Remember back in April when I shared a TriMet survey about transit on 82nd Avenue? The agency has revealed results of that survey, and if you love bus priority lanes, you’re going to want to keep reading…
The specific issue TriMet was curious about had to do with business access to transit — or “BAT” — lanes. TriMet’s survey queried public opinion on three project options: to have some BAT lanes, which would be three miles of transit priority lanes between Clackamas Town Center and NE Killingsworth; more BAT lanes, essentially a continues bus-priority lane the entire seven-mile length of the project; or to widen three intersections to make room for more transit lanes while not reducing lane capacity for car users (LOL).
It’s worth noting that the “some BAT lanes” option would be the cheapest of the three with an estimated price tag of $8.4 million (out of a total project cost estimate of $351 million). Doing BAT lanes the full length of the project would cost twice that amount, and the cost to widen three intersections would be four times that amount.
After tallying 1,414 surveys responses, despite its extra cost, the “more BAT lanes” option came out on top. 70% of respondents said more BAT lanes would be worth it, compared to 58% who said the same of some BAT lanes. On the flip side, only 21% of respondents wanted TriMet to invest in intersection widening. The results were first shared at a meeting of TriMet’s Community Advisory Committee last week.
Looking closer at the results, even survey takers who identified as drivers want more transit-priority lanes. 67% of drivers chose more BAT lanes — and even a majority (54%) of folks who own and/or manage a business on 82nd Avenue said more transit lanes should be the priority. Overall, this was a clear illustration that many Portlanders want better transit, even if it reduces driving capacity, increases traffic diversion onto other streets nearby, and costs more.
Oregon Walks Executive Director and 82nd Avenue Community Advisory Committee member Zachary Lauritzen is a major proponent of building transit lanes the entire length of the project. “If we can put full transit lanes all up and down 82nd Avenue,” he shared as part of his testimony to the Portland City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Monday. “It slows down vehicles. It enhances people on the bus. It makes the pedestrian and cycling experience better. This is a concrete example where you all need to give political cover to our PBOT leadership and say, ‘We’re going to do this because we care about this. We’re prioritizing this.'”
TriMet hasn’t made a decision about the final design and project scope yet. Like many major infrastructure projects, the Trump Administration has cast a cloud of uncertainty by threatening to suspend funds for anything that’s not a freeway megaproject. Of the project’s current $351 million cost, about $200 million is assumed to come from federal sources.