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Chris Smith

@chrissmith.us
711 followers 264 following 232 posts

Low car transportation advocate

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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 01/10/2026
Seattle touting their new waterfront public spaces and light rail on floating bridge (and they finally pedestrianized Pike Place Market)
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 01/10/2026
One of Denver’s answers? Double downtime population: diverse, affordable and family friendly
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 01/10/2026
One of Philadelphia’s answers to downtown vitality? Pedestrianize shopping streets!
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Cosáin Climate @cosaingalway.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Geometry: "The most important concept in transport planning. Everything else is footnotes." ~Jarrett Walker (@humantransit.bsky.social).
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No More Freeways @nomorefreewayspdx.com · 01/10/2026
8600+ Oregonians took the Governor's survey on what they want to see in a future transportation package. What a surprise! People want to fix the damn roads, expand transit service and build safer streets. Oregonians are not clamoring for ODOT to spend billions on freeway expansions. #orleg #orpol
opb.org
Here’s how Oregonians want the state to address its transportation budget crisis
Governor workgroup gave Oregonians one month to respond to transportation survey.
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Councilor Angelita Morillo @councilormorillo.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Portland’s CEI Hub has 11 fuel terminals on land vulnerable to earthquakes. If a major disaster occurs, hazardous fuel could be released, threatening our neighborhoods, the Willamette River, & public health. The CEI safety concern extends beyond NW Portland.
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 01/10/2026
Thanks, the more you can do to push it to the top of the list the better!
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 01/10/2026
I saw the documents for the Council work session on legislative agenda and did not see a specific bullet about State transit funding?
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Megan Ramey @bikabout.com · 30/09/2026
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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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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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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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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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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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 23/09/2026
I wrote my first code, in BASIC, on a teletype terminal like that and saved it on paper tape 🤓
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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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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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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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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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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 16/09/2026
I noticed today that there is a companion element on the crosswalk a block south. Would love to know who is doing these!
crosswalk art
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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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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
I haven’t stopped traffic to inspect it closely 😉 I would guess thermoplastic
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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 13/09/2026
It was initially covered in a thin layer of sealer, so it had been slowly revealed as cars drive over it! 2/2
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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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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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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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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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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 29/08/2026
Have you got a donation form up yet?
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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
Mine was about $4k (with some enhancements) back in 2018, so this feels like a steal! I get it serviced at The eBike Store although I don't think they still sell Bennos. But any shop that supports the Bosch system should be able to service it. I believe Clever Cycles still carries Benno.
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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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Chris Smith @chrissmith.us · 28/08/2026
I have the step-through version of the 2018 model and have about 25,000 miles on it (had to spring for a new motor at 21,000). It continues to be my daily transportation!
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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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