Portland State Magazine Fall 2015

10 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2015 TILIKUM CROSSING , the largest car-free transit bridge in the United States and the first major span across the Willa- mette River in more than 40 years, opened with great fanfare in September. Bicyclists, bus riders and pedestrians suddenly have a new way of crossing the Willamette, and the new MAX Orange light rail line, which traverses the bridge, now allows Milwaukie riders quicker access to downtown jobs, entertain- ment and, of course, Portland State University. The bridge represents the culmination of decades of develop- ment that has made Portland a national transportation model. The University has been a key player in that work, helping to mold transit around the campus and at the same time config- uring campus to fit Portland’s evolving transit system. “Portland State’s motto is ‘Let Knowledge Serve the City,’ and with the way mass transit has developed over the last 40 years, the city is also serving Portland State. It’s a win-win,” says Portland Mayor Charlie Hales. The University is the single largest generator of transit trips in downtown Portland, and in the middle of campus sits Port- land’s busiest transit hub: the Urban Center Plaza, bordered by Fifth and Sixth avenues and Mill and Harrison streets. Buses and light rail lines parallel the plaza and the Portland Streetcar splits it diagonally. Most of the city’s MAX lines converge on the plaza or close by, connecting Portland State to North Port- land, the airport, Gresham, Clackamas, Milwaukie, Beaverton and Hillsboro. Building of the Urban Center Plaza in 2000 happened in the midst of a 40-year trend in Portland to boost mass transit and downplay the use of the automobile. Since the 1970s, city leaders removed a major highway along the waterfront and turned it into a park. They revived an underused bus system, created the downtown transit mall where people could ride buses for free, established the MAX light rail system and the Portland Streetcar and made Portland into one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country. Nohad Toulan, the late dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs, was instrumental in the Urban Center Plaza’s construction and for making it the hub that it is today. Planning for the plaza was happening at a time when TriMet, the agency that operates mass transit in the region, was mapping out possible north-south MAX routes. The original idea for the Orange Line included an awkward 90-degree turn down Harrison Street, but planners later decided to route it along Fifth and Sixth avenues, clearing the way for the future Portland Streetcar to run through the plaza, according to Ethan Seltzer, professor of Urban Studies and Planning and a member, along with Toulan, of the 1995 University District planning team. THE URBAN CENTER PLAZA and other changes to the city’s transportation system have made a big difference in the way people get to campus. Within three years of the plaza’s construction, mass transit replaced driving as the favored mode of transportation to PSU for both students and employees. That trend grew over the next decade: Student car trips to campus fell by half and commutes by mass transit rose by 34 percent. Today, more than 70 percent of PSU students and employees get to campus by taking mass transit, bicycling or walking. All modes of t ranspor tat ion lead to campus WR I T T E N B Y J OHN K I RK LAND DESTINATION PORTLAND STATE