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December 31, 2008
Classy Presentations
One of the perks that comes with publishing this blog is the opportunity to sit on the panel reviewing student presentations for the PSU/PDOT Traffic and Transportation class. I can't emphasize enough what a great program this - many neighborhood and transportation activists have graduated from this class.
This year, we are delighted to have four presentations from the class to present here:
- Shawn Furst and Lillian Karabaic are looking to make the NE Broadway bikeway at Williams safer (PDF, 2MB). The current configuration is the least worst of a bunch of bad choices, with bikes in the middle between two lanes turning onto the freeway. The presenters are working with PDOT on new out-of-the-box solutions and this has a high priority within PDOT.
- Matthew Hickey wants to make the crazy intersection at NE 72nd/Sandy/Fremont safer for pedestrians and more inviting for the local business district (PDF, 714K).
- Margaux Mennesson believes that a completely unorganized pedestrian crossing (PDF, 969K) on NE 28th may be the missing link in what could otherwise be a great pedestrian corridor.
- Tom Ricciardi wants to calm traffic on his local service street [NE 37th] (PDF, 1M) but is stymied by state law that says 25mph is appropriate on local streets (safety studies and practice in European countries would suggest 15mph is a lot more rational).
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:38 AM | Comments (7) | Permalink
December 30, 2008
PDOT Priorities
Still a few days left to express your thoughts on where the budget knife should fall next at the Portland Office of Transportation as the recession continues to decrease available revenue from gas taxes:
If you had to cut $6.4 million from the City's Transportation budget, how would you prioritize programs? Please take our survey - respond by January 2, 2009.
Click below for survey:
Bureau of Transportation Budget Prioritization SurveyThe Portland Bureau of Transportation has been going through a budget prioritization process since mid-summer as a result of sagging gas tax revenue and lower parking revenue.
In order to bring expenditures in line with the reduced revenue, a prioritization of all discretionary funded activities has been done. This prioritization has been done on the basis of criteria which assess the significance of the activity to the core mission and objectives of the organization.
A Budget Advisory Committee made up of members from the community and organized labor was selected in September and charged with reviewing the process. Additionally they've been tasked with helping Transportation identify the cuts necessary to cover the $6.4 million shortfall for FY 09/10 budget.
Twenty-five program listings were broken out into priority order. If you had to cut $6.4 million out of Transportation's budget, how would you prioritize the following programs?
Please respond by January 2, 2009.
Posted by Chris Smith at 10:05 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
CRC Critic Joins Mayor's Staff
Much was made of the announcement that Amy Ruiz, news editor of the Portland Mercury, was joining Mayor Sam Adams' staff. The coverage focused on the transition from reporter to policy wonk.
What no one seems to have commented on yet is that Ruiz as been a very vocal critic of the Columbia River Crossing:
The Portland region has a backlog of unmet transportation needs, and a long list of transportation dreams, like more miles of bike boulevards, expanded bus service, streetcar extensions, and other options that let people leave their cars at home. If we put so many resources toward one bridge that largely benefits Vancouver commuters, however, where will we find the funding for those projects?
So what does it mean that such a vocal CRC opponent is now "strategic planning and sustainability policy advisor" for our new mayor?
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:29 AM | Comments (33) | Permalink
December 29, 2008
NPR: Oberstar on Gas Tax, Stimulus
Oberstar on raising the gas tax to fund the Interstate Highway System:
"But in those days there was a sense of destiny, of future, of what is good for America -- not what is good for my political career. But what we've had in the last 12 years is a no-tax philosophy, and so there's not been an increase in the user fee, the gas tax, since 1993."
Read the whole piece (with a link to the audio).
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:00 AM | Comments (6) | Permalink
December 28, 2008
The Role of Streetcar
There's an excellent post over on Intermodality laying out the difference between buses, streetcars and light rail.
I'm not 100% in agreement on all the details, but I think it does a great job with the big picture and the role of streetcars.
Posted by Chris Smith at 11:10 PM | Comments (31) | Permalink
December 26, 2008
Finally, A Useful CRC Planning Exercise
Help plan where Light Rail would go in Vancouver:
Help Design Light Rail Transit in Vancouver!
We need your input about light rail in Vancouver's downtown:
• Light Rail Alignment
• Station Location
• Park and Ride IntegrationA walking tour and hands-on workshops will be held for community members who live, work or own property near the alignments as well as anyone interested in downtown Vancouver transit issues. You are invited to come to any of these events to provide your perspectives, preferences and concerns on major transit choices.
Light Rail Alignment Walking Tour -
Saturday, January 10th
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Hudson's Bay High School (meet near main parking entrance)
1601 E. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancouver WA 98663
Map your trip: HERE
Public Transit: C-TRAN #30
For more bus information: http://www.c-tran.com or 360-695-0123.Two Options for Workshops -
Saturday, January 10th
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Hudson's Bay High School (enter through main doors)
1601 E. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancouver WA 98663
Map your trip: HERE
Public Transit: C-TRAN #30
For more bus information: http://www.c-tran.com or 360-695-0123.Wednesday, January 14th
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Discovery Middle School (enter through main doors)
800 E. 40th Street, Vancouver WA 98663
Map your trip: HERE
Public Transit: C-TRAN #37, 32
For more bus information: http://www.c-tran.com or 360-695-0123.
