2.
Table of Contents
March, 2016
Page 1 Title
Page 3 Executive Summary
Page 4 Background Bend’s History
Page 5 Bend’s Current Emissions
Page 6 Transportation Goals
Page 8 Bend Transportation
Page 9 Bicycle System Map
Page 10 Bend Commute Options & Costs
Page 11 Bend Central Westside Plan
Page 12 Preferred Land Use Scenario Map
Page 13 Density and CO2 Table
Page 14 CWP Trip Data
Page 16 Portland’s Climate Strategy
Page 18 Portland/Bend Transit Maps
Page 20 Conclusion
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3.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Oregon’s Emission Background
In the year 2004, Oregon’s governor, Ted Kulongoski, laid out three goals for the state
to achieve in order to reduce carbon emissions that are still in effect, and guiding the
state today: 1) mitigate emission growth by the year 2010, 2) reduce emissions by 10%
to get below 1990 levels by the year 2020, and 3) reduce emissions by 75% to get
below 1990 levels by the year 2050. Oregon easily met the first goal the governor set
forth in 2004, but as of 2014, the state is not on track to meet the remaining two goals.
In 2010, the State of Oregon established the Oregon Sustainable Transportation
Initiative (OSTI) in order to develop and execute plans to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, and in 2013, OSTI submitted a Statewide Transportation Strategy for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions for all Metropolitan Planning Regions in Oregon;
Bend, Central Lane,Corvallis, Rogue Valley, SalemKeizer, Albany, Middle Rogue, and
Portland Metro.
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4.
WHERE DOES BEND STAND?
Background & Bend
Bend was incorporated as a municipality in the winter of 1905, following the construction
of the town’s first commercial sawmill; built by Pilot Butte Development Company. The
municipality was originally called “Farewell Bend,” a namesake to the Farewell Bend
Ranch, which was later shortened to the name we know today by the U.S. Postal
Service. Bend saw a steady growth in population since its inception, relying mainly on
forestry and logging as its main industry. Bend’s transformation into a tourism and
retirement destination caused the population of the city to explode; between the 2000
and 2010 census, the city saw an increase of nearly twentyfive thousand people a
47% increase. According to the Bend Transit Plan, Bend is one of the fastest growing 1
communities in the state of Oregon, with a long range population plan of 130,000 2
residents. The Bend Transit Plan addresses an issue the city is faced with this
projection, being that increased strain on infrastructure through transportation and
housing will push the city’s carbon emissions to higher levels.
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bend,_Oregon
2
http://www.bend.or.us/index.aspx?page=759
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7.
3. Accessibility and Equity
a. Provide people of all income levels with the widest range of travel and
access options within the Bend urban area.
b. Provide all transportation modes access to all parts of the community.
4. Environmental
a. Recognize and respect the natural features over which transportation
improvements pass to minimize adverse impacts.
b. Design transportation improvements to preserve air and water quality,
minimize noise impacts, and encourage energy conservation.
5. Economic
a. Implement transportation improvements to foster economic development
and business vitality.
6. Livability
a. Design and locate transportation facilities to be sensitive to protecting the
livability of the community.
7. Safety
a. Design and construct the transportation system to enhance travel safety
for all modes.
These goals set by the City of Bend and Bend MPO are there to provide a clearcut plan
on how infrastructure and transit development needs to work for the community it’s
meant to serve. Bend’s current transit plan lines out plans for more protected bike lanes
(like what is seen on Riverside Boulevard along Drake Park) and more comprehensive
bus routing than what is already in place.
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10.
Comprehensive and smart planning for biking and pedestrian infrastructure requires
more than sidewalks and bike lanes; it requires smart planning from the ground up. The
Bend Central Westside Plan aims to create smart and dense development, resulting in
shorter commute times, less vehicle miles traveled, and ultimately, less vehicles on the
road; all contributing to lowering greenhouse gas emissions in Bend. Below is a table 7
created by Commute Options showing the various commute variables and their cost in
fuel, CO2 emissions, and cost to the consumer:
Commute Option Lbs. of Pollution Per
Mile
Fuel Used Per
Mile (Gallons)
Cost Per Mile Comments
Driving Alone 9 lbs. 0.05 $0.37 Includes fuel,
maintenance,
insurance,
registration, and
taxes
Carpool 0.5 lbs. 0.025 $0.18 Assumes two people
per vehicle
Vanpool 0.17 lbs. 0.009 $0.05 Based on seven
people per van
Bus 0.7 lbs. 0.03 $0.22 Data from FTA
Bicycle 0 lbs. 0 0 Human powered
Walk 0 lbs. 0 0 Human powered
Telecommute 0 lbs. 0 0 Eliminates trips
Compressed
Work Week
0 lbs. 0 0 Eliminates trips
7
Couldn’t find a URL for this table, powerpoint provided by Jeff Monson at Commute Options
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13.
Density & Carbon Emissions
The Bend Central Westside Plan relies heavily on the connection that higher density
development coupled with complete transit systems leads to lower carbon emissions.
While it’s easy to take the data presented in City presentations, there’s a need to delve
a little deeper. In a report produced by Georgetown Climate Center , different levels of 9
densities were listed with their respective density ranges, annual VMT (vehicle miles
traveled), and average CO2 emitted per mile:
Bend’s population density, as of 2010, is 2,335 people per square mile , and according 10
to Georgetown’s constraints, that puts the city at the ‘Medium Urban’ category, where
emissions are lower than Suburban and Rural densities, but not as low as they could
be; especially taking into account Bend’s projected population increase. This data
further supports the CWP’s goal of adding more density to main corridors in order to
curb carbon emissions.
9
http://www.georgetownclimate.org/files/GCCReducing_GHG_Emissions_from_Transportation11.24.15.pdf
10
http://www.areavibes.com/bendor/demographics/
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15.
As the data shows, with increased density working hand in hand with complete transit
systems, individual vehicle trips drop, which results in less CO2 being put into the air by
personal automobiles.
In Figure 5, internal trips refers to trips made within the constraints of the CWP, which
tend to be shorter trips that can easily be made by cycling or walking. While vehicular
trips increase with the preferred land use scenario, multiuse development results in
less vehicle miles traveled; so residents are traveling less distance for goods and
services.
Figure 6 illustrates this point, with total vehicle miles traveled within the CWP drops 8%
from current zoning restrictions. As stated before, with multiuse development, residents
are able to run their errands and travel less distance than what they do now with the
current zoning.
The point illustrated by Figure 7 is that in the preferred land use scenario, since
complete transit systems are an overarching objective for the CWP, more trips made
within the CWP will be made with transit per household than made with current zoning
and transit restrictions.
Finally, Figure 8 shows that with a more centralized and multiuse development plan,
household transportation costs decrease by a margin of almost 7%. This is because
residential areas are built with more ease of access to commercial centers, as well as
being intermixed with shops and services, resulting in less of a need to drive further to
go grocery shopping, etc.
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17.
The goal of the Climate Smart Strategy is to demonstrate leadership on climate change
by meeting agreed upon goals and targets for reducing carbon emissions and
greenhouse gasses from lightduty vehicles while creating strong communities and
economies.
An overview of the strategies recommended in the Climate Smart Strategy:
1. Implement adopted local and regional land use plans.
2. Make transit convenient, frequent, affordable, and accessible.
3. Make biking and walking safe and convenient.
4. Make highways and streets safe, reliable, and connected.
5. Use technology to actively manage the transportation system.
6. Provide information and incentives to expand the use of travel options.
7. Make efficient use of vehicle parking and land dedicated to parking.
8. Support Oregon’s transition to cleaner, lowcarbon fuels and more fuelefficient
vehicles.
