Metro Councilors Robert Liberty, Carl Hosticka and Kathryn Harrington joined U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio and James Oberstar at the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium’s regional transportation and land use decision-making forum on Wednesday. At the forum, DeFazio and Oberstar discussed ways to change the national transportation system’s priorities to advance bicycle commuting and public transit use.
OTREC is an organization dedicated to studying surface transportation methods and models and promotes innovative approaches to long-term transportation problems. It is a joint partnership between Portland State University, University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Oregon Institute of Technology.
Alternative methods of transportation are surging both in Oregon and across the country. Nationwide, bikes are outselling cars and public transit systems have added over 1 million new trips. Here in Portland, bike and public transit ridership continue to steadily increase. Metro has been a strong and consistent advocate of alternative transportation modes, especially bikes and public transit. Metro has contributed nearly $100 million to the new Milwaukie MAX light rail project and has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money for multi-use trail development and bicycle enhancement projects.