The online survey associated with this online open house closed on January 24, 2021. This page will remain live for informational purposes. Review the Winter 2020-21 Public Involvement Summary to learn about key findings from the online open house.
Welcome to the Rose Lane Project winter 2020/21 online open house!
On this site, you can learn about the Rose Lane vision, get a status update on dozens of projects helping make transit better in Portland, and provide feedback. (Please note the online survey closed on January 24, 2021).
Since City Council adopted the Rose Lane Project report in February 2020, we’ve been hard at work building projects, getting more ready to roll out, and planning for the next phase of Rose Lane improvements. Constructing all the proposed projects identified on the Rose Lane interactive map will take several years, and the pace at which we can roll out projects depends on when funding is available. The feedback gathered through this online open house will inform our next steps. As we move forward, we will also continue searching for places where future Rose Lane projects could help deliver further benefits to transit.
Thank you for visiting!
The Rose Lane Project vision
Through the Rose Lane Project, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is helping bus and streetcar riders get where they need to go more reliably and quickly. PBOT is implementing the Rose Lane Project in close partnership with TriMet.
What is a "Rose Lane"?
A “Rose Lane” is a transit route where buses and streetcars have priority on the road where they are most delayed. There are over 20 tools in the Enhanced Transit Toolbox we can use to make transit faster and more reliable. Not all Rose Lanes include bus-only lanes—as we develop Rose Lane projects, we will pick the best solution to get buses out of traffic in that particular location.
Thirteen bus lines and two streetcar lines make up the primary Rose Lane network (though even more transit lines benefit from Rose Lane improvements in busy locations). Over time, as transit moves faster and more reliably through these improved corridors, bus service will increase, helping move more people. Future transit service could mean 12-minute frequency or better on weekdays and 10-minute frequency or better during the AM and PM peak hours where travel time savings are greatest and benefit the most riders.
Why transit priority matters
Public transit is the backbone of our transportation system. In 2019, more than 225,000 Portlanders rode public transit every day, and tens of thousands have continued to ride during the Covid-19 pandemic, including essential workers. Transit is one of the most efficient and equitable ways to move people in a growing city. Getting more people to choose the bus or train over driving alone is also critical for achieving our climate goals.
But over the last decade, the proportion of Portlanders riding transit has been stagnant. And as traffic has increased, bus speeds declined by 14% between 2000-2019. In 2019, buses collectively spent more than 2,000 hours every day slowed down by traffic.
Making transit faster and more reliable—and over time, more frequent—is critical, both to help today’s riders have a better journey and to encourage more people to get on board in the future. That’s why City Council adopted the Rose Lane Project report in February 2020 and charged PBOT with rapidly delivering on the Rose Lane vision.
Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the way we get around, including Portland’s transit system. The Rose Lane Project, however, remains a priority for PBOT. It is a down payment on the future we want. As our city recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic and traffic increases, Rose Lane improvements will keep our most important transit lines running smoothly. This will help prevent the kinds of delays transit experienced in the past.
Learn more about PBOT’s Covid-19 response through the Safe Streets Initiative
Learn more about TriMet’s Covid-19 response efforts
Rose Lane Project benefits: A faster, more reliable transit network for Portland
The Rose Lane Project centers the values of racial equity and transportation justice. During the planning process, the Rose Lane Project community advisors defined the following key "better-off measures" to guide all project development and evaluation:
- People of color will experience average commute times comparable to white people.
- People will consider public transit to be a rapid and reliable choice for daily transportation.
- People who use public transit will have more choices for where they want to live and work.
- People who use public transit will have lower transportation costs (time and money).
- People will be healthier from improved air quality.
So how are we doing?
Just under a year into the Rose Lane program, the dozens of completed, funded & in progress, and proposed projects are showing progress toward meeting these measures. Moving forward, we will continue looking for ways to improve bus speed and reliability and we expect to propose more Rose Lane projects in the future.
Rose Lane roll out status:
- Completed Rose Lane projects (built in 2019 or after): 16
- Funded/in progress Rose Lane projects (currently funded and in design, out to bid or slated for construction): 18
- Proposed Rose Lane projects (identified for future implementation when funding is available): 25
Faster trips:
The table below shows the estimated PM peak hour travel time savings by bus line (end to end) that could result from the completed, funded/in progress and proposed Rose Lane improvements identified to date. The actual range of travel time savings is dependent on further engineering and design and could be below or above these estimates depending on final design decisions.
For more information on benefits you might experience on an individual bus line, visit the “closer look" section of this online open house.
Primary Rose Lane Bus Line | End to end, riders traveling in the PM peak could save... | In a year, a person who rides 5 days a week could save up to... |
---|---|---|
6 - MLK | 6 - 14 minutes | 64 hours |
12 – Sandy/Couch | 4 - 7.5 minutes | 34 hours |
20 – Burnside/Stark | 5 - 7 minutes | 30 hours |
15 – Belmont/NW | 2.5 - 4.5 minutes | 19 hours |
4 - Fessenden | 1 - 2.5 minutes | 8 hours |
14 - Hawthorne | 1 - 2.5 minutes | 8 hours |
73 – 122nd Ave | 1 - 2 minutes | 6 hours |
54/56 – BH Highway | 1 - 2 minutes | 5 hours |
75 – Cesar Chavez | Up to 1 minute | 1 hour |
In addition to the Primary Rose Lane Network lines, several other bus lines benefit from Rose Lane improvements. These estimated travel time savings are also visualized on the map below.
