PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 16, 2022
Spending on transportation still goes overwhelmingly toward supporting travel by personal vehicle. This contributes to climate change and makes life more dangerous for people who aren’t in a car or a truck. Deaths of pedestrians and cyclists are at an all-time high. Bigger trucks have poured onto those unsafe streets, making them worse for everyone else. Crashes have become far more fatal, with pedestrian deaths rising 46 percent over the last decade. We are free to choose a different path. It requires building roads that slow traffic, and prioritizing public transportation as well as sidewalks, paths, footbridges and other structures that provide cover for pedestrians and show drivers the road is not only for them. Out of the nearly $3.2 billion state transportation work plan, less than 1 percent will go to walking trails, sidewalks and bicycle lanes. That’s not nearly enough.