catherine ciarlo

Catherine Ciarlo named manager of PBOT’s Active Transportation and Safety Division

Ciarlo at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit back in February.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Catherine Ciarlo, a familiar name in Portland planning and transportation circles, has been chosen to lead a key division within the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

PBOT announced Friday afternoon that Ciarlo is the new Active Transportation and Safety (ATS) Division Manager. She takes over the position left vacant in October when former division manager Margi Bradway left PBOT for a job at Metro.

The ATS division is one of five division in PBOT’s Policy, Planning & Projects group and is responsible for many of the programs we cover frequently here on BikePortland including: Safe Routes to School, Vision Zero, Sunday Parkways, SmartTrips, and more.

In an email about the hire sent to PBOT staff on Friday, PBOT Director Leah Treat said, “Catherine brings the creative and collaborative leadership PBOT needs to continue to support and invest in active transportation and safe travel for everyone on our streets. Her background in transportation policymaking and innovation in the private and public sector is the perfect combination to continue the strong momentum PBOT has established in our citywide Vision Zero effort.”

Ciarlo has been a senior project manager at the consulting firm of CH2M Hill since 2012. That job has kept her very close to PBOT thanks to current and recent contracts to work on Vision Zero, Safe Routes to School, and Central City in Motion. Prior to her consulting work, she served as Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ transportation policy director. Ciarlo is also a former member of the Portland Planning Commission and she was the executive director of The Street Trust (then the Bicycle Transportation Alliance) from 1998 to 2005.

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Mayor Adams’ transportation director takes job with private consulting firm

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Ciarlo riding in the 2009 Grand Floral Parade.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Catherine Ciarlo, who has served as Mayor Sam Adams’ transportation policy director since 2008, has taken a job with private consulting firm CH2M Hill. The Mayor’s office is expected to make the announcement any day now.

CH2M Hill is an engineering and construction consulting firm that was founded in Corvallis, Oregon in 1946 and now has over 30,000 employees in offices around the world. According to the Portland Business Alliance, the firm has about 700 employees around the Portland region and their downtown Portland offices are their largest outside their corporate headquarters in Colorado. Ciarlo will be a senior project manager.

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Checking in with the Mayor’s transportation policy czar

Catherine Ciarlo with Mayor Adams
(Photos © J. Maus)

Yesterday I met with Mayor Sam Adams’ Transportation Policy Director Catherine Ciarlo. Ciarlo was the executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) from 1998-2005 and is a former member of the Portland Planning Commission.

In a rapid-fire conversation that lasted just about an hour, we touched on several topics, including the Mayor’s Transportation Cabinet, the budget, and the Columbia River Crossing project.

The Mayor’s Transportation Cabinet is a 24-member group that includes representatives from a wide range of interests and perspectives (including of course, bicycling). Ciarlo said the group (whose formation was listed in Adams’ “First 100 Day Action Plan”) is Adams’ “kitchen cabinet” that is full of the people he turns to for strategic advice and to help him set priorities.

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Mayor Adams’ office releases 100 day plan update video

Mayor Adams’ Transportation Policy Director
Catherine Ciarlo in screenshot from
new video.
-Watch it below-

Mayors Sam Adams’ office has just released a video address giving an update to Portlanders on his 100 day action plan as it pertains to his transportation agenda. The video (watch it below) is in the form of a monologue from his transportation policy director (and former executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance) Catherine Ciarlo.

In the video, Ciarlo says “Mayor Adams set out an ambitious agenda for transportation and we feel good about the progress we’ve made,” and it addresses the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project, the Portland Streetcar, the cycle track, and the new bike parking corral.

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Former BTA director will be mayor’s transportation policy advisor

Catherine Ciarlo
(Photo courtesy Catherine Ciarlo)

Catherine Ciarlo, who was formerly the executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) and currently serves on the Portland Planning Commission, has been hired to be the transportation policy advisor for Mayor-elect Sam Adams.

Ciarlo led the BTA from 1998-2005. In addition to her role on the Planning Commission, Ciarlo is the executive director of Oregon Women Lawyers and she has a law degree from Lewis and Clark College.

In a story on her appointment to the Planning Commission, she told BikePortland that she wants, “to see Portland head in the direction of environmental sustainability and transportation systems that truly serve people.”

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Former BTA Director will take seat on Planning Commission

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Catherine Ciarlo.
(Photo courtesy Catherine Ciarlo)

This Wednesday, City Council will appoint two new members to the Portland Planning Commission. One of those seats will go to former Executive Director of the Bicycle Transporation Alliance, Catherine Ciarlo.

Ciarlo — who is also on the board of the Coalition for a Livable Future Cycle Oregon — led the BTA from 1998-2005 and is now the Executive Director of Oregon Women Lawyers (she has a law degree from Lewis and Clark College).

In an email this morning, Ciarlo said she’s “honored” for the opportunity,

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