In a move that has stunned transit advocates, TriMet 82nd Avenue Transit Project staff have recommended just three miles of semi-dedicated bus lanes along the entire 10-mile project corridor. In a memo shared with members of the project’s Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Wednesday night, the staff recommendation for 60% design scope clarified the intention to move forward with BAT lanes in just two sections: between NE Lombard and Tillamook, and between SE Foster and Clatsop.
The decision comes after advocates publicly aired concerns that TriMet might cave to 82nd Avenue business owners who oppose BAT lanes in the most dense commercial areas of the project. It turns out those concerns were valid.
The Line 72 that runs north-south on 82nd Avenue is the busiest bus line in the entire state of Oregon and has around 10,000 daily boardings. Back in 2023, TriMet launched a $350 million project to upgrade transit service on a 10-mile section of the corridor between Clackamas County and Northeast Portland. The project is part of a massive effort from the City of Portland, Metro and TriMet to remake what was once a highway into a local street that reflects local visions and values following its transition away from state ownership that became official in 2022.
At issue for TriMet is how much of the 10-mile project length would get its “Business Access and Transit” or “BAT” lane treatment. BAT lanes are TriMet’s version of high frequency bus service. They come with signal priority, major stop upgrades, and other improvements aimed at speeding up buses. Essential to the BAT concept is that car users are not allowed in the (usually red-colored lanes) unless they’re turning right and/or access driveways. In May TriMet released results of a survey showing that, despite its higher price tag, 70% of the 1,400 respondents said the agency should build seven miles of BAT lanes along the corridor. An option to build just three miles of BAT lanes received 58% support.
Transit advocates supported the option to implement BAT lanes along the entire corridor. Back in June The Street Trust submitted a letter to TriMet that read: “We strongly urge TriMet… to prioritize Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes along the entire corridor, not as an isolated goal but as a means to make alternatives to driving faster, more reliable, and more appealing.”
Last month BikePortland reported heartburn among some advocates who felt TriMet was setting the stage for this recommendation. In slides presented to the CAC last month project staff said they’ve heard “significant concerns” to BAT lanes from businesses, specifically around “customer access,” “construction impact,” and “traffic and vehicle diversion.”
In the official recommendation issued last night, TriMet says budget constraints were mostly to blame. The seven-mile BAT lane option (known as “More BAT” in project documents (see above), which also includes widening one intersection) costs $10.8 million while the three-mile option (known as “Some BAT”) is just $2.8 million — a difference of $8 million, or just 2% of the total project cost.
While cost figured into their calculation, it’s likely that intense pushback from some business owners along the route also influenced this decision.
Through a public records request, BikePortland has obtained two letters submitted to TriMet that strongly oppose BAT lanes. Both letters come from law firms who represent business owners on 82nd Avenue and make it clear legal action would be taken if TriMet didn’t change their proposal.
On September 22nd, Wendie Kellington of Lake Oswego-based Kellington Law Group, sent a letter to TriMet on behalf of her clients Washman and Fubonn. Washman has two car wash locations where BAT lanes were proposed — one at NE Glisan and another at SE Raymond. Fubonn is located in a large shopping center on SE Woodward.
In the letter, Kellington described the “More BAT” option as, “an extreme proposal” that “should simply be a nonstarter” and complained that, “the voice of business is simply not being heard.” Here’s more from the letter:
“The proposal is that two entire lanes of 82nd Ave (both northbound and southbound), will be closed to motor vehicles and that “bus lanes” will take their place, dedicated to 4-5 buses every hour, creating serious additional congestion – taking away 50% of 82nd Ave.’s capacity to speed up transit times by an just a few minutes, but causing the same or worse corresponding delays for motor vehicle traffic.”
Kellington says her client’s opposition to the proposal is rooted in their claim that busses represent less than 1% of the vehicles traveling on 82nd Avenue, but would get half the lane capacity. This proposal would, “add serious impediments to the 99% of vehicles trying to get to 82nd Ave. business destinations,” and would lead to frustrated drivers, empty bus-only lanes, and more traffic diversion into local streets.
TriMet’s plan for BAT lanes in the central portion of the project is, “dangerous and poses an existential threat to 82nd Ave businesses,” Kellington contends in her letter.
Lawrence Wagner, an attorney from Portland-based law firm Sokol Larkin, who represents the owner of the Peterson Crossing shopping center on the corner of SE Foster and 82nd (at 8136 SE Foster Rd), sent a letter of opposition to TriMet on October 1st. The letter, which threatens legal action if the project moves forward, came after the business owner met with a Portland Bureau of Transportation staffer and learned about the BAT lane proposal. Wagner says his client was told the project would “completely take away” the shopping center’s “critical driveway access to 82nd Ave.”
“Peterson cannot lose that access,” the letter warned (emphasis Wagner).
Here’s more from Wagner’s letter:
“Tenants have indicated that their businesses will not survive without the 82nd Access. Given the various other issues along 82nd Avenue, we cannot imagine that TriMet wants another shopping center to go dark, and we assume that TriMet has no interest in seeing these local businesses fail. If these businesses need to close or move due to loss of the 82nd Access, then Peterson will also suffer significant financial hardship, and it may be left with a valueless property.”
The businesses have another driveway entrance along SE Foster, but Wagner says having only that one driveway isn’t feasible for his clients due to space constraints and access issues.
Reached for comment about TriMet’s decision, CAC member and local resident who uses Line 72 regularly, Meghan Humphreys, told BikePortland she is “disappointed”. The decision, “Runs counter to what we heard support for in community surveys, especially from transit riders and residents,” Humphreys said. “The ‘more BAT lanes’ option is what would actually make the 72 bus run reliably and be a real asset for the neighborhood and its residents like me.”
