Welcome to Transit Unplugged.

I'm Paul Comfort, host and producer of the show, and welcome to 2024,

a brand new year for our podcast.

We're excited to kick off this year with an interview with a political

leader, which we don't often do, but we do from now and then.

This was a special one.

We recorded it at the Impact Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

For a congressman from, from Portland, Oregon, and it's

congressman Earl Blumenauer, you've probably heard about him.

He's been famous in the public transit industry because.

Uh, the work he's done, he's had over 50 years working in government, and

uh, he is the founder of the Livable Communities Task Force, the Congressional

Bike Caucus, he's been one of Congress chief spokespeople for Livable

Communities, and he helped lead the in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,

which, as you know, has helped pump billions of dollars into public transit.

He recently announced he would not seek re election to Congress in 2024.

And I sat down with him and talked to him heart to heart about, uh,

reflecting on his career in Congress many years, what he's most proud of in

his career, uh, where he thinks we're at right now in the transit industry

and where he thinks we're going.

Uh, great to hear from one of our nation's big political leaders when

it comes to public transportation, Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Sit back and enjoy our first interview of 2024.

So, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, thank you for, uh, being

with us on Transit Unplugged.

My pleasure.

Yeah, so we're here in Phoenix for a public transit conference

called IMPACT, and what are you talking about while we're here?

Well, I'm in a series of panels.

We're talking a little bit.

We're about to go off to a streetcar summit with systems around the

country, including one here in Tempe.

I was able to start the first modern streetcar in Portland when I was

Commissioner of Public Works, and I've been a fanatic about it ever since.

We're excited.

Twenty two streetcar systems.

around the country, helping revitalize neighborhoods and taking us back to

the future with proven technology.

I love it.

Yeah, I love streetcars too.

We're going to go see it while we're here.

And, uh, I think we're going to meet the mayor of Tempe while we're here as well.

He's going to talk about what's going on out there.

So, why don't we, uh, take a step back into your past.

You've been a public servant for many, many decades.

Uh, and, uh, you've just announced that you're retiring from Congress, right?

Right.

Yeah.

So, I guess, first off, let me ask you, before we go back, why are you retiring?

Well, it has, it has been 50 years in elective office.

Wow.

Uh, 54 years in almost nonstop politicking.

I started when I was a junior in college.

Um, I have no regrets.

It's been fun.

I'm pleased with things we're able to be a part of.

But given the current environment, it's not clear to me, actually it is clear to

me, that the best way for me to spend time and energy is not being engaged in, uh,

fighting politically for two more years in Congress with the travel, the politics,

the fundraising, all that nonsense.

Um, and, and frankly, the things that I'm most interested in, uh, it doesn't

appear as though they're going to be accomplished best as a member of Congress.

Okay.

So much of this is, there are people out there that we can work with in terms

of transit and housing and development.

being able to work with people directly on the bicycle revolution.

Yeah, I want to talk about that.

is a more direct way of doing it.

Rather than being bogged down with politics in a toxic Congress.

Yeah, I understand.

That's a long time to be involved.

Take us back to the beginning and walk us through over a

couple minutes about your career.

Well, I mentioned I started when I was in college.

I led a campaign in Oregon to lower the voting age and I got involved with

the National Constitutional Amendment.

And I was hooked.

It was something that seemed to make sense to me.

I loved engaging people, particularly bringing different

people into the political process.

That led directly to my being a legislator in 1972 when I was elected,

and that was the most consequential period in Oregon's legislative history.

We passed our landmark land use, uh, legislation, the first comprehensive

statewide legislation for land use.

Um, I had legislation that first session, 20 years before ICT that

mandated a multimodal comprehensive statewide transportation plan.

and I, it was off the races.

It was, it was a fabulous opportunity.

Oregon had a very approachable, uh, legislative system.

There were lots of energetic new people in the process.

and it was, uh, it was, it was a great experience.

Uh, I subsequently actually decided to be involved full time

as a local elected official.

And as you know well, I mean, that's where the rubber meets the road.

Absolutely, I love local politics, yeah.

Ten years as Portland's Commissioner of Public Works.

Okay.

Which I think is arguably the best local government job in America.

