Projects to make it easier for kids and families to walk to school in Beaverton, reach out to residents moving into and around Portland to find the best ways to travel in their new community, and provide much-needed bike education and maintenance services in an underserved part of the region are among the 30 recipients of Metro’s Regional Travel Options grants.
Through this funding the Regional Travel Options program carries out transportation demand management strategies to increase the use of travel options, reduce pollution, and improve mobility. Travel options are the ways residents get to reduce or avoid driving alone – riding transit, bicycling, walking, ridesharing, vanpooling and telecommuting.
Metro grants support partners’ work to educate, encourage, and provide information to people to increase their use of these options. The grants - in five categories - are awarded on yearly and three-year cycles. Twenty-two local jurisdictions, educational institutions and community organizations will receive nearly $5.7 million in funding to support their work in this area.
The 2018 Regional Travel Options (RTO) Strategy was updated to better align with 2018 Regional Transportation Plan goals of equity, safety, addressing climate change and easing congestion. This new policy direction pointed the program towards more inclusive and innovative funding opportunities. It also established a more stable funding opportunity for long-time, proven partner organizations in exchange for their improved performance and outcomes. Plus, it created categories to attract new community partners, and enabled organizations to lead their own unique marketing efforts.
Categories
Core Partners are organizations that have a long-standing history of delivering travel options programs and have been prior recipients of funding awards. A total of $4,095,000 is awarded to 12 Core Partners.
These partners work in all parts of the region and include employer and higher-education commuter benefit programs, travel training and resources for older adults and residents with disabilities, and marketing and outreach programs that help people find the best ways for them to get around their community.
A significant new funding opportunity this grant cycle is the Regional Safe Routes to School program, which awarded seven grants totaling $900,000. In June 2016, the Metro Council and the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation approved $1.5 million of Regional Flexible Funds to be added to the RTO program and spent on Safe Routes to School initiatives.
“We are so excited to begin building a regional network of effective, inclusive, and sustainable Safe Routes to School programs for kids and youth with the support of the RTO program,” said Noel Mickelberry, Metro’s Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator. “In addition to the grants awarded, Metro will provide technical assistance and developing resources so that all Safe Routes to School programs have the tools they need to be successful in serving students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds.”
Infrastructure and Innovation awardees will use funds to support light infrastructure that makes it easier, more convenient or safer for people to get around using travel options. Their programs will also test how new techniques or emerging technologies can improve equitable, shared, and active transportation options.
Metro will award a total of $357,000 to five grantees in this category. “Our partner organizations have the best understanding of what their communities need in order to help people get where they need to go,” said Dan Kaempff, RTO Program Manager. “The projects we are helping them create will make it easier, safer and more cost-effective for people to travel without needing to drive.”
Emerging Partners are defined as organizations that have previously conducted travel options work in a limited capacity and wish to expand their efforts into full-time, ongoing work. Metro will award Oregon City $150,000 to build upon their 2017 Transportation Demand Management Plan, which creates a vision for how people will move about in a rapidly growing part of the region. Metro staff will also work with all applicants in this category to plan for, and build the needed capacity and experience to qualify for this grant category in two to three years.
Marketing partnerships provide consultant support to assist partners by managing the development, design, and production of marketing campaigns and/or materials. Selected partners will have access to Metro’s on-call marketing, graphic design, production, and translation vendors to create materials needed for the purpose of community outreach efforts and will work closely with Metro to develop outreach targets, messaging, and strategy. Five partners will benefit from a total of $135,000 in consultant, materials and design services.
Core Partner Awardees
|
Grantee
|
Project
|
Amount awarded
|
|---|
|
Core Partner Category
|
|
|
|
City of Portland
|
Smart Trips, Connected Communities
|
$945,000
|
|
City of Wilsonville (SMART)
|
SMART Options Program
|
$300,000
|
|
Clackamas Community College
|
Student Access to Transportation Program
|
$150,000
|
|
Community Cycling Center
|
Bike HUB at New Columbia
|
$150,000
|
|
Explore Washington Park
|
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
|
$150,000
|
|
Go Lloyd
|
Enhanced Communications and Outreach Plan
|
$150,000
|
|
Oregon Walks
|
Building Capacity Through Open Streets
|
$150,000
|
|
Portland Community College
|
Expanding Commuting Options (ECO)
|
$150,000
|
|
Ride Connection, Inc.
|
RideWise Travel Training Program
|
$300,000
|
|
The Street Trust
|
Bike More Challenge
|
$150,000
|
|
TriMet
|
TriMet Employer Outreach Program
|
$1,200,000
|
|
Westside Transportation Alliance
|
Promoting Travel Options in Washington County
|
$300,000
|
|
|
Total Core Partner Award
|
$4,095,000
|
|
Emerging Partner Category
|
|
|
|
Oregon City
|
Downtown Transportation Demand Management Plan Implementation
|
$150,000
|
|
|
Total Emerging Partner Award
|
$150,000
|
|
Infrastructure and Innovation Category
|
|
|
|
City of Gresham
|
Gresham Rockwood Bike Route
|
$59,887
|
|
City of Gresham
|
Wy'East Way and Gresham-Fairview Trail Wayfinding
|
$29,053
|
|
Clackamas County
|
Oak Grove Bicycle Parking
|
$9,041
|
|
p:ear
|
p:ear Bike Works
|
$180,000
|
|
Ride Connection, Inc.
|
Mobility Management Services
|
$78,390
|
|
|
Total Innovation & Infrastructure Award
|
$356,371
|
|
Safe Routes to School Category
|
|
|
|
Beaverton School District
|
Beaverton School District Safe Routes To School
Program
|
$150,000
|
|
City of Hillsboro
|
City of Hillsboro SRTS Program
|
$80,000
|
|
City of Portland
|
Parkrose School District Safe Routes To School and Vision Zero for Youth
|
$80,000
|
|
City of Tigard
|
Tigard-Tualatin Schools Safe Routes To School
|
$150,000
|
|
Clackamas County
|
Clackamas County Safe Routes To School
Program Coordinator
|
$120,000
|
|
Community Cycling Center
|
Community Based Safe Routes To School
|
$80,000
|
|
Multnomah County
|
East Multnomah County Safe Routes To School
Program
|
$240,000
|
|
|
Total Safe Routes to School Award
|
$900,000
|
|
Marketing Partnership Category
|
|
|
|
City of Portland
|
School Safety Marketing Campaign
|
$15,000
|
|
Lake Oswego Sustainability Network
|
Get There Lake Oswego Campaign
|
$25,000
|
|
Portland State University
|
Stages of Change Communication Plan
|
$27,000
|
|
Ride Connection
|
Travel Options Marketing Materials
|
$25,000
|
|
The Street Trust
|
Outreach to Communities of Color Research and Implementation
|
$40,000
|
|
|
Total Marketing Award
|
$132,000
|