Zachary Lauritzen, a CAC member of executive director of nonprofit Oregon Walks, said he was caught off guard by TriMet’s decision. “PBOT did their analysis and said full BAT lanes were possible. Amazing! To have Trimet, our transit agency, the folks who should be the biggest advocates for excellent transit, choose to recommend this half-measure is mind boggling,” Lauritzen shared with BikePortland this morning. “The project team has moved further and further away from BRT and should call it what it is: a nice transit improvement. It’s not BRT and it’s not going to transform 82nd Avenue as people have asked for and been expecting from half a billion dollars in investments.”
Lauritzen is calling on TriMet to live their own values. “You can’t say, ‘We think transit is a priority. We want to give people the best transit experience. We think transit is a climate solution,’ and then choose to give all the space to cars where it matters most,” he said.
TriMet says there’s still a chance more BAT lanes could be built; but only if additional funds become available.
Given the hints coming from TriMet in recent weeks, advocates were already ramping-up organizing efforts. There’s a rally to push for more BAT lanes planned for 1:00 pm on Sunday at Montavilla Park. Some activists are planning to attend a meeting of the SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition Land Use & Transportation Committee meeting on Monday (10/20) at 7:00 pm (via Zoom or in person at 3534 SE Main St.). where PBOT and TriMet are expected to make a presentation about the project. The project’s next CAC meeting is Wednesday, October 22nd from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at Portland Community College Southeast Campus.
TriMet’s staff recommendation will now be forwarded to the project’s Policy and Budget Committee* meeting on November 7th where the final decision will be made. That meeting is set for 9:00 am at TrMet’s Public Safety Office on 1020 NE 1st Ave . You can sign up to attend by emailing salgadop@trimet.org.
For transit riders who rely on 82nd Ave, all they can do is hope there’s still a chance to salvage this project. “This is our city’s opportunity to make 82nd Avenue safer for more than just cars only,” Humphreys said. “And I would hate to see us lose this chance.”
UPDATE, 4:18 pm: *Members of the TriMet 82nd Avenue Project Policy & Budget Committee are: TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. (Chair), Clackamas County Commissioner Diana Helm, Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang and Councilor Christine Lewis, ODOT Policy & Development Manager Chris Ford, PBOT Director Millicent Williams and Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Representative Franklin Ouchida.
UPDATE, 10/17 at 11:24 am: Metro Councilor and 82nd Ave Transit Project Policy & Budget Committee member Duncan Hwang just posted on BikeLoud PDX Slack that he disagrees with TriMet staff recommendation:
“Hi all, just thought I’d pop in here as someone on the Trimet Policy and Budget committee, resident of 82nd, and longtime 82nd Ave advocate. First thanks for all you advocacy. It means a lot. Trimet’s current proposal here is the Trimet recommendation and myself nor Metro are aligned on that. I was very frustrated I learned about this from Bikeportland (excellent reporting) and not from our own staff… I’m also not sure we will be allowed to vote on this on Nov 7 since there are unknowns around who is the decisionmaker still unfortunately. Mainly just wanted to say I don’t support this current proposal.”
Thanks for reading.
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This sucks so much, and the fact that TriMet is folding on this rather than pushing forward makes me deeply sad. Especially this part:
Wow, I wonder if more people can ride in a bus than in a car? Do vehicles make a lively commercial district, or do people? The fact that TriMet is unwilling to publicly push back on this is outlandish. They are the public transit provider in the region, why aren’t they emphasizing transit riders needs? Why can’t they point out that a ton of people riding the 72 are in fact patronizing business on 82nd, or working on 82nd? And no sane person is diverting from 82nd to local streets. As any seasoned bike rider knows, the local street network in the area is hopelessly broken and incomplete. These claims are so easily refuted, it boggles the mind that TriMet takes them more seriously than 75% of survey respondents who are saying they prefer more bus lanes.
TriMet will never move the needle without institutional willingness to challenge the status quo, and they so clearly lack this. Just a bummer all around.
MATH CALCULATED BY LAWYERS REPRESENTING BUSINESS OWNERS IS NONSENSE.
No calculations for safety, no calculations for speed, no calculations for mode shift, for bicycling, for walking.
It’s just NIMBY NIMBY NIMBY
ENTITLED ENTITLED ENTITLED
PRIVILEGE PRIVILEGE PRIVILEGE
82nd Ave will never be safe because of lawyers doing anything for money
oh yeah and people can still use the BAT lane to make right turns into FUBONN and other businesses along 82nd.
Is this an admission that 99% of drivers do not go into businesses along 82nd?
WEAK TRIMET, SO WEAK !!
82nd is seen as a cut through by these villain lawyers
I thought that was weird as well why would they close the access points on 82nd?
The lawyers don’t need to talk about the 0.0 percent share of vehicles on 82nd Ave because we just don’t do stuff like that. No shows don’t vote, right? These folks can stand up and present their analysis of the situation as if bikes are nothing.
Bikes aren’t absent in the area but bike riders ‘come in the side door’ or creep along sidewalks. It’s what we’re taught to do by the infrastructure along and around commercial corridors. If there’s a BAT lane on 82nd, and bike riders are not barred from using it, the bike count on the Avenue will just bounce.
I’m going to assume there are a few hard heads who do ride a bike on 82nd from time to time, let’s say that there are two of them. If we let this experiment cook and 100 people ride their bike out there, what’s that, a 4900 percent increase? Maybe a thousand bike riders show up. Forty-nine thousand nine hundred percent. Who the heck knew we needed a straight shot bikeway between Clackamas and Gateway?
