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The City's stated goal is that 25% of trips be made by bicycle by 2030, but we are currently far short of that goal.
Here's how i will work to increase the bike mode-share.
We need to make bicycling the obvious choice for trips that are less than 20 minutes away by bike. We can do this with more separated and direct infrastructure. NE Sandy Boulevard is the perfect street for this. When we create separated bicycling infrastructure, we can slow down car speeds and also make it safer for pedestrians. Instead of crossing five big car lanes on Sandy, you would have to cross two to three. Bicycling infrastructure is pedestrian infrastructure which is transit infrastructure.
i will focus on Vision Zero succeeding, and reduce the number of people killed and injured by automobiles in Portland.
Car violence is real and deserves as much attention and focus as gun violence. Pedestrians, cyclists, and innocent victims are not to blame. We must respectfully listen to victims of car violence. We need to implement our plans instead of making more plans. That means addressing the backlog in safety improvements projects and with proper funding do more. Specifically, we can install traffic-calming infrastructure and speed enforcement cameras on streets where people choose to speed down wide roads.
this is my vision for transportation in Portland.
My vision is building 50 miles of protected bicycles lanes per year in Portland. We are currently building about four per year. I want to bring back Mayor Vera Katz’s Car Free Portland Day last held 20 years ago in September 2004. I would like to create car-free streets. Imagine N Williams and N Vancouver as car-free streets every Saturday Night! I would like the BikeTown for All program available to everyone in Portland. I would love to see transit helpers welcoming throngs of people moving without cars up and down N Interstate and across Lombard.
I trike nearly every day.
I have an electric Sol trike that I purchased after the encouragement of Portland’s tricyclists and cyclists with disabilities. (Thank you!) I commit to doing 25% of my transit by trike, including cycling to work in City Hall should voters elect me.
District 2 is not safe enough for children riding bikes, or for adults riding bikes.
We’ve got to build physical infrastructure that protects bike lanes. We’ve got to follow the lead of District 2 hero, Coach Sam Balto, and get kids and adults on Bike Buses across the city. Let’s explore the possibility of using PCEF to subsidize cycling schools and cycling safety equipment in addition to expanding funding for Safe Routes to Schools. We need to encourage kids with disabilities to use trikes too! Tricycling is cool.
PBOT’s financial woes are legendary.
For years, multiple city leaders have put forth proposals and failed to solve the problem. This is a gigantic problem we need to deal with by bringing people together outside of City Hall with people-powered democracy. I will bring people together, with other pro-multi-modal transit city council members, to create a proposal that we get over the finish line.
In District 2, there are too many miles of unpaved roads and roads without sidewalks.
There are also miles of unrepaired sidewalks that are in such poor condition that people like me who use mobility devices have to cross the street to continue on our way. This is also a challenge for all of us as we age.
The underserved areas of District 2, and underserved people of District 2, need vigorous representation in City Hall, something they haven’t had. I will show up, speak out, and earn trust by can deliver. It takes many groups, and I’ll need the community to stick with me to see the job through.
The climate crisis is the defining crisis of our lifetimes.
I have been working on climate and environmental justice for 30 years, and my teenager, Calliope, is a climate activist. The urgency of the climate crisis requires fierce fighting, creativity, and leading with the facts and science. I’ve got a track record of leadership on these issues when I served as an elected school board member, as a political activist, and a mom. We’ve got to leave this planet habitable for our children and grandchildren. That’s one of the main reasons I am running for Portland City Council.
