Kellie Torres
Council - District 3
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Q1 A city to learn from
What city has an approach to transportation that Portland should learn from? What specific policies, funding, design, etc., could be adopted to work here?
New York City has made significant progress by giving people more practical options for getting around without a car. Portland is obviously a different city, but we can learn from its investments in protected bike infrastructure, safer intersections, pedestrian improvements, and transit priority.
Portland already has a strong foundation for biking, but too many routes are disconnected or become uncomfortable at exactly the places where people need protection most. We should prioritize closing those gaps, building protected infrastructure on major corridors, improving neighborhood greenways, and creating safe connections to schools, businesses, parks, and transit. We also need to make sure our transportation funding reflects the goals we’ve already adopted. If we want more Portlanders to bike, it needs to be a safe, convenient and realistic option for everyday trips.
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Q2 Got it right, got it wrong
What is one specific Portland transportation project (built, abandoned, under construction, or proposed) that you think Portland got right, and one that Portland got wrong?
Portland got the Blumenauer Bridge right. It created a dedicated connection for people walking and biking across I-84 and closed a major gap in the central city transportation network. Projects like that demonstrate how infrastructure can make biking and walking safer and more practical.
Where Portland has fallen short is on 82nd Avenue. For too long, one of Portland’s most important corridors was also one of its most dangerous. I’m encouraged that the City has taken ownership of 82nd and is now making significant safety investments there, but Portlanders shouldn’t have to wait decades for safer crossings, sidewalks and bicycle connections on streets where we know people are being seriously injured or killed.
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Q3 Progress on biking, walking & safety
Is Portland making progress on getting more people biking and walking, and on making streets safer? What do you think is behind that trajectory?
We’re making progress on street safety, but we aren’t making enough progress on getting more people to bike. Traffic deaths declined from 69 in 2023 to 56 in 2024 and 39 in 2025, which is encouraging. But bicycle counts remained essentially flat last year, increasing just 1% at locations counted in both 2024 and 2025.
Portland has set a goal of having 25% of trips made by bicycle by 2030, and we are clearly not on track to meet it. I think one reason is that our bicycle network still has too many gaps. A protected bike lane is only as useful as the connections on either end of it. If we want more Portlanders to choose biking, particularly people who aren’t already confident cyclists, we need connected routes, safer intersections and crossings, and infrastructure that makes biking a practical and comfortable choice from the beginning of a trip to the end.
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Q4 How they get around
How do you actually get around Portland day-to-day? Commuting, errands, evening plans, etc. What is the last trip you took by bike or transit, and what's stopping you from doing more of your trips that way?
I primarily drive to work at City Hall, walk for many trips in my neighborhood, and use TriMet when it works for my schedule and destination. My most recent transit trip was a couple of weeks ago to run errands before meeting with my campaign team.
For me, the biggest factors are time, convenience, and having a safe and practical route to where I’m going. If we want more Portlanders to bike, walk, or take transit, those options need to work for people’s everyday lives. That means reliable transit and safe, connected routes that make it easier to choose something other than driving.