Planning & Sustainability

Bridge pedal bikers

The Exchange

SPEAKER SERIES

THE EXCHANGE: Untangling the Urban Fabric 

The Exchange is a quarterly series from PSU's Planning & Sustainability Office. It brings faculty, students, and community leaders together to tackle real urban and campus challenges through cross-departmental collaboration, shared knowledge, and hands-on strategies to enliven our campus and city.

  1. Active Transportation, November 12, 2026
  2. The Arts Ecosystem, Winter 2027
  3. Public Spaces, Spring 2027
Nov 12 Bike Commute Exchaneg Speaker Series Header

FALL EVENT: The Bike Commute is Dead, Long Live the Bike Commute! 

Thursday, November 12, 2026    12:00–1:30 p.m. 

Parsons Gallery -  2nd Floor - Urban Center Building

Portland State University, 506 SW Mill Street, Portland  

Panelists from PSU, Better Block PDX, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), PBOT Bike Bus Planners, All Bodies All Bikes and more.

The street infrastructure is here, but where are the commuters? Can Portland top the lists of bike commuting cities once more?

Join students, planners, community partners, and grassroots advocates to unpack what’s going on now, and see what’s next. 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH - EVENT OVERVIEW

Portland used to be the top bike commuting city in the US. At its peak, bike commuting here ran at several times the national average. Protected lanes, the nation's first pollinator bikeway, bike buses, cargo bikes, and a legendary messenger scene made riding an everyday way to get around, not just something for diehards. Parents, students, and casual riders biked to work and school, and the city backed them with dedicated staff, forward-thinking policy, and real investment in infrastructure.

Then COVID hit. People have come back to campuses and offices, but bike commuting hasn't recovered at the same pace. How do we get Portland rolling again?

Our first panel of the year brings planners, agency partners, and grassroots advocates together to dig into that question. We'll look at what's driving the decline. We'll examine demographics, and employment trends, security, safety, and end-of-trip amenities like secure parking, lockers, and showers. And we'll consider concrete steps PSU and the city can take to bring riders back, on campus and across the region.

PSU is a living laboratory for urban mobility. What we try here can shape how Portland moves.

WHY ATTEND

  • Meet the people shaping Portland's streets. Connect with the advocates, planners, and agency staff working on active transportation and placemaking.
  • Bring your ideas to the table. This is a working conversation, not a lecture. Faculty and student perspectives are part of the solution.
  • Leave with real strategies. Get practical, tactical approaches for making campus and city streets better for riding.
  • See campus and city as one system. Explore how PSU's challenges mirror the region's, and put our motto, Let Knowledge Serve the City, into practice.