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Portland’s new transit bridge isn’t finished yet, but it does have a name: Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People. The name, which derives from a Native American word meaning both connection and people, was announced by TriMet on Wednesday.

Approximately 9,000 name suggestions were submitted. A 10-person bridge naming committee first culled the list to four finalists, and then two, committee chairman and historian Chet Orloff said. The other finalist was the Abigail Scott Duniway Transit Bridge, he said.

The multimodal bridge will accommodate light rail trains, streetcars, buses, cyclists and pedestrians, but no private vehicles, according to TriMet.

“It wasn’t a popularity contest,” Orloff said. “We had to determine which of the names best fit the criteria of connection, community and crossing because that’s what a bridge does.”

The word Tilikum is Chinook Wawa, a language that previously was spoken throughout the Pacific Northwest. Fur traders and the first generations of Portlanders spoke some of the language and jargon, which is still used internationally, Orloff said.

“It had all the right stuff,” he said. “It was not only unanimous, but there was strong unanimity.”

TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane ultimately OK’d the committee’s recommendation.

Orloff acknowledged that many people may call it simply ‘the Tilikum Bridge,’ but added that the naming committee wanted to convey a sense of the bridge’s purpose. “The Bridge of the People” communicates how it will be used, he said.

“We felt because this is a transit bridge, which will primarily be used in mass transit, it is more communitarian as opposed to most bridges,” he said.

The bridge is scheduled to open Sept. 12, 2015.