Governor Kotek Convenes Experts to Chart Oregon’s Transportation Future

Today, Governor Tina Kotek announced she is convening transportation experts, system users, and advocates from across the state and political spectrum to build an achievable vision for Oregon's transportation system. The Rebuilding Our Transportation Vision Workgroup (Workgroup) will develop recommendations on how best to improve and support the transportation services and systems on which Oregonians rely.

"Oregonians want and deserve a safe, accessible, and reliable transportation system," Governor Kotek said. "Despite political division, we all need to come back to the table to identify our basic transportation needs in a way that will sufficiently and sustainably provide a system that meets the current and future goals of our state."

The Workgroup will:

1. Analyze spending needs and trends over the next 10 years for maintenance and operations across all modes of travel (driving, walking, biking, public transit, etc.) and determine how these trends align with existing or proposed key performance measures.
2. Review the current and projected financial condition of major transportation funds including the Highway Trust Fund, which currently provides equal funding to state and local transportation systems, and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund, which helps to fund public transit across Oregon.
3. Provide a framework for a transportation package that can pass in the 2027 legislative session that supports public safety, economic development, prioritizes affordability for Oregonians and rebuilds our transportation future.

The Workgroup will be co-chaired by transportation leader Grace Crunican and former lawmaker Bruce Hanna.

Crunican is a transportation leader known for managing infrastructure systems. She served as General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) from 2011 to 2019, where she oversaw major modernization programs, safety improvements, and efforts to address rising ridership across the Bay Area. Crunican also served as the Director of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) from 1996 to 2001 and led the Seattle Department of Transportation from 2002 to 2009.

"My career has been spent rebuilding systems and processes and motivating the people who make transportation systems thrive," Crunican said. "I'm looking forward to working with the team to agree on the problems, identify solutions, and get ODOT back on its feet, efficiently serving Oregonians."

Hanna served five terms in the Oregon House of Representatives representing the Roseburg area. During his legislative career, Hanna held several leadership roles within the House Republican caucus. After the 2010 elections produced a rare 30-30 partisan split in the chamber, Hanna was selected by his colleagues to serve as Co-Speaker of the Oregon House for the 2011-2012 legislative session alongside Democratic Representative Arnie Roblan, marking the first time in Oregon history that the House was jointly led by members of different parties. In addition to his public service, Hanna has built a long career in the beverage distribution industry. He is the president of Timber Country Coca-Cola, a regional distributor of Coca-Cola products serving communities across southern Oregon and northern California.

"I know we can come together to solve big problems because I've done it before," said Hanna. "Transportation connects us. We all rely on a well-maintained and operated transportation system. Together, we can get our transportation system back on track."

Oregon's transportation system has a structural funding challenge created by persistent cost inflation and flattening gas tax revenues as vehicles become more efficient. In 2025, ODOT faced a significant gap between its available funding and the cost of maintaining and operating the state's transportation system. Legislators came together in Fall 2025 to provide more funding to ODOT, local governments, and transit providers, but that funding is on hold pending the results of a referendum scheduled for the May election.

While Democratic and Republican legislators worked together in this year's session to prevent layoffs at ODOT by redirecting existing transportation funding to highway maintenance and operations from transportation safety, preservation, and improvement programs, critical transportation programs remain underfunded. This is not a sustainable path to paying for maintenance and operations into future biennia. Without a more comprehensive solution in the 2027 legislative session, ODOT will once again be forced to cut maintenance services and the state and local transportation system will decline in quality, safety and reliability.

The Workgroup will have public meetings, the first of which will be held in April and then roughly once a month through November. The Workgroup's recommendations will be delivered to Governor Kotek by the end of the year. Public engagement opportunities will be shared in the coming weeks and months.

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