Patrick Hilton
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?
It’s been said many times over the years, but I think Amsterdam, Netherlands, is a great city for Portland to learn from when it comes to transportation. Portland has already adopted many of the ideas that have made Amsterdam successful, including prioritizing designing streets for safe bicycle travel and creating connected bike networks that can make biking just as fast, or even faster than driving.
I think we should continue investing in infrastructure that separates bicycle traffic from cars on busy streets, while also creating more bike and pedestrian only streets. Hopefully, someday, we can even create entire bike and pedestrian only districts. I believe these investments can help make biking and walking the preferred options for more people making local 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?
I think Tilikum Crossing was a bold project that Portland got right. It’s a beautiful design, and when you’re riding or walking across it, you really notice how quiet and peaceful a bridge can be without cars.
I think the riverside path on the west side of the river, south of downtown, could have been better. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it’s there, but it doesn’t have a natural flow and has too many twists and turns, which makes it less enjoyable for biking. It also doesn’t seem very well integrated into the neighborhoods it runs alongside.
I think a great trail system should safely bring you into the surrounding neighborhoods so you can discover them and comfortably ride through them as well. This path often feels like you’re being forced to stay on it because getting off the trail and into the surrounding neighborhoods isn’t convenient or intuitive.
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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?
No. I think we are regressing, continuing a sad trend that I’ve watched unfold over the past 10 years. When I moved to Portland, I was so excited to live in a city that took biking seriously as a mode of transportation. Seeing all the bikes parked outside the bars on a Saturday night was such a thrill. I bought a bike and went without a car for more than 10 years. I was committed to it.
I think some of that came from the nostalgic feelings I had about biking as a child. I was a kid in the 1980s and ’90s, and biking was how I got around and experienced freedom. I explored everywhere on my bike, even though there was virtually no biking infrastructure where I grew up, and no adult told me I couldn’t.
I worry that the younger generations haven’t always had that same experience. Between more protective parenting, social media, and changing childhood habits, many kids that are now adults may never have experienced a bicycle as a real form of transportation and independence. If you don’t grow up with that experience, getting on a bike as an adult may not have the same appeal or spark the same sense of joy and freedom that it did for me.
I also think the smartphone era has made biking feel more precarious. I don’t ride nearly as much as I once did because I’m increasingly concerned about distracted drivers not seeing me. That’s an unfortunate trend that even great bike infrastructure may not be able to fully address.
Infrastructure is important, but so is rebuilding a culture around biking. Encouraging children to start biking when they’re young, giving them the freedom to ride independently and explore their world on their terms, and supporting biking as a family activity could help make bicycles an important part of daily life in Portland again, not just as recreation, but as transportation and a healthy source of independence and freedom.
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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 used to ride my bike almost exclusively until I injured my foot in 2017. I couldn’t walk for a few months, and afterward I stopped riding because I was afraid of re-injuring it. Before that, I rode my bike from Kerns to my job in Lake Oswego every day! Eventually, I got a car, and since then biking has become mostly a recreational activity for me.
Today, I commute by car, although I’ve been saying for the past year that I’m going to start biking to work again. I only work about five miles from home. The problem is that I’ve gotten used to the convenience of driving and being able to get places more quickly. I’m also still fearful of distracted drivers on their phones.
Another factor is that I see so few people riding bikes on many streets now that I worry drivers are less accustomed to looking out for them than they were years ago, when cyclists seemed to be everywhere. I’m also more hesitant to lock my bike outside a business when mine is the only bike there.
I need to get over some of these fears and start riding again. I know I won’t regret it. In fact, this Q&A might have been just the push I needed to get back on the road.