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:43 AM | Comments (10) | Permalink
December 24, 2008
Something Special for Christmas Eve
I found this little gift in my RSS reader - a post on Streetsblog.net on all the ways that we subsidize auto drivers.
So let me re-gift this to all our Portland Transport readers, and especially to you, Terry.
A merry, joyous and healthy holiday to all...
Posted by Chris Smith at 10:26 AM | Comments (17) | Permalink
December 23, 2008
One-third the Transit - Less Filling?
In the face of the most snow in 40 years TriMet has reduced bus service to it's 16 Frequent Service lines and 11 additional lines - about 1/3 of the service it normally operates.
How's it going out there folks?
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:48 AM | Comments (49) | Permalink
Greening the CRC
The latest diversion from the climate change impacts of a 12-lane bridge? Wind turbines.
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:46 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink
TriMet's WES Defense
In the O this morning, an op-ed by Fred Hansen.
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:38 AM | Comments (79) | Permalink
December 22, 2008
A Shout Out from the 20-minute Neighborhood
I bragged a bit last week about the resilience of my 20-minute neighborhood in the face icy weather.
At the beginning of week two, it's becoming increasing obvious to me that this is only possible because of the work of a lot of committed people, including:
- Our local transit providers and especially their drivers
- The employees of local businesses who go to great lengths to get to work
- The folks who drive the trucks that keep my local grocery stores stocked
- UPS and Fedex folks who keep delivering Christmas packages no matter
- The postman who keeps the little red Netflix envelopes going back and forth so we don't die of cabin fever...
Thanks to one and all for keeping us healthy and happen in our snow cocoon!
Posted by Chris Smith at 2:25 PM | Comments (22) | Permalink
Top CRC Planner Gets Promotion
The Daily Journal of Commerce is reporting that Jay Lyman, who led the consultant team for the draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Columbia River Crossing, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer at his firm, David Evans and Associates.
While I fundamentally disagree with many of the assumptions in the CRC planning, I found Jay to be open, courteous and professional, and supportive of public input on the project. I congratulate him on his new role.
Posted by Chris Smith at 8:31 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Balancing Roads and Transit in the Stimulus
Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported on Jim Oberstar's efforts to steer a larger split of the funding pie to transit in the stimulus package.
Meanwhile, over on the Streetsblog Network they're covering Transportation for America's push for a greener stimulus.
Posted by Chris Smith at 8:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
December 19, 2008
Our Annual Appeal
Well, it's that time of year again - no, not the holidays, although we wish all our readers a happy, joyous and safe holiday season.
It's year-end tax deduction time, and we hope you will remember Portland Transport in your IRS strategizing.
Our operating expenses are small but real, and it's also important to maintaining our non-profit status that we have a diversity of contributors. If you could take a moment to hit the contribution link in the upper left-hand-corner of the home page, even if only for $5, all of us here at Portland Transport would be exceedingly grateful...
Posted by Chris Smith at 8:35 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
December 18, 2008
Likely Appointment of LaHood Greeted with Skepticism
The probable appointment of Rep. Ray LaHood (R- IL) as Secretary of Transportation has alternative transportation advocates scratching their heads. He has little background in transportation. He has supported cycling (he's a member of Earl's bicycle caucus) and has shown some support for Amtrak, but otherwise doesn't appear to have a strong background.
The Overhead Wire has assembled what seems to be known about him on transportation issues.
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:27 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
December 17, 2008
Keeping the Stimulus in Focus
The Friends of Earth have released a report titled "Road to Ruin" identifying 27 highway projects they are unnecessary and unbalanced. The report underscores a key imbalance between road and transit funding from the Federal Government.
Uneven Playing Field--To gain approval and federal funding, transit projects face far more intense scrutiny than highway projects. While this policy helps ensure that federal transit dollars are well spent, it also discriminates in favor of highways.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) evaluates and rates each New Starts proposal and requires a comprehensive planning and project development process that considers impacts on employment, operating efficiency, cost effectiveness, land -use policies, and local funding commitment. Highway projects face a far less stringent analysis. Most projects receive an exclusion from review, while less than 3 percent require an Environmental Impact Statement, which is primarily a consideration of the project's direct environmental and traffic impacts. Even in these cases, cost-benefit,
land-use, and performance analyses are rarely required or conducted, and state
departments of transportation (DOT) do not have to provide hard evidence that a proposed project will be economically or socially beneficial. And while the FTA measures transit projects against similar proposals and projects in other states, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) draws no such comparison between highway projects.FHWA provides limited project oversight once a highway project has been approved, but FTA carefully monitors the progress of each transit project, including financial performance and schedule adherence.
Meanwhile, over at Streetsblog, they'd like to put the stimulus package on a Road Diet.
