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Chris Smith

@chrissmith.us
707 followers 264 following 227 posts

Low car transportation advocate

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Reposted by Chris Smith
Megan Ramey @bikabout.com · 20h
Governor @tinakotek.bsky.social and @mayorkwilson.bsky.social, we need a bold transportation vision for Oregon and Portland. 0:00 Childhood 1:19 Mom Advocacy 3:09 Oregon? 4:27 Bike Train 7:35 E-bike Library 7:50 $ matters 8:30 Governor Kotek and Mayor Wilson www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1XK...
youtube.com
2026 Alice Award Speech by Megan Ramey
YouTube video by bikabout
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Jeremy Beausoleil Smith @jeremy4pdx.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Allan Classen, the editor of the NW Examiner, has chosen to exclude us and @jameyevenstar.bsky.social from their Candidate Debate by saying we haven’t raised enough money. Our campaign has raised over $130k and we’ve remained steadily ahead of Eric Zimmerman in contributions. This is a bad look.
A screenshot from an article from the Northwest Examiner stating that the “top four” candidates for the 2026 District 4 Portland City Council race had been chosen for a local debate. A screenshot from the Northwest Examiner article about the upcoming debate.
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Portland Streetcar @portlandstreetcar.org · 28/09/2026
ESCO redevelopment includes housing, business and green spacePlans are slowly taking shape for the redevelopment of the former ESCO Corp. industrial property in Northwest Portland where developers want to bring together 1,300 housing units, a grocery store, light industrial development and green space to the area, served by an extension of the Portland Streetcar to the Montgomery Park office building.Mercy Housing Northwest is developing the first project on the ESCO site in partnership with Friendly House, which operates a nonprofit community center in Northwest Portland.Walsh Construction's Ames, who is also part of the ownership team for the ESCO site, said it was important to start the redevelopment with the construction of affordable housing to fulfill inclusionary housing requirements for multiple buildings across the project area rather than sprinkling inclusionary units across multiple units.
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Urban Truth Collective @urbantruth.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
They tried their best to make the idea of having more things we want nearby, more options and choices in our cities and neighborhoods, seem like a conspiracy. But never forget what the REAL urban conspiracy has been — moving everything further away and making us car dependent. #1HourCityConspiracy
White text on black background reading “The real ‘urban conspiracy’ isn’t proximity, it’s distance. The ‘one hour city’ traps millions in long commutes, car dependency, and lost time. We need cities of proximity, time, and quality of life.” — @carlosmorenofr.bsky.social #UrbanTruth
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amb @amb.fyi · 25/09/2026
for all the handwringing about city council drama i don’t think this gets emphasized nearly enough
“Our City Council now, for better or worse, is more representative of Portland,” Valdini said. “It doesn’t always make things easier when a lot of different voices are heard in government.”

