Video: Public weighs in on 82nd Ave Transit Project

Last night’s 82nd Avenue Transit Project Community Advisory Committee meeting was a doozy! There was passionate testimony from folks who support and oppose better bus lanes along the corridor — but almost everyone who showed up went to bat for better bus service.

As I’ve been reporting, TriMet is feeling pressure from both sides around their decision for the design of the bus lane in this $350 million project that aims to bring rehabilitate 10 miles of 82nd Avenue from a car-centric orphan highway hellscape to a humane, neighborhood main street. Last week TriMet staff released a recommendation for just three miles of BAT lanes, a move that surprised project insiders, transit advocates, and even their own board members.

Last night’s meeting was the first major opportunity for public comment since that recommendation came to light. It was held at the Portland Community College Southeast Campus on the corner of SE 82nd and Division. Of the 24 people who testified, 19 voiced clear support for the “More BAT” option (seven miles of semi-dedicated bus lanes. Of the four people who opposed BAT lanes, one of them was Terry Parker (IYKYK), one represented a small shopping center, one was owner of Fubonn and Portland Metro Chamber Board Chair Michael Liu, and the other was Executive Vice President of Public Affairs for the Portland Metro Chamber Jon Isaacs.

Of the 12 CAC members present last night, I’d say 10 of them are solidly in support of the More BAT option.

Watch the video above for a highlight reel of the testimony — including Isaacs getting booed off the dais for refusing to end his testimony in time. Below are a few excerpts:

Local resident and former CAC member:

“[BAT lanes are] not a radical thing. It’s actually a really moderate proposal, and it’s going to ultimately still be a really car-oriented street… I am highly supportive of having something that be a lot better than what we have now. Yes I like boring, incremental change! But let’s tune down the rhetoric a wee bit. This is not the ‘war on cars,’ people! This is like, ‘Let’s have it like, not getting honked at when I’m trying to walk to get some phó. That would be nice. I would like to not see my neighbors die while I’m waiting for a bus.”

Michael Liu, owner of Fubonn Shopping Center and Portland Metro Chamber board chair:

“As a business owner, I’m worried about the potential loss of 15 to 25% of a mode of transportation to the corridor during critical business hours… I surveyed my customers, and over 93.5% visited our store via vehicle.”

Local resident wearing a TriMet holiday sweater:

“I appreciate the concerns of business owners. However, perhaps 94% of people show up by vehicle because the bus access, the bike access, the pedestrian access on 82nd is garbage. It sucks!”

Jon Isaacs, local resident:

“I’m not here to tell you what the neighborhood wants or doesn’t. What I’m here to tell you is that you don’t know. You have no real data. What you have is a typical process in our public agencies where they do a survey and they put it out there and it’s just waiting for manipulation by special interest groups to turn out their base and say, ‘Hey, fill this out.’ That’s the data… I have spoken personally with five to six dozen people. I’m the head of my HOA. I haven’t met a single person who supports a dedicated seven mile BAT… My perspective is that we need to improve transit access through limited BAT lanes; but a seven mile dedicated BAT lane will be a disaster.

Jon Isaacs, executive VP of public affairs for Portland Metro Chamber:

“We believe it’s a transformative project, and until this issue kind of bubbled up and became kind of a partisan controversy, we felt that it was on track to strike the right balance… I have to say that I find some of the rhetoric in this room used to describe businesses as disappointing. This is a street of small businesses. This might be our most important small business corridor in the city of Portland — and primarily BIPOC and immigrant-owned businesses. So what I’m here to formally request on behalf of the chamber: We don’t support or oppose any of these options. We formally request that TriMet conduct an economic impact study…”

Line 72 rider:

“There’s something even more important than how convenient it can be for me to access businesses on 82nd — it’s that between 2012 and 2021 14 people were killed on 82nd in traffic-related incidents and 122 people were injured. We can call one death an accident or a tragedy. 14 people dead is a failure of policy. At the end of the day, I want to be able to cross the street without fearing for my life. I want to support the vibrant local business community on 82nd without being forced to own a car just to do so. The more BAT lane design is not radical. It’s the bare minimum.”

Local resident and rider:

“The Line 72 has the highest ridership in the entire state. So many people ride this line that busses are often stuffed to capacity. Do these people not count? Do they also not work in the community? Do they not have families to get home to? Cars and parking lots don’t have wallets or money: humans do, actually. And the people walk, they ride bikes, they skateboard, they ride busses, trains, and also drive motorcycle vehicles.”

Transit advocate:

“Of the things that I heard tonight, what I found disturbing was the divisiveness coming from Portland Metro Chamber. It seems that it doesn’t align with what we’re hearing from the community… I think all of us here appreciate the diversity of businesses that we have on 82nd Avenue, and we want to make sure that those stay… When I rode the Line 72 bus on Sunday, I found it to be the most diverse community of people that I have seen in Portland in quite some time. So when we’re thinking of diversity and supporting that in the city, we should think about supporting these bus riders.”

Local resident:

“All of us are going to age at one point. All of us will not be able to drive as easily as possible. And I understand the primary reason why people are going to these places by cars. You know, they might live only a block or a dozen blocks away, but they can’t get there because, well, it’s just dangerous, inconvenient and unreliable. The more BAT lanes will definitely help that situation. My small family and I, we are down to one car because we are able to commute [by bus]. And that is $10,000, $12,000 in savings that we spend at dim sum restaurants…”

After hearing public testimony, the CAC received a presentation from two TriMet staffers and then there were a series of questions about the BAT lane topic. I’ll share more from those exchanges as necessary in future stories. For now, take a look at the video for a taste of how people are feeling about the BAT lane issue.

From here, the issue will be passed up to the project’s Policy and Budget Committee who will meet to consider a decision about the BAT lanes at their November 7th meeting.