That’s a thought experiment with made up numbers, sorry, but it’s similar to the case of the non-existing bike/pedestrian bridge across the Willamette River between Sellwood and Oregon City. It’s perfectly accurate to say nobody uses the crossing now. Why build a bridge for nobody? Maybe because it would create thousands of bike riders from literal thin air. The folks who NIMBY such a thing at present will find it strangely attractive as well, so there will be foot traffic. We won’t know until we manifest it.
Each member of Trimet leadership should be on record regarding their failure to adequately support BRT.
I guess it’s time for protected bike lanes- since transit is relegated to sit behind single occupancy cars and remain an inferior transportation choice.
The democratic governor is solely responsibly for the composition of the Trimet board.
Keep on voting for establishment democrats, liberals and progressives!
If only we had Christine Drazan-appointed TriMet board members, that’d fix what ails public transit in Portland!
The issue at hand is the state control over TriMet – not the fact that milquetoast Dems appoint bad board members (though that is an issue too).
If
milquetoastcenter-right democrats did not take the support of people to the left of Betsy Johnson for granted perhaps they would not cynically appoint conservative corporate hacks to critical un-elected positions.From the TriMet website:
“Board members must live in the geographical districts they represent. The term of office is four years, but a Board member serves AT THE PLEASURE OF THE GOVERNOR. Board members are volunteers and can serve up to two four-year terms. A Board member whose term has expired shall continue to serve until the governor appoints a successor.”
(all caps mine)
Unknown graffito:
“sweep the leg Kotek”
I once upon a time had a clever planning boss in the Midwest who said that the first thing you need to do in the suburbs (Phase 1) is consolidate the number of driveways – move shoppers onto off-street parking lots and have them intersect your street on as few driveways as possible. Then (Phase 2) add a long median, to prevent left turns and the need for more driveways. Then (Phase 3) move the remaining driveways so they sit opposite of each other and place stop signs or signals as needed at the intersections. Then afterwards (Phase 4) you can do anything you want – add bike paths, extra lanes, remove lanes, add transit – and property and business owners will simply not care one iota.
It’s smart too because of the incremental nature of it. It’s not one sudden big change, but a iterative process. This is an approach that seems to follow the Strong Towns principal that we need to avoid giant projects and focus instead on the next smallest step with the greatest impact.
Phase 4 is you now have an urban highway.
This sort of thing seems to happen over and over; a good project gets drafted, then business owners or homeowners start yelling, and the project gets reduced to nothing. While I’d like trimet to stand up against them, I can understand with costly litigation that they aren’t likely to do so or be able to.
It would be great to find some sort of winning strategy against it. We’ve seen in projects across the world that these things tend to be a sort of ‘build it against resistance and afterwards everyone will be in favor of it’ but we seem to be struggling with that. Maybe we should just rebrand projects; instead of ‘less BAT’ and ‘more BAT’ it should have been ‘more (car) traffic’ and ‘less (car) traffic’. We’d have an easier time getting the majority motorists on board if we tell them what it means to them.
I agree Kurt! PBOT and TriMet are so terrible at stating the metrics for success up front. They should have explained at the very what they were trying to do: number of people/hour or day, safety, emissions, trees, stormwater, safety, etc. Then explain the current conditions and the limitations of the current conditions. Into that context, explain how adding BAT lanes allows MORE travelers to use 82nd and safer, more pleasant, tree-shaded sidewalks with crosswalks promotes access to business, and BAT lanes make it easier to access businesses. This is a pathetic response from TriMet and a total abdication of their duty.
“left with a valueless property“
What an utter crock, we need local control over TriMet
Seriously. It’s at the intersection of two major thoroughfares, adjacent to public transit, and with the 82nd driveway removed will have more parking.
It’s sad if the businesses have to relocate due to reduced pass-by visits (which I’m not convinced of), but that property would still be highly valuable for it’s potential to redevelop to higher use.
I live in the neighborhood and would do MORE business in the Peterson business park if the street were safer and it was easier to access by foot. As it stands now, I’m discouraged from going there because it feels dangerous and complicated, even in a car!
I’m really disappointed that the property/business owners are so opposed to traffic calming and safe non-car access to their business. This could be a win for us all, neighbors and businesses alike!
Here is a link to a map of the TriMet board districts:
https://trimet.org/about/board.htm#map
You can type in your address to find out who represents you.
I’d like to see the city put some pressure on TriMet about this. A stronger transit corridor along 82nd could really support Portland’s housing goals. Would PBOT’s design of 82nd that’s being built right now even look the same if they thought TriMet wasn’t going to follow through on the scale expected? They clearly designed these improvements with transit as the intended beneficiary. PBOT doesn’t just pour millions into repaving dangerous 5-lane car roads without trying to promote some other way of getting around.
Wow, this is pathetic. Line 72 gets 10,000 riders per day. That’s like 1/3 of the total people using 82nd Avenue daily. Washman and Fubonn have lost my business for good.
It’s actually 10,000 daily trips, not riders. So someone riding in one direction in the morning and the other direction in the evening would be one rider, but would count twice in terms of daily trips. If they ride it in the middle of the day, those are also separate trips. I’m also pretty sure this is the number for the entire Line 72, including the segment on Killingsworth St, and includes trips that never touch 82nd Ave. And finally, the car traffic on 82nd Ave is about 25,000 daily automobile trips, but a car can have more than one person in it, so it’s a lot more than that in terms of person-trips. In any case, transit probably accounts for more like one-quarter to one-fifth of the total people accessing the corridor.
