suffice it to say, this is not what an internet business owner likes to hear about their site! It has all been very frustrating, in large part because I have no idea why BikePortland would be targeted for something like this.
Thankfully, we have survived (thanks to our web guy Steve Bozzone!), but we’re not fully out of the woods yet. That’s why you still might see that black screen when you click onto our site. If you do, don’t worry, it’s friendly! You’re not on a naughty list or anything, even I get that screen when I log in sometimes. It’s just a service we use to help mitigate high server loads.
Hopefully this will all be behind us soon. Steve has made some changes and we will plan to take even more substantial steps over the winter as we continue to polish things up after our major site upgrade this past June.
Sorry for any hassle this has caused you. And as always, please feel free to send us a note via email, text, or various DMs if you experience anything odd.
Working toward a safer Southeast Powell Boulevard, ODOT this week completed installation of new school speed zone signs lowering the speed limit to 20 mph next to Cleveland High School.
The new signs are part of a series of safety upgrades that ODOT, the Portland Bureau of Transportation and TriMet announced Oct. 21 during a community forum at the school. The signs reduce the speed limit between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. near the school along Powell Boulevard, which is U.S. 26.
“Lowering the speed to 20 mph during the school day will make this road much safer for students,” said Rian Windsheimer, ODOT regional manager for the Portland area. “We will continue working with our partners at the City of Portland to make our roads safer for all users.”
Crews also recently completed crosswalk improvements at several locations along Southeast Powell, including 24th, 26th, 28th, 31st, 34th, 42nd, and 69th avenues.
In the weeks ahead, ODOT and PBOT plan more safety upgrades in the corridor. In addition to speed feedback signs — which tell motorists how fast they’re going — improvements include giving pedestrians a walk signal before vehicles get a green light, higher visibility striping at crosswalks, improving visibility and, in the long term, photo radar enforcement and studying reallocation of traffic lanes along Powell.
Protestors outside ODOT headquarters on NW Flanders yesterday. (Photo: Taylor Griggs/BikePortland)
“People of faith and faith communities… can be something that helps sustain the movement.”
-Cherice Bock
As the Oregon Department of Transportation gears up for the next phase of work on their I-5 Rose Quarter expansion project, anti-freeway activists want the agency to know they’re ready, too – and their support is growing. A rally outside Portland’s ODOT headquarters yesterday afternoon demonstrated the diverse coalition of people involved in the local fight against freeway expansions.
This rally consisted of environmental activists from faith groups who want to show ODOT the range of people holding them accountable. The people at the demonstration yesterday talked about their support for the young activists in the Youth vs ODOT group who protested the freeway expansion plan every other week for more than a year (they’re on a hiatus for the time being) and planned tactics for speaking out against the transportation agency.
Cherice Bock, a Quaker and active environmentalist, led discussion at the rally alongside Chris Smith of No More Freeways. Bock is also the Creation Justice Advocate with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, a collective of faith-based groups who advocate for social justice issues, which recently became a member of the Just Crossing Alliance.
Chris Smith (green jacket) talks to rally goers. Bock is on his right.O and Teewahnee.
Bock practices ecotheology, a religious philosophy with roots going back to the mid-20th century that aims to connect human religion and spirituality with nature and environmental degradation. I had never heard this term before, and I was surprised to learn how many religious organizations in Portland have dedicated environmental groups with actionable and even radical goals.
“There are different ways of practicing Christianity. One way is to say, ‘let’s just use it all, because it’s here for us,'” Bock said. “But then there’s also a practice of care and respect and responsibility for taking care of this place. This is a land we’re given responsibility for to make sure it stays healthy to pass onto future generations.”
After Smith gave participants a run-down of the Rose Quarter project and upcoming plans to fight the expansion, Bock started a conversation rarely heard at protests like this. She asked the group to talk about their climate grief and anxiety and share what gives them hope to keep working to make a better world. Then she asked people to name a step they’ll take in the next week to bring that world closer to reality.
