Oregon Active Transportation Summit

LIMIT: 14 (14-passenger lift-equipped bus)

Location Details:
Meet outside Smith Memorial Student Union at 10:15 a.m., depart at 10:30 a.m.

Description:
This session will walk through the history, purpose, and building of the pilot Forest & Washington Park Express Shuttle. This short-term service, which is funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation's Innovative Mobility Program, will operate as a pilot during summer weekends in 2026. The session will cover (1) the need for additional transportation and transit access to green space; (2) infrastructure needs within the parks to support transit or a shuttle service; (3) partnership building with community organizations to provide activities, guides, and welcoming atmosphere to shuttle riders; and (4) the challenge of funding and operation over time.

We will be driving the Inner Park Loop, one of four lines that will make up the shuttle service during summer 2026, to view the unique challenges of supporting shuttle / transit access in Forest Park.

Background about the project:
The pilot Forest Park/Washington Park Community Connector Shuttle is a free community shuttle run by the City of Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R). It will provide transportation options for Portland, Oregon communities to access Forest Park and Washington Park, two significant City-stewarded parks with limited public transit access and neighborhood connectivity. Modeled in part on King County, Washington’s Trailhead Direct program, the pilot will provide free shuttle buses between Forest and Washington parks and well-known, transit-accessible PP&R or PP&R-affiliate / partner facilities in East, Northeast, and North Portland on weekends during peak summer visitation season. These areas of Portland feature neighborhoods with high and medium-high income disparity and/or significant populations of BIPOC and immigrant and refugee residents. In East Portland especially, these communities have statistically lower access to greenspace. The shuttle is intended to help connect community to these spaces.

Iconic Forest and Washington parks are regional resources but can be challenging to access, particularly for communities on the east side of the Willamette River for whom personal transportation is a barrier. At 5,200 acres, Forest Park is the largest forested city park in the country, features over 80 miles of trails and provides invaluable outdoor recreation, exercise, and educational opportunities. However, Forest Park is largely inaccessible to people without access to personal vehicles. Surveys demonstrate that communities view limited public transit and suboptimal parking as barriers to accessing the park, especially if they do not have access to a car. Indeed, the public can access only eight of Forest Park’s 40+ access points via public transit routes. Even those routes have limitations; transit travel times between established community gathering places like PP&R community centers to Forest Park trailheads can be long, chilling the public’s willingness to travel by transit. For example, travel via transit between the East Portland Community Center to the popular Leif Erikson NW Germantown Road trailhead in the center of Forest Park is ~128 minutes, including two transfers and a 1-mile walk on a steep, winding road with no shoulder. The same trip takes ~31 minutes in a personal vehicle.

Transit access to Washington Park from certain neighborhoods in the City is similarly limited. At 410 acres and considered Portland’s “crown jewel,” Washington Park features regional attractions like the Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, Hoyt Arboretum, International Rose Test Garden, and Portland Japanese Garden. However, there is no direct transit service between the park and North Portland; traveling there from the St. Johns neighborhood in North Portland takes over 70 minutes and at least one transfer via public transit, but fewer than 20 minutes by car. Long transit times between East Portland locations and the park can also discourage visitation. Further, there is no transit connectivity between Forest Park and Washington Park; although the parks are adjacent, visitors can only travel between them by hiking or via personal vehicle. The proposed shuttle pilot will link the parks and these neighborhoods with limited connectivity to offer more efficient and more reliable access for communities with limited options.

In addition, the shuttle could help relieve parking congestion in the parks during peak season by reducing single-car and drive-alone trips for community members with access to personal vehicles. With this effect, the shuttle would also help lower greenhouse gas emissions and increase driver and pedestrian safety around the parks.

A key component of the shuttle project is building partnerships with community organizations to provide activities, workshops, and guiding service to first-time and repeat visitors to Forest and Washington parks, ensuring a welcoming atmosphere and ample opportunities to connect with the landscapes. In addition, the shuttle project includes a youth development component in the form of an internship for youth in guiding, interpretation, and leading outdoor activities.

Meets outside PSU Smith Memorial Student Union (Broadway Entrance) at 11:00 a.m., departs by 11:15 a.m.

Location Details:
Walk/roll 0.2 miles/4 minutes from PSU Smith Memorial Student Union to SW Hall & 5th FX2 bus stop to catch the 11:20 AM FX2 to Division Midway Alliance. Returns to PSU SMSU by FX2 and 02 mile/4 minute walk/roll at 1:20 p.m.

