Matt Schulte
Council - District 4
-
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?
I'll admit that for the questions here I did not have answers at the ready. I needed to do some research, which was fun, actually. My understanding, now, is that Paris, starting in 2015, decided what kind of transit-oriented city they wanted to have and began a major expansion of protected bike routes, and then, in 2020, began a large-scale rollout of a schools streets project. This resulted in 300 pedestrianized streets around schools by September 2025. This thinking - decide what kind of city you want first, then decide what that'll take, is my approach. Everything is connected. One of my goals as a councilor will be to complete the Safe Routes priority network around every District 4 elementary school within one Council term.
-
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?
Success: SW Capitol Highway. Again, after I did a little research, the SW Capitol Highway project seems like a success. Took a road with no sidewalks or bike paths/lanes and then built a pretty extraordinary system of sidewalks, protected bike lanes, multi-use paths, etc., and also looks like crossings, water infrastructure, fire hydrants and stormwater improvements. This is a whole-systems approach, which is the approach I try to take with everything I do. Everything connects!
Not a success: The Southwest Corridor project. The 2020 regional tax package failed, and the proposed MAX line was attached to it, along with 150 or so other projects. Six years later, TriMet kept the federal eligibility, and has it in a new long-range vision plan, so the project hasn’t disappeared, but it seems like attaching it to such a huge package, with no Plan B, was a strategic error.
-
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?
Based on the data I can find, there seems to be progress made on safety as measured by traffic and pedestrian deaths, but bicycle counts have been flat for a few years. Of course, that is just documentation of a trajectory, not an explanation. I would want to find out what is preventing non-bikers from taking it up, and if regular bikers are reducing their trips, why.
-
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?
Two years ago, when I moved downtown, I got rid of my car, and am now 100% transit, for everything. I walk a LOT, and otherwise use the Max and TriMet. Yesterday I took the bus from downtown to the 26th and Clinton area to meet friends.