TONIGHT: City Council votes on Peninsula Transit Study

The Portland City Council will vote tonight on implementing the set of policies that came out of the Peninsula Transit Study. Among the recommendations are the following ideas:

-- Pursue a "Park Once" Strategy -- Think of downtown parking spaces/lots as communal, so that drivers can park their car once, accomplish errands and social/shopping activities on foot, and move their car at the end of their time downtown (rather than having to move their cars between each task/activity). "[P]arking in Portland must be managed as a public utility, just like streets and sewars," the study says. "In the future, development should be prohibited...from building privately-controlled parking."

-- Expand Park & Ride facilities

-- Establish car-sharing prorgam -- This is already being done. Could we have a status report on how it's working?

-- Rethink downtown parking pricing. 

-- Create a Universal Transit Pass program -- Offering bulk discounts to large groups, to encourage more people to consider public transportation. 

--  Create "bike stations" -- Covered storage, training opportunities, rental, etc. 

The League of Young Voters sent out an email blast today encouraging people to call their councilors and find out their stance on the transit study. The meeting is at 7 pm. In addition to deciding whether or not to approve including the transit study as part of the city's comprehensive plan, the councilors will also vote on:

-- Some Bingas Wingas stuff.

-- Zoning certain spots in Portland for "temporary wind anemometers," which "comprise tall metal towers with small devices attached to collect data on wind direction, wind speeds, and other meteorological data over time and seasons (up to two years). This data provides an indication of whether there is an adequate wind resource for a permanent wind energy generator."

Big night!