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?

Day to day, I use a mix of walking, transit, and driving depending on what I need to accomplish.

I live in Montavilla, so I walk quite a bit within my neighborhood to local businesses, meetings, and other nearby activities. I also take the bus, including for trips into other parts of Portland. In fact, I’m taking the bus today.

For errands that take me outside my neighborhood, particularly grocery shopping and other tasks where I need to carry things or make multiple stops, I generally drive. That is the reality for many Portlanders: our transportation choices depend on where we are going, how much time we have, what we are carrying, and whether there is a convenient alternative.

My most recent transit trip was a bus trip, and I would like to see transit become a more practical option for more of my daily trips. The biggest barriers are reliability, travel time, and convenience. If taking transit requires significantly more time or multiple transfers compared with driving, people are going to choose their car.

I also think Portland should focus on making walking and biking

more useful for everyday trips not just recreational trips.

I usually walk or take the bus when commuting downtown or running errands, but I also drive quite a bit (a Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV that I’ve grown to love). I take care of my mom, and since she stopped driving a few years ago, I chauffeur her around to wherever she needs to go.

I would like to get back to biking and skateboarding more often, but I still need to get in better shape for that.

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.

I ride the 14 bus to and from work multiple times a week. I ride my bike to get around the neighborhood with my kids, and I am lucky to live in a neighborhood where I can easily walk to the grocery store, library, and other essential places. My boys ride their bikes to and from school, and I want more kids to be able to do that. And honestly, I want to feel more secure about how safe they are while they are making that short trip.

By car. I work in wilsonville and care for my mother in Happy Valley. I plan my errands around those commutes. Last bus ride was to pick up my car from the shop. I prefer to walk. But bus bike and walking all take too long. My life won't be this way for ever.

I drive an old ’97 pickup to work. I've been remodeling my house, so the truck has been practical, and frankly, it's what I can afford right now. Around my neighborhood, I walk quite a bit, and when my wife and I go out for the evening, we use Uber.

I sometimes ride my bike for fun along the river, but biking isn't practical for my daily commute because my work is about 30 miles away.

I bike, walk, use transit, and drive. My jobs (I work in both Wilsonville and Gresham while living in the Brooklyn neighborhood of District 3) make it difficult not to drive for work, but I do my best to never default to driving in my day-to-day. I am always prioritizing biking or transit whenever possible. My experience informs me of just how much our regional transit network falls short of being able to connect people effectively to job centers outside of driving.

I take the MAX Orange Line downtown to City Hall whenever I can. This last week I rode it – two days? Three days? One of those two, I think. This is the first time in a life that has included lots of transit use (the #45 bus from Multnomah Village to City Hall during my 2013-16 term, the subway in D.C. and before than in NYC) that I have done the “park and ride” thing; I live in the southern end of the Woodstock neighborhood, and I park at the SE Tacoma/Johnson Creek station. I love taking the Max because I get some time on the train to check email and think – and I don’t have to pay for parking downtown. But depending on what’s happening in any given week I sometimes or often drive my car downtown. This is mainly due to schedule constraints or commitments that require getting somewhere else that isn’t easily accessible by transit. As a City Councilor I often don’t have a lot of control over my schedule, and sometimes that drives me to drive.

When I’m not commuting, I usually drive. That’s partly because for the first time in my adult life I don’t live within easy walking distance of restaurants and grocery stores. I needed a 1-story place with a yard, or access to one, for my corgi Barley - corgis really shouldn’t climb stairs much - and the only place I could find was a mile south of the Woodstock town center.

I don’t ride a bike myself. I tried learning when I was a kid, kept falling off, and gave up. I’d try to learn now but I am worried that if I fell and injured my right arm I would be totally incapacitated. But I am deeply committed to making it more possible for anyone who can ride to do so. The 2024 BikePortland article I referenced earlier includes a concise summary of some of my proudest pro-biking and pro-walking accomplishments from my term as City Commissioner (2013-2016): https://bikeportland.org/2024/10/17/council-candidate-steve-novick-has-some-questions-for-the-bike-community-390690. When I led the coalition to pass a ten cent gas tax to invest in transportation maintenance and safety, led the launch of Biketown, and supported the Better Naito project, I did so because biking is good for everyone. The individual cyclist gets exercise and saves money, and sometimes avoids getting stuck in traffic. We all benefit because there are fewer cars on the streets creating traffic, and our carbon emissions are lower. And bicyclists, by being healthier, drive down premium costs for anyone in the same health insurance network!

