- Harry Lau
But the group that most vocally pushed for those bus stop improvements—OPAL—is moving ahead with a project to chronicle the worst bus stops in Portland and suggest ways to fix them. Today, Metro regional government announced the recipients of $533,000 in federal "regional transportation options" grants it controls; OPAL won $63,000 to pinpoint and document the city's crummiest transit stops. The bus stop assessments will focus on East Portland, where the transit advocacy group will survey 1,000 residents about their transit use, ask about problem stops, and how they can be improved. Over the summer, OPAL volunteers and paid organizers completed about 100 bus stop assessments around town, finding bus stops that were hard for people to use because they lack sidewalks, shelters, or even benches (some photos of bad stops here).
Though OPAL protested TriMet's cuts before the election, they're working on this project with TriMet's (non-financial) support and partnership. "There's times to poke and there's times to hold hands," Ostar told me today. The $63,000 grant adds significantly to OPAL's $150,000 operating budget from last year.
Metro also granted federal funds to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Community Cycling Center, among others. Check out the full list of monies below the cut.
Regional Transportation Options grants:
RTO partner agencies, Cash for Commuters incentive program, $60,000
Lloyd Transportation Management Association, Lloyd Links, $30,000
Community Cycling Center, Communities in Motion: Increasing Capacity for Active Transportation, $34,086
Housing Authority of Portland, Regional Work Source, Transportation Mobility Counseling, $60,000
OPAL Environmental Justice of Oregon, East Portland Community Bus Stop Assessment, $63,000
Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Bike Commute Challenge, $27,500
City of Forest Grove, Forest Grove bicycle parking shelters, $45,000
City of Tigard, Downtown Tigard walking map and way-finding system, $25,000
City of Wilsonville/SMART, Wilsonville Sunday Parkways, $53,414
Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation, trail and way-finding signage, $60,000
