Embedded Files
A Quick Summary
A Quick Summary
Currently, Lewis & Clark runs the school shuttle — the Otterbus — that connects the campus to other parts of Portland. Lewis & Clark also offers opportunities for student biking as a mode of transportation.
However, "many students misunderstand how much the shuttle costs, what roles it serves for students, and the limitations on improvement or change" (Helen Traczyk, 2023, p.25).
This mainly indicates gaps in knowledge about the Otterbus and the Portland public transport system. Yet, limitations on access to carpooling and issues with the current website also need to be addressed.
To address the knowledge and carpool accessibility gaps among the Lewis & Clark population, Group A proposes creating and publicizing a website and pamphlet to raise awareness and connect carpool participants.
Current Systems in Place
Current Systems in Place
Image 1: Picture of a student at the Lewis & Clark bike repair center (New Bicycle Repair Stations on Campus, 2026)
Biking
On the Lewis & Clark College campus, there is a student-run organization called the Bike Co-op. This co-op includes free repairs by students (by appointment) and 15-20 available bikes that you can borrow for free as well. You have to fill out a form, and you are free to use it. Not only are there repairs and free rentals, but also bike maintenance classes, bike accessories for sale, and cycling activities to join.
This resource is a great place to start if students and staff are interested in biking as another mode of transportation that is cost-effective and sustainable.
As of now, many students are unaware of this service; hence, it will be extensively illustrated in the proposed website and pamphlet.
Zip Cars
Lewis & Clark College is partnered with 1 Zipcar to provide students with rentable cars
Prices:
$15 to join
$8.25+/hour
$73/day
(Lewis & Clark Partners with Zipcar to Offer Car Sharing on Campus, 2019)
We recognize that this may not be financially sustainable for all transit users; however, for those interested in using it, information will be presented on the proposed website and pamphlet.
Image 2: Picture of a Zipcar (Sopher, 2016)
Shuttle: Otterbus
This is a free shuttle service operated by Lewis & Clark College
Utilized by students, faculty, and staff
Runs on a fixed schedule and route, found on the Otterbus website (Otterbus, 2025).
There has been some scrutiny of the current route. Therefore, with a student survey and careful planning, a new route will be implemented starting Fall 2026 (New Otterbus Route Proposal 2026).
Image 1 shows the school's initial proposed Otterbus route for the new school year.
Image 4: Picture of shuttle that runs for Lewis & Clark College (Instagram, 2026)
Image 3: School proposed Otterbus route from Fall 2026 (New Otterbus Route Proposal 2026)
Educational Awareness
Educational Awareness
First, it was identified that one of the main transportation problems for Lewis & Clark College stemmed from a lack of carpooling resources and limited access to transit-related information.
In a survey conducted on the Lewis & Clark student population, 50% who attended responded that their use of the Otterbus would increase if its operation was extensively taught during NSO (Graph 1).
Graph 1: Impact of NSO lessons on Otterbus on its Post-NSO Usage. (Core 121 Survey, 2026; see Appendix A)
Graph 2: Impact on TriMet Usage if NSO includes Otterbus "How-To-Use" (Core 121 Survey, 2026; see Appendix A)
No one responded with "Less Often" shown on Graph 1, so there would be no negative impacts of incorporating a "how to use the LC and Portland public transit system" into the New Student Orientation. It can be expected that more expansive education would have positive impacts on a large population, adding to why it would be a useful solution.
Additionally, having the information available on a website allows it to be accessed by those who don't attend the NSO.
However, the impact of Otterbus lessons on TriMet Usage is presented in Graph 2. It can be interpreted as 5.56% of people using the Otterbus after being informed would use it over the TriMet, and 43.06% would increase usage of TriMet Services as a result of Otterbus lessons.
Additionally, as part of our proposed solution, we will distribute QR codes during NSO that link to concise, accessible pamphlets outlining the transportation options available at Lewis & Clark.
The pamphlet will contain the following:
Informative and visually appealing documents that include guides on most Lewis & Clark transport options
Information on how to purchase the discounted TriMet pass
Information on rental bikes & storage
Carpooling and parking options
Zipcar information
Otterbus schedules as well as preplanned routes
Image 5: Draft for the pamphlet that would be shared with the Lewis & Clark Students
Improvement from Current Otterbus Website
Improvement from Current Otterbus Website
The Otterbus' website is faulty, containing multiple dead links and unreliable tracker data. These problems have been acknowledged and identified by the Director of Transportation & Parking Services.
In addition to the faulty website, there is no shared Otterbus and TriMet map. This makes planning challenging for students who want to take the Otterbus off campus and transfer to other lines to reach their target destination.
Draft Map Displaying Otterbus and TriMet Connections
Draft Map Displaying Otterbus and TriMet Connections
To the left is a map that provides user-friendly information. It demonstrates that it does not need to be complicated; the simpler the better, actually. The most important thing is that it includes detailed information to guide students to use the Otterbus and Portland's public transit.
This draft map was created with Google Maps. Users would be able to see a short description of the area around the Otterbus stops, along with TriMet stops near the Otterbus stop and their connection options.
