Karen Januszewski lives just south of the University and doesn’t drive. When she’s not riding her bike around town, she takes the bus, a service she’s not entirely happy with.
“I was in Portland for a long time and compared to Portland, the bus service in Eugene is so poor that I feel like I’m limited to living downtown because I don’t have a car,” she said. “I feel like it could be better.”
Januszewski was able to voice her concerns about the EmX’s limited schedule and routes at the Central Lane Metropolitan Planning Organization’s open house on Monday at the Eugene Public Library.
MPO, a planning organization for the Eugene-Springfield-Coburg area, is once again updating both its long-range and short-range transportation plans.
The open house was an opportunity for the public to discuss transportation issues in the area, as well as learn about the changes.
“The goal is to let people know these updates are happening and to start collecting public comments so the elected officials know what the public thinks,” said Kathi Wiederhold, a senior planner for the Lane Council of Governments, a regional planning agency.
MPO typically holds public hearings and open houses for month-long periods before sorting and compiling all of the feedback. The group then gives the information to the Metropolitan Policy Committee, which includes elected officials.
MPC reviews everything before the decision meetings, at which the group chooses what actions to take before updating the plans.
According to LCG Senior Planner Paul Thompson, the updates are primarily to coordinate transportation system improvements across the three cities.
The Regional Transportation Plan, also known as “the long-term plan,” is projected for 2031. Changes include incorporating West Eugene into the EmX system, which currently runs exclusively between Eugene and Springfield Stations, and improving the Delta/Beltway Interchange.
“The road’s not big enough for the traffic that’s out there, simply put,” Thompson said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan, otherwise known as “the short-term plan,” is updated every two years.
Current projects include roadway improvements on Old Coburg Road and the Gateway/Beltline intersection, a new EmX route in Springfield that covers both the Gateway Mall and PeaceHealth Hospital and the replacement of the Willamette River Bridge on Interstate 5.
The latter is what brought Eugene resident Ken Rivernider to the open house.
“The I-5 bridge over the Willamette will go through the Whilamut Natural Area,” he said. “It might be a nice idea for the bridge to honor the Kalapuya, the native inhabitants of this area.”
Rivernider submitted a comment card, suggesting that the new bridge should have a Kalapuya name.
In addition to informing the public about new transportation plans and giving people like Januszewski and Rivernider the opportunity to voice their concerns, the open house also served to raise awareness about Commuter Solutions.
Funded largely by an Oregon Department of Transportation grant, the 12-year-old Commuter Solutions promotes the use of buses, bicycles and carpools to decrease both pollution and traffic.
The Emergency Ride Home Program is one of several implemented by Commuter Solutions.
Program Manager Connie Bloom Williams said if someone rides the bus to work and gets a call to pick up his or her sick child from school, Commuter Solutions will pay the cab fare.
“The number one reason people give for driving alone is to have access to a vehicle in case of emergency,” she said.
Additional programs include School Pools, which helps form carpools for grade school students, and LTD Group Pass Programs, which is how the ASUO pays for University students to ride Lane Transit District buses with student ID cards.
“The message we’re always trying to get across is that a lot goes into transportation planning and it affects all of our lives,” Wiederhold said.
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