Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

Citing Budget Constraints, Portland to Invest More in Biking, Not Driving

It's always interesting to peek in on what's happening in Portland, America's bike mode share leader.

false

During a speech at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit yesterday, PBOT Director Tom Miller announced that Portland will be pursuing a 10 percent bike mode share goal, an interim step on the city's way to achieving its 25 percent target by 2030. (Portland already has the highest bike commuting share of any big city in the country at 7 percent or 5.8 percent, depending on who's counting.)

Jonathan Maus at Bike Portland reports, interestingly, that the reasoning is driven by fiscal concerns as much as anything:

Miller said PBOT is being forced to adapt and change due to a "crisis in transportation" that revolves around funding. He said Portland has a 21st century transportation vision they are trying to carry out with a 20th century funding model.

To demonstrate to the public that PBOT should focus even more on biking and walking, he said he's working on a fact sheet that will explain the costs related to the infrastructure it takes to move a person one mile in a private motor vehicle versus the same infrastructure required to move that person one mile with a bike or on foot.

According to Miller, he wants the public — and especially bike advocates — to be able to easily track the City's performance and hold PBOT and elected officials accountable. "If the funding is there, and you know the engineering expertise is there... The only thing we lack is political will." With public awareness of the steps Miller wants to take to get to 10% bike mode share, he's hoping that advocates can mobilize the community and create the political breathing space needed for what he refers to as the "tough decisions" and "tough calls that need to be made," to successfully, "march along the path to that long-term 25% goal."

Pretty smart.

Elsewhere on the Network today: The Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog reports that a grassroots effort is emerging to kill plans for a new downtown highway (the same project opposed by Council Member Scott Griggs, whom we highlighted yesterday). Systemic Failure laments the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's bad habit of pursuing both BART and highway projects that are in direct competition. And Stop and Move wonders whether wide roads are actually slower due to the long traffic signal cycles they require.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Staten Islanders Fight To Keep Park Car-free

Politicians believe cars will make the park safer, but the opposite is the case.

April 18, 2025

Friday Headlines: Trump’s Revenge Tour Now Includes a Stop at Penn Station

U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy is so eager to own the libs at the MTA that he's now taken himself hostage. Plus other news.

April 18, 2025

Exclusive: Cops Writing 15% of Their Red Light Tix to Cyclists, Who are Just 2% of Road Users

We received data from a Freedom of Information Law request showing that the NYPD is intent on writing red-light tickets to the lightest, slowest-moving vehicles instead of doubling-down on enforcement against 3,000-pound-plus killing machines.

April 18, 2025

OPINION: DOT’s Argument Against Universal Daylighting Has a Fatal Flaw

Hydrant zones and bus stops are not a suitable stand-in for universal daylighting — yet DOT is using them to argue against safety, our contributors write.

April 18, 2025

Helicopter Deaths, Fast and Slow

Choppers harm us. Suddenly but also steadily.

April 17, 2025
See all posts