“But now you have a City Council that is divided and represents the divisions in Portland. I see this as a success story.”
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Reposted by Chris Smith
The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
People's thoughts on building society around forced car dependency.
NY Times independent voter quotes showing illustrations of people's faces and the words bad, amoral, disgusting, two words: morally corrupt, and disgusting.
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Star:Line Chicago @starlinechicago.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Someone smarter than me first said it but the paradox of American urban expressways is that they can only be repaired: the political costs of removal are too high but the financial costs of replacement (after a catastrophic closure, e.g. Embarcadero after Loma Prieta) are also too high
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Megan Ramey @bikabout.com · 22/09/2026
10 of my 15 library borrowers have purchased their E-bike for car replacement. "This report shows that the Electrification + Mode Shift policy scenario alone can reduce annual fuel consumption in urban passenger transport by 70%" itdp.org/publication/...
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Rick Turoczy @turoczy.co · 22/09/2026
Portland's Selena Deckelmann is among TIME's 2026 Executives of the Year siliconflorist.com/2026/09/22/s...
siliconflorist.com
Selena Deckelmann recognized among 2026 Time Executives of the Year: Tech and Data – Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community
If you were anywhere near the Portland open source community at the turn of the century, you had heard of Selena Deckelmann. Back then, she was an active participant and contributor to the PostgreS…
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Reposted by Chris Smith
OpaqueReptile @possumpat.io · 21/09/2026
Did you know if you build fewer/smaller highways you have to spend less on maintenance? Crazy I know. I will never understand why we pour billions into the most space and cost inefficient transportation option, saddling us with massive future maintenance debt, while public transit gets crumbs.
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1 million Portlanders by 2045 🌲🌧️🦫🚲🚇🚰 @bradleyclover.com · 19/09/2026
Think homes are good? Then apply for the Planning Commission before Monday. www.portland.gov/bps/planning...
portland.gov
Planning Commission seeks candidates for open positions - deadline extended
The City of Portland is seeking members to serve on an advisory body responsible for long-range city planning. The deadline to apply has been extended to Monday, Sept. 21.
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Reposted by Chris Smith
bethosborne.bsky.social @bethosborne.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
DOTs are using models and tools that are half a century old and extremely limited while talented researchers are creating modern tools and opening the source code. Why shouldn’t this be the standard transportation model? understandingtransport.substack.com/p/connectome...
understandingtransport.substack.com
Connectome v0.8.0
Ives Street is excited to announce the release of our travel demand modeling software, Connectome, under a license that makes it free to use for public agencies, nonprofits, and educational institutio...
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
If you have a few extra dollars, send it Shawne's way. If we say we value the things Shawne does - a livable planet above all - we need to be supporting those fighting the fight, especially when the odds seem insurmountable.
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Reposted by Chris Smith
A. Zivarts @nondriver.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The explosion of e-bikes, e-trikes and e-scooters is truly revolutionary...The joy and freedom of biking is intoxicating for everyone who has had the opportunity to try out life on two or three wheels with a little e-boost.
amny.com
Op-Ed | E-bikes mean freedom for low-vision cyclists like me: don’t take that away | amNewYork
So did a lot of other people who, like me, don’t have valid driver’s licenses. In July, the state’s new e-bike law went into effect. Among other regulations
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Dr David R Brake @drbrake.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Replacing public transit autonomous vehicles would be neither fair nor effective even if they were widely available and safe. I would have thought this obvious but it's good to have the arguments spelled out clearly.
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Fischer 🛠️🚇 @fischer.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
i-5 should be macromobility! that’s my high speed rail ROW right there
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Reposted by Chris Smith
David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Yet again, traffic engineers are gobsmacked that a road closure didn't create crippling gridlock: "You’d never know that a massive highway project, ominously dubbed 'carmageddon,' was underway seven miles away...cars [were] speeding across the Interstate Bridge at their usual clip."
opb.org
Vancouver traffic largely unaffected by start of I-5 Rose Quarter project
Washington transportation officials warn commute time could increase in the coming days.
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Brandon Mullen @brandonmullen.com · 15/09/2026
Anecdotally: I-5 being closed pushed some folks to transit, and this is a brilliant example of a) why we need to just demolish the inner eastside part of I-5 and b) why when we do that it will be just fine.
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Portland Mercury @portlandmercury.com · 15/09/2026
In Search of Portland, the new book by local journalist and architecture writer Brian Libby, reveals the stories behind the built landscape, the people, and the history that have created modern Portland.
portlandmercury.com
In Search of Portland Reveals an Evolving, Ever-Changing City - Portland Mercury
A new book leads readers through local history via walking tours of Portland's downtown.
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 13/09/2026
Any ideas who the artist behind this project might be? It was installed in the crosswalk at NW 23rd and Pettygrove shortly after the repaving. 1/x
Car on fire mosaic
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Oni_no_pantsu👹👖🚲🐸 @oninopantsu.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Good time to read this book. www.powells.com/book/life-af...
powells.com
Life After Cars : Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile | Powell's Books
From the hosts of The War on Cars podcast, a searing indictment of how cars ruin everything—and what we can do to fight back When the very first cars rolled off production lines, they were a technolo...