Description:
Division Midway Alliance will share about The Transportation Education and Safety Youth Ambassador (TESYA) program and how it empowers immigrant and refugee youth to become community safety leaders and transit educators through a cultural liaison and train the trainer model. Through this program youth gain knowledge about transportation options, bike and pedestrian safety, mobility justice, and climate conscious travel, and share this information within their communities. TESYA ambassadors also support DMA Play Streets by helping transform neighborhood streets into pop up spaces for intergenerational play, physical activity, and social connection. Through these program activities, TESYA strengthens neighborhood safety, increases transit literacy, and builds youth leadership that supports long term community development and safer public spaces. The tour will take place at Division Midway Alliance office, arriving by transit, to demonstrate the importance of place making and transit safety through TESYA, possibly inviting one of TESYA youth participant to be part of the tour.

Intended audience: This tour is intended for everyone! OATS attendees of all ages should attend.

Location: PSU Montgomery Plaza, 601-699 SW Montgomery St, Portland, OR 97201
This interactive session, hosted by the Oregon Micromobility Network (OMN) and Forth, will give attendees hands‑on exposure to a range of micromobility device form factors, helping build familiarity, comfort, and confidence. Participants will be able to see, touch, and test‑ride devices in a supportive, low‑pressure environment.

OMN will discuss how the various device types fall into existing regulatory frameworks in Oregon, and where we have gaps in our code we are working to fill. Forth will provide an overview of how to conduct community education and first-time rider engagement. This includes introducing participants to e-bike basics such as charging, storage, helmet fit, and safe riding practices, as well as demonstrating how we structure introductory riding opportunities in a safe and welcoming environment.

The session is designed for advocates, educators, planners, and partners who want first-hand experience with a range of devices, and practical tools for engaging communities and supporting safe, equitable micromobility adoption.

Meet outside Smith Memorial Student Union at 4:30 p.m., depart at 4:45 p.m. to join the bike bus from PSU to the OATS Welcome Happy Hour: Sponsored by 3D Street at Fortune Bar inside the Sentinel Hotel. Bring your bike and bring a lock!

Join us for this special welcome happy hour sponsored by 3D Street in the back half of Fortune Bar inside the Sentinel Hotel - 614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205.

We'll provide 1 drink ticket per person for beer and wine, as well as light bites!

Transportation students and professionals who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are cordially invited to a mixer hosted by The Street Trust Board of Directors, COMTO, and Espousal Strategies to this mixer. Come connect with colleagues and friends at this exciting networking event.

* Please note location change:
Join us in the south fireplace area of Fortune Bar in the Sentinel Hotel - 614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205. We'll provide 1 drink ticket per person (wine, beer or cocktail) and light bites!

Location Details:
Meet outside Smith Memorial Student Union at 10:00 a.m., depart by 10:15 a.m.
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Meet & travel
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Bike safety education & street mural project
11:45 AM – 12:15 PM – Bike bus wayfinding pilot & vision clearance
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM – Bike back
Here's the route! (about 17 miles roundtrip with three small hills)

Description:
This mobile workshop will showcase how three pillars of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School programming—infrastructure, engagement, and education—complement each other to help Portland youth become confident bicyclists for transportation and recreation.

Participants will get on bikes and enjoy a ride down several of Portland’s beloved neighborhood greenways—low traffic, low-speed streets where cyclists can comfortably take the traffic lane. During the ride, they will visit several recently completed capital projects and learn about bike buses at Portland schools, including how PBOT, Metro, and school districts support this grassroots effort. Our trip will showcase a recent bike bus wayfinding pilot featuring wearable signs, pavement markings, and street signs.

We’ll discuss how bike buses support school attendance, climate goals, and student health and safety. The ride will stop at Rose City Park Elementary, where participants can observe bike safety education in action. Students learn skills for awareness and bike handling, as well as rules of the road so that they can travel independently as cyclists. Participants might even get quizzed on their bike safety knowledge!

Location Details:
Meet outside Smith Memorial Student Union at 1:15 p.m., departs at 1:30 p.m.

Description:
This is an interactive tour that combines walking and the streetcar!  We leave from PSU campus and explore the myriad Portland neighborhoods that are connected by our convenient streetcar loop, including the Pearl District, the Alphabet District and the Eastside mural district.  Learn how easy it is to see so much of the inner east and west side of the river by streetcar.

Location Details:
1:15 p.m. - Meet outside PSU Smith Memorial Student Union, for a 0.2-mile/4 minute walk/roll to ride in style on a chartered C-TRAN bus!

Capacity: 40

Description:
On this mobile workshop, we’ll visit key stations on C-TRAN’s Mill Plain BRT. On its way to three years in service, this award-winning BRT corridor extends nearly 10-miles from downtown and eastside Vancouver. Ever wonder how and why the stations look and feel the way they do? Come up close with us to experience the platform design details, accessibility features, bike/ped integration, and bus and station amenities. We’ll dive into how the details you see today started on paper in 2017. C-TRAN’s Director of Planning & Service Delivery will share how this second BRT corridor, serving 780k passengers in 2025, came to life and how it’s integrated with C-TRAN’s full system. We’ll see you on the Vine!

