From PortlandAfoot

Driving in Portland is honestly not a lot of fun. Most of Portland proper was not built for modern traffic volumes, and the Metro region has deliberately invested little in auto infrastructure such as new freeways and major arterials, choosing instead to spend tax dollars on relatively cheap infrastructure such as bike lanes and relatively accessible infrastructure such as MAX lines.

Getting on and off of freeways such as Interstate 5, Interstate 405 and Interstate 84 in the City of Portland can be especially frustrating to people accustomed to longer on- and off-ramps. Driving in downtown Portland tends to be a major headache, too, though parking remains much cheaper than in larger cities such as San Francisco or Seattle.

However, there's no question that, especially when suburban travel is involved, driving is often the fastest way to get from A to B. And thanks in part to Portland's unusually low rate of driving and limited highway-style infrastructure, fatality rates for Portland drivers are among the country's lowest.

[edit] Carsharing

Portland, the first U.S. city to offer commercial carsharing, is home to a popular Zipcar fleet. It was also the second city to which peer-to-peer carsharing service Getaround expanded, in 2012, and the fourth U.S. city to which one-way carsharing service Car2Go expanded, also in 2012.

[edit] Portland's low investment in highways

As of 2010, according to the Texas Transportation Institute's annual urban mobility report from 2011, only three major metro areas in the U.S. had built fewer highway or arterial lane-miles: New York City, San Diego and Sacramento. And only three metro areas drove less on them per capita: New York, Chicago and New Orleans.

The 5 major U.S. metro areas with the fewest lane-miles of freeway or arterial streets per capita:

1. New York City: 143 lane-miles per 100,000 residents
2. Sacramento: 173 lane-miles
3. San Diego: 179 lane-miles
4. Portland: 180 lane-miles
5. Miami: 181 lane-miles

The 5 major U.S. metro areas with the fewest vehicle-miles of freeway or arterial travel per capita:

1. New York City: 11.3 daily vehicle-miles per resident
2. Chicago: 12.2 vehicle-miles
3. New Orleans: 12.2 vehicle-miles
4. Portland: 13.9 vehicle-miles
5. Buffalo: 15.1 vehicle-miles

[edit] See also

• bicycling in Portland
• walking in Portland
• cost of driving
• eco-driving