The first step most people said they’ll take is to participate in the upcoming public comment period ODOT will open next week for people to share their thoughts on the Rose Quarter project.
Bock said she thinks ODOT might take notice of public comment from a demographic of people they don’t necessarily associate with the environmentalists they’ve stereotyped and cast aside.
“It’s a different perspective,” Bock said. “There are a bunch of different kinds of people who care about this and are speaking up.”
Bill Harris is a member of the Community for Earth at First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland. He thinks it’s important to get the dire message about the climate crisis out to congregants, even if they are hesitant to receive it.
“There are a number of people in faith groups who have come to know the doom humanity is facing,” Harris told me. “But it’s a hard message.”
None of these people are trying to convert others or preach their religious message to unwitting bystanders. In fact, the gospel didn’t come up at the rally outside ODOT at all. And they don’t discount the important of other traditions of spirituality and connectedness to the earth that aren’t in the western religious canon. Joining the rally were Teewahnee and O, members of the Warm Springs and Ojibwe tribes respectively, who played music to open and close the event and talked about the deep, spiritual relationship Indigenous people have had with nature for time immemorial.
But regardless of the practice, Bock said she thinks having some kind of spiritual grounding is helpful for processing the emotions that come with truly facing the devastating climate crisis, which can often be a lonely mission.
“Activists can get really burnt out working on such a big project. It’s hard to keep yourself sustained when doing sustainability,” Bock told me. “A lot of times, people of faith and faith communities are able to have a community among themselves and reach out to the broader community for grounding. It can be something that helps sustain the movement.”
SALEM — The Oregon Transportation Commission will meet Thursday, Nov. 17 at 9 a.m. at the Hillsboro Public Service Building, 1555 N. 1st Avenue, Hillsboro.
Items on the agenda include:
Great Streets Program Update: An informational update on engagement and program development for the Great Streets Program, including selection criteria and project recommendation process.
OR 217 Auxiliary Lanes Construction Update: An update on the OR 217 Auxiliary Lanes Project, which is currently under construction.
Biennial Flat Fee Study: A request to approve advancing the Flat Fee Rate Study with recommendations to the legislature to amend the rates.
The agenda and meeting materials will be available on the OTC Website.
Where and how are we most likely to be hit while biking?
It’s not a fun question.
In fact, as I look at it, I think, “Well, that’s the start of an article about how we’re never going to bike with kids again!”
But hear me out: Recently, our family twice avoided being hit by motorists when walking bikes across the street at signalized crosswalks. After these near-misses, I began to question my assumptions about the greatest dangers we face while biking, where those risks are most likely lurking, and how to most safely navigate various biking scenarios. For example, I had been planning to teach my children to take their bikes up on the sidewalk at “scary intersections” and cross the street during the signal as a pedestrian. But is this the safest way to navigate those intersections with bikes? This is the way we were almost hit, twice! Maybe my assumption was wrong. Maybe we’re safer in the bike lane…or even the car lane?
I didn’t know.
I began to wonder about the data around collisions, infrastructure, driver behavior, and biking choices. Could looking at this unsavory bike/ped/car collision data provide me with information that could make me a safer biker? When armed with the data, would I make different biking choices? What would I change, if I knew more?
Learning the causes of crashes: A Conversation with Vivek Jeevan
Vivek Jeevan (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“Focus on the five.” Vivek Jeevan told me when I reached out with my questions. Jeevan is a cycling safety instructor, advocate, and BikeLoud PDX board member. He has spent a lot of time looking at the behaviors that lead to collisions, and teaching people how to avoid them.
“Focus on the five.” He repeated. “We [need to] focus our resources, which means our education time or education money on the five top causes of crashes or fatalities. That’s something a lot of bike/ped education misses. The people who teach that, they don’t know the data…They’ve heard that, you know, telling pedestrians to have reflective clothing is an important thing. So they equate safety with reflective clothing and then you look at the studies that it’s not the top five causes of crash. It’s a very low cause. So why focus on that?”
