Overview
The Portland, Oregon metropolitan region is home to just under 1.4 million residents and encompasses 25 cities and 3 counties in 463 square miles of land. It is a metropolitan area whose leaders strive to meet the needs of a growing population by following an agreed upon regional growth management strategy that was defined more than a decade ago with adoption of the 2040 Growth Concept. As the region's blueprint for the future, the 2040 Growth Concept sets a course for the region to grow as a constellation of compact, vibrant communities that use land efficiently, maintain connections to the natural environment, and promote strong local and regional economies. The area serves as an important gateway for freight moving between North America and other Pacific Rim countries.
The Portland region has a strong history of regional collaboration among transportation operators dating back to the early 1990s. Around 2004, Metro became fully involved in planning for operations, adopting the regional operations collaborative group, TransPort, as an official subcommittee. Metro developed an operations program and co-led a regional concept for transportation operations on traffic incident management with the City of Portland.