Oregon Active Transportation Summit

Lessons from Amy Rynell, the Excutive Director of Active Trans. Based in Chicago, the Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit advocacy organization that works to improve conditions for bicycling, walking and transit and engage people in healthy and active ways to get around.

Oregon faces a uniquely difficult transportation funding challenge: it has no statewide sales tax, no active tolling and a gas tax that is steadily losing revenue as vehicles become more efficient and electric.

So what happens when your primary funding source disappears and your backup options are politically or structurally constrained?

This panel explores how Oregon is confronting that reality through road usage charges and other emerging strategies. Panelists will examine its policy tradeoffs, political dynamics, and technological infrastructure shaping the state’s path forward.

For the 8th consecutive year, Finland was named the happiest country in the world. Helsinki is annually recognized as one of the most livable cities in world. Helsinki was named 6th in the global Copenhagenize Index of bike friendly cities.

From that report: "Once again among the world’s top 10 bicycle-friendly cities, Helsinki continues to evolve with purpose, prioritizing safety and social responsibility as leverage to develop cycling and carry out its urban transformation. Cycling is increasingly becoming a natural part of life for more and more residents, reflecting the city’s steady progression towards making active mobility an inclusive and dependable choice for everyone."

Helsinki has seen a 7.8/1 Euro return on return of construction of bicycle infrastructure. In this presentation/workshop, participants will learn how to adapt (available) data from their cities into a tool to help them measure their city's own ROI. This will be the interactive part of the presentation/workshop.

Helsinki's vision is not to be the most bike friendly city but the most functional city in the world. Thus, all transportation modes have a part to play. Through investment and developments in cycling, walking, and transit, each mode plays their part leading to rapid improvements. This leads, among other things, to the most recent year that saw zero traffic deaths in the city.In winter, Helsinki sees a large in cycling modal share drop from 12% to 2%.

Here is where we leave Helsinki and travel to Oulu; a northern Finland city (pop. 216,000) that is recognized as the winter cycling capital of the world. Cycling modal share drops there from 28% down 22% in winter. They achieve this largely through world class maintenance and almost total separation from vehicular traffic to bikes. There is a K-12 school - Metsokangkaskoulu - in Oulu with a student population of 1200 students. Of those 1200, 1000 travel to and from the school by bike, every day of the year. There are concrete strategies and design policies in palace to ensure this happens. For example, there are 9 access points onto the campus. Only 2 are accessible by car.

Attendees will gain empirical insights into the benefits of accelerating e-bike (electric-assist bicycle) adoption through financial incentive programs, as well as an overview of the current landscape of rebate initiatives across the United States.

One portion of the panel will examine the societal and personal impacts of two income-conditioned e-bike incentive programs: one implemented in British Columbia, Canada, and the other one in Benton County, Oregon. We will present evidence on program cost-effectiveness and how incentivized e-bike adoption affected travel behavior including automobile mode substitution. We will also highlight the subsequent impacts attributable to the program, such as reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, equity implications, changes in accessibility, travel-related costs and physical activity.

The second portion of the panel will focus on a newly released report from the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University, which updates the landscape of e-bike incentive programs across North America. The panel will review findings from 118 incentive programs in the United States and Canada, highlighting trends in point-of-sale discounts, equity considerations, and battery safety standards. The discussion will include implications for policymakers and transportation leaders seeking to expand e-bike adoption as a low-carbon, safe, and equitable mobility option, as well as the role of safety standards in protecting riders and communities.

To make the session interactive, the panelists will incorporate live pooling to estimate potential impacts of e-bike adoption by people in the room.

SPONSORED BY Kittelson & Associates

Universal Basic Mobility (UBM) is the concept of providing a foundational level of transportation to all members of society, regardless of factors such as socioeconomic status, ability, age, or geographic location. Across the country, UBM programs are being tested and established to expand equitable access and meet community-specific needs. In this session you will hear from two PNW programs that can serve as scalable, implementation-ready models: Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Transportation Wallet: Access for All Program and King County Metro’s Easy Trip Program.

Both programs represent a shift away from single-mode transit subsidies toward multimodal, resident-directed transportation support. By leveraging prepaid debit technology, community-based partnerships, and culturally responsive outreach, these programs empower participants to choose how, when, and where they travel to access healthcare, employment, education, and community connections. The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Transportation Wallet: Access for All has evolved from a small pilot to a permanent City of Portland program, leveraging a partnership model to identify low-income residents in need of transportation assistance and distribute transportation benefits to community members. PBOT selects a cohort of community-based organizations to assist in implementing the program, which provides transit passes, bike- and scooter-share benefits, and prepaid cards for use on transportation-related purchases.

King County Metro’s Easy Trip Program builds on lessons from peer mobility programs to provide supportive housing residents with flexible monthly transportation funds that expand access beyond traditional subsidized rides. Through a partnership with Hopelink, the program pairs these funds with Community Transportation Navigators, peer mentors with lived experience, who offer hands-on guidance, build trust, and help residents navigate a range of transportation options. This integrated model demonstrates how combining flexible financial tools with human-centered support can improve access to jobs, healthcare, and essential services while advancing equity-focused mobility outcomes.

This presentation will feature a case study of each program that details the program's structure, funding sources, partnerships, and performance measurement strategies that demonstrate return on investment. You’ll also hear the latest outcomes from these programs – such as reduced participant transportation cost burden, increased transit and micromobility utilization, and improved mobility. Attendees will gain insights on how UBM programs can be designed, funded, evaluated, and scaled to advance equity, climate goals, and long-term system sustainability while improving participants’ daily lives.

This workshop to share lessons learned from the last 3 legislative sessions, and the brainstorm future policy proposals with attendees. OMN thrives due to the strength of the Network; this session will lean on that brain trust to guide our activities and set the tone for 2027.
Part 1 - presentation of the "dos and don'ts" of micromobility advocacy learned over the last 3 years
Part 2 - a facilitated discussion on priority topics for OMN over the next few years, and solicitation of ideas from the crowd

Through TriMet's Ticket2Ride fare promotion program, fans of local sports team, attendees of seasonal events, or even theatrical productions can go by TriMet to the event venue with their valid event ticket as proof of fare. These promotions give event attendees the chance to utilize TriMet buses, MAX Light Rail, paratransit service, and the Portland Streetcar. Event goers are able to utilize transit services for a defined window before and after a participating event for which they have a same day ticket. What began as a pilot has grown into a strong, multi-year partnership model. Promotions with the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC are now entering their third year, reflecting continued success and demand. In 2025, the program expanded to include seasonal events such as ZooLights at the Oregon Zoo, further demonstrating how strategic partnerships can support major destinations while encouraging transit use and increasing ridership.In this presentations, attendees will learn more about the Ticket2Ride program as well as the partnerships that led to the ZooLights three-year pilot project, which just wrapped up the first year - seeing incredible results in transit ridership. Partnership was key to the success of ZooLights with TriMet, Metro, Oregon Zoo and Explore Washington Park all working together to launch the program.

Meet the organizations helping people get around without driving alone in the suburbs - yes, it’s possible! We’ll talk about the latest transportation innovations coming out of Washington County, including Tualatin’s popular Lime scooter share, the brand new SPOT on-demand microtransit pilot in southwest Beaverton and Tigard, an exciting upcoming county-wide e-bike lending library, and a groundbreaking new employer-based transportation study currently underway. This panel discussion includes speakers from Westside Transportation Alliance, Ride Connection, City of Tualatin, City of Hillsboro, and Washington County itself.