I think about how much time I spend tightening helmet straps and tapping helmets back down on little foreheads. Or how I have been meaning to wrap my cargo box in reflective tape. We’ve added yellow rain gear and blinkey lights to improve visibility. It seems I am making the mistake Jeevan is talking about. These little helmets and blinkey lights are not in the top five. They might help us, but we need to focus our family safety talks on avoiding the greatest dangers.
What are the top five?
Source: Vivek Jeevan, Corvallis Right of Way
Unfortunately, this data can be difficult to find, and results vary according to locality, years studied (2020 was an unusual year), and specific definitions (are you looking at bike and ped collisions together or separately? collisions with serious injury, or fatal collisions, or both?)
Jeevan sent me two data sets from Corvallis, where he used to live (above).
These data sets provide some confirmation that our family’s “near miss” experiences are one of the most common ways that pedestrians and cyclists are hit by cars: drivers fail to yield when turning, and fail to yield at a crosswalk.
“The situation you described of a turning driver not stopping for you in a crosswalk is the top cause of a driver/pedestrian crash. It’s why I stress that situation the most. I tell people to look both ways before driving through crosswalks and driveways. It’s why I organized a table at the PSU Farmers Market for crosswalk safety…where we gave market attendees a three-question quiz focused on the top causes of crashes. The third question had a graphic, and teaches people to look for pedestrians before turning at signalized intersections.”
This is Jeevan’s quiz:
What is a crosswalk?
At unmarked crosswalks, when must drivers stop for pedestrians?
You’re driving and have a green light. Which of these crosswalks has a Walk sign? What if your visibility of those crosswalks is obstructed? (answer: creep forward until you can see. If you can’t see, don’t drive through assuming no pedestrians are coming.)”
Jeevan’s crosswalk lesson applies most specifically to drivers, but it bookmarks the two places I, as a cyclist or pedestrian, need to check each time we cross an intersection. I need to look over my left-shoulder for any right-turning cars that might not see us, and I need to cast a glance across from us at oncoming traffic for any left-turning cars that may not be paying attention. And we need to have a heightened awareness around intersections. A flashing walk signal is not a time to let down our guard. It’s time to look first, before crossing, and keep our awareness high through the entire crosswalk. Unfortunately, based on the data, a walk signal doesn’t mean we’re “safe.”
So, does this knowledge help us?
I think it does. It’s true that our family has focused a lot of safety time and money on gear and lessons of lesser import. In fact, when I think back to the safety lessons I gave my son last year, I didn’t cover this topic at all. We covered the dangers of car doors and cars backing out of driveways….we didn’t discuss the right and left-hook risks. That is, that a right-turning driver coming from behind/beside us would turn into us while we are going straight through the intersection (at the crosswalk or in the bike lane), or that a left-turning driver who is approaching us from the opposite direction might turn into us as we cross straight through the intersection.
These lessons should be at the top of our list, as they are at the top of the list of causes of car-cyclist and car-pedestrian collisions.
About those scary intersections
What about my original question, about how to proceed safely across a certain intersection? Jeevan won’t tell me which choice to make. He wants me to understand the risks, based on the data, so I can make an educated choice.
After considering the dangers of turning motorists who are not always looking for bicycles and pedestrians, I’m considering taking up space like a motorist. I am thinking about “taking the lane” with my cargo bike while having my son ride beside me in the bike lane. This makes us the most visible, and I would be riding in the place of a car, which is the place other motorists are paying attention to.
Of course, every intersection has its local nuances, so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to these questions. But knowing the data can help us better prepare for, watch out for, and avoid the most common risks.
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It’s glorious out there. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Unlike the last two rainy weekends, it’s actually set to be fairly nice out this Saturday and Sunday – we might even get some sun. So enjoy it while it lasts and hit up a bike ride.
Here’s our hand-picked selection of the best rides and events coming your way. For more suggestions, see the BikePortland Calendar.
Friday, November 11th
Midnight Mystery Ride – 11:45 pm at Slingshot Lounge (SE) The Midnight Mystery Ride happens every month, rain or (moon) shine, taking to the Portland streets in the dead of night. Where will it go? Show up to find out. More info here.