Okay but your “one way and then back the other” also applied to car drivers too, right? On average, cars carry about 1 person. Yes, my car can carry 5 people but rarely does it ever carry more than 2.
No, on average cars carry about 1.3 people.
So, about 1 person.
1.3 is “about 1” in my book.
Is 13,000 about 10,000?
In certain contexts, absolutely. The fact that people have to ask this is mind blowing to me.
How many 0.3 persons have you seen in the passenger seats of cars?
Saw one once, and that’s something you can’t unsee.
Nice clarification on the trips numbers. Certainly one quarter or even one fifth the number of person-trips sounds a more reasonable estimate of the effect of bus travel on the corridor than the lawyer’s 1% claim that considered only the vehicls, assuming the claim holds up to scrutiny and is not just some bad-faith invention. Would be nice to be able to get bus trip data for the relevant sections of 82nd Av. And actual vehicle travel data.
Yep. It can. But how often does it? Again, would be nice to have actual data, but I suspect single-occupancy vehicle travel is as much a part of the problem on 82nd as it is on other major thoroughfares.
Whatever the current numbers, I am curious about how they might change if bus trips became more frequent and reliable.
From my perspective, it doesn’t matter what they do to the buses *on* 82nd for me access the businesses there. I still need to get *to* 82nd, so I might as well ride my bike and then use adjacent neighborhood streets to get as close as I can to my destination.
I fully support upgrading our transit options. But I think it’s doomed to fail on if we gauge this project’s success on its immediate impact in reducing car trips and increasing bus ridership. It’s going to take a lot of improvements to whole system to realize that.
And induced demand works both ways. If the bus is faster and more frequent, that ratio will change further in favor of bus riders.
And they’ll all have a better experience.
There a sort of negative cycle here. 82nd avenue probably does pencil out better if you’re big box retail or used car dealer than does other places in Portland.
But that’s only because no one wants to use the land for anything else due to the giant, stinky, annoying, dangerous street outside.
I mean this ain’t rocket science folks. Just go stand on a street corner somewhere down 82nd. Wanna live there? Wanna sit down for dinner? Wanna pop in to a shop and then walk across the street for a drink? Nah, of course not.
So 82nd will languish while other parts of the city move on.
It’s just a shame this self destructive attitude also has to hold things up for everyone else that wants, or needs, who wants to be able to take a bus and/or cross the street without, like, dying.
This made me think about Atlanta’s equivalent of 82nd and how it had the best restaurant that were so hard to get to.
Here’s a street view of Buford Hwy, complete with a pedestrian crossing with the nearest crosswalk about 2000 ft away and up a hill:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EUgYBhU3qCSEkvhA7
East Portland used to have 6-lane stroads on outer Division and on 122nd, but after annexation Portland took away a lane on each side and added parking (the county already had painted bike lanes). 82nd has always been much narrower than that – it’s part of the reason the city can’t have both 2 lanes of traffic plus bus-only lanes plus bike lanes. 82nd is more the width of Peachtree downtown rather than Peachtree near Buckhead, with 2 lanes in each direction plus a center suicide turn lane plus narrow sidewalks – no bike lanes until you get to Clackamas County.
Yeah, when I lived in Atlanta, a road like 82nd would be the “preferred bike route”
I mean, is it self-destructive for the people causing the problem? I’m guessing Mark Hanna who owns Washman isn’t even living in Portland much more anywhere close to 82nd.
Michael Lui seems skeptical of even adding sidewalks to the area
https://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/my-place-profile-michael-liu
Lui seems to envision an 82nd where people drive to business and then drive away to go home. I don’t think either of these businesses even slightly care about the people who live around 82nd.
I feel like Michael is *so close* to getting why bus lanes would be a benefit to him and the neighborhood. He wants this balance of making the neighborhood better, having thriving businesses, and being a destination for the PDX metro area.
“Hopefully, we can start to draw people from west of the river and Vancouver, so they can come to this area and experience all that the neighborhood can offer. With all of the different shops and restaurants around here, there’s a lot to do in the area – you can easily fill up a day in the neighborhood, between bakeries, restaurants and other niche businesses.”
How will ever more people show up to Fubonn’s packed parking lot? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to take transit and show up without a car to a bustling, walkable neighborhood?! I’m sure a business would spring up to deliver your food/groceries/treasures home to your house/apt if needed.
“As communities develop, I think we’ll see a lot of the negative aspects to the area be resolved. So, those perceptions from a lot of people, that 82nd is just a lot of car-lots and prostitution and drugs, is not really holding true as businesses have developed around here. Now, the first thing a lot of people think about this neighborhood is the food, and all the various cuisines you can get up and down 82nd.”
We’re not going to fully develop this community, and get all the way to this “better place”, if we just maintain the status quo of car-oriented 82nd!
They already have, and they get yelled at by other BikePortland commentors complaining about delivery vans in residential neighborhoods.
Mike Liu is a great person and you are spot on that he cares deeply about 82nd Avenue and the health of businesses along the corridor. He rightly states that these businesses are one of the big reasons 82nd is unique, interesting, and has a bright future. The car lots can move pretty easily to new locations–but the hundreds of small businesses, restaurants, shops, salons, etc–are rooted along 82nd and he’s worried about their health. In my years of organizing along 82nd Avenue, I’ve developed a deep respect for him.
On the topic of the extent of BAT lanes we disagree. We’ve had really meaningful and respectful conversations about it. I keep saying, “People buy things, not cars.” And, that means we as a community have got to make sure that, as consumers, we demonstrate that axiom by showing up on foot, bike, and transit to support our 82nd Avenue businesses during construction and beyond. In addition, there needs to be effort from government partners like Trimet and Prosper to find creative ways to incentivize people to use transit to patronize these businesses. In other words, we can help support all the awesome businesses up and down the corridor.