Location Details: Meet outside Smith Memorial Student Union (on the west side, by the Park Blocks/farmers market side)

Description:
Come hear what the noise is all about! Multnomah County Environmental Health has partnered with OSU to map sound levels across Portland, and now it’s your turn to join the investigation. In this active mobile workshop, we’ll dive into the intersection of place, noise, and public health. Choose your mode—foot, bike, or transit—and hit the streets around OATS to capture real-time noise data. We’ll reconvene at Smith Memorial Union to compare our findings, discuss the environmental drivers of noise, and brainstorm strategies to improve our local soundscape.

Exclusive for Street Trust Members
Not a member yet? Join up for just $5/month here to attend and support active transportation in Oregon!

Location: At The Street Trust's Office in the Public Will Building - 733 SW Oak St, Portland, OR 97205
Refreshments: Beer, wine, NA drinks and light bites

Meet The Street Trust's Board, our new Interim Executive Director, Lindsay Huber, and learn about how your donations are making an impact for non-drivers and building the movement for safe, complete streets. We’ll provide an update on our programs and advocacy in the past year including:
- What happened in the 2025 and 2026 state legislative sessions. Our Legislative Consultant, Thomas Baker, will share his direct experience and outline what we need to do to reverse course in the 2027 long session.
- Program updates on Ride2Own, WeBike, Oregon Friendly Driver, and other education efforts.

We are so grateful for your support, thank you!

Questions about membership or the debrief? Please email [email protected].

Meet outside Smith Memorial Student Union at 4:45 p.m., ride at 5:00 p.m.
Arrive at Clinton Street Plaza at 5:30 p.m.

Join the bike bus from OATS to eateries next to Clinton Street Theater after Thursday sessions end. Three miles. Lucky Horseshoe and Dots Cafe have happy hour pricing on food until 6:00 p.m.

Still need your $8 ticket to the PK Slam? Purchase here.

Bring a bike lock! Bike parking is at staples in the area.

RSVP required--BIKETOWN bikeshare e-bikes and promo codes will be available at the starting location to early RSVPs who request them. Bring your own helmet.

Location Details:
Meet at Metro Regional Center, Apotheker Plaza: 600 NE Grand Ave., the plaza is at the corner of NE Grand & NE Irving St. We will have BIKETOWN codes for folks who need a ride – please bring your own helmet.
We will end back at Metro (600 NE Grand Ave.) by 8:50am, where the Oregon SRTS Annual Meeting is being hosted.

Description:
Rise early to be part of one of Portland’s Bike Buses. Bike Buses are a community-driven movement that’s changing how kids travel and connect. By simply riding bikes to school together, Bike Bus programs reduce traffic, promote sustainability and foster community connection.
 
Join the Abernethy Bike Bus and ride to school to experience firsthand the joy of the bike bus. The route will showcase small improvements that can be made along local streets to improve safety for kids, and you’ll hear about the role of local and regional transportation agencies on innovative approaches. You will also learn about the key elements needed to start a Bike Bus in your community, including partnerships, safety considerations and local engagement strategies. See how one small act—riding bikes together—can create big change.

Limit: 12, bring your bike, and we recommend a helmet

Location Details:
Meet at Pioneer Square North MAX station (SW Morrison St, Portland, OR 97204 @ SW Broadway) at 8:30 a.m., depart at 8:45 a.m.

Description:
Join Washington County and Hillsboro transportation leaders for an immersive riding/rolling mobile workshop exploring communities on the edge of the Urban Growth Boundary who are building safe, connected, multimodal networks. This four‑hour mobile workshop requires MAX ride from the conference site to Quatama, followed by a guided mobile tour of the Reedville Trail, South Hillsboro, TV Highway crossings, and neighborhood routes linking schools, parks, and new housing. Participants will gain firsthand insight into the design, funding, and implementation of trails, protected corridors, Safe Routes to School improvements, and sustainable project design and construction methods.

Attendees will learn how Washington County and the City of Hillsboro’s have been effective working with area communities to build infrastructure that reflects local safety needs. Through stops at key locations—including the Reedville Trail corridor, the Butternut Creek Bridge and undercrossing, and Tamarack Elementary—this workshop offers real‑world lessons on applying design engineering specs and standards to create unique community assets. The workshop will provide attendees numerous examples as well as significant hands-on learning opportunities of infrastructure in the field.


