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Newsletter
PBOT's Vision Zero May 2026 newsletter.
Published
Updated
New safety camera billboards along High Crash Network
Thanks for a grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is rolling out new traffic safety billboards along High Crash Network corridors where safety cameras are located, including SE 122nd Avenue, SE Stark Street, NE Sandy Boulevard, NE Broadway, SE Grand Avenue, and NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Billboards are also being placed at future safety camera locations, such as on SW Barbur Boulevard.
Speed and intersection safety cameras are proven to reduce dangerous speeding and support safer streets. These billboards reinforce a simple message for people driving motor vehicle: slow down and speed kills.
Learn more about speed and intersection safety cameras
Ask a PBOT expert
Our Vision Zero inbox is filled with thoughtful questions from community members about traffic safety — and our team strives to provide equally thoughtful answers. These exchanges often spark meaningful conversations, and we believe they deserve a bigger audience! That's why we're sharing some of these questions and answers in our newsletter, edited for clarity and brevity, to highlight insights and ideas that benefit us all.
Question: If vehicles can simply straddle speed bumps by using bicycle gaps, what are their benefits?
Answer: Speed bumps are one of Portland's most widely used tools to reduce vehicle speeds. On select emergency response routes, Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) adds wheel cutouts to speed bumps to reduce delay for emergency responders. On neighborhood greenways, PBOT adds cutouts to make it easy for people biking to pass through.
PBOT has updated speed bump designs over time to balance the many demands on our streets. Today, PBOT uses three types of speed bumps to support slower speeds, bicycle comfort, and emergency access.
Two types of traditional speed bumps do not include cutouts:
- 14-foot-wide speed bumps used on local neighborhood streets
- 22-foot-wide speed bumps used on busier streets, often on Portland's collector and high-volume local streets
Speed cushions with cutouts
Your question focuses on the third type of speed bump used on emergency response routes and neighborhood greenways. These speed bumps, also known as "speed cushions," feature cutouts and come in two varieties:
- Emergency vehicle bumps are designed with wide-enough cutouts that allow emergency vehicles to bypass in either direction. This is PBOT's default option on emergency response routes.
- Bicycle-friendly bumps are used mostly on neighborhood greenways. These designs make it easier and more comfortable for people biking to pass through.
Although it's not their intended use, some modern trucks may be large enough to straddle the cutouts and bypass the speed cushions.
Speed bumps have proven effective at reducing speeds on the neighborhood streets they are designed for, even when they include cutouts. But speed bumps are not PBOT's only tool to slow speeds and improve safety. As part of the Safe System approach, PBOT also uses tools such as narrower street widths, curb extensions, lower speed limits, and street trees to encourage safer driving speeds.
Wide, fast streets — such as the arterials on Portland's High Crash Network, the 30 streets and intersections with the most serious crashes — may require more substantial changes, such as signal timing updates, automated enforcement, and roadway reorganizations.
Speed bumps, even with cutouts, remain effective at reducing speeds while helping emergency vehicles maintain response times. On neighborhood greenways, PBOT can also use bike-friendly designs to improve comfort and safety for people biking.
Learn more about bike-friendly speed bumps
Speed limit changes
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is updating speed limits citywide to set safe travel speeds. Why? Because speed is a top contributing factor to traffic deaths. Safe speeds lower the risk of crashes, and when crashes occur, safe speeds make it less likely that people are killed or seriously injured. We track speed limit changes online.
Recent changes
Locations where PBOT reduced the speed limit in the past three months.
40 to 35 mph
- N Columbia Boulevard from Portsmouth Avenue to Upland Drive
40 to 30 mph
- 138th Avenue from Marine Drive to Sandy Boulevard
35 to 30 mph
- N Whitaker Way from 122nd to 138th avenues
30 to 25 mph
- NE Killingsworth Street from 42nd Avenue to Lombard Street
- SE 112th Avenue from Brookside Drive to the east leg of Mt Scott Boulevard
- N Mississippi Avenue from Cook to Russell streets
Establish 25 mph speed limit
- NE Holman Street from 80th Avenue to 82nd Avenue Frontage Road
- NE 82nd Avenue Frontage Road from Holman Street to 82nd Avenue
25 to 20 mph
- SE Belmont Street from Grand to 49th avenues
- S Corbett Avenue from Grover to Hamilton streets
Upcoming changes
Locations where PBOT recently received approval from the Oregon Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit. PBOT will post new speed limit signs in the upcoming months.
40 to 35 mph
- NE Sandy Boulevard from 124th Place to 200' east of 165th Avenue
35 to 30 mph
- SW Bertha Boulevard from Barbur Boulevard to Chestnut Drive
30 to 25 mph
- NE Broadway from 33rd Avenue to Sandy Boulevard
- SE Division Street from Third to 52nd avenues
- SE Thorburn/Washington Street from Gilham Avenue to I-205
Learn more about speed limit changes in Portland
High Crash Network safety projects
Portland Bureau of Transportation prioritizes safety investments on our highest crash streets and intersections in areas with higher proportions of people of color and people living with lower incomes. In 2024, 71% of traffic deaths occurred on the High Crash Network. We track recently completed and currently under construction High Crash Network projects online.
Learn more about High Crash Network safety projects
Free PBOT bike events
Reducing driving is core to our Vision Zero work
Reducing the amount of driving is core to our Vision Zero work. We can eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries in Portland by significantly changing the design of our most deadly streets to slow drivers — as well as making it easier for people to get around without a car. Traveling fewer vehicle miles is strongly correlated with safer streets. Below are several free events the Portland Bureau of Transportation created to help make biking more desirable and easier to incorporate into your daily routines!
