Transportation Livability Hub

Sustainable Communities Partnership - Oregon Community Dialogue

The Regional and Division Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency, Housing and Urban Development and Department of Transportation are working with the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) to convene a one-day, statewide, community dialogue to discuss their joint Partnership for Sustainable Communities today (June 30, 2010) at Willamette University.

Attendees represent a balanced representation of subject (transportation, housing, environment), geography (statewide, regional, local), and sector (public, private, academic, NGO).

The purpose of the event is to “increase awareness and understanding of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities; to receive input from state, regional, and local participants about opportunities and needs to inform our efforts; and, to catalyze an enhanced level of participation throughout Oregon.” The meeting will include presentations by the Administrators and workshop discussions facilitated by the National Policy Consensus Center.

Beyond the Motor City Portland Screening

OTREC and Architects Without Borders-Oregon are hosting an evening of ideas with a screening of Beyond the Motor City,a new documentary directed by filmmaker Aaron Woolf (INDEPENDENT LENS “King Corn”). This film examines how Detroit, a grim symbol of America’s diminished status in the world, may come to represent the future of transportation and progress in America. As an example, the picture on the left shows how the once great Michigan Theatre is now a parking lot. The film will be shown one-time only in Portland on June 29th, at McMenamins BAGDAD THEATER. Doors open at 5:30 pm & screening begins at 6:30 pm. Admission is FREE. A panel discussion to follow with Aaron Woolf (filmmaker), Bob Hastings (TriMet Architect), and Gil Kelley (Loeb Fellow, Harvard University). You can view the trailer below:

Rick Willson on Transit Oriented Development 2.0

As a part of OTREC's visiting scholars program, Professor Rick Willson from Cal Poly Pomona presented on the the next generation of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) on February 12.  In a nutshell, TOD is "the intersection of good transit planning and good development planning."  The initial implementation of TOD in California focused on vertical mixed development, fixed rail and property within a quarter mile.  It was a good step in the right direction of creating more livable and sustainable communities.  However, it had some shortcomings such as using cheap right of way, dispersed origin-destination, and counter incentives. New legislation in California and other states focused on vehicle-miles traveled greenhouse gas emissions reduction provides an opportunity to update TOD to use the lessons learned and improve on some shortcomings.  If you missed Prof. Willson's recent seminar, you can view the streaming video and access presentation online. (Image Credit: Rick Willson)

Transportation Health Equity Seminar

On January 28th, OTREC co-hosted a brown bag seminar on The Impacts and Opportunities for Building Healthy, Equitable Communities.  Shireen Malekafzali, PolicyLink, was the guest speaker of the seminar. She discussed the impacts of transportation on health, the challenges with existing policy,and the opportunities for influencing new policy with transportation authorization on the federal agenda.  Some of the recommendations for policy changes that better consider the impact of health equity include prioritizing and encouraging investments in public transprtation, pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure, and transit-oriented development.  The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Transportation Reform in America, a publication produced by PolicyLink and Prevention Instituted further explores the link between transportation, health and equity.  The seminar was well-attended, with a standing room only crowd of folks that represented public, private, non-profit, and university partners in both health and transportation fields. The seminar followed on the heels of the on the recent publication of the book, Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research.

Healthy Transportation Policy & Vehicles Miles Traveled

On January 22, as part of the Friday transportation seminar series at Portland State University Mel Rader (Upstream Public Health) presented on the results of a recently completed study,  Health Impact Assessment on Policies Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled in Oregon Metropolitan Areas. In Oregon, VMT reduction goals is a part of an overall strategy fits into the Governor's sustainable transportation initiatives. The study evaluated 11 specific policies to reduce VMT and the potential impact on public health.  The recommendations that resulted from the study included:

• Increase population density/develop within urban growth boundary;
• Create more mixed-use neighborhoods;
• Increase access to public transit; and
• Increase costs of driving.

The study was funded by the Northwest Heath Foundation with an expert advisory committee that included transportation-based agencies across Oregon.  These agencies included the Oregon Department of Transportation Region 1, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Bend Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Corvallis Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

FTA Perspective on Regional Implications of the Federal Livability Initiative

Rick Krochalis, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Region X Administrator, recently kicked off the Center for Transportation Seminar Series on January 8th with a presentation on the Regional Implications of the Federal Livability Initiative. The presentation touched on the federal interagency partnership in addition to FTA's involvement in the effort. Smart growth and transit-oriented development are not new concepts.  With growing congestion, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, needs for maintaining a state of good repair on existing transportation systems in addition to a growing and aging and population in the United States; transit is playing a key role in helping address these issues.The seminar was followed with with a roundtable group discussion with TriMet and local partners; and meeting with faculty and students highlighting transit-related research. You can download the podcast or view the seminar if you missed the presentation.   Livability is also the theme for the winter transportation seminar series.