Saturday, November 12th
PDX Coffee Outside – 9 am at Sellwood Riverfront Park (SE) Start your Saturday right with a cup of joe and conversation with like-minded bikey folks. More info here.
Cycle Cats Vancouver Loop – 9 am – 12 pm at the Eastbank Esplanade – Vera Katz Statue (SE) The Cycle Cats are taking on the Vancouver Loop this Saturday – a challenging ride of 48 miles and 2,200+ feet of elevation. No-drop, but fast-paced. More info here.
PSU Farmer’s Market ride – 10 am at various locations (SE) Time to join Hami Ramani and the gang for the weekly PSU farmer’s market ride. It should be a nice crisp autumn day, perfect for a bike ride and farmer’s market coffee. More info here.
Leaf Lookin’ Ride – 12 noon at Irving Park (NE) If you’ve been wanting to take time to gawk and appreciate the amazing fall foliage, this is the ride for you! More info here.
Sunday, November 13th
PDX Unity Ride – 10:45 am to 1 pm at Irving Park (NE) The PDX Unity Ride will take to Forest Park’s gravel paths this Sunday for a 25 mile loop. The group will meet at Irving Park before heading to NW. Beginners are welcome. More info here.
Ride with Jenna Bikes – 1 pm at Upper Left Roasters (SE) Portland’s TikTok bike influencer Jenna Phillips has inspired many to get comfortable riding in Portland. She’s bringing people together for a conversation paced ride this Sunday afternoon. Come one, come all – the goal is to hang out, ride bikes and make new friends. They’ll stop at Migration Brewing on N Williams after the ride. More info here.
See all upcoming events here. Promoting an event? Know about something we should boost? Please let us know and we’ll get it on the calendar.
Traffic on NE 7th at Tillamook. The pavement patch on the left is where the circle and large tree used to be. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“You have ripped this intersection wide open.”
– Rose Francis, lives nearby
Traffic barricades that created a carfree work zone at the intersection of Northeast 7th and Tillamook are gone — and so is the safer street many local residents have always wanted. But the project those barricades were erected for in the first place is incomplete.
On Wednesday, a contractor working for the Portland Bureau of Transportation removed dozens of plastic barriers and “road closed” signs. The move came after a traffic circle with a large tree planted in the middle of it was taken out of the intersection as part of a neighborhood greenway project. Over objections from many nearby residents, PBOT moved forward with this project and maintains that the circle and tree led to poor visibility and made the intersection more dangerous.
“That tree was the finger in the hole of the dam, and we’re seeing evidence of that right now,” said nearby resident Rose Francis at the intersection yesterday, as drivers drove over a patch of smooth pavement where the tree and traffic circle used to be. Francis has spent months organizing in the neighborhood against PBOT’s plans for the Lloyd to Woodlawn Neighborhood Greenway project. The removal of the circle was a chief concern of the grassroots Safe on 7th! advocacy group. When PBOT pushed forward with the project, the City promised that the work zone barricades would remain up until the traffic-calming elements were in place.
October 10th letter to neighbors from PBOT Director Chris Warner.
In an October 10th letter to residents, PBOT Director Chris Warner wrote, “We will not remove the traffic control barriers until those additional safety measures are in place.”
That promise has been broken.
“The message you get when driving here is that this is like 15th [a high volume neighborhood collector street nearby], that you should just book it right here like this is a through-way street,” Francis said. In an email to PBOT yesterday, Francis wrote, “You have ripped this intersection wide open.”
In response to a tweet this morning, Zachary Lauritzen wrote that he goes through this intersection six times a week carrying children in a cargo bike. “It was GLORIOUS w/o cars during construction,” he wrote. “When that came down this week, it was genuinely striking how much less safe it is/feels thru there.”