City Bike Bus
Wednesday, May 27
Do you commute to work downtown? Want a chance to try out bike commuting with other Portlanders? Join the City Bike Bus on Wednesday, May 27. A bike bus is a group of students—but in this case, adults—biking to school—but in this case, work—together. This year, there are eight unique bike bus routes from across Portland, so you can choose the one closest to your home. Start at the beginning of the route or join anywhere along the route. All rides will have dedicated ride leaders who will take you on a comfortable ride to the city's glistening downtown waterfront. All rides end at the Salmon Springs Fountain (SW Salmon Street and Naito Parkway) at 8:15 a.m. for a celebration with coffee, goodies, and e-bike demos.
Learn more about the City Bike Bus
Centennial Neighborhood Bike Fair
Friday, May 29
The Centennial Neighborhood Bike Fair at Parklane Elementary School (15811 SE Main St.) is an all-ages event on Friday, May 29 from 2:45 to 5:45 p.m. Activities include biking lessons for kids and adults, bike safety skills station, free quick-fix bike repair, and free helmet distribution. Participants are encouraged to bring their own bikes, but there will also be a limited number of bikes available for children and adults to borrow.
Learn more about the Centennial Neighborhood Bike Fair
New to Portland Ride: East Portland
Thursday, June 11
Are you new to town or new to cycling in Portland? Want to explore some of the best low-stress bike routes in Mill Park, Hazelwood, and Centennial neighborhoods? Join the New to Portland Ride: East Portland on Thursday, June 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. starting at the East Portland Community Center (740 SE 106th Ave.). This is an 8-mile, moderate-pace (8-10 mph), no drop, loop ride.
Learn more about the New to Portland Ride: East Portland
East Portland Sunday Parkways
Sunday, June 28
Experience the joy of open streets at East Portland Sunday Parkways Presented by Kaiser Permanente on June 28 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The East Portland 4-mile out-and-back route will have four featured activations, and we are thrilled to debut Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park as a new addition to the East route this year. Participants are welcome to join the East Portland route at any point and head in any direction. This event route is specially designed to highlight the network of neighborhood greenways and other infrastructure, parks, and community resources. There will be activation areas along the route where circulation slows for vendor marketplaces, community booths, free family-friendly activities, and live entertainment.
Learn more about East Portland Sunday Parkways
Bike Month – Go compete!
Bike Month is here — and it's time to ride! If you haven't yet, sign up for the Get There Bike Month Challenge and join a team to log your bike trips throughout May. The team that averages the most trips wins a trophy, so every ride counts. Beyond the challenge, there are free community events happening all month long. Get out there and ride!
Access the latest deadly crash data
Our Vision Zero dashboard provides an overview of traffic safety improvements from the past five to 10 years — as well as data relating to our performance measures. Staff update the dashboard regularly. Preliminary deadly crash data is updated monthly, while other data is updated quarterly or annually, based on availability.
Learn more about the Vision Zero dashboard
Remember to say crash, not accident!
We want to change the way we talk about crashes and remind each other that they are predictable and preventable. A Vision Zero approach refuses to accept the idea that crashes are inevitable. That's why we're saying crash, not accident! Will you join us?
Learn more about why we say crash, not accident
Free Vision Zero materials and yard signs
Help educate the people in your community about Vision Zero, Portland's commitment to eliminate serious and fatal traffic injuries. Order and receive reflective stickers and pins, brochures, and fliers in the mail or pick-up a yard sign. Materials are available in English, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Lao, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
Return of "20 is plenty" yard signs!
You loved them, and now they're back! Come get your "20 is plenty" yard sign at the Portland Building (1120 SW Fifth Ave.) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
20 mph speed limit supports safety
Most residential streets in Portland are narrow, have few marked crosswalks, and no bike lanes. Given the neighborhood use and lack of protection for people walking, using mobility devices, and biking, it is important that people drive slowly on residential streets.
Slower speeds lower the risk of crashes. When crashes occur, slower speeds make it less likely that people are killed or seriously injured. A pedestrian struck by a person driving 20 mph is four times more likely to survive than a pedestrian struck at 40 mph.
Learn more about how to get free Vision Zero materials
Personal safety community resources
We want to help create a transportation system that allows all people to feel safe getting where they need to go. We put together free, accessible personal safety resources for community members, including how to report a non-urgent traffic safety concern, report bias and hate, participate in a self-defense workshop, and more.
Learn more about personal safety community resources
What we're reading
- The racetracks we call streets (Governing)
- Most cities see safety gains from lower speeds (Cities Today)
- Roads less traveled: The safety surprises of big cities (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
- Survey says: Empathy is the key to getting motorists to drive safer (Streetsblog)
- Why are U.S. traffic deaths increasing again? (The New York Times)
- Waymos aren't going to solve traffic deaths (The New Republic)
- Drivers use their phones more when speeding, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says (Yahoo! Autos)
- How front brake lights could reduce pedestrian deaths (Shifting Gears with Phoebe Wall Howard)
- ‘Light Up My Crosswalk' pilot program aims to stop nighttime pedestrian deaths in Nashville (WSMV)
Parts of this document were edited with the support of ChatGPT. City staff reviewed and fact-checked all content.