91ÊÓƵ

Some folks are lucky enough to be able to walk to work. Walking to work is a privilege. It is an opportunity to gather one’s daily thoughts together before heading into the workplace. It provides an opportunity to look around and see one’s neighbors as well as get a closer look at the community.

I am one of those people. My commute takes about 15 minutes from door to door. The fall colors are particularly impressive this year. Along with a pedestrian commute, however, comes risk. My commute has no sidewalks for about half the way, and no other pedestrians going my direction. Drivers are often surprised to see a pedestrian. Winter walks home in the dark there can keep people on their toes. The last quarter mile parallels U.S. 26 and the reality of the commute most people face is front and center. Traffic routinely crawls down that highway. However, it is understood – a commute by foot is not feasible for most workers.

Urban Oregonians face an ever-slowing commute every day. Some folks are able to circumvent this by making use of TriMet or bicycles. But that only works if the bus or train is going one’s direction or the ride is easy. Other parts of town are inundated by folks trying to travel to their workplaces. Apps such as Waze make the commute everyone’s problem. Interstate 84 is a parking lot beginning east of Interstate 205 and heading into downtown.

The surface transportation system needs to work for the way Oregonians live now. It needs an overhaul – a radical change. What worked 50 years ago is not applicable today. Many Oregonians elect to move into communities that were laid out 50 years ago or earlier. Some new communities are driven by current thinking of efficiency in mobility – compact, urban and perhaps vertical. But many others still replicate the single-family residence model. It is what people want and are buying. While these communities may have sidewalks, regular use by pedestrians on purposeful trips is still a rarity. The further from the city center, the less visible are pedestrians. It’s the same with bike lanes in the suburbs. They are evidence of progressive thinking, but no real use.

With central areas at almost crush loads during rush hour, regular commuter routes should be serviced by frequent high-tech bus transit. High tech is dynamic and changes by the hour. Equipment size is determined by demand and the frequency such that schedules are not needed. Walk up, and within five minutes or so a bus shows up. Cost-effectiveness is not to be measured by dollars per passenger but by avoidance of asphalt.

Separating transit from surface transportation investment has been a colossal error – it separates cost centers. Under a single umbrella, making the $100 million dollar trade-offs between new roads or more transit in urban areas would be easy – as long as expensive rail systems are off the table (they are seductive). It is time for a radical change in thinking and financing. The solution must also recognize that the needs of urban areas are quite different from the needs of rural ones. One size simply won’t fit all in this state.

The surface transportation system – be it public vehicles or simply roadway infrastructure for motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians – is the main daily contact that most people have with their government. Horizontal mobility is a fundamental social need. The surface transportation system cannot be managed feasibly by a private entity.

Utilities and roadways are government-provided services that touch everybody every day. Despite that startling fact, it does not appear to be at the center of gravity for local or state leadership. City council agendas for cities like Portland tell the real story. Local and state leadership is wrapped around social service issues, police protection and education. If these three issues are included with transportation and utilities in a list of priorities, the latter likely comes in last. Perhaps the problem is that users of utilities and transportation systems do not find their way downtown. They are not appearing in city council meetings or state government committee hearings.

But these services are among the most important services that local governments provide its citizens. Elected officials would do well to heed and improve these highly used services. If Portland voters can afford a $258 million bond measure for housing and a $790 million bond measure for education, they can certainly afford to improve the surface transportation system. The surface transportation system needs elected advocates who have a deep understanding of how it works.

Christian Steinbrecher is president of Ukiah Engineering. He is the author of ASCE Oregon’s report card on Oregon’s infrastructure and a past recipient of ASCE Oregon’s Engineer of the Year award. Contact him at 503-297-4827 or [email protected].