I’m not arguing or commenting on the bike lane but I lived near 82nd and still own that house–I went to restaurants there constantly–they are in fact my favorite restaurants in the city. As are the asian grocery stores on my regular list. As was the Eastport Cinema which is the only theater around that regularly shows Indian movies. Same with Home Depot, the Vet, yeah so basically I went there all the time.
TriMet didn’t “cave” to business pressure — its board chose to side with drivers over riders. And PBOT once again treated a life-saving street redesign like a PR risk instead of a public responsibility. We need a TriMet board that rides the bus, and PBOT leadership that stands up for the city’s own safety and climate goals.
Just because these businesses got their lawyers to submit comments doesn’t mean that ‘more BAT’ would be grounds for litigation. What precisely is the legal angle here? Takings and damages? Perhaps the remainder of the $350 million budget (after $10 mil for ‘more BAT) could be partially spent compensating businesses if warranted.
Per Portland Maps “Market Value”; Peterson Crossing Property (8130-8136 SE Foster) has a market value under $2.5M. Fubonn (2850 SE 82nd Ave) has a value of ~ $23M. Somehow these properties/businesses can control the fate of a 350M+ project?! They obviously create jobs and bring in tax revenue and such, but doesn’t seem right for such a big and transformational infrastructure project to be subject to their complaints.
Maybe TriMet thinks the complaints have legal merit.
Agree. Call their bluff and let them try to sue. They would have to prove the existing BAT lines ( which haven’t been built yet) actually hurt their businesses. Which I doubt will happen.
Cities are for people not vehicles. Traffic counts on 82nd have most intersections around 20k average daily volume for north and south traffic. The 72 carries 10k people a day meaning it moves about half as many people up and down 82nd as all the single occupancy vehicles do while only being 1% of the vehicles. Sounds like a great deal to me. Less damage to the roads, faster travel times and increased ridership are all wins for full BAT lanes.
So… 50 people per bus, on average?
Oh really, you want reasonable numbers? You data nut you! Lol. Statistics arent meant as truth, it’s just something to use to argue one side or the other.
I thought that was a pretty good argument, if you accept what I suspect is an understatement of both bus traffic percentage and vehicle counts without too much scrutiny.
Do we think the unverified statistics have any effect on the decision makers in this case? As much as the letterhead on the notice of intent to litigate?
We need to get property owners on board with good faith discussions of the actual effects on their land uses, both near term and future.
The numbers aren’t in dispute. Under 200 buses per 20 hours in a day (weekday – just look at the schedule) closer to 9.5k riders. 17,000 to 23,000 cars depending on where you measure it.
The 1% is the made up number from the lawyer that I quoted.
It’s not made up.
Yes, just not all at once. People board and exit as the bus goes down 82nd. 10k per day, 189 buses in 20 hours.
10,000 is the number of boardings for the entire Line 72, including a long portion of it that runs from Swan Island to Cully that will be disconnected from this new line. Plenty of people get on and off the bus in that area without ever going to 82nd Ave. So that is a misleading number.
Not that misleading 82nd is like 2/3rds of its service area. Those other areas are also serviced by timely busses coming from 82nd. The point of my comment though was to show how absurd that lawyer’s 1% figure was. I thought that was obvious by me quoting it.
82nd already fails all of its users – it sucks to walk on, bike on, drive on and take the bus on. This proposal will not change any of that, and thus the corridor will hardly change at all unless something real is actually done.
Also, I call BS on this being a cost-saving strategy. A Shared Bus Bike Lane, which is what folks are actually asking for, can be created using only red paint. No one is asking for hydrogen buses, or median reconstruction or any of that. We want a dedicated lane!
Also, why isn’t TriMet and the City using this as a golden opportunity for transit oriented development? Why are the benefits from the hundreds of millions of investment dollars going to car washes, instead of being recouped by TriMet and the City to fund similar projects on Sandy Blvd, and Powell?
There are some added costs to maintain even painted lanes, but it should be more than made up for through more efficient bus operations. The slower a bus goes, the more it costs to provide the same service. Fast busses are cheap busses.
No bike lanes, no BRT … just more cars. We’re spiraling out of control towards 3 degrees of global heating and car oriented businesses are leading the way. Terrible news.
We complain here but has anyone seen Division lately since the bike lanes and medians and FX2 went in?? No one is there, all the businesses have left and cars have literally been abandoned due to the gridlock that ensued so many months ago now. It’s honestly spooky.
>no one is there
>gridlock
which is it?
It’s both. Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.
Yeah, come on. Parody only works if it is internally consistent. Lol.
Lol. Tell me you’re being sarcastic because I use outer Division every day on my bike, on foot, in my car, and on the bus. It’s as popping (and loud) as it always was. Difference is I can actually cross the street now.
I ride the FX2 and drive Division to/from Gresham to 82nd and don’t recognize your characterization. It’s a better street for the redesign.
Between that and the city burning completely to the ground every night for the last 5 years, it’s surprising that anyone is still here.
Yet rent is still $1800 a month for 1 bedroom.
Wait, what? I live right off Division and is it SO MUCH BETTER since the FX2 and bike lanes! I <3 Division with its better transit, ability to bike and walk safely, and ability to cross the street back and forth to the businesses I want to frequent.
Have any of you even thought for a second about how bad it would be if there were no longer THREE Wash Man locations on 82nd?? Try thinking of others sometime, it might change how you look at the world
“…on behalf of her clients Washman…”
Is this the same client that has a location on MLK with signs instructing cyclists that it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk… and customers that repeatedly block that sidewalk as well as the adjacent bike lane on Schuyler as they exit the business?
