Treatisms

There's more where this came from, just google her name, "Leah Treat, Portland."

Leah Treat is the Director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation.  Ms. Treat was hired last June and makes about $174,000/year and is 43 years old.

On Leah Treat's Twitter Page:  @leahtreat

Government gal with a passion for change in the trans industry.
Mom to 4 smarty-pants kids and wife to an artsy, intellectual, bike fanatic. 

Leah Treat:  Portland transportation director talks road funding package, close calls on her bike, settling in

Q: How often do you get out there, check out conditions?
A: "I have been out there. I'm new to the city so I don't know it like the back of my hand. I have been out with every crew of maintenance and I've seen every type of project that we do. I get out on the weekends and ride my bike around as much as I can. I made it out to the coast for the first time last weekend. "

Q: You're talking about light rail? (Refers to surprises about Portland's transportation network)

"We're still way ahead of the country in the transportation arena, it's just getting lost in the messaging somewhere. So we need to be talking more about the really exciting things that we're doing. Like the Portland-Milwaukie light rail bridge. That is really cool. To our knowledge it's the first bridge in North America that's built to handle car capacity and won't handle cars. That's insane. That's really, really cool. I did not know as much about the road conditions and had been surprised about the lack of investment in the local road infrastructure. That was surprising to me."

Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Leah Treat talks culture, cars and rail projects in Honolulu

Q: How did you swing this trip? Patrick Quinton got Indianapolis?
"Really sweet gig, right?  

Q: What's Honolulu's transportation network like, when compared to Portland?
"Honolulu has a very robust bus system that is owned and operated by the local government. And it is named 'The Bus.' I LOVE that. I hope they name their new rail system 'The Rail.'"

Q: The ULI fellows visited Portland, and were quite impressed with how 'we' do things here. What was your impression of Honolulu?
[The Blaisdell Center] is where cultural gatherings are held and where Hawaiians celebrate themselves. 

Lastly, and how did I make this last??????, Honolulu is building a rail system that will have a station within a 5-minute walk of the Blaisdell Center. We Portlanders know what a new rail station means.

Our group recommended creating a 'yellow brick road' that went from the Blaisdell Center to the beach, activating the park and celebrating its rich cultural heritage, taking underused road lanes for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, consolidating uses of the Blaisdell Center for higher value, partnering with the museum and schools for a magnet arts program, tackling difficult parking issues; and considering different taxes/fees to generate much needed maintenance revenue. 

Q: What, if any, similarities did you notice when comparing Portland to Honolulu? Are there any major differences that stick out? 
A remarkable difference for me was how car-centric Honolulu is.  But I applaud Mayor Caldwell and his vision of transforming Honolulu by bringing bike share to the city, installing bike lanes and building a rail system."