Our transportation system is a key ingredient in the economy, quality of life and urban fabric of the Portland metropolitan area. It has been stated in the past that it is not possible to manage our transportation system tomorrow unless we understand how it is performing today. In this spirit, the Portland State University Center for Transportation Studies has been working with regional and statewide partners to develop new capabilities to measure, monitor and track the performance of the transportation system in real time and using archived data sources. We believe that it is possible to leverage these disparate data sources toward providing better transportation system performance information for planners, engineers, citizens, researchers and decision-makers. 

Using this information, we can collaboratively develop policies and programs that can help make our transportation system more efficient, equitable and effective. With this in mind, we are pleased to present the 2007 Portland Metropolitan Region Transportation System Performance Report. We have attempted to make this report comprehensive and multimodal in spirit. We truly view this as a starting point, a work in progress, and we intend to continue to improve the content and format of this report in years to come. Of the new charts that were added for this years’ report, several relate to environmental health or sustainability (air quality, drive-alone commuters, etc.). We are also in the process of developing other “green” performance measures such as motor vehicle emissions, fuel consumption, and person-miles traveled. These new performance measures will appear in future versions of this report. 

The Center for Transportation Studies strives to stimulate and conduct multidisciplinary research on transportation issues, facilitating the dissemination of information and encouraging the implementation of research results. We welcome both comments on this report and participation in Center for Transportation Studies programs and activities from all interested parties. We invite you to visit our website at www.cts.pdx.edu, and thank you in advance for your interest and input.