1) App for bus lines, estimated times, and stops
2) Interactive maps around the city
3) Free wifi or public wifi hotspots
4) App for current events in Portland (museums, festivals)
5) Parking garages with parking availability outside (app form too so you know which lots have spots)
Based on my experience with Portland, I would recommend emphasizing the “smart” aspect of the transportation system by creating more comprehensible public bus lines, bike paths, and increased signage or maps. Based on the city council minutes of the past few meetings, there is no discussion on transportation efficiency via smart technology. I think the combination of apps and interactive maps in the city will help make the city more accessible, especially for outsiders. Hopefully increasing the easiness that residents and visitors can use public transportation will help more evenly distribute wealth and livelihood throughout Portland.
Portland seems to lack the transportation system that many other large cities support. Though it is smaller than New York, Boston, and D.C., it is important that a city has multiple accessible modes of transportation. Portland lacks a metro system, taxi scene, bus lines, and is not particularly biker friendly. By creating apps for bus times, bus stop locations, taxi locations, or bikeshare availability, Portland could make public transportation much more accessible, which would hopefully connect the city as a whole and encourage its residents to use personal cars less. Additionally, more accessible public transportation would ideally stimulate the economy in other parts of Portland, especially if the city conjointly worked on creating new social hubs outside of Old Port. Though Greenfield does not support Smart Cities, he states, “many of the same technologies, techniques, and practices are involved in this latter body of cultural and intellectual production” [1]. Though excessive technology could have adverse effects on a city, there is still utility in moderation. An interactive map or apps with bus times can efficiently help a commuter without creating a city under one mass network.
[1] Greenfield, Adam. “Against the Smart City.” Do Projects. New York City. 2013.
I discussed the idea of creating a smarter public transportation system in my blogpost too, and the fact that other people wrote about it too makes it clear that creating such system is extremely important. I totally agree that Portland lacks “the transportation system that many other large cities support” – this makes it impossible for tourists or residents to get around without using their cars, leading to the decreased usage of public space.
Effective transportation system will force people from their cars onto the streets, thus increasing the usage of public spaces. Public transportation will also attract more tourists because tourists do not want to spend time driving around; I think that public transportation system would work greatly with the proposed app that would hold information about events in Portland. All of these improvements would make Portland a more livable city and produce a more involved community.
I like how the suggestions you’ve made all incorporate technology in ways that are not intrusive. Your idea of incorporating technology into parking garages is great in theory, but there may be practical implementation issues that prevent the idea from working in a practical setting. Speaking from personal experience, the mall near where I live implemented a system that kept track of how many spots were available on each floor, but the system very quickly broke because of complexities related to the sensors and was never able to be fixed. That being said, if well implemented, a system like that in Portland would be great!
An app for keeping track of local events is a fantastic idea. Maybe you could even combine your event app idea with your interactive map idea. If there were maps around the city that displayed upcoming events, anyone – not just people with smartphones (Rachel brought up this idea in her blog post) – would be able to find out about these events.
Totally agree about public transit; it needs to be reliable and accessible. Google maps has a transit feature for buses in most U.S. cities, and there are quite a few other great transit apps out there, but I haven’t tried any of them in Portland so not sure if this is already partly solved or not – have you?
The idea of using new public transit infrastructure to galvanize the expansion of Portland is interesting and one that I thought about as well. I am curious to see what the population size and population/space ratios that other cities hit before building subway/train systems.
I really liked your emphasis on transportation – I think people often take good public transportation for granted because the best transportation is likely that that draws the least attention. I think combining an app for bus times, bus stop locations, taxis, bikeshares, and maps is an incredible idea for both residents and tourists in Portland. This app coupled with free public wifi could potentially change the transportation situation in Portland and also have a huge affect on the economy and connecting the city’s residents. In addition, by improving accessibility and information about public transportation, Portland’s traffic would flow more smoothly and ideally the amount of greenhouse gasses released to the atmosphere would decrease. I actually wrote about very similar things in my blog post so I am really excited about all of these things ideas! These types of public transportation programs also create very large data sets about where people travel by showing where people pick up and drop off bikes or where people access the app to find information about public transportation in Portland. The program data would be very relevant for improving tourism and other aspects of infrastructure and public space in Portland.
I strongly agree that the public transportation is a problem. Creating an app to ease all types of transportation could greatly help the situation. It sounds to me the most important aspect of your proposal is your efficiency to access information about transportation. It is a cost-efficient way to better organize transportation in Portland.
It is also interesting how you do not see the benefits for a city under a mass network, but in a way I think your proposal is directing to that idea. I believe effective information is useful for a city which in effect creates a network for the city.
Simple, clear, direct, and right on. As are you! The last point Luis made about networks is perhaps the one that gets my mind turning on your idea to a new level. Your idea is spot on, but creating a network out of it and, over time, something sustainable will be the crux to moving forward. Focus there if you decide to go this route.