For years our community has been advocating and taking steps to make 82nd Avenue a more vibrant, accessible, walkable, safe corridor. This month, TriMet announced their plans to build fourteen miles of Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes along the entirety of 82nd Avenue, East Portland’s main street. This is a huge win! And now we need your support to make sure we can fund this investment.

My friend and colleague Representative Thuy Tran (HD 45) is asking for $3 million from the state legislature to ensure that our community gets the transit investment necessary to make 82nd Avenue a safe, walkable, vibrant corridor.

Here’s why I’m eager to support this project:

✅ TriMet’s Line 72, which serves 82nd Avenue, has the highest ridership of any bus line in greater Portland, with approximately 10,000 daily trips. It shares the road with cars, freight and local deliveries — and has more delays than any other bus line.

✅ The 82nd Avenue BAT lanes will bring high-capacity FX–Frequent Express bus service along SE 82nd Avenue, improving travel times and increasing access to transit, while providing better connections to jobs, schools, retail centers and other destinations along the route.

✅ This investment leverages $150 million in investment from the federal government, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars already allocated from the City of Portland and the state. This $3 million commitment from the state legislature will help close the gap to fully fund the comprehensive plan to transform a car-centered, dangerous state highway to a safe and welcoming neighborhood street.

✅ Years of community engagement from a coalition of neighbors associations, small business owners, local PTAs, and transportation advocates led TriMet to approve this design - and with the legislature’s help, we can fully fund this transformative vision for our community.