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Transportation issues, limited parking, and lack of accessibility
Transportation issues, limited parking, and lack of accessibility
These transportation issues include, but are not limited to:
No current functional carpool matching app, reducing its effectiveness as a shared transportation option
Physical demands of using the shuttle system, which can require more time and effort than other modes of transportation
Limited and competitive parking availability; the college is legally capped at approximately 1,685 parking spaces across campus (including law and graduate programs)
Heavy reliance on personal vehicles; according to the 2025 Parking & Transportation Survey, this is the most preferred mode of transportation
Lack of awareness about alternative transportation options, including the campus shuttle, carpooling, and biking systems
New OtterBus Route Approved for Fall Semester 2026. (2026).Lclark.edu. https://www.lclark.edu/live/news/58000-new-otterbus-route-approved-for-fall-semester-2026
Bus Service. (n.d.). Trimet.org. https://trimet.org/bus/
Shaikh, Z. (2025, July 24). TriMet will reduce service, make layoffs to close $300 million budget gap. Oregonlive. https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025/07/trimet-will-reduce-service-make-layoffs-to-close-300-million-budget-gap.html
Otterbus
Otterbus
The Otterbus is L&C's personal outsourced school bus from ecoShuttle that takes students, staff, and faculty around the Portland area, hitting places like Fred Meyer (grocery store), Sellwood, and downtown SW Portland. The Otterbus system presents several issues. It lacks time efficiency and does not adequately connect to essential destinations such as the Sellwood–Moreland area or major public transportation hubs that connect to TriMet or the MAX. Additionally, the system is over 20 years old, the tracker is inefficient, and has not kept pace with current student needs. As a result, many students view it as an impractical and underutilized option of transportation.
Together, these barriers make transportation less efficient, less accessible, and more dependent on personal vehicles.
Background on Portland Transportation System
There are alternative modes of transportation that don't include having a personal car on campus. There's the Otterbus and the TriMet/MAX (see Educational Resources and TriMet Integration tab for more information). We want to create a resource where the stops of the Otterbus can connect riders to these other systems!
TriMet is short for Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon. It has a bus system that has several lines that take people all across the Portland area. Not only does it have a bus system, but it also has the MAX, which is a streetcar on light rails. It costs $2.80, and there are various ways to pay, which include contactless payment or a hop fastpass card that can be refilled.
Educating our community towards a better understanding of the benefits/privileges of public transportation and the importance of its sustainability is imperative.
Context for Our Thinking
Context for Our Thinking
Group A of the Tackling Environmental Problems class aims to educate students, staff, and faculty about different methods of transportation on and off campus to create a more cost-effective, sustainable, and accessible transportation system.
Here are some questions we wanted to address:
How do we get more people to engage in these changes to reduce personal car traffic and ongoing limited parking on campus? With better and more expansive education on transportation, along with improving transportation details at Lewis & Clark College, and ensuring that resources are available to meet people's needs.
How can we make implementable and realistic changes to the pre-existing infrastructure? For example, building a more navigable website and emphasizing convenience and reliability. Inactive links and information that is no longer applicable are a theme across the website. The Transportation and Parking section of the Lewis & Clark website has areas, such as the carpool tab, where links are inactive.
Research and Data Collection
Research and Data Collection
Throughout this course, we have worked to better understand these challenges through multiple forms of research and engagement. Our approach includes:
Analysis of campus transportation data and prior student research
Collaboration with Group B to design and conduct a student transportation survey
A meeting with Transportation Director Joey Zayas to gain institutional insight
Participation in a class field trip using public transportation to evaluate real-world performance and accessibility
These methods provided both quantitative data and firsthand insight into how transportation systems function in practice. (See Our Process on the next page for more information about this!)
Sources
Sources
We drew on prior research, including a thesis by Helen Traczyk (2023), as well as the Lewis & Clark College 2025 Parking & Transportation Survey results.
Traczyk, H. (2023). Whose Job is it to Ride the Bus? Responsibility in Mass Transit at Lewis & Clark College [Bachelor's Thesis, Lewis & Clark College].
Zayas, J. (2025). Parking and Transportation Survey Report. Google Docs.
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