Of course it is.
Well, there are a few businesses and law firms I won’t be doing business with in the future.
No offense here Karstan..but I’m thinking they’re not gonna miss your business. 🙂
I could have a lot to say about this, but I couldn’t feel more let down/discouraged.
After recently visiting Vancouver, BC and Minneapolis, I can’t help but feel the dream of Portland as a multimodal transportation leader in the US is coming to an end. For bikes and bus, I saw new infrastructure in those cities built to the highest standards; protected, off-street bike lanes, priority for buses, etc.
The fact that Trimet is just giving up on this already compromised design feels… spineless. Why does Portland of all places not have leaders willing to push us into the future with bold visions? It’s no wonder so many transplants move here and stick to driving, not bothering to even try out a bike or use the bus.
This is a really sad day for the future of this city.
I cross 82nd every day, morning and evening, and don’t live too far off it. Well, not exactly walking distance most the time, but still not far from it. I bike, walk, drive and take transit and I was very excited about the changes proposed here. It’s frustrating as hell that this is all falling apart. I like Matt’s comment about how 82nd is hostile to human scaled living and since we lack the…what are we lacking here?, whatever it is we’re lacking, will just allow 82nd to continue as is; a shitty, stinky, dangerous street that anyone outside a car will never be safe on or enjoy. I think voting with your dollars is as effective a protest tool as anything so I’m glad to know Fubonn (bummer!) and Washman (meh) are Transit Frightened.
When we travel and we see absolutely cool as hell transit and cycling facilities in other cities (talking international travel here, to be clear) it makes it hard to come home sometimes. I always think, “I wonder if the transportation agencies here bothered asking about feelings, or if they moved forward to advance what I assume are their stated goals, that likely being reducing VMTs and increasing transit and cycling ridership and options”. I no longer hold onto any hopes that Portland will ever do anything truly revolutionary in the transportation realm. If it’s not business interests jamming something to hell, it’s boomer/yuppie nimbys, and if it’s not them, it’s business interests again.
You can’t be disappointed if you expect disappointment. Thank you to everyone involved!
Wow, While I appreciate the concerns of folks who prefer to bike ride, and have watched for the past ten years as there has been some transformation in favor of addressing those concerns, the extremist attitudes (including descriptors) are a bit much.
There is a great deal to be critical of regarding how travel and accompanying traffic is handled, but both bus and bike are distinct minorities who insist on overlooking others who find biking impossible and sharing a big box on wheels with others positively terrifying. Then too, there is the simple fact that degrading travel for everyone else to satisfy a self-righteous, elitist few is a bit outrageous. To take one of the main north/south corridors and reduce travel by automobiles to one lane each way will only result in outrage and more disregard for law. The assertion this will improve quality of life is a ludicrous and self-serving notion. The survey(s?) cited seem entirely suspect and slanted, most certainly limited to targeted participants. This entire notion on this major corridor should be a complete non-starter as it does not serve the majority community at all. It is this kind of action on the smaller scale which has only succeeded in producing the much larger, all encompassing reactions which have brought lawless, armed and uniformed attacks on the citizenry at large. Do not misconstrue my words, there has not been sufficient care and thought given and the results are visiting disaster on us all.
I know when I think of the bus, I think “elitist.” Also you say degrading travel for everyone but you mean cars. It would have improved for other people.
“there has not been sufficient care and thought given and the results are visiting disaster on us all.”
That is absolutely false.
Are you part of the 82nd community? Have you attended any of the multiple outreach meetings, that have taken place at multiple community venues over the last 3 years? Are you a member of any of the community discussion groups?
We’ve worked our asses off to make sure everyone possible is reached, has a voice, and is listened too. It’s been an ongoing process and has included every individual and organization with a stake in this community who had any desire to be part of the process. None of us has ever been under the illusion that we were going to get everything we wanted. But to have a few short sighted business owners put their fears and bank accounts before the clearly voiced desires of their own community hurts like hell.
Thank you for appreciation of concerns of “folks who prefer to bike ride”. Do you extend that to those who have no choice to use a car?
As someone who has a choice, I think it my duty to consider folks who have less. As someone in a majority, I try to consider the needs of those not in the majority. That is the only way I see to build a resilient community. Insisting on my majoritarian power to avoid inconvenience of changes that will save lives is not how I honor the greater community.
Safety is tough to get at, but my personal safety has been threatened way more frequently by car drivers than by fellow bus riders.
Lawless behavior happens, but is the threat of lawlessness by self-serving drivers who are outraged by minor inconvenience a good reason to fail to improve safety and livability of the area for all users? How can you not see the potential livability improvements? Do you walk this area? The rushing car traffic is terrifying, so I would not blame you for avoiding it.
When we make a road friendlier to those outside of cars, more folks will choose to go there by means other than a car. If the bus reliability improves, more people will take the bus instead of driving. That makes fewer cars to congest the lanes that remain dedicated to cars.
We need to have consideration for people who need to travel on 82nd without a car. There are businesses. People need access. People outside of cars, as well as those who drive. We should not give in to our majoritarian impulses that insist the winner take all.
“While I appreciate the concerns of folks who prefer to bike ride”…
Dear reader, he did not, in fact, appreciate the concerns.
“ sharing a big box on wheels with others positively terrifying” – give me a break. you exist in a society, which requires limits to your selfishness.
I don’t go to 82nd too often because it’s so hostile to non-car users. One of the few reasons I ever do go is to visit Fubonn.