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Joe Streckert @joestreckert.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I wrote about In Search of Portland by Brian Libby for the @portlandmercury.com Fall Arts Issue. It’s a detailed look at the architecture and deaign of Portland’s west side, and reading it deela like bekng on a walk with a great tour guide.
portlandmercury.com
In Search of Portland Reveals an Evolving, Ever-Changing City - Portland Mercury
A new book leads readers through local history via walking tours of Portland's downtown.
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Nic Cota @nictrieslife.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Gonna call it now: week 1 will be crazy. Week 2 a little elevated. Week 3: nearly normal. By week 5 we’re gonna be so close to normal traffic levels at the same time experiencing peak transit and bike ridership. All in time to revert back www.opb.org/article/2026...
opb.org
Authorities try to avoid ‘carmageddon’ during 5-week closure of I-5 southbound
Authorities are trying all kinds of tricks to make the closure of I-5 southbound as painless as possible.
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Jeffrey Tumlin 🏳️‍🌈 🌁 @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Automated light metro allows for very high frequency at low marginal cost. Higher frequency means high capacity with shorter trains, cutting station costs
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Nick @ecosozialismus.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
ICYMI: www.portlandmercury.com/news/grassro...
portlandmercury.com
Grassroots or Astroturf? “Go Portland Go” Campaign Backed By Conservative Donors - Portland Mercury
“Portland doesn’t have a money problem. It has a leadership problem. The next election is our chance to change that.” That’s a statement on the homepage of a new coalition, Go Portland Go, which filed...
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 03/09/2026
We're just hurtling toward immense destruction & suffering & the entire US political class has agreed it's better not to talk about it. "Insanity" barely covers it.
nytimes.com
U.N. Says World Will Miss Its 1.5-Degree Climate Target
Carbon removal combined with emissions reduction is the only remaining pathway to avert catastrophic levels of warming, a new report warns.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The REAL war in cities has been a WAR ON WALKING. Pass it on. #WarOnWalking #UrbanTruth
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 29/08/2026
The #FarmersMarketRide was delighted to be joined by several families from the Duniway Bike Bus! Shout out to @pdxparent.bsky.social for the listing!
Happy young (and not so young) cyclists
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Mike Perham @mike.perham.net · 28/08/2026
Here’s the NHS in core Portland. Bikes lanes would be illegal on many arterials: NW Broadway, Burnside, Stark, Powell, Grand, Cesar Chavez, etc.
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 28/08/2026
www.oregonlive.com/environment/...
oregonlive.com
‘This is wild’: Worst algae bloom in a decade reaches Willamette River
The “megabloom” started in Ross Island lagoon and may be a sign of more trouble ahead.
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Reposted by Chris Smith
Peter Flax @pflax1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I wear a helmet 99% of the time.They can reduce the odds of concussions and certain injuries and will deter people from blaming me if I get hit. I think it's smart to wear one. But countries with low helmet use have a lower rate of death— because 15 other things are more effective safety measures.
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
New study suggests that a shortage of secure bike parking is limiting e-bike adoption. Glad to see this issue getting attention. It's intuitive that people with quasi-secure bike storage might be OK risking a pedal bike, but not an e-bike that's more expensive. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
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Lior Steinberg @steinberg.nu · 25/08/2026
We spent a century making cities car-friendly. Nobody stopped to ask if the cars were city-friendly.
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Canada's leaders are doing the necessary, hard, right thing. Team MAGA is doing the senseless, dishonorable, self-damaging thing. And no one in the GOP dares stand up to it—even those whose states are most harmed by this stupid "trade war" and disrespect to what was our closest ally.
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 23/08/2026
www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2026... - Excellent op ed from Jarrett Walker
oregonlive.com
Opinion: TriMet is shrinking. Do we care?
Does the region still care about TriMet and ensuring a strong public transit system, asks public transit design and policy consultant Jarrett Walker. While leaders face many competing priorities, the ...
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amb @amb.fyi · 22/08/2026
i'm hopeful stars are starting to align that might force regional political powerbrokers to the table to figure out portland's next era of transit investments. crisis breeds opportunity. but these cuts are gonna be deeply inconvenient for many and gruesome and painful to some truly vulnerable people
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No More Freeways @nomorefreewayspdx.com · 22/08/2026
The cuts to bus service will get worse without bold leadership from the Oregon Legislature next session. Will we restore and expand public transit? Or will we continue to give billions of dollars to ODOT for their costly, polluting freeway expansions? www.wweek.com/news/2026/08...
wweek.com
‘Historic’ Service Cuts Are Now Arriving for TriMet Riders
The service reductions were first announced in January, as a state transportation funding package crumbled in the face of a Republican-led grassroots revolt.
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Streetsblog USA @usa.streetsblog.org · 20/08/2026
Talking Headways Podcast: How Money for Highways Could Have Built 36 Paris Metros usa.streetsblog.org/2026/08/20/t...
usa.streetsblog.org
Talking Headways Podcast: How Money for Highways Could Have Built 36 Paris Metros — Streetsblog USA
This week, we’re chatting with Dallas developer, DART board member, and urban designer Patrick Kennedy about his recent publication, "An Atlas of Intercity Highway Impacts". We discuss the tax base…
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bus enjoyer @intersections.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Good to see TriMet mobilizing and educating riders about where the blame lies for these upcoming service cuts. “Funding TriMet should be a top funding priority for our region.”
From an email trimet sent riders today: Decision-makers are asking Oregonians to share how they think transportation dollars should be spent in the future. TriMet relies on state funding, and your feedback could help preserve our service for generations to come.
 