I have responsibility for land use, transportation.

bikes, environmental services.

it's, uh, it was a system that most people would tell you wouldn't work,

where elected officials actually had day to day responsibility for administration.

But for me, it was a lot of fun, and we got a lot of things done.

In particular, we started Portland's, award winning bike program.

Started the, uh, the first.

urban, modern streetcar, um, it was, it was,

let's talk about that streetcar because that is something that,

uh, people want, that's a part, that's a kind of rail transit that people love,

uh, so tell us about what was going on there and what's happening now when it

comes to streetcars in America, even here, I mean, they've got one here,

that's right, well, one of the sad, chapters in the

last century of, Transportation in the United States was considered an

effort by automotive industry, uh, interest to kill the streetcars.

Hmm.

Uh, they fought against having, increases in revenue.

They bought them up and destroyed them.

pictures of burning streetcars.

who killed Roger Rabbit?

It wasn't just a cartoon.

It was a real story about a conspiracy in Southern California

to take the red line, uh, amazing.

interurban, uh, electric system they had and to kill it, uh, in order to

promote automobile transportation.

We decided in Portland that we were going to resurrect the streetcar, and

we had some fascinating local business people who had the vision and developers.

I had support from my fellow elected officials, and we

reinstituted, uh, the streetcar.

We, we've extended it now, uh, four times.

We were able to secure some federal money.

Uh, and we have a streetcar network in Portland that is, uh, really ties

together, uh, areas of opportunity.

People like it.

It's low cost.

it is proven technology.

and it's a, a human scale.

Yes.

It doesn't, you know, I mean, I am a big proponent of light rail and

spend a lot of time on our system.

In Portland, but the streetcar fills a niche.

Yeah.

Let's talk about that.

For people who aren't familiar with it, what's the difference between light rail

and streetcar and what is that niche?

How, what is it meant to serve?

It's a great and important question

that needs more attention.

the light rail is designed on, larger cars.

more, distant between the stops, and, and more people at the particular element.

The light, the streetcar is smaller, it is nimble, it's cheaper,

uh, it stops more frequently.

You can outrun a streetcar, but in a place like Portland where it rains

all the time, yeah, people can jump on and jump off, jump on and jump off,

and it's, it's a different perspective that makes people comfortable.

you're, you know, you're in a foreign country and you're at a bus station.

Yes.

And you know, you try and make sense out of those maps and right.

Uh, you don't quite know if you're on the right one.

in Istanbul, there's no question.

Your streetcar is going this way or that way.

Right.

And if you get on the wrong direction, you hop off and go the other way.

It's something that people are comfortable with.

Yes.

I was thinking of Yara Trams in Melbourne, which I've been on.

Same kind of thing.

It's free in the main part of town.

You just jump on.

You can see where it's going.

Yeah.

And it's packed with people.

They love it.

And it is relatively inexpensive.

And the streetcar, as I say, is packed.

Proven technology.

Yeah, and you started the first one in America.

No, we, we started the first modern.

Yeah, modern

one.

Right.

Yeah, because I know they go way back to, yeah, San

Francisco, Charles street line, uh, in, uh, New Orleans.

Right.

It was still functioning.

Yes.

Um, but, uh, we had the first modern street car.

That's amazing.

Now there's 22.

22.

That's, that's great, man.

Thank you for that.

That's wonderful.

It's exciting to watch.

Uh, because this is, this is something, another difference here, as opposed

to heavy rail or even light rail.

The streetcar system is something that you can build relatively quickly.

At one point in downtown Portland, we were building streetcar,

a block every three weeks.

Wow!

And, and people can see this.

Yeah.

It doesn't take decades.

Uh, it takes a couple of years and you can see the handiwork.

That's something.

So you did that for 10 years, then you went into the, what happened

then after you were in the city?

Uh, well I, I ran for Congress.

Okay.

Uh.

And what year was that?

This was in a special election in 1996.

Alright.

it was a time of a little turmoil, not unlike We have now, it was, uh, but it was

an opportunity, to be able to re engage.

I felt and continue to feel passionately that the federal government needs

to be a better partner in promoting the livability of our community.

We actually had a movement we called the Livable Communities.

We had a caucus in Congress.

