PBOT head Mingus Mapps is vowing to reduce pedestrian deaths. He’s got a tough job after what Joanne Hardesty and Chloe Eudaly did to the bureau. Hardesty just blamed the pedestrians and worked to stop traffic enforcement, so it’s good to see a change in tone. Good luck Mr. Mapps!
“Well, we’re going to continue to invest in safer infrastructure, things like pedestrian crosswalks, better lighting, and I think one of the pieces that has been missing, and we need to be more focused on moving forward is getting back into the business of traffic enforcement," Mapps answered.
We talked to Thomas Becker on Tuesday, who frequently walks and uses TriMet to get around. “Probably about four or five days a week at least,” he said.
He said traffic enforcement is one of the things that causes him concern as a pedestrian.
*“ Drivers distracted with their phones, almost all of them, and I know that there are laws about that; they’re not being enforced,” Becker said. *
“Because of the many strains on our public safety system, that is something that has fallen by the wayside in recent years,” Mapps said when talking about traffic enforcement. “I believe the Portland Police Bureau and frankly the Oregon State Police could be really helpful in that space.”