The Attitude Shift Behind Portland's Leadership in Rail Transit Development

Portland, Oregon is often described as the most European city in the US. One main reason is that it has embraced rail transit. The City of Roses boasts the densest network of modern light rail and streetcar lines (the oldest was built in 1986) of a city its size in the country. Five Tri-Met MAX light rail lines and two Portland Streetcar lines crisscross downtown, weaving along streets and cutting across the numerous plazas, parks and pedestrian malls that also give the city a continental feel.  Several Portland ambassadors who showed the Millennial Trains Project (MTP) group around town on Wednesday night and yesterday morning talked about how Portland became such a model alternative to the car-focused culture that has made other American city centers so unpleasant for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users. 

Wednesday night, at a backyard soiree hosted by alternative newspaper Willamette Week editor Mark Zusman at his home at the southern end of the city, we heard from Charlie Brown, the founder and CEO of Context Partners, a design firm that "helps aspirational brands and causes succeed." His talk focused on that most successful businesses and nonprofits see themselves as leading a movement or bringing people together for a common purpose, rather than as merely providing a product or service. When I discussed trains with him after the presentations, Brown remarked that Portland is a romantic city with a culture that values the experience more than the product or output, which is a natural fit for one of train travel's key selling points: the ability to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. 

Many American train advocates strive not to be seen as nostalgists, but rather a forward thinkers wanting to bring modern transportation solutions and choices to Americans. But the romanticism of train travel, as hard to quantify as that is, does remain perhaps its greatest draw, especially for longer journeys. I think it's possible for advocates and marketers of passenger trains to effectively portray the journey both as an attractive destination in and of itself, as well as an efficient, hassle-free, economical and environmentally friendly way to get where you want to go.

Yesterday morning's walking tour began at Pioneer Courthouse Square--appropriately for the "new pioneers" theme of MTP. The square is a model public plaza, both for its versatility in terms of the sheer variety of events it hosts, as well as for its functionality, including being at the center of criss-crossing MAX light rail lines, and housing a Tri-Met (transit agency) customer service office and adjacent souvenir shop. The square's planners in the 1970s envisioned it as "a living room for the entire community," which is what it has become. One of the local luminaries on the tour was George Beard, MPA, Strategic Alliance Manager for Portland State University and longtime adjunct professor in public administration. He told me that, in order to overcome the widespread resistance amongst politicians to raising taxes to pay for needed infrastructure investments, citizens have to see real value in what their tax dollars buy. In addition, a more intellectual argument must be made that citizenship requires us to consider the common good and what we owe to one another as members of society. It takes 20 to 30 years for a societal or civic innovation--such as transitioning from car dependence to a robust transit-riding culture--to take hold, Beard said. Promoting such progress requires advocates to find different ways to frame the idea of the common good.

I spent the rest of yesterday afternoon walking around downtown and railfanning MAX and the streetcar, taking many photos that I look forward to sharing as soon as I have time to upload them from my DSLR camera to my laptop.

Another celebrated aspect of Portland is its local food culture. At the Zusman's gathering, MTP's on-board chef and sous chef Christian Ortiz and Simone Carvalho of C.C.O. Culinary Consulting Group in New York City prepared an entirely locally-sourced smorgasbord of goodies, including fruits, cheese, bread, beans, corn and mashed potatoes, plus sausage for the carnivores. Last night, they served Pacific Northwest salmon on board the ex-Burlington dome-lounge Silver Splendor as we traveled behind the Coast Starlight up the BNSF Seattle Subdivision to its namesake city, where we are spending today. My next report will come tomorrow from the City on Puget Sound.

The Millennial Trains Project is a non-profit organization founded on the notion that an exploration of the continent by train can inspire innovation, cultivate leaders, and breed world-changing ideas. The Millennial Train Project is conducting its second journey starting on Aug. 6 in Portland, Ore, and concluding in New York City on Aug. 17. Blogger Malcolm Kenton is a 29-year-old writer, researcher, multimedia communications professional and photo/videographer, and a seasoned passenger train traveler and advocate. He lives in Washington, D.C., and is pursuing an master's of administration in Transportation Policy at George Mason University.