We worked with, uh, administration, A livable community is one where people are

safe, healthy, and economically secure.

And that's something the federal government can have a profound

impact on in so many different ways.

And it's been, uh, it's been a very rewarding part of my career,

uh, watching this take place.

Not just in terms of streetcar, but what we do with transit, our efforts in terms

of water, in, uh, dealing with disaster.

I mean, these are a series of things.

That the federal government has profound impact.

People at some point say, well, you know, this really isn't your space.

The federal government shouldn't be involved with the

decisions of a city council.

They don't really impact day to day activities in land use and zoning.

To which my answer is, you know, the federal government has been involved

with land use since we started taking land away from Native Americans

and giving it to white settlers.

what we did in terms of the railroads, these had profound effects on the

shape and nature of our communities.

And we need to be more intentional about that.

And we are, I think, making some progress, but we've got a long way to go.

That's something.

So then let's continue the story.

You joined Congress, you were in this group, Livable Communities.

What we tried to do is have people focus on these opportunities.

The federal government is the largest landlord.

landowner, and employer in the United States.

And many of our problems would be, if not solved completely, would be

dramatically improved if the federal government played that role right.

So we have been working using federal agencies.

The Department of Defense.

largest consumer of energy in the world, and there's an opportunity,

uh, in terms of its facilities around the country to be a better partner.

I served for 10 years on the Transportation and Infrastructure

Committee, which was, uh, delightful.

I really loved that assignment.

I was, uh, persuaded in part by my friends Jim Obestar and Peter DeFazio

that maybe I could leave the committee.

They'd let me come back if I wanted, but in the meantime, maybe I could go to the

Ways and Means Committee and raise some money for them to spend on these projects.

And that has been a major focus of my work in Congress since

then, is to deal with resources.

for transportation and infrastructure.

That's good.

And so you were a big player in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, right?

Tell us about that.

Yeah.

I mean, we're still living off that money.

Well, we will for some time.

Yeah.

Well, both the IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the subsequent

infrastructure bill we had is putting tens of billions of

dollars Where it's needed most.

We're talking an infusion of funds unparalleled in our history.

That's right.

Yeah, and it's the largest Program For Renewable And energy and

climate reduction not just in our history but anywhere in the world.

That's amazing.

So we've got these, these pieces here, and for the first time in

my career, I've worked with five presidents, varying degrees of

enthusiasm for the built environment.

But Joe Biden, uh, is the first one who is totally committed to rebuilding

and renewing America and spending the money necessary to do that.

and it's, it's been transformational.

Secretary Buttigieg, is a gifted communicator, um, the Deputy

Secretary Pauly Trottenberg.

Yeah.

Uh, from, New York.

Well, and back to, uh, Congress, right.

Is uh, is a, is gifted in her own right.

and we're hard at work to be able to realize the promise of all

these legislative initiatives, focusing on things that are.

Low carbon and equitable, is truly transformational.

As you know, because you've traveled the country, you've dealt with the

consequences, so much of what the United States has done over the

decades with federal infrastructure policy was actually destructive.

Dropping interstate freeway segments in established neighborhoods without

regard to the context, is bordering on criminal and we're seeing the

consequences of that across the country and we're watching in this

administration using these unprecedented resources as a way to try and heal

and put communities back together.

So, um, let's talk about the tax credit that you were able to

get into the Inflation Reduction Act for the electric vehicle charging

station credit for two and three wheeled electric vehicles, scooters, bikes, all.

Tell us about that.

That's pretty exciting.

Well, it's, it is an opportunity for us

to try and promote, e bikes.

You know, the, I love e bikes, man.

Oh, yeah.

The e bike, as you know, makes any cyclist Into a bike commuter, right.

I mean it is the difference between night and day.

Yeah.

It is, uh, something that people can choose to the degree of assist

they get, but they're able to be able to really extend their reach.

Makes a big difference in terms of weather and.

Broaden the range of people who participate.

This is something that I have been obsessed with because the cycling should

not be the province of Hard bodied.

Yeah,

young guys, right?

Yeah, what do they call those triathletes?

Cut us some slack being able to use The most efficient form

of urban transportation ever designed.

Yeah.

Ever designed.