I guess I now have one fewer reason to visit 82nd.
Me thinks if you want some good Asian groceries or cuisine you’re still going to Fubonn….
There are many better options in that area.
Hong Phat, Saigon Market, Shun Fat, Chang Fa, Food Depot…
Fubon is NOT the only good Asian market on or near 82nd.
There are many other asian grocers within a mile or two that we can support!
It’s a shame because I did like Fubonn (and take the bus & walk to shop there), but if they’re using my dollars to advocate against my access as their shopper… well I’m just not give them any more money.
Me thinks you don’t know me. There are many other options.
And, hey, today I followed through. Instead of Fubonn, I went to SF Supermarket on 82nd and Foster for the first time. I rode down Foster, using the bike lanes they put in a few years ago when they reduced the number of lanes. If I remember correctly, those changes were supposed to destroy the businesses on Foster (they didn’t) and cause complete havoc with the traffic (they didn’t).
Added bonus, I found SF Supermarket to be superior to Fubonn in almost every way. Prices seemed slightly cheaper, better produce section, better meat and fish section, better selection, and they weren’t sold out of the things I always want at Fubonn but get stocked at random.
So, thank you for putting up a fuss, Fubonn. You’ve shown me a better way.
When I lived in East Portland (2008-15) I would shop at Fubonn’s at least once a month and typically use the back pedestrian cut on SE 85th. I note now they have upgraded their SE 85th entrance to a full driveway and that SE 85th is now a sharrowed bikeway.
Fubonn’s was great for meat, seafood, rice, and fresh green veggies, far better (and cheaper) than any other supermarket in that part of town.
That was a long time ago. There are at least half a dozen similar options now.
I’m glad to hear that. When I lived out there we had Fubonns, another nearby Asian grocery I can’t remember the name of that wasn’t very good, Fast Freddy’s, Malwart, Food4Less, WINCO, and the most unsanitary Safeway in town on 122nd just south of Powell. Both Freddy’s and Food4Less are owned by Krogers (as is Quality); Food4Less closed a little bit before I left town in 2015 but they still exist in California. I’ve heard Malwart has since moved out of Portland but still has stores nearby.
I’ve now lived walking distance to 82nd for 3 months. I’ve gone to a business on it once. That’s only because we had an employee appreciation event there.
Just feels too hostile. I hate being anywhere near car sewers like that.
Oh how I wish we lived in an actual democracy and not a country where businesses have 10,000x more power than the average person.
CAR WASHES OVER PEOPLE
You guys are so painfully out of touch with reality. Reality: TriMet is failing spectacularly at its job of providing a service that is valuable to the community. It is unsafe (let alone comfortable) to ride transit because it has chosen time and time again to prioritize the homeless and virtue signaling over regular law-abiding riders. And no amount of paint or priority will fix the fact that they have failed spectacularly. This is particularly insulting given the cost per boarding ride trend. They have never done less with more. Same with PBOT/ODOT. Enough with unaccountable partisanship!
***Inappropriate language deleted by moderator. – JM *** Yes, there are homeless people riding the buses, and they are often a pain in the ass for drivers and for other riders. But we all need to show a little humanity and keep on riding the bus. What is the alternative – driving everywhere? I have such sympathy for the drivers who have to deal constantly with people who can’t really function in normal society. It’s not the drivers’ fault, and if they don’t let the homeless on the bus, they will have a major problem on their hands. A driver in Seattle was even shot and killed by a mentally ill man.
Personally, I ride my bike.
A lot more people now choose to drive everywhere and avoid transit BECAUSE they feel safer in their cars. I depend on transit most of the time now because I’m disabled and cannot afford a car. I don’t want to have to spend my time on transit on constant high alert, wary of every unwashed and altered person who passes my bus seat. It’s exhausting.
It’s possible — it MUST be possible! — to “show a little humanity” *without* being expected to simply roll over and give up a reasonable expectation of personal safety outside my home.
Always check whether your feedback can be distilled to “there’s no point in trying to do good things because there are bad things.” If it can, find a way to get something constructive into your comment, or face the fact that you have nothing to add to the conversation.
Weird to claim that unhoused people are also law breakers, and that all of those who are housed are law-abiding.
And yes, paint and priority would be amajor fix to give better service.
Whatever the merits of the bus lane,
82ND IS CURRENTLY a THRIVING, DIVERSE BUSINESS DISTRICT.
It has some of the best food and grocery shopping in the entire state. You want an some spicy chinese Doubanjiang cause you’re gonna attempt schezuan cooking? An obscure Korean Ramen or fresh pulled noodles? To see the latest Bollywood film in the theater? You want a steaming hotpot on a cold rainy day? Cheap hardware, last minute?
You ain’t going to 33rd and Division or “the Alberta arts district” where you can pick up a $20 cocktail from a bartender who just moved to Portland from Asheville and absolutely loves the “nature and community.”
Or a “maker fair” down on Water Ave. to pick up a hammered metal necklace from a white hipster with a mullet.
Great points about the wonderful stuff on 82nd. Now lets make transit an easier and better way to get up and down that street!
“Here – you can have some PERFORMATIVE transit infrastructure! You’re welcome!”
You know who isn’t a self-hating, ineffective, stracotto noodle, like the worthless glorified middle managers at Trimet?
The car manufacturers that want to make transportation as expensive as possible, and demand that society subsidize all negative externalities.
I remember one BP commenter, who values quantity over quality, making the case that safety cannot be dialed up or down by autonomous car makers.
