Rail~Volution is a conference for passionate people from all perspectives who believe strongly in the role of land use and transit as equal partners in the quest for greater livability and greater communities.

Rail~Volution started in 1989 as a series of outreach and advocacy events geared towards developing real advocates for the Portland metropolitan region’s MAX Light Rail System. At the conference in 1994, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (District 3, Oregon) announced that in 1995, Rail~Volution would become a national conference. From this point, Rail~Volution acted as a loose federation of sponsoring Partners and Affiliates, united by common interests and dedication. In the year 2000, the National Steering Committee realized the need for a more formal organization, and a strategic planner was brought in to assist this process. The National Steering Committee decided Rail~Volution should develop into a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization.

Railvolution has recently wrapped up here in Portland, Oregon. The excitement was marked across the blog-o-sphere with pictures of Portland Streetcars and lightrail MAX trains. Klaus Philipsen, an urban design, architect, and planner blogged the following:

Railvolution has preached the transit land use nexus for twenty years and finally everybody seems to be in tune. Obama instructed the Department of Housing and Community Development to collaborate with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy in Livable Communities.

In addition to a number of mobile tours exploring some of Portland’s successes in transportation, such as a visit to the United Streetcar factory and a walk along the transit Mall, there are a series of talks addressing the many challenges we are working to address. Presenters include transportation and planning leaders both local and national, including representatives from Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Vancouver BC.

One common theme seems to be that all the transportation infrastructure in the Portland Metro region seem to be an effective strategy in creating dense urban and livable neighborhoods and districts. Transit oriented development has been the tool used by partnerships undertaken by the city of Portland and private investments. In the case of the Portland Streetcar, according to Sam Adams (mayor of Portland), $125 million in investment from the city has spurred about $3.5 billion in private investment along the streetcar corridor since inception. Check out video of Mayor Sam Adams at the Railvolution conference below.

Thoughts, Comments, Questions…