Priorities for Pedestrian, Bicyclist, and Transit Riders of Portland for 2026

[Myles G. Smith]

Dear Members of the Portland S&T Committee, as well as the Mayor, City Council, and City Staff:

We were very pleased to hear the Council's clear, singular voice on the need to make Portland's streets safe for all. We share your goals and your sense of urgency. At this link, you will find PBPAC's priorities for the city for 2026. 

In short, our new priorities for 2026 are:

1. Implement a crash response protocol after serious crashes to reduce future harm.
2. Adopt a maximum speed limit of 20 miles per hour.  
3. Improve traffic signal configurations to increase safety and reward walking, biking, and riding transit.
4. Improve sidewalk and bike lane snow clearing.
5. Continue to improve our public transit experience by improving service frequency, quality and accessibility.  

We also renew, and will continue to advocate for the adoption of two of our 2025 priorities that were not taken up last year. We believe they will accelerate our Vision Zero safety goals and the quality of experience for everyone, particularly those walking, biking, and riding transit:

6. Establish a Complete Streets Board by ordinance.

7. Create a Street Design Manual.

8. Hire a Sustainable Transportation Manager with cross-departmental authority to execute this work.

Note that many of these priorities were endorsed by 9 other local and state organizations in our letter to the Council on December 9, 2025, in the aftermath of the crash that killed Diane Bell at Franklin Street and Marginal Way.

Best regards,

The Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee,
https://www.portlandbikeped.org/

Myles Smith, Chair

myles...@gmail.com 

John Clark, Secretary

jo...@jcmaine.com

Winston Lumpkins IV, Past Chair

winston....@gmail.com 

The Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee is an ad hoc group of Portland-area residents working to make the city and region a better place to walk, bicycle, and wheelchair. Our membership is open to all Portland residents, and includes over 200 listserv participants. We advocate and educate on bicycle, transit, and pedestrian issues, including handicap accessibility. We work in collaboration with other organizations including the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, Portland Trails, PACTS, the Portland GearHub, the Urbanist Coalition of Portland, the Portland Department of Public Works and the Portland Planning Department. For more information, see www.portlandbikeped.org.

Note: The attached priorities are in draft, they were endorsed at our meeting last night, and are subject to minor changes by online participants today.