In 2026 and in the second half of this decade, Portland should lead the State of Maine in enabling and encouraging a shift away from single occupancy motor vehicles as the primary transportation method for our residents. If we fail, none of our quality of life, affordability or environmental goals can be met. We have work to do. We are falling short on the city’s One Climate Future goals, particularly in reducing vehicle miles traveled in our city. To succeed, it must first be safe to walk and bike in our city. Our traffic safety crisis is a real emergency. In 2025 there were 456 injury crashes and five deaths on Portland streets, including four pedestrians. This is an extraordinarily high number of deaths for a city of our size. In fact, we are now significantly more dangerous than Boston, New York City, and many other places. There’s no reason we can’t achieve what they have achieved if we prioritize it in our policies and our investments.
In 2025 the City Council and City Staff implemented a number of PBPAC’s 2025 Priorities, including adopting a Vision Zero commitment to end traffic deaths by 2040, drafting and issuing an RFP for a Comprehensive Transportation Plan, and beginning work on a Street Design Manual, which could be approved by the Planning Board sometime in 2026.
If you want to see progress towards the following goals in Portland, email the Portland City Council at council@portlandmaine.gov and let them know you support the Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee's Priorities for 2025!
To support Portland and the Greater Portland Council of Government’s commitment to Vision Zero we urge the S&T Committee to take these actions in 2026:
Implement a participatory crash response protocol. Portland needs to have a transparent, participatory, and public process for the rapid review of street and intersection designs after serious crashes, with the goal of preventing future crashes and reducing risks to public health and safety.
Create a transparent and participatory crash analysis protocol like the one developed and tested by Strong Towns to identify and implement immediate, low cost safety fixes, as well as long-term, permanent solutions to unsafe street designs and policies. This process should be public, and members of the public must be included on the review committee.
Clearly designate who is accountable for Vision Zero implementation and delivering results on reducing speeds, crashes, injuries, and deaths.
Adopt a maximum speed limit of 20 miles per hour.
We should reduce traffic speeds to 20 MPH on all city-controlled streets.
We should work with MaineDOT to reduce speeds on state-controlled roads to create a safer experience for all.
Improve traffic signal configurations. Portland must prioritize pedestrian safety and at intersections, which will also encourage walking.
Implement default, automatic walk cycles at all signalized intersections.
Improve signal timing, implement leading pedestrian intervals city-wide, allow all pedestrians enough time to cross safely.
Eliminate right turn on red at nearly all intersections.
Improve sidewalk and bike lane snow clearing. Portland needs to do more to ensure sidewalks and bike lanes are safe to use year-round. We should revisit the city ordinance on sidewalk snow clearance to achieve this outcome, if necessary.
Improve sidewalk snow clearing on city-plowed routes, through a combination of more staffing and effective equipment. Bike lane snow clearance should be as thorough and safe as travel lanes.
Improve compliance of sidewalk snow clearance by property owners mandated to do so, particularly along streets with high crash rates.
Evaluate sidewalk materials policy to balance winter maintenance needs.
Remove snow at all transit stops and along sidewalks approaching them.
Continue to improve our public transit experience by improving service frequency, quality and accessibility. While largely the responsibility of METRO’s board, the S&T Committee should be pushing our city appointees to work on service improvements in Portland and should support them in that work.
Create more multi-line high, frequency corridors, akin to Congress St.
Implement a bi-directional Route 8 and simplify the route.
Improve marketing to promote increased ridership.
Improve ease of access to rider information.
Marketing to local businesses to encourage employee use.
Study the impact of reducing fares for transit users.
Complete the implementation of transit signal priority for METRO buses.
We will continue to urge the Council and staff to adopt three 2025 priorities that were not taken up, which would expedite the Council’s Vision Zero safety commitments and improve the quality of experience for people walking, biking, and riding transit. We continue call for the following:
Establish a Complete Streets Board by ordinance. Include members of the public and staff, with clear authority and regular public meetings.
Charge the Board with reviewing projects, plans, and manuals for alignment with Complete Streets and Vision Zero.
Create a Street Design Manual. Portland does not have a single reference document for street design, including standards and specifications for side walks, protected bike lanes, and crossing signals. This, along with the other steps endorsed here, would cure many inconsistencies in walking and biking infrastructure, which leads to unpredictable and unsafe behaviors by all street users.
Chapter 1 and Appendix A of the city’s Technical Manual and the Traffic Signal Policy & Guidance Manual should be merged into a new document, renamed the Street Design Manual (or similar), and brought into compliance with our complete streets policy and our Commitment to Vision Zero.
GPCOG’s Regional Complete Streets Design Guidebook, published in 2025, could be adopted in full or in part to achieve this priority.
Hire a Sustainable Transportation Manager. Create a senior-level position with authority across departments.
Responsibilities should include implementing the Street Design Manual, coordinating Vision Zero actions, attracting additional funding for projects, and reporting directly to City leadership and Council on outcomes.
These priorities will advance the city’s previously-stated goals of the One Climate Future Plan and Portland’s comprehensive plan. Achieving them will allow us to envision a near future where biking, walking, and riding public transit in Portland is not only safe and affordable, but also comfortable, joyous, and preferable for many.
We have resources to support these priorities and will continue to publish more in the coming weeks. If there is interest in more information about any of the items above, please reach out, we are ready to help.