9. Secure adequate funding for transportation investments.
Reading through the Climate Smart Strategy’s objectives, they’re a close call to the
goals lined out in the Bend Area General Plan. Making transit accessible, securing
funding, and providing incentives to using different modes of transportation are goals
that both cities cite as important to creating an environmentally friendly, carbon reducing
city; but considering the differing sizes of the respective urban areas, these goals are
likely playing out in different ways, perhaps even more successfully in one city than the
other.
Transit
Anybody that has visited Portland will tell you that the transit system throughout the city
has improved by leaps and bounds; the MAX now runs miles in each direction (though
comprehensive coverage outside of the city core has some catching up to do), and most
transit is timely and relatively affordable. Compared to Bend’s stilldeveloping system,
Portland’s has it beat by miles. Below are two transit maps for Portland and Bend ; 13 14
Portland has noticeably more coverage, even though Bend is much smaller.
13
http://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/ClimateSmartStrategyFinalVersion2014.PDF
14
http://www.cascadeseasttransit.com/bendbusschedule/bendschedule.html
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19.
Such a comprehensive transit network can benefit Bend the same way it has benefitted
Portland; although Bend doesn’t have the infrastructure for light rail like the MAX, but it
does have the advantage of having the bare bones of a bus system. The city currently
has 12 different bus lines servicing different parts of the city, but those lines are limited
in where they run typically along main arterial thoroughfares, where Portland has
main roads as well as secondary roads covered. Providing parkandride lots, like what
exists on Columbia Street on the Westside, for nearby residents to be able to drive short
distances and still be able to take advantage of transit if they don’t live near a main
route. Not too long ago, Bend held the title as the largest city on the West Coast without
a bus system, so this expansion on what currently exists will help reap more benefits
like lower emissions from personal automobiles for the city.
Travel/Commute Incentives
Portland Metro employs multiple modes of outreach to incentivize people to use
different forms of transit in the city to increase the efficiency of the city’s transit system.
Strategies like public awareness, commuter programs, and transit tools are just a few
ways Metro gets people to get out of their cars and use multimodal forms of transit.
Public awareness at the most basic level is public education about transit and
ecodriving; keeping vehicles maintained to be the most efficient and engaging efficient
driving habits (completing all errands at the same time rather than making multiple
trips). Organizations in Bend, like the Environmental Center, do fantastic jobs at
educating the public, but it seems like the peak interest happens at special events like
Earth Day. Year round public awareness campaigns can keep different commute
strategies present in Bend’s mind, rather than a revolving fad at certain times of the
year. Portland also uses employerbased programs to incentivize employees to use
transit through transit pass programs, offering special parking for bicycles, and setting
up employee carpool programs. The City of Bend employees these similar strategies for
their employees, but as a whole, the city could benefit from offering similar programs
across different sectors and industries.
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20.
Conclusion
Throughout the research performed, it was obvious that Bend’s journey to creating a
community and city with reduced carbon emissions is a relatively new and fresh idea.
Supplemental data was useful to drive points home for Bend specifically, and much of
the city’s new infrastructure is still new or under construction, so there isn’t a whole lot
of data present for infrastructure as well.
But what was apparent is the city’s dedication to creating a sustainable community with
comprehensive transit and density that can maximize the precious space we have to
build on, while also taking advantage of new technology and planning to make
multiuse, walkable, and clean spaces. The other important aspect to making this
happen the citizens of Bend also appear to be warming up to the idea of making an
environmentally sound city, even though it’s not a process that happens overnight.
Portland obviously leads the state in green development, but it’s essentially comparing
apples to oranges because Portland is such an enormous metro area compared to
Bend, the funding and support takes a little more work on this side of the mountains. But
after researching, interviewing, and doing even more researching for these last few
months, it’s not even a question as to if Bend is capable of becoming an
environmentally sound city and community, it’s a matter of when.
And from what has been seen, it’s not too far off in the future.
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