PORTLAND’S AMBITIOUS new Bicycle Master Plan envisions that
in 20 years, the city could have 600 new miles of bikeways—but
one question lingers: Will Portland put its money where its mouth is
and actually fund the much-lauded plan?
The first paragraph of the 200-page plan says bikes must become a
“fundamental pillar” of Portland’s transportation system by 2030, but
currently bikes in Portland receive only a toothpick’s worth of
funding.
“We could maybe squint our eyes and if some earmarks came through,
we could maybe see $70 million,” project manager Ellen Vanderslice told
the planning commission last week. The price tag for just the first 123
miles of improved and new bikeways laid out in the plan is $100
million.
That’s still relatively cheap, says City Bicycle Coordinator Roger
Geller, who pointed out to the planning commission that one mile of
urban freeway costs $60 million to build. Though six to eight percent
of Portlanders use bikes as their primary mode of transportation,
Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) plans to spend two percent of
its capital budget on bikes over the next two years. Geller is
optimistic that number is on its way up.
“My sense it that under the mayor’s direction, PBOT is now more
focused on bicycling,” says Geller, noting that the city recently won a
$1 million federal stimulus grant for bike programs that it might not
have pursued in previous years. “Locally we’re never going to have
enough money, so we’re looking at where the money is and that’s the
federal level,” Geller continues.
Money for painting bike lanes and building new paths comes primarily
from the state gas tax and city parking fees, the revenue from which is
worth less than it was a decade ago, according to city number-cruncher
John Rist. Meanwhile, a 2006 study from Alta Planning and Design says
bikes pump about $63 million into the city’s economy every year.
Bike advocates have suggested a few ways to dig up more money for
bikes, including pressuring the state for funds or seeking sponsorship
from heath agencies like Kaiser Permanente.
In addition to building 600 new miles of bike paths and lanes, the
city’s first Bicycle Master Plan since 1996 suggests turning areas like
Gateway and the Lloyd District into “bicycle districts” and promoting
more bike education in schools. If the planning commission approves the
plan, it will head to city council in November or December.