People can reach more places:
Increasing access to more places in a shorter amount of time provides access to opportunity, prosperity and better health outcomes. Based on the expected travel time savings from the Rose Lane projects identified today, we conducted an access analysis to see how these improvements will increase the number of jobs and places reachable by transit. Overall, Portland residents on average will be able to reach 5,500 more jobs and places within a 45 minute transit ride due to the Rose Lane projects identified to date (including completed, funded/in progress and proposed improvements). Black residents and households in poverty on average see a slightly higher change in number of jobs accessible. When looking at a 60 minute transit ride, benefits increase, with an increase of 9,800 jobs and places reachable on average by all residents.
| All Residents | White Residents | People of Color | Black Residents | Households in Poverty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | +5,500 | +5,600 | +5,300 | +5,600 | +5,600 |
Percentage | +4.1% | +4.2% | +4.3% | +4.3% | +4.2% |
Looking geographically, the proposed and implemented Rose Lane projects will benefit residents living near MLK Jr. Boulevard in North Portland, spots of Northwest Portland and the southern part of the Gateway area. These residents will see the biggest improvements in access to jobs and places, while much of the city will also see at least some benefit.
These access benefits increase, particularly for residents living in Southeast and East Portland, when considering the additional impact of TriMet's upcoming Division Transit Project. The Division Transit Project is a separate project to improve bus service between Downtown Portland, Southeast and East Portland and Gresham. In addition to Rose Lane-style transit priority tools, the Division Transit Project will include improved stations and branded, articulated buses, as well as other investments.
Places become reachable by more people:
Job centers and destinations will also become more reachable by more people due to the Rose Lane Project. The following maps show which parts of town will be accessible to more residents within a 45-minute transit ride. Businesses and places in inner Northeast Portland, the Central Eastside, downtown and the southern part of the Gateway area expected to be easier to get to. The Division Transit Project further expands who can reach jobs and places along the Division corridor within a reasonable transit ride.
Climate benefits:
To tackle the climate crisis, we need to reduce greenhouse emissions from transportation, which starts with providing great alternatives to driving alone. Transit is one of most efficient and sustainable ways to move people around our growing city. The Rose Lane Project will make riding the bus more convenient and reliable, encouraging more Portlanders to get on board when they feel ready.
Potential impacts and considerations for other modes
There are potential trade-offs to consider when implementing transit priority improvements, such as removal of parking, general travel lane re-purposing, or street reconfiguration. The impact of these trade-offs will be considered along with the potential benefit of each improvement.
- Impacts on pedestrian infrastructure and safety, such as crosswalks and curb extensions
- Impacts on bike facilities, such as changes to bike lane configuration
- Impacts on traffic, including increased delay for cars and trucks and potential traffic diversion to nearby streets
- Impacts from parking removal
PBOT will continue to evaluate and monitor for these impacts before and after the project is installed.
Rose Lane interactive map
The interactive map shows the Rose Lane Primary Transit Network and different categories of Rose Lane projects, including:
- Completed Rose Lane projects (completed in 2019 or after)
- Funded and in progress Rose Lane projects (currently funded and in design, out to bid or slated for construction, or under construction)
- Proposed Rose Lane projects (projects identified for future implementation when funding is available)
- Existing transit priority improvements (projects implemented before Jan 1, 2019) can also be viewed using the layer icon on the top right.
Click here to start exploring the map!
Closer look: Rose Lane transit line summaries
The following pages allow you to dive deeper into the completed, funded/in progress and proposed projects benefitting several Rose Lane Primary Transit Network lines.
Line 75 – Cesar Chavez/Lombard
Projects with multi-line benefits:
SW Capitol Highway (Terwilliger to Bertha)
Survey now closed: Thank you to those who shared their feedback!
Between December 9, 2020 and January 24, 2021, the Rose Lane team gathered input via an online survey to inform our next steps.
Constructing all the proposed projects identified on the Rose Lane interactive map will take a few years and is dependent on securing funding. We are currently processing survey feedback and will use the input to inform a plan for rolling out the proposed projects as funding is available. As projects move forward, we will reach out to nearby stakeholders to refine design. We’ll also continue constructing the funded and in progress projects identified on the Rose Lane interactive map and will keep searching for places where future Rose Lane projects could help deliver further benefits to transit.
Sign up for email updates and check back regularly to track the Rose Lane roll out!
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Thank you for participating!
Review the Winter 2020-21 Public Involvement Summary
The report summarizes key findings from survey responses and public comments submitted by more than 1,300 Portland area residents. Through an online open house and survey, interactive map, community group presentations, bus rider outreach and direct multi-lingual outreach in Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese, community members were invited to learn about the latest Rose Lane updates and share their thoughts on what we should prioritize as we look to roll out more transit priority projects.
Review the Public Involvement Summary