Right now, this is not possible on the maps provided by L&C. Riders must go back and forth between the TriMet and Otterbus maps. This can be overwhelming for people new to public transit and may deter people from using it.
Carpooling
Carpooling
The Transportation Demand Management Plan (TDM) report showed us that the college is legally limited to approximately 1,685 parking spots across the entire campus (including law and graduate), which would include 85 spots for carpooling. Due to these limitations, Lewis & Clark College currently has 1,427 parking spots, with 31 out of the available parking spots being reserved for carpooling only. However, the 2025 transportation survey results reveal that the carpooling population at Lewis & Clark is nearly 0 (the median occupancy in a carpooling vehicle being 1) (Kuhn, 2020, p.3, p.5; Lewis & Clark College, 2025. p.1). This creates a discrepancy between the number of students on campus and the number of available parking spots.
Among the 3,500 total population of students, ~50% live on campus and ~50% off. 24% of on-campus residents, and roughly 70% of off-campus students require parking spots. The school would need to have at least 1,645 single-vehicle (non-carpool) parking spaces in order to fulfill the demand for parking from both on and off-campus students. This is without considering parking for staff/faculty, nor an annual increase in student enrollment. Due to the legal limitations of TDM, it is impossible for Lewis & Clark College to have enough single-vehicle parking spaces to fulfill the needs of students. This highlights the importance of carpooling.
Graph 3: Impact on student carpooling if carpool matching services were available (Core 121 Survey, 2026; see Appendix A)
If carpooling facilities were increased, the number of cars on campus would decrease, as 48.9% of students would be more likely to carpool.
Currently 32.8% of students uninterested in carpooling. Increasing access to such services aims to increase their interest and awareness.
As the school intends to reduce its single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) rate to under 35% (the current rate being 75%) carpooling would aid that goal (Kuhn, 2020, p.13). This intention was revised to 40% in 2018, but the school has hovered around a 70% SOV rate since then. (Tracyzk, 2023)
Parking Passes
Parking Passes
Furthermore, parking at LC is limited and requires students, faculty, and staff to purchase a parking pass for the year, semester, or daily.
Parking prices:
Regular - $195/semester
Carpool - $180/semester
(Lewis & Clark College, 2025, p.3)
As illustrated above, parking permit prices on campus are high and may not be affordable to all students who need it. Moreover, standard spaces are first-come, first-served - with students often having to drive around campus for some time before finding a parking spot.
Carpooling permits render to non-single-user vehicles, which means the $180 can be split among the carpooling students/faculty/staff, greatly reducing the financial burden.
Hence, carpooling not only aids in getting optimal parking spots on campus but also reduces individual transport-related financial burden for car and transit users.
To solve this issue, the proposed website will include a section for carpool connection - connecting carpool seekers with carpool providers. This will include building an algorithm for route matching, along with the sharing of modes of communication - mainly phone numbers.
This can be done through creating zip-code or location groups where carpool seekers can then find routes that match their needs and contact the related carpool provider.
Final Output
Final Output
This led to an up-to-date website with working links, Otterbus maps and tracking, along with carpool connection services, to be a proposed solution.
The website will contain the following:
Links to helpful resources, such as the TriMet tracker and routes, as well as biking on campus.
There will be various pages on the website pertaining to each transportation option. These options include the Otterbus and parking services.
Otterbus: tracking services, schedules, maps
Carpooling: services to connect service seekers to service providers
Links to, or QR codes for access to the Pamphlet
Funding
Funding
Either the current website will be updated or a new website will be created, through outsourcing. The current transportation app budget, tracking the Otterbus, will be reallocated to this.
Maintenance
Maintenance
After first round of implementation feedback will be collected and an assessment of the website will be done.
If further changes or updates are needed, they will be implemented.
References
References
Instagram, 2017, www.instagram.com/p/DVHZcyHASLv/?img_index=2. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
Kuhn, J. (2020). Transportation Demand Management Plan (TDM) Lewis & Clark College (EA 19-115314). Kittleson & Associates, Inc.
Lewis & Clark College. (2025). 2025 Parking & Transportation Survey Results
Lewis & Clark partners with Zipcar to offer car sharing on campus. (2019). Lclark.edu. https://www.lclark.edu/live/news/22673-lewis-clark-partners-with-zipcar-to-offer-car
New bicycle repair stations on campus. (2026). Lclark.edu. https://www.lclark.edu/live/news/22156-new-bicycle-repair-stations-on-campus
New Otterbus Route Proposal. (2026). Lclark.edu. https://www.lclark.edu/offices/transportation_and_parking/shuttle/new-lc-shuttle-route-proposal/
Otterbus. (2025). Lclark.edu. https://www.lclark.edu/offices/transportation_and_parking/shuttle/
Soper, T. (2016, June 22). Zipcar brings one-way car-sharing service to Seattle, including drop-off at new airport lot. GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2016/zipcar-brings-one-way-car-sharing-service-seattle-including-drop-off-new-airport-lot/
Traczyk, H. (2023). Whose Job Is it to Ride the Bus? Responsibility in Mass Transit at Lewis & Clark College [Undergraduate honors thesis, Lewis & Clark College].
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse