Portland Transport

Author: Chris Smith

  • KBOO Bike Show: PBOT Leadership

     Listen to the show (mp3, 26.4MB) Christopher and Jocelyn talk with Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Leah Treat, and newly hired Active Transportation Division Manager Margi Bradwell, about PBOT funding, budgets, workplans and transformation to get to Vision Zero.

  • What the Streetcar Haters Skeptics are Missing

    There have been several critiques recently, dismissing streetcars as slow transit. I think that misses the point of streetcar, at least as we have deployed it here in Portland. Streetcar is transit that emphasizes short trips. That’s very much in line with the ‘Healthy Connected City’ plank of the Portland Plan, which envisions Portland as…

  • Vaporettos for Portland?

    One of my fondest memories of childhood was a much-planned, much-saved-for family vacation to Europe in my early teen years. One of the seven-countries-in-21-days destinations was Venice and I can’t forget the Vaporettos (water taxi/buses) that plied the canal system. Correspondent Bill Badrick fills us in on a vision for Vaporettos in Portland. – Chris…

  • An Integrated Vision for Car-Lite Life

    Helsinki is on a campaign to reduce auto reliance. One of their strategies is integrating a trip-planning tool with a single-payment system for a variety of forms of mobility, as outlined in this Citylab piece.

  • Transportation Summit to Focus on Safety

    The 6th Annual Oregon Transportation Summit (September 15th) will focus on safety as the key topic. My sometimes debating opponent (stop spacing, value of streetcars) Jarrett Walker of Human Transit fame will be the keynote speaker. From the descriptive materials: The 2014 Summit will have a considerable focus on safety and its relevance to creating livable communities.…