Portland Transportation Goal to End City Traffic Fatalities by 2025

The new safety goal from Portland’s Director of Transportation is to end traffic fatalities in the next ten years.  Auto fatalities and death can be avoided but it is a collaborative effort to decrease the numbers.  The Bureau of Transportation released a 2-year work plan earlier this week.  Distracted driving and speeding are two of the main contributing factors to the average 37 auto deaths each year.

If a pedestrian is hit by a car traveling 25 miles per hour the chance of them surviving is very likely.  With a car going just 10 miles per hour faster, the survival rate for a pedestrian if it is about 50%.

• The safety plan uses a combination of strategies including:
• Redesigning some four-lane streets
• Lowering speed limits
• Enforcing traffic laws by expanding the use of automated cameras
• Educating drivers
• Protective sealing for 147 miles of streets
• Managing traffic congestion and parking

With the expanding Portland population, the road space is unable to keep up.  Parking is also another issue demanding attention and The Bureau is looking at adding more metered parking on the East side and other new ideas for downtown.  One of the new plans is looking at allowing hospitals, theaters and businesses to have spaces available to the general public too.