And the e bike does that, dramatically.

Yeah.

I like the scooters, too, to be honest with you.

I love the scooters.

They all have a role to play, although I will say that They

gotta be managed, though.

I am That is very important.

Uh, and, and frankly, some of, uh, the stewards Uh, fall down

in their responsibility, leaving scooters all over the place.

I remember seeing one up in a tree.

I won't say which city it was, but my buddy Gary is CEO

of the transit system there.

And uh, when I first went there, I was like, oh man.

So, but a lot of cities have gotten a handle on it now.

And the technology, where they bring them back at night.

of safety.

Yeah.

Um, because there are some folks, and this is a broader concern I think we have

these days in terms of having the behavior of the motorists or the people using the

technology to be responsible about it.

Yes.

moving into space that, at speeds that are inappropriate, uh,

but we've got a larger concern.

Frankly, we're watching a breakdown in terms of behavior

of motorists, yeah, civility.

Yeah.

Well, and it's, it's life and death.

Yeah.

We have a huge spike in terms of, uh, people being killed

and named, on the roadways.

but what we did with the e bike and some of this, uh, infrastructure is a

part to try and put the pieces in place.

That's great.

So that there's greater application.

we've also in the legislation done a, in terms of the infrastructure

for electric vehicles.

Yes.

you know, it's all a part of.

Charging stations, those things, yeah.

A transition to electrification of the transportation systems, and

it's exciting, uh, electric buses.

electric cars, e bikes.

It's part of an opportunity for us to save energy and to be able to enhance the

technology and extend it to more people.

Yeah.

What do you think of hydrogen powered vehicles?

It's part of the future.

Yeah, I think so too.

Yeah.

I, uh, I'm, I'm high on, I'm high on hydrogen.

I think, uh, I think it's an up and coming technology.

It's about 10 years behind battery electric.

But I think we need, uh, all the solutions, especially here in America

where now we're down to 2 12 to 3 working electric bus manufacturers

since one of them was pulled out and, and, uh, the issues with the other one.

And, uh, so, yeah, I think we need to look at all those options.

Let's talk about, the, uh, Safe Streets and Roads for All program.

Well, I had the first legislation, the Vision Zero, you

know, this notion that we don't have to accept carnage on the roadways.

You know, back in the day, as you know, we used to have mixed use, uh, in our

roadways, uh, and it naturally, uh, provided a disincentive for speeding.

People were accommodating, but, you know, part of what I talked about in terms of

the conspiracy that got rid of streetcars.

Uh, you know, auto interests.

created a new crime, jaywalking.

For centuries, people shared the space.

Right.

And if they were with a chariot or a wagon or a horse, you accommodated that.

But the auto interests developed the notion that basically the automobile

ought to have right of way and pedestrians were sort of an afterthought.

Well, they criminalize natural transportation behavior as

pedestrians, and it's not been a smooth ride ever since.

We've introduced legislation that says we don't have to accept that.

There are things that we can do to literally reduce the carnage, to zero,

efforts in terms of road design, uh, in terms of enforcement, engineering,

are opportunities for us to make sure that we change that paradigm.

And as you know so well, the victims tend to be elderly, poor, right?

The young, and that's not fair, no.

So, uh, we've had, some, significant success putting together resources to

implement, traffic safety, there's an extra billion dollars in there to try and

move it forward, but we're also moving in terms of other efforts with resources that

are being allocated under these programs.

To be able to extend the opportunities to make them safer, the notions in this to

have road and transportation investments to actually heal communities, provide

resources to put them back together.

Whether they were, when they were divided, using these unprecedented

resources, uh, to connect them, you know, part of the problem that we've

got, some of our pedestrian and, uh, cycle infrastructure, that we've got a

pathway here that, a segment in there, they don't fit together neatly, and

so part of what we want to do is to make this seamless to promote safety,

That's great.

So I want to move into, in our last few minutes, some fun questions.

But first I wanted to say thank you for all you've done for this industry,

and for the people of this country in helping us improve public transit.

I mean it.

Thank you so much for the work you've done.

Well, nothing has given me greater satisfaction than watching the

changes take place, the rebirth of transit systems, alternative transportation,

walking, biking, pedestrian.

