As St. Patrick's Day approaches, Portland's Bureau of Transportation is encouraging revelers to celebrate responsibly, reminding them of the city's Safe Ride Home program. According to a news release from PBOT, the initiative offers discounted rides to help reduce the incidence of impaired driving, which has been identified as a major factor in traffic fatalities on Portland's streets. The most recent Portland Vision Zero Action Plan Update reports that, from 2017 to 2021, 69 percent of deadly crashes in Portland involved impairment from alcohol and/or drugs.
For those looking to enjoy the Irish festivities, PBOT has provided several options to get home safely. They can take up to $20 off a taxi ride with paper coupons available at the Kells Portland Irish Festival and Paddy's St. Patrick's Day Festival. Other options include $10 off Lyft and Uber rides with digital coupons downloadable on Friday, March 14. Additionally, TriMet buses, MAX trains, Portland Streetcar, and C-TRAN public transit offer year-round affordable rides.
Since its inception in 2017, the Safe Ride Home program has not only been a seasonal tool for safer streets during high-spirited holidays but has also aided more than 3,300 Portlanders, as per the PBOT statement. The funding for this program comes from various sources, including taxi permit fees and a 76-cent charge applied to every Lyft and Uber ride within Portland, which also helps to cover safety inspections and support the PDX WAV program, aimed at providing accessible vehicles for those with mobility devices.
Traffic fatalities affect entire communities, and each lost life comes with a steep societal cost – the Federal Highway Administration pegs it at roughly $5.7 million per traffic death. With this in mind, PBOT urges Portlanders to always adopt caution while on the roads. Slowing down significantly reduces the risk and severity of crashes; research shows that a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 40 mph is "eight times more likely to die" compared to being hit at 20 mph. Nighttime, wide streets, and large vehicles are other notable risk factors for traffic deaths.
For more details on how the City of Portland is aiming to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries, citizens can learn about Vision Zero on Portland's official website.