Here is one of the more blatant recent examples of the aggressive, unapologetic, conquering of our roads. Tesla wanting to bring back the law breaking “Mad Max” mode.
https://electrek.co/2025/10/16/tesla-mad-max-full-self-driving-mode-ignores-speed-limits/
Who else isn’t afraid to act solely in their own self-interest? The wealthy business owners that want 82nd to be a car sewer now and forever, without the slightest appreciation of the irony that they once complained about 82nd being nothing but parking lots. Portland remains a city plagued by insider influence and corruption. How could Trimet fail to see this coming.
https://portlandmetrochamber.com/resources/chamber-announces-new-2025-2026-chair-and-board-members/
Straccotto noodle!?! Dear god SD. The Horror, the horror! Cue AI Goblin band playing Chef Boyardee commercial.
The people have spoken.
And the automotive lobby.
A rally is great, but maybe what’s needed is a picket line in front of these businesses.
So you want to push more businesses out of a faltering city….businesses that employ people and pay taxes? This seems very shortsighted.
They should do it. A bunch of white / white-collar cyclists to harass my POC owned business. It would be an amazing self own
When you’re angry transit riders become white white collar cyclists. Weird.
Tell us what your business is called please
I mean, really, if we could push those businesses out with a picket line, absolutely yes. There would be no more reason not to improve 82nd.
And then predictably, more businesses would take their place and benefit from the better transit.
Jonathon, I’ve suggested before that it might be great to see a BikePortland article where you interview business owners who thought transit improvements were going to end their business. Places like the Euro furniture on Foster or that nursery around 100th and Holgate. How has it turned out for them?
Hi James, Thanks for the idea. Yeah that would be cool to do!
Yes, James! Who could forget EuroClassics like their invoking the powers of Mr. Magoo? or their “Why cannot the humans?”
I’m also interested in hearing from biz owners. I’d like to get to the root of their concerns.
Thank heavens they’ve managed to stay in business for all of these difficult years after the road diet that “strangled”/”gridlocked”/”messed up”/”pinched off”/”effectively close[d] down” Foster. Any of his silly signs would make good(?) talking points for an interview. They changed frequently, and google street view caught a few versions of them.
I ride by both places almost every afternoon. Both are still kickin’! Especially Tony’s, the nursery. I semi often ride by the Roman Russian market on Division and despite their endless whining and calls to elect Rene Gonzalez to INJECT SOME SANITY INTO CITY HALL and REMOVE THESE DEATH TRAP MEDIANS they are still very much in business and seem pretty busy when I pass by.
I think where taking space is not an option, using time at signalized locations will become paramount. Also buses, not busses
For the pedants: Either is correct, but “buses” is much more common.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/plural-of-bus
I will be boycotting Fubonn and business along 82nd until this decision is reversed.
Unless you plan to hold a picket sign with your grievance in front of Fubonn your “boycott” will likely go unnoticed by anyone.
I’ve been boycotting Fubonn basically my whole life, and they still haven’t changed.
Pretty narcissistic to think Fubonn and it’s customers care about your boycott. And by the way, Fubonn actually supports the Asian community unlike the lip service Portland gives them.
I think the real story here and the reason that Trimet and PBOT will stop Portland from adapting to the modern world is that Michael Liu, the owner of Fubonn Shopping Center, is the chair of the Portland Metro Chamber executive board and is using that influence to the advantage of his business. Maintaining the outdated car sewer design of 82nd favors his massive parking lot style mega store over the smaller competitors and the people who live and work near 82nd.
The Portland Metro Chamber (PBA) is filled with people who invested in destructive, toxic urban planning, and are constantly fighting to keep Portland locked into this unsustainable world because they are intellectually weak and stunted by their greed.
I have so many questions.
— The #72 bus serves a lot of people who live between, say, PCC Cascade and Clackamas Town Center. A LOT. Thousands. How many people LIVE along or within walking distance of this bus line?
— How many of the businesses located on 82nd Avenue are owned by people who live in the neighborhoods they serve?
— How many affordable rental units are located along or within walking distance of this bus route?
— Of those who live within the affordable units, what is their median income?
— What is the average tax revenue of these neighborhoods?
— What is the degree of car-reliance steeped in the culture of this area, and where does it intersect with other aspects of various cultures that comprise this area?
Demographics can inform more than a little of what is going on here. It would be useful to consider this when looking at what’s there now, what is envisioned, and by whom.
Do you really think our elected officials take time, or even want to take time, to do that kind of analysis?
I can only imagine that our gloriously elected official’s only question to themselves is “what decision should I make to get re-elected?” All the analysis you propose is superfluous and would just make their eyes swim.
You know what? You’re probably right.
Too many elected officials stop caring about what’s best for their constituents once they get into office, and then they start worrying more about how to stay in office and avoid having to get a lower-paying and more boring job.
If that’s the case, well, we should all stop voting.
Or better yet, we should vote as an act of societal camouflage, something that allows us to look like solid citizens while we play well below the radar to get what we need. After all, the rich do that every day. Why shouldn’t the rest of us?
(Only half-playing devil’s advocate here)
The lawyers are just positioning their clients to cream the transit project’s budget for “impacts” to their properties/businesses. The BAT lanes are still available for use by automobiles accessing businesses or making right turns. I have to imagine TriMet is designing the project to minimize and avoid impacts to specific businesses, which makes these letters moot.If the region is looking toward the future, they will recognize that the vision for 82nd Avenue is not automobile-oriented. While I support TriMet making reasonable accommodations for existing businesses, we need more housing and transit-oriented development and this corridor is a prime opportunity for economic redevelopment that will generate more tax dollars for services, provide more affordable housing, and improve people’s well being. Now’s the time to improve transit speed and reliability with these much needed improvements on a seriously broken corridor.