Portland City Councilor Koyama Lane calls for recommitment to Vision Zero

     The Portland City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a meeting on Monday where Council VP Koyama Lane made a firm push for the city to recommit to Vision Zero; a city goal to eliminate traffic deaths and create safer, more walk-able streets.

Koyama Lane was unanimously joined by both her colleagues on City Council, and almost all of those who joined made a public testimony. Vision Zero Portland was started in 2015 when 37 people were killed in traffic related incidents.

"Our car centered transportation system has an insatiable demand for more. More Pavement, more speed, more fuel, more lives"
- Lauren McCune, member of Bike Bus PDX

     Citing 58 traffic-related deaths in 2024 as an unacceptable metric of the city's progress towards that goal, Koyama Lane proposed a committee resolution which would restore funding to the Vision Zero program. Cuts to this funding are some of what's being eyed for Mayor Wilson's “Back to Basics” budget proposal.

    The path towards safe streets is a complex one loaded with competing interests. Most agree that the solution is going to have to be a multi-faceted one. That means things like dedicated bus and bike lanes, lower speed limits, walk-able infrastructure and even changes to consumer/production trends as one advocate claims. “What we buy matters” Zachary Lauritzen with Oregon Walks said. “What we need is to buy light vehicles, is to buy small vehicles, vehicles with proper vision clearance.”

     That leaves the question; does evidence support the idea that large vehicles are a major contributor to the traffic death crisis? According to a 2023 report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety the answer is a clear yes, both hood height and blunt profiles significant increase in pedestrian fatalities.

"If we are serious about this, we don't cut Vision Zero"
- Zachary Lauritzen, member of Portland Walks

     Towards the end of the testimony Garret Prior, senior advisor to Jessica Vega Pederson spoke on behalf of the county commission. Prior expressed the county's interest in a more unified and centralized approach to tackling the monumental task of addressing the crisis.

     After public testimony the city councilors then had another opportunity to offer their thoughts and amendments, such as Councilor Angelita Morillo's amendment that would allocate 2 million of Wilson's proposed PPB budget increase towards traffic safety duties. This is paired with similar amendments made by Morillo and her colleagues which would repurpose police funds towards social services such as Portland Street Response.

     The committee then asked anyone attending the meeting to stand if they supported the resolution, where almost the entirety of the room stood or otherwise showed support. The committee unanimously agreed to bring the resolution to full-council with a strong recommendation to approve it. This meeting is a part of a several month long city budget process ahead of its implementation July 1st.