Timing

• ~1 hour MAX trip outbound
• 1.5–2 hours riding
• ~1 hour MAX return
• Total duration: ~4 hours

Planned Route + Key Stops

• MAX to Quatama (start)
• Reedville Trail
• South Hillsboro
• TV Highway Crossing
• Cornelius Pass → Butternut Bridge
• Route under the bridge
• Back up Cornelius Pass to Kinnaman
• Tamarack Elementary
• Route back to Blanton
• Blanton Streets segment
• Return via Cornelius Pass → Quatama MAX Station back to PSU

Accessibility & Safety

• Accessible for riders using bicycles or mobility devices (roll or ride)

• Participants should be comfortable riding in varied suburban conditions

• Safety vests will be provided

• Small group (~12 people) for safety and high engagement

***Please note timing and route/stops may be adjusted slightly on the day of the event to avoid construction or other activities. Please reach out to the Speakers with additional route questions.

Just added! To accommodate overflow from "Active Transportation on the Suburban Edge: A Mobile (Bike/Roll) Tour of Washington County’s Multimodal Network."

Location Details:
Meet at Pioneer Courthouse Square (701 SW 6th Ave, Portland, OR 97204) at 8:45 a.m., depart at 9:00 a.m.

A 10-mile ride highlighting some of our favorite bike infrastructure--old and new--some of which we've featured in previous popular The Street Trust New Year's Day Rides, Día de las Madres Rides, and WeBike rides. We'll stop for coffee Nossa Familia Coffee and/or street art in the middle. Zero overlap with the route of the Annual OATS Bike Ride with PBOT's Roger Geller at 4:00 p.m. so come to both!
Here's our route.

Location Details: Metro Regional Government (600 NE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97232)
NOTE: If you're having trouble accessing the Eventbrite embedded in Sched, here's the link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oregon-safe-routes-to-school-annual-meeting-tickets-1985408729957

Join Safe Routes to School partners from across Oregon for a day of connection, learning, and inspiration.

The Oregon SRTS Annual Meeting brings together practitioners, educators, and advocates to exchange ideas and reflect on the work happening in communities statewide. Through a mix of presentations and interactive activities, you’ll have the opportunity to hear what’s working and connect with others. Come ready to engage and share - leave feeling energized and inspired!

Agenda Highlights

• Welcome & Networking
• Opening Remarks & Icebreaker
• Guest Speaker Presentations
• El Camino de Dolores Reflection Activity
• Collaborative Celebration Activity
• Help Exchange Networking
• One-Minute Program Share-Outs
• Closing Reflections & Group Photo
• Lunch Walk/Roll & Route Audit Activity (optional)

Meets outside PSU Smith Memorial Student Union at 12:30 p.m., departs at 12:45 p.m.

Location Details:
Depart PSU Smith Memorial Student Union at 12:45 p.m. on the Portland Streetcar to South Waterfront. Returns to PSU Urban Plaza (to feed into the Steel Bridge Skatepark Activism tour), ending at 2:15 p.m.

Description:
The better Sheridan Street project has brought together a multitude of stakeholders to make access safer for people walking and biking underneath the last remnants of the Harbor Drive Freeway, that continue to cut off access for International School and OHSU students.

Hear how PSU Urban Planning and Civil Engineering students were able to provide valuable work via the Better Block Project Pathway to help influence PBOT decision making and discussions with City Council about creating new funding opportunities.

Meet at PSU Urban Plaza at 2:15 p.m., departs at 2:30 p.m.

Location Details:
Depart PSU Urban Plaza on the MAX at 2:30 p.m. (once the Safer Routes to International School Walkshop returns); end at PSU Smith Memorial Student Union at 3:45 p.m. to feed into the OATS Annual Bike Ride with Roger Geller.

Description:
The Steel Bridge Skatepark has been a dream for over 20 years, long unrealized. This project was destined to be the apex of citizen skating activism, the "crown jewel" of the Portland Skatepark Master Plan, but had sat on a dusty shelf of unbuilt plans. In 2021, a diverse group of activists with representation from Portland All Wheels Welcome, The Street Trust, Skate Like a Girl, Bridge City Skate, neighborhood advocates, and Queer Skate PDX rolled down Better Naito with a wheelbarrow of concrete to do a "ceremonial" first pour, ribbon cutting, and groundbreaking as a press conference to reignite the public's imagination.Followed up with Council testimony and engagement, this panel tells the story of how $15 million was allocated and the transformative project it will deliver for future generations of Portland skaters and beyond!

NOT A LOOP.

Limit: 25
- Starts outside PSU Smith Memorial Student Union
- Ends at Birdie Time Pub and Mini Golf (925 SE Main St, Portland, OR 97214)

Join PBOT's Bicycle Coordinator, Roger Geller to ride the newest neighborhood greenways and protected bike lanes, and discuss past and future projects, the city's bike network, and infrastructure. The ride will end at the OATS Closing Happy Hour. Here's the route map.

Join us for this special closing happy hour sponsored by Burgess & Niple at Birdie Time Pub (Aviary One and Two) - 925 SE Main St, Portland, OR 97214.