- Harry Lau
But the group that most vocally pushed for those bus stop improvements—OPAL—is moving ahead with a project to chronicle the worst bus stops in Portland and suggest ways to fix them. Today, Metro regional government announced the recipients of $533,000 in federal "regional transportation options" grants it controls; OPAL won $63,000 to pinpoint and document the city's crummiest transit stops. The bus stop assessments will focus on East Portland, where the transit advocacy group will survey 1,000 residents about their transit use, ask about problem stops, and how they can be improved. Over the summer, OPAL volunteers and paid organizers completed about 100 bus stop assessments around town, finding bus stops that were hard for people to use because they lack sidewalks, shelters, or even benches (some photos of bad stops here).
Though OPAL protested TriMet's cuts before the election, they're working on this project with TriMet's (non-financial) support and partnership. "There's times to poke and there's times to hold hands," Ostar told me today. The $63,000 grant adds significantly to OPAL's $150,000 operating budget from last year.
Metro also granted federal funds to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Community Cycling Center, among others. Check out the full list of monies below the cut.