PBOT has completed some elements of the project. There are new curb ramps and larger pieces of sidewalk on the southern corners that guide bike riders through the off-set intersection. Two speed bumps approaching the intersection from the south have also been installed. But a key piece of the calming plan — a large concrete planter that’s supposed to be installed just north of where the tree used to be — is still not there. In a statement on Thursday PBOT said the planter will be installed next week.
Looking north up 7th from Tillamook.Looking southeast from Tillamook onto 7th.Looking west onto Tillamook from 7th.New piece of protected intersection looking northwest from Tillamook onto 7th.Looking south on 7th from Tillamook where the tree and circle used to be.Looking south on 7th north of Tillamook. Concrete planter will go where those orange cones are.One of the new speed bumps south of the intersection.Looking north on 7th with Tillamook on the right.Photos taken Thursday, 11/10.
On Thursday, a statement from PBOT read, “We apologize for taking the traffic control barriers down before the work was complete. We are working with the contractor to get that put back up as soon as possible.”
There’s also a lot of striping and pavement markings that are not yet on the ground. Those include five zebra-striped crossings, a left-turn box for cyclists, and green paint to mark the bike lane. PBOT says they are working with the contractor, “to determine whether they can complete the striping work at the intersection in the next few weeks.”
During my observation of the intersection yesterday, it was clear this is a very busy cycling corridor — and will become even more so due to its direct connection to the new carfree Blumenauer Bridge less than one mile away. And while drivers behaved relatively well while I was out there, Francis is worried that the changes — even once the project is done — will have disastrous consequences.
“We’re incredibly concerned about the safety of our street. Nothing about this design makes it safer,” she said. “We’re thinking of buying a radar gun to measure speeds.”
Below is PBOT’s full design for the project, which they say will be complete by spring 2023:
UPDATE: Someone has put a couch and a few barricades in the street to slow drivers down. The photos below were taken Sunday (11/13) around 2:00 pm:
Not sure a fare increase is what he had in mind. (Photo: Taylor Griggs/BikePortland)
While the cost of bread or milk seems to change daily these days due to inflation, one thing has stayed constant for the last ten years: TriMet fare. It costs $2.50 for a two and a half hour TriMet pass, which allows you to ride both the bus and MAX.
But Portland metro transit riders are likely to see a fare increase, and it might happen sooner rather than later. TriMet leadership, who say they’re grappling with budget deficits, have floated the idea of a fare hike for some time. At a Board of Directors retreat Wednesday, they made concrete moves toward doing just that.
Stories in the Portland Mercury and Oregonian provide detailed accounts of TriMet’s budget woes and how agency leaders think a raise hike will solve some of the problems they’ve been facing.
Federal pandemic relief funds have been TriMet’s saving grace over the past two and a half years, but that money is dwindling fast. The other way the agency keeps its head above water is through an employer payroll tax.
At yesterday’s board meeting, TriMet’s finance director Nancy Young-Oliver outlined the potential plans for how they’ll proceed. There were a few options on the table: a 20 cent fare increase starting in September 2023, a 30 cent fare increase starting in January 2024, a 40 center fare increase starting in September 2024, or no fare increase. After deliberating and discussing concerns, the board decided to go forward with the 30 cent increase proposal.
“If we ignore the issue right now, it only gets worse as the time goes on,” said TriMet board president Linda Simmons at the board meeting. “What I’ve always believed is that you make change in smaller increments over time as opposed to waiting until you have to make really large changes.”
Here’s how the changes would play out:
Adult 2 ½ hour ticket—increase 30 cents to $2.80
Honored Citizen 2 ½ hour ticket—increase 15 cents to $1.40
Youth 2 ½ hour ticket—increase 15 cents to $1.40
LIFT paratransit single ride—increase 30 cents to $2.80
High fares, low ridership
TriMet ridership since the pandemic crash.
In a time when transit ridership has declined significantly due to the pandemic’s effect on commutes, some people see a fare increase as very risky business that could threaten their ability to win back customers. But proponents of the decision say the benefits of more revenue will balance this out.
