Portland transportation summit builds on network reform momentum

Over the last few years, CNU’s annual transportation summit has become one of the nation’s top forums for advancing highly-connected, multimodal transportation networks. As CNU prepares to bring this year’s summit to Portland on November 4-6, these networks are the subject of unprecedented interest: They’re essential components of both the LEED for Neighborhood Development system and the “sustainable communities” promoted through the historic partnership of the federal Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Add to this timeliness the fact that Portland is further along in developing aspects of these sustainable networks than any other region in the US, and you have a recipe for a riveting and important event for planning practice and transportation design. The nearly three-day summit will include a thorough examination of the benefits of well-designed networks, including their ability to increase traffic safety, improve access and mobility, reduce emergency response times, create an inviting public realm, and enhance the economic viability of cities, towns, and main streets. The summit will also advance operating principles or “canons” to guide the design of network elements at scales corresponding to the Charter of the New Urbanism — from the region to the block and building.
This year’s summit will be another synergistic gathering of transportation reform advocates from many disciplines and from all over the US and abroad.  The format features a day of presentations and transportation-oriented tours and a day and a half of working sessions.

frustration with old formulas
CNU transportation reforms, now coordinated through CNU’s Project for Transportation Reform, arose from frustration over funding formulas that reward road performance standards that use vehicle capacity as a measurement of success. This outdated framework leaves no room for the needs of pedestrians, transit riders, and overall place making — all top priorities for CNU.
To start crafting reforms, a working group of CNU members came together in 2005 to draft a new street design manual that gives engineers guidance on place making.  CNU partnered with the Institute of Transportation Engineers to release the manual in 2006 as a proposed recommended practice. It will soon be an official CNU/ITE national standard. This was the first step in changing standards for major urban thoroughfares and has fostered other reform efforts.
Turning the focus to whole networks in 2008, members crafted a set of position papers to define these systems — composed of urban streets connecting frequently to form small walkable blocks, with ample transit service, bicycle amenities, and an inviting pedestrian realm. To apply the ideas from the summit, participants worked with CNU president and CEO John Norquist to develop language identifying sustainable networks for priority funding in national transportation legislation. A coalition in Congress included some of that language in a proposed amendment to the climate bill that is gaining support in the Senate.
With CNU representatives participating in recent meetings with officials involved with the Sustainable Communities partnership (former CNU executive director Shelley Poticha was just hired by HUD as a point person on the project), CNU has been invited to to help explain and illustrate six key principles guiding the partnership of HUD, DOT, and EPA. Similarly, federal officials including HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and DOT Secretary Ray LaHood are invited to the summit to present the federal perspective, get a deeper briefing in network best practices, and explore strategies for implementation.
Constance E. Beaumont, education and outreach manager of the Oregon Transportation & Growth Management Program, said, “Through educational sessions as well as informal networking, the upcoming summit will give participants a great opportunity to learn of new research and insights into such important topics as street design and emergency response, land use strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and transportation policy issues.”
With Project for Transportation Reform co-chair Marcy McInelly and Joseph Ready, her partner in the urban design firm SERA, working with the CNU Cascadia chapter to host the event, the summit will show CNU members the best reforms in a region with a unique vision for urban growth and an elected metropolitan government to get it implemented.
If you attend, you can expect:
•    An opening day focusing on the Portland region and how it has successfully implemented the multimodal transportation network at the three scales of the CNU Charter. For example, Portland’s extensive bicycle network caters to commuters and addresses regional transportation needs, while a growing streetcar network addresses the neighborhood, district, and corridor.
•    Presentations from leading Oregon transportation and planning experts, including Congressman Earl Blumenauer (pending), regionalism guru John Fregonese, and Portland Metro leaders Robert Liberty and Lynn Peterson. McInelly says elected metropolitan government helps to coordinate transportation planning and funding across municipalities in the region.
•    Tours of the best in Portland transportation reforms. These include streetcars, the multimodal network supporting downtown Portland, a tour by bike, and a special green streets tour.
•    Highly substantive presentations and work sessions over the second and third day of the conference that advance the science and practice of connected, multimodal urban transportation networks.
•    A focus on how smart transportation policies can help municipalities reduce their carbon emissions and combat further climate change.
•    Advanced conversations about what constitutes a good network, and how networks function in Oregon. A work team will evaluate a plan by new urbanists at Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin to build a sustainable transportation network in Damascus, a rural area now inside the region's recently expanded urban growth boundary.
•    An examination of the impact of Oregon reforms that give local governments the power to set their own street width standards to supersede those in international fire codes. CNU aims to meet with planning staff and emergency responders from communities operating under these statues to see if this can be a model for the rest of the country.
•    Creation of draft canons for urban transportation networks and critique of these operating principles by local and national experts.
CNU Transportation Summits are where leading reform work is accomplished. Come ready to roll up your sleeves and build on the results of past CNU reform summits. We look forward to seeing you in Portland.