Portland Bureau of Transportation

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (or PBOT) is the agency tasked with maintaining the city of Portland's transportation infrastructure. Bureau staff plan, build, manage and maintain a transportation system with the goal of providing people and businesses access and mobility. For FY 2014–15, the Bureau employed 749 staff members and had an adopted budget of roughly $309 million.^[1] All told, the Bureau manages more than $8.4 billion in public assets from streets and bridges to traffic signals and street lights.^[2] The Bureau also owns the Portland Streetcar and the Portland Aerial Tram, though they’re operated by Portland Streetcar Inc. and Oregon Health & Science University respectively.^[3][4]

Organization

The mayor assigns a city commissioner to be commissioner in charge of the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The commissioner in charge appoints a director, who leads the Bureau in its day-to-day business.

In June 2013 Mayor Charlie Hales appointed Steve Novick commissioner in charge.^[5] Novick appointed Leah Treat director in July 2013 following a nationwide search. She replaced Interim Director Toby Widmer, who had been appointed following the resignation of former Director Tom Miller.^[6]

According to the most recent budget,^[1] the Bureau is led by the Office of the Director, which directly oversees communication and six division managers as follows:

• Development Services and Streetcar
• Planning and Capital Services
• System Management (Parking Enforcement, Parking Operations, Parking Garages, Active Transportation, Traffic District Operations, Traffic Design and Regulatory Operations)
• Business Services (Finance and Accounting, Asset Management, Business Technology, Employee Services, Administrative Services)
• Engineering and Technical Services (Civil Design, Bridges and Structures, Survey, Construction Inspection and Pavement, and Signals and Street Lights)
• Maintenance Operations (Construction and Operations, Environmental System and Street Systems)

Direction Under Director Leah Treat and Commissioner Steve Novick

Back to basics

Under Commissioner Steve Novick and Director Leah Treat, the Bureau has made a renewed effort to prioritize maintaining city roads.

In July 2013, the beginning of FY 2013–14, the Bureau announced a goal to preserve 100 lane miles of pavement during the fiscal year.^[7] As of July 2014, the Bureau had managed to preserve 103 lane miles.^[8][9]

According to The Oregonian, the Bureau “spent $10.6 million repairing and preserving 103 lane miles of streets during the fiscal year ... That's roughly double from the previous fiscal year -- thanks in large part to a sealant program that represents only a fraction of the costs.”^[9]

Transportation funding

In early 2014, the Bureau launched a funding effort dubbed OurStreetsPDX, which aims to raise approximately $50 million in additional revenue each year for transportation needs.^[10] Nearly half of the city’s busiest streets are in poor or very poor condition.^[2]

Following six months of public engagement, Commissioner Novick and Mayor Charlie Hales proposed a street fee that would charge residents and businesses based on street usage. Fees were flat for residents, depending on the type of residence and their income level. For businesses, the fee was calculated based on square footage and the average number of trips generated, according to the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Trip Generation Manual.^[11][12]

After significant public input, however, Hales and Novick postponed a vote on the street fee in favor of additional public outreach. Currently, three working groups are meeting to revise the fee and Hales, Novick and Treat hope to have an alternate plan before the City Council in November.^[10][13]

2-Year work plan

The Bureau is currently in the process of developing a two-year work plan with the help of independent firm, Nelson/Nygaard. In an interview with Bike Portland, Treat described the plan as an outline of “time-specific deliverables we’re going to commit to and be very public and transparent about … And there will be stretch goals and we might not make all of them. But that’s part of running a business, you re-evaluate and re-steer if you don’t meet your goals.”^[14] In a separate interview with Bike Portland, Treat also indicated the work plan would include goals toward Vision Zero.^[15]

Budget

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has a roughly $309 million budget for FY 2014–15. The bulk of the money comes from year-to year carryover ($59 million), bonds and notes proceeds ($51 million), gas taxes ($62.7 million), contracts with other city agencies ($30.7 million), fees for permits and other services ($27.1 million) and parking meters ($25.4 million). Remaining sources included parking garages, the city’s general fund, parking citations and local parking permits.^[1]

The budget is then split into two categories: discretionary and restricted. Nearly two-thirds of the budget falls in the restricted category, meaning the Bureau must follow certain spending guidelines depending on where the money comes from.^[16]

The Bureau’s FY 2014–15 discretionary budget is $108.3 million in all. It was spent as follows: Operations ($28 million), maintenance ($27.9 million), overhead and administration ($14.5 million) and construction projects (11.3 million). Another $26 million was spent on various bureau programs, contingencies and reserves.^[1][16]

Budget Advisory Committee

The Bureau convenes a Budget Advisory Committee every year to help guide the budgeting process. Members for the committee are drawn from volunteers and a number of stake holder groups, including businesses, neighborhood coalitions, biking and pedestrian advocacy groups, senior groups and others.

The committee also takes public comment into account, which can be submitted at their meetings or by mail and email.^[17]

Active transportation

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has a specific division tasked with making city streets safer and more comfortable for those who walk, bike or take public transit.^[18] The Active Transportation Department receives a relatively small piece of the Bureau’s overall budget, with $3.9 million allocated in FY 2014–15.^[1]

Over the years, Portland has become known for its commitment to bicycling infrastructure and active transportation.^[19] The city was the first to achieve Platinum status from the League of American Bicyclists – and is one of only four to maintain this rating. (1) In 2012, Bicycling Magazine again named Portland it’s No.1 bike-friendly city in the U.S.^[20] The Bureau manages 331 miles of bike lanes and has been credited with creating the concept of Neighborhood Greenways.^[2] This is a practice in which low-traffic side streets are retrofitted into bike boulevards using cost-effective speed humps, sharrow markings and traffic diverters. The practice has been imitated in Seattle. The program, however, has produced fewer greenways in recent years.^[21]

The Bureau’s Sunday Parkways program, which closes off a network of streets to car traffic and opens it to foot and bike traffic five times each summer, has been called an ‘Open Streets Model’ by the Open Streets Project. Activists from Seattle have also visited in hopes of bringing a similar program there.^[19] Routes run between 4.5 and 8 miles in length and events have sometimes drawn more than 30,000 people.^[22][23][24]

This department also conducts a number of safety programs. The High Crash Corridor Program has identified 10 roads where the majority of crashes occur, according to Bike Portland. The Bureau then develops a plan with recommended improvements to increase safety with focuses on enforcement, engineering and education efforts.^[25][26] The Bureau also has a Safe Routes to School program that partners with more than 100 schools to identify ways improve pedestrian and bicycle safety for students on their way to school.^[27][28]

Statistics and assets

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is responsible for:^[2]

• 4,842 lane miles of streets
• 2,520 miles of sidewalks
• 922 signalized traffic intersections
• 55,477 street lights (City owns them all, but operates only 11,284 of them.)
• 157 bridges
• 26 miles of roadside barriers
• 1753 parking meters (410 single meters, 1,343 pay stations)
• Six parking garages
• 331 miles of bike lanes
• Pavement markings on Portland’s streets are long enough to stripe a 4-inch-wide line from Portland to Omaha, Nebraska.

See also

• Transportation in Portland, Oregon
• TriMet

References

External links

• Portland Bureau of Transportation
• Portland Aerial Tram
• Portland Streetcar