TriMet plans to use the new income to improve ridership numbers by doing things like tackling cleanliness on the bus and light rail to make the “on-system customer experience” better, increasing marketing to attract new customers and hiring more people to increase fare compliance and avoid financial hits from fare evasion.
If the agency raised regular fare prices, reduced fares would also see a price hike. TriMet’s Honored Citizen reduced fare program is robust and gives a discount of up to 72% to people over the age of 65, people with disabilities and people who earn low-incomes and qualify for other government assistance programs like SNAP and the Oregon Health Plan. According to TriMet’s website, this program has had 46,000 people enroll since 2018.
Even with a price increase, TriMet officials have a plan to keep people actively enrolled in the Honored Citizen program by getting more people who qualify signed up, renewing current subsidy programs like the youth pass that allows Portland high school students to use TriMet for free during the school year (they also have a summer pass pilot program underway). The agency would also look into other funding opportunities through the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund and overlapping grants they can apply for with outside agencies like the Department of Human Services, medicare providers and public housing operators.
If TriMet doesn’t raise fares, leaders say they’ll have to start cutting costs, threatening employee layoffs and more transit service reductions. These would both be detrimental to the agency, which has already been experiencing a severe operator shortage that has already forced them to reduce service and cut some routes.
Earlier this fall, TriMet made waves among transit enthusiasts when they released their Forward Together draft service concept, which outlines potential new bus routes across the Portland metro area. Many transit advocates are excited about this proposal; but some of these same people have spoken out against the potential price increase. It will be interesting to see how advocates weigh the possibility of service cuts to the potential ramifications of a fare increase – because according to TriMet, it’s one or the other.
A different solution?
Charts from OPAL report using TriMet data.
Are there really no other ways for the agency to stay in the black? TriMet surveys have shown they lose millions of dollars a year due to fare evasion, so one option could be to increase compliance. But more security has its own pitfalls if it’s modeled after traditional police or other armed personnel. An approach like that is likely to lead to unfair enforcement and possibly discrimination against some riders.
A new report, Alternatives to Policing on Transit, released by Portland non-profit OPAL Environmental Justice, imagines a different scenario. What if, instead of raising fares or beefing up enforcement, TriMet abandoned fare compliance measures altogether?
The report points out that TriMet’s budget for fare collection is substantial – up to a quarter of the passenger revenue TriMet collected between 2012 and 2019.
“TriMet’s argument that passenger revenue is one of their biggest sources of operation costs seems a little bleak considering the costs that go into fare revenue collection and fare inspection,” the OPAL report states. “The burden of fare inspection lies not only on riders and their engagement with fare inspectors, but also on TriMet’s budget.”
The report also posits that TriMet could save money by decreasing their security presence and hiring more community-centered, unarmed crisis workers. This could look like the Streetcar Rider Ambassador Program, which won an Alice Award this year for its equitable approach to safety on public transit.
Ultimately, this report echoes the claims made by many public transit and equity advocates, who think an equitable transportation system that truly aims to get people out of their cars and onto the bus or light rail will be fare-free. The report states:
“We see a world where transit is a center of community building, where people don’t have to live in fear of police violence — or any violence — in public spaces, and a world in which transportation is a free, public good that is understood to be a human right.”
Given the recent vote by TriMet’s board, a fare-free future seems unlikely.
What’s next
In a statement Wednesday, TriMet said they’ll launch a public outreach campaign that will include events and an online survey starting in December 2022. They plan to take feedback through this spring and the ordinance will be read at the April 26th, 2023 board meeting. There will then be a public forum and vote on the increase at the May 24th meeting. If you want to share feedback, you can sign up to testify at the start of any Board of Director meeting. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks and months.
This has caused quite a bit of heartburn in cycling circles. (Source: ODOT)
“We know we have a lot of work to do… we need ODOT to shift from the typical auto-oriented focus.”
– Sharon Daleo, PBOT
Looking to reassure advocates about the I-5 Rose Quarter project, a City of Portland staffer told the Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting this week that it’s too early to panic and everything will be just fine.