I use a mix of transit, walking, biking, and driving. I usually take the bus or MAX to work, and I genuinely enjoy it—I find transit relaxing and a good way to decompress. I also walk almost every day to do errands around my neighborhood, usually with my dog.

I used to bike much more regularly. After 2020, I worked from home for about four years, my commute disappeared, and my bike gradually fell into disrepair. I have not fully rebuilt that habit yet.

The biking infrastructure around my home is actually pretty good. I live close to the Springwater Corridor, MAX, and neighborhood greenways, so I can bike locally or bring my bike onto transit pretty easily. The trips I still rely most on a car for are trips to Vancouver to help care for my mom.

For me, the biggest barrier to biking more right now is honestly just getting my bike back into working order and rebuilding the habit.

I live in the inner Eastside, close to most of what I need day-to-day, so I usually walk first when a trip is practical. I ride my bike several times a week when the distance makes sense, and use the bus and MAX as well. My last transit trip was taking the MAX from Hollywood to the Lloyd District during an Oregon Walks Promenade walk from the Grotto toward downtown. I had detoured for a political town hall and used the MAX to catch back up with the group before walking home. I tend to use transit as a last resort because irregular service means I have to strategically time my trips. I prefer biking when I can because I can leave when I want. I also recognize that my ability to rely primarily on walking is not an option for many Portlanders, which is why reliable transit and safe, convenient alternatives to driving matter.

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.

i usually walk on water. i haven't been on on public transit or bike in a while which is sad. i got a car so it made me lazy, i also have health issues so its not as fun, if i had a wife she might be able to convince me to go biking. i plan on making trimet free, so that will help people use it more maybe a little, tourists and elderly will be to use it more, its always the worst as tourist getting off a plane and then having to figure out how to pay for a train ticket, like stepping in dog shit when you just got a new pair of nikes

Only because I have been ill it was walking to psu on friday for a school event, generally i average between 4-6 trips on transit and another 4 just walking weekly

I primarily drive due to my tightly packed schedule throughout D4. I rode my bike in the recent Sunday Parkways in downtown and ride mostly for pleasure. I can take the bus and streetcar when I don’t have many weekday meetings; on the weekends I take transit with my family shopping or to downtown events.

I have been a car-free transit rider for the last nine years. I take the bus and train everywhere I go, every single day. I would like to get on a bike more, but I am a little intimidated, tbh. Would love a bike buddy!

I’m a transit user and someone who bikes whenever I can. Working at City Hall along the transit mall makes it easier to catch connections by bus or train, but service in my neighborhood in deep southwest has been unreliable since the massive cuts in August. My household is “car light” and we can do better. My team in City Hall and I frequently use a mix of Biketown, scooters, and buses to our district activities. Lately, it’s been hard to have back-to-back appointments around town exclusively on bikes or transit because I have to haul things or offer rides to people. The schedule can be unforgiving with little flexibility. For a Week Without Driving, it’s easy to see how transit cuts for people who are transit-dependent are threatening people’s stability and reliability to get to work and keep their jobs or keep medical appointments. More elected officials need to experience transit on a regular basis.

I walk and ride my bike. I also drive a hybrid Prius. I would walk or ride my bike to city hall. I drive and walk to grocery shop. I buy potatoes in bulk, so it's not convenient to have a 50lb bag of potatoes on my handlebar. Nothing is stopping me from riding my bike. Let's go!

I live in a one car household. I use public transit for most of my trips and walk and bicycle a lot. Portland's transit system was a major factor in choosing to live here.

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.

We’re a one-car household, so when I’m not using that, I’m usually biking, walking, or taking transit. I bike most days. My most recent transit trip was taking the Yellow Line from North Portland into downtown.

I think most people are constantly doing a little calculation in their head about time, cost, and convenience when it comes to transit. For me, and for lots of people, driving often wins. If we want more people to take alternate forms of transportation, we have to change that equation. Transit needs to be faster, more reliable, and easier to use. It also needs to be more comprehensive. A lot of our system is still designed around getting people in and out of downtown, but Portlanders need to get between neighborhoods too.

If we can tip the balance of that equation so driving is no longer automatically the best option, we can move toward a city where everyday life is built around walking, biking, and taking public transit.