This has been a quiet revolution.

That I think is starting to crest.

So, um, now into the fun questions.

So, walking and running, you mentioned.

So, Phil Knight, uh, and Nike, I mean, I read that book, Shoe Dog, uh, which

is a great, uh, business autobiography.

Do you know Phil?

Have you met him and all that?

I'm sure, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, what a great, uh, a great thing for your city to be known for.

Your city itself has, uh, a great reputation for an amazing transit system.

Uh, Sam DeSue, who I mentioned to you earlier before we went on

the air, uh, is the GM CEO there.

And, uh, he and I are old friends from when he was in Kansas City before that.

Um, but he asked me to ask you a couple questions.

So if you don't mind, I'll ask you them.

And the first is, uh, what do you feel like your biggest accomplishment has

been over the last over 25 years in Congress as it relates to transit?

Do you have like one that you're, um, most proud of or that you think

is your biggest accomplishment?

No, I am, I'm pleased that we've been able to

develop a constituency for transit.

This conference that we're having a conversation at is part of the effort

to try and broaden the range of people who are involved with transit advocacy.

I'm proud of, uh, being sort of the initiator of the

modern streetcar movement.

Yes.

Uh, support for light rail.

trying to integrate it into a political mainstream.

I'm proud to have played a little role in doing that.

It's a lot has happened in the last 27 years and I'd like to

think that we hope move that along.

That's great.

And what will you miss most in Congress?

Well, people, the many of the people I serve with are

really outstanding human beings.

There are some that I'm not going to miss and I'm not going to miss the dysfunction.

I love what we do working to try and help people with the federal government being a

partner, as I mentioned, to make families safe, healthy, and economically secure.

Being able to take some of these elements and move them to fruition where we're

using those federal opportunities.

To make things better, to solve problems rather than create new ones.

That's great.

And last question is, what's next for you on your journey, especially

as it relates to Portland?

That's what Sam wanted me to ask.

Well, uh, one of the things that I'm really looking

forward to, in 14 months, is not being on a plane for 14 hours every week.

And, and You do it every week?

I go home every week.

Uh, uh, well that's home and that's Yeah.

We've got Things to do there.

Right.

I won't miss the airplanes.

I won't miss the contentious way that it is developed, particularly with, this.

Republican majority that can't even figure out why they're trying to

impeach Joe Biden, uh, the dysfunction.

Politics has gotten very divisive, hasn't it?

it is ugly.

and, to watch the level of dysfunction and discord.

all right.

So what are you going to do though?

Do you have plans?

Do you know what you're going to do?

Can you say, or you don't want to say yet?

Well, mostly what I'm interested in doing is continuing

the work that I do without being encumbered by day to day politics,

without having to run a campaign.

I mean, I could run for reelection.

I would win, but I'd, I'd burn a lot of time and energy.

and then you're caught up in the, uh, Political rituals, right?

Yeah.

I, I, I've done that for 50 years.

I don't need any of those caucus meetings and the Yeah.

Fundraising efforts and the pointless, you know, meetings that add no

value to my life or anybody else's.

So you're gonna basically just keep the fight going I wanted and

not continue the work.

Yeah.

And not be bogged down.

by the politics.

Yeah.

And I'm quite confident that the things that we've worked on, uh,

in infrastructure, uh, one of my crusades is to have the United

States stop sponsor, subsidizing a diet that makes Americans sick.

Thank you.

Reforming agriculture.

we've done works in, in terms of, uh, healthcare reform and there are

any number of things that they're not really low hanging fruit.

It's just a matter of picking it up off the ground.

And I'm looking forward to being able to concentrate time and energy

on things that interest me, um, and being able to do it more directly.

That's great.

Well, we wish you great success as you do that.

And thank you for your years of service to this country and for what you've meant

to the public transportation industry.

Thank you, Paul.

Yeah, absolutely.

Happy New Year.

This is Tris Hussey editor of the Transit Unplugged podcast and thank you for

listening to our first podcast of 2024.

With our special guest Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Now coming up next week on the show, we have Ken Divers and Flora Castillo

talking about the SEPTA scope program.

Which has helping vulnerable populations get the help they need

and make transit safer for everyone.

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