On Monday we shared graphics from an unreleased draft of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s I-5 Rose Quarter Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA). The document is a requirement under federal law and it comes in response to a significant change in the project’s scope. After pressure from elected officials and advocates forced ODOT to include a much more robust highway cover (that would allow development on top of it) in the project, the state came up with what they call the “Hybrid 3” design option. The SEA takes a closer look at this design.
We received a copy of the SEA this week from advocates with No More Freeways who warned that ODOT’s first draft of surface street designs make conditions much worse for anyone outside of a car.
At the outset of her presentation at the BAC meeting Tuesday night, Portland Bureau of Transportation Rose Quarter Project Manager Sharon Daleo spoke directly to these concerns. “We know we have a lot of work to do,” she said. “We recognize that we need our partner ODOT to shift from the typical auto-oriented focus.”
It’s important to understand that PBOT walked away from this project two years ago and only re-engaged this past summer. That means ODOT (a more conservative and driving-centric agency) did nearly two years of project design and development without PBOT’s input or oversight. Now the city must play catch up. And because this project is deeply unpopular with a large swath of Portland’s transportation-focused electorate, PBOT has strong motivation to make sure the project — which will add lanes to a freeway — does not reverse climate and mobility goals.
With that context in mind, PBOT’s Daleo told BAC members that, “Our efforts are focused on finding a design that aligns with city policies and guidelines that prioritize equity and climate and those walking, rolling and taking transit.” Daleo repeatedly mentioned how PBOT feels there’s “flexibility” in the process going forward and tried to reassure people that the project will result in a net benefit.
Here’s more from Daleo:
“Our understanding of the Hybrid 3 purpose and intent was a design approach that shifts from an auto-focused street environment, to a pedestrian-oriented system that prioritizes pedestrian safety and experience — making the streets around new development opportunities and highway covers to be more people and business friendly, with less I-5 traffic circulating through the area.”
Importantly, Daleo referenced an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between ODOT and PBOT that includes not only more public outreach but also a requirement for ODOT to return to Portland City Council for approval in 2024. She also said PBOT feels Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s memo from August gives them significant power to re-evaluate ODOT’s designs.
The SEA is ODOT’s interpretation of the Hybrid 3 option, but according to PBOT, the City of Portland will have final review and approval of how the surface streets are designed. Keep in mind however, that in the end this is an ODOT project. Daleo made it clear (at one point even correcting herself) that PBOT can only “analyze” the designs and does not have the power to “develop” them.
Dru Van Hengel, a project consultant from planning firm Nelson Nygaard (who also sits on The Street Trust Board of Directors), also aimed to reassure BAC members. “This design is far enough along for [federally required] environmental evaluation. There are many details still to explore, review and approve.” Specifically, Van Hengel said they will start design conversations with protected bike facilities. And when it comes to some of the scary highway ramp exposures on Williams we pointed out on Monday, she said, “We’re looking to reduce the extent of the crossing exposure both for people walking and biking.”
(Source: ODOT/I-5 Rose Quarter project)(Source: PBOT)
Since the route of the Green Loop will be retrofitted to the Broadway-Weidler couplet (busy streets that currently have terrible bikeways), Van Hengel sought to assuage concerns by showing a cross-section for what’s to come. The drawing showed physically-separated and raised facilities that will have shorter crossings, striping and bike-only signals at intersections. “We will be looking to make the Green Loop the best it can be given where it will be in the project area,” she said.
This is all part of a very tricky dance we’ll watch closely in the coming months and years as PBOT and ODOT awkwardly try to satisfy their respective constituents and complete this project. The city and state are co-dependent: ODOT needs PBOT’s support to make the politics pencil out; PBOT needs the project to get built so they can implement more dense development on freeway-adjacent parcels that requires ODOT’s approval.
ODOT expects the FHWA to make a final decision on their environmental analysis in spring 2023 and, if all goes according to plan, crews would break ground later that year. Major construction would then begin in 2026 and the project would be complete by 2030. ODOT will release the SEA to the public and launch an open house any day now.
