ODS. Healthcare from your head to your toes.

May 26, 2010
Active Transportation elects Jonathan Nicholas as chair of executive council

Jonathan Nicholas has been elected chair of the newly-formed Executive Council for Active Transportation. The mission of the 15-member group is to promote a regional transportation strategy that includes trails and other facilities that encourage residents to take a more active role in getting around. An outgrowth of Metro's former Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails, the council will work with local governments, businesses, non-profit organizations and community groups on a strategy that will help to increase the number of people walking and biking, improve community and individual health, strengthen the economy, lower transportation costs, and reduce negative impacts on the environment.

Nicholas is an avid cyclist and currently serves as vice president of branding and corporate communications for ODS. Born in Wales, Nicholas attended the University of Bristol, receiving honors in political science and sociology. He then spent several years in the Himalayas working on a series of international aid projects before moving to Oregon. In 1982, he joined The Oregonian where he spent 26 years as a columnist. In 1988, Nicholas invited readers on a bicycle ride across Oregon, essentially forming the annual Cycle Oregon.

The Executive Council continues the work of Metro's Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails, which was formed in 2008 to study the region's level of investment in trails and to consider whether the region should increase those efforts. That committee concluded that such investments are a cost effective means to address a range of issues facing the metropolitan region including health, transportation costs and climate change. Members of the Blue Ribbon Committee then created the Executive Council to serve as ongoing champions for completing the region's bicycle and pedestrian network.

"Really, we're just worker bees who are ready to roll up our shirtsleeves, build on the fantastic success of the region and take biking and walking to all new levels," said Nicholas. "We've already agreed to a hearty workload in order to increase investment at the local, state and federal levels, while targeting not just transportation but health care dollars."

Metro and the Executive Council, working with local governments, will develop concept plans during 2009. New or enhanced routes will be designed to allow people to safely, comfortably and efficiently get from one place to another without the need of a motor vehicle.

Active transportation corridors are a relatively new concept for the Portland region, though some European cities have used them for many years. The Executive Council is set to host a Transatlantic Active Transportation Workshop in September, and will invite a delegation from Europe to tour active transportation corridor demonstration projects and discuss, with the region's planners and policymakers, the potential for building a world class biking and walking network.

Nicholas is joined by Clackamas County Commissioner Lynn Peterson, Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, Dr. Christopher Achterman of Legacy Hospitals, and Randy Miller of the Moore Company, as new members of the Executive Council. Other members include:

Eileen Brady, Co-owner
New Seasons Market

David Bragdon
President
Metro Council

Scott Bricker
Executive Director
Bicycle Transportation Alliance

Rex Burkholder
Councilor
Metro Council

Chris Enlow
Foundation Manager
KEEN Footwear

Jay Graves, CEO
The Bike Gallery

Richard Kidd
Mayor
City of Forest Grove

Rick Potestio, Architect

Dick Schouten
Commissioner
Washington County Board of Commissioners

Philip Wu, MD
Clinical Pediatric Lead, CMI Weight
Department of Pediatrics
Kaiser Permanente Northwest

David Yaden, Consultant and former chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails

Metro, the regional government that serves 1.4 million people who live in the 25 cities and three counties of the Portland metropolitan area, provides planning and other services that protect the nature and livability of our region.

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