U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio spoke to a University bicycle planning class Thursday in an attempt to draw attention to a federal transportation policy some say is in dire need of reform.
“It’s quite an honor for us to have someone who has been in Congress since 1987 in our classroom,” associate professor Marc Schlossberg said. “He’s a big advocate for transportation. Biking is more than something you do as a kid; it’s a valid form of transportation.”
DeFazio is serving on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and is trying to shift the public’s focus to alternative modes of transportation, such as bicycles and high-speed rail lines.
“I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I could do this, but I need help in the fight,” he said when asked what students could do to help develop transportation solutions. “It’s a very tough environment.”
DeFazio added that it’s important to direct arguments for change toward the people who are likely to listen.
“There are many millions of people who care about alternative modes of transportation,” DeFazio said. “They just need to be awakened.”
University junior Amber Swanson said DeFazio’s speech drew parallels with work she’d been doing in class, which is geared toward examining public policies. She characterized his presentation as “helpful.”
DeFazio is a University alumnus and helped establish the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium — a transportation center partnership with the University, Portland State University, Oregon State University and the Oregon Institute of Technology.
Schlossberg is an associate director for OTREC who works on the various issues around sustainable cities, with particular focus on active transportation, urban design, public health, participatory mapping and social change.
One of DeFazio’s goals for OTREC is developing a plan based on a number of transportation problems.
“We have $70 billion in capital backlog on existing systems,” DeFazio said. “Right now there is some flexibility and no accountability.”
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in 2007 prompted more thorough studies of national infrastructure, which have found that many bridges and transportation systems in the country are underfunded.
DeFazio said the state with the worst bridge repair model is Pennsylvania, where 100 percent of funding slated for repairs has been converted to other areas in the public sector. He also said the state of the transportation system in the country worries him and he would like to see more funding going toward transportation as most of its funding has been cut in recent years.
“You can do more with less, but you can’t get a system that is already underestimated and spend a third less,” DeFazio said.
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Peter DeFazio talks transit at University bike planning class
Daily Emerald
April 20, 2011
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