Now is the time to speak up. Tell them Oregon needs reliable public transit.

Take the survey

Here's some suggested copy for the blank survey portion:
Funding TriMet should be a top funding priority for our region. TriMet is essential infrastructure that connects people to jobs, school, health care, local businesses, community services and each other. For me, maintaining and investing in a strong public transit system is the #1 priority.
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Jarrett Walker @humantransit.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
US high schools are routinely located as though they were prisons. -- Cut off from the community. -- No way for people to walk/bike in or out. -- Maximum congestion. -- No way for transit to get there efficiently. -- Nothing but barriers in all directions. Nashville, TN H/t @thetransitguy.com
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I'm sure people will get mad at @humantransit.bsky.social for saying this, but he's right. Campaigning on fare-free transit shrinks the coalition of people willing to invest in public transportation. It endangers transit's survival. humantransit.org/2026/08/an-i...
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No More Freeways @nomorefreewayspdx.com · 14/08/2026
please please please please take this survey and tell the legislature/odot that you want to see public transit, street safety and road maintenance prioritized over needless billions towards freeway expansion. www.cognitoforms.com/ODOT2/ROTVSu...
cognitoforms.com
Rebuilding Our Transportation Vision Survey
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Khanh Pham for Oregon @khanhphamfororegon.com · 12/08/2026
Update from @trimet.org today: Without additional revenue, TriMet's budget deficit will ultimately force the agency to cut in excess of 33% of its total service by 2030 or 2031. This is what a 31% service could look like:
Eliminating 30 of 79 bus lines (38% of bus lines).
Ending weekend service on many bus lines.
Ending service on many bus lines after 9pm.
Shutting down WES Commuter rail system.
MAX frequency goes from 15 mins to 20 mins (3 trains per hour vs 4)
Bus frequent services goes from 15 mins to 17.5 mins.
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Peter Norton @norton.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Car dependency was not a choice. It was and is the deprivation of choice.
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Khanh Pham for Oregon @khanhphamfororegon.com · 11/08/2026
Oregon simply won't have enough money to fix our state's crumbling roads and bridges and restore statewide transit service if we continue to write blank checks for ODOT's proposed multibillion dollar megaprojects. #orpol #orleg
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
“One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.” “Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” #CityMakingMath Some costs are savings.
Screenshot of grist article with same title as in post. Image of people riding bikes in a Copenhagen bike lane.
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
E-bikes don't go 46 MPH. Ads like this should be illegal. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/08/05/s...
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Dr Grace S Peng @gspeng.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Ebikes
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Jonathan @jakz92.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
It cannot be overstated: Urban capacity expansion projects are the *worst* way to invest in freight movement. They cost 10x more per mile than rural and suburban bypass projects, and almost all of the benefit is soaked up by commuters.
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