Heady title for an introductory entry, perhaps. But we thought you might want to check out a BBC piece that reports on Portland, Oregon’s efforts to overhaul public transit.

In the 1970s, the state’s Republican governor took “radical” steps to prioritize public transport over roads. Using the freeways levy, Oregon pioneered one of the “most integrated and dynamic public transport provisions anywhere in the world.”

Best part, local communities have a voice in the process. As Sayeeda Warsi, the Vice Chairman of Great Britain’s Conservative Party (and the article’s author) notes, Portland’s transit system equals “true direct democracy in action.”

Also goes to show that gubernatorial candidates can be leaders in promoting transportation choices–they just need the will to do something about it.

Check out the article, and learn the vision (and statistics) behind Portland’s success.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 21st, 2006 at 9:23 am by Transit for Livable Communities and is filed under Transit and Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.