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:37 AM | Comments (25) | Permalink
December 15, 2008
The Resilience of the 20-minute Neighborhood
While the TV is showing cars slipping and sliding all over Portland (as someone who lived the first 27 years of his life in New England, I can't help a chuckle over what one inch of snow does to this city), I'm finding life here in my neighborhood relatively calm.
Yesterday I was able to walk (albeit a little carefully) to two markets and a video store to stock up for two family dinners and some entertainment. And today coffee and lunch were no problem. My telecommuting work life didn't change (except that as our offices in Wilsonville were officially closed, my whole department was telecommuting along with me).
So perhaps the idea of a 20-minute neighborhood isn't just about reducing auto-dependency and promoting more active living, but also has a few other advantages...
Posted by Chris Smith at 11:16 PM | Comments (17) | Permalink
We're Back Up!
Our faithful readers will have noticed that Portland Transport (and our transit tools) have been down since yesterday afternoon. Our web host has been struggling with a problematic file server. I hope all is well, but if we disappear again, you'll have an idea why.
Look for more new content tomorrow.
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
December 14, 2008
WES Financial Woes
In the Open Thread comments, Erik quotes from this Oregonian article about cost overruns and the messy financial entanglements between TriMet and Colorado Railcar.
There's a lot of details and history in the article -- give it a read and discuss it here.
Westside Express deal cost TriMet millions
Posted by Bob Richardson at 1:33 PM | Comments (16) | Permalink
December 12, 2008
Their Masters' Voice
I've been attending the joint MPAC/JPACT workshops on the Regional Transportation Plan. As part of the process they use keypad polling to determine support for various strategies. The responses are tallied in several groups: Policy Makers (elected officials and appointed committee members), staff, and others (mostly advocacy groups and a few citizens).
There's an interesting split among the groups on ranking transportation strategies, which were scored on a five point scale:
Policy Makers:
- High Capacity Transit (4.60)
- Intelligent Transportation Systems (4.40)
- Transit Service (4.32)
Government Staff:
- Bike, pedestrians and trail (4.56)
- Land use strategies (4.52)
- Transit Service (4.44)
Others:
- Bike, pedestrians and trail (4.66)
- Land use strategies (4.43)
- Intelligent Transportation Systems (4.46)
So why the attraction by the policy makers to the pricey strategy? And the lower priority (to be fair, it came in fourth) for the lower-cost bike and ped strategies?
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:22 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
December 11, 2008
T4America Pushes Congress for a Green Recovery
This came over the transom this week:
With the December holidays just around the corner, Americans everywhere are feeling the pinch.
Congress knows we're in trouble, but they can't fix our country's economy without making a down-payment to complete America's transportation system.
We can get our country moving again with investment in smart infrastructure and a fix-it-first approach.
This means prioritizing the preservation of what we already have - and jump-starting the specific investments that will build us a 21st-century transportation system.
We can't just waste money on pork-barrel projects. For a true green recovery, we need to invest in ready-to-go projects, build walkable and bikeable communities, construct high-speed trains, and create new jobs that are linked to our clean energy future. These are the environmentally sound solutions that our country needs now and in the years to come.
Already hundreds have spoken up - and already President-elect Obama has stood by our side and given us a seat at the table - but we need you to join with us today so we can make sure Congress follows through.
Creating 15 million new jobs that can't be outsourced, breaking our addiction to oil, investing in a clean, green economic recovery - we can make it happen with your help.
Sincerely,
Ilana Preuss
Outreach and Field Director
Transportation for America
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:21 AM | Comments (7) | Permalink
December 10, 2008
Bridge Backers Organize
The Oregonian reports today that supporters of the Columbia River Crossing have organized the "Columbia River Crossing Coalition", hiring high-power PR firm Gard Communications to manage the effort.
This appears to be aimed at attracting Federal stimulus dollars to the project, since no significant local funding appears to be materializing (Governor Kulongoski only penciled in $50M in his budget proposal towards the $3-4B project).
But if the project would not be slated to start construction until 2012 is that really relevant as a stimulus project? Will backers attempt to shortcut the final EIS process to advance the project?
Posted by Chris Smith at 8:44 AM | Comments (25) | Permalink
The Value of Bicycle Amenities
Apparently somebody thinks bicycle amenities are a way to help move real estate in this economic climate.
The Gallery Condominiums, a recent condo conversion in NW Portland is advertising "Central Bicycle Storage Room with Direct Outside Access" as one of their selling points.
Based on the photos, they appear to have delivered in spades.
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Posted by Chris Smith at 12:37 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
December 9, 2008
Hertz Jumps into Car Sharing
They're calling their program "Connect by Hertz".
Dave over at carsharing.us has the details. No word on when they might hit Portland.
Posted by Chris Smith at 8:27 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Stimulus Looking Greener?
Opinions vary...
My first reaction to the President-elect's radio address this weekend was the same as the folks over at Streetsblog (where they have posted the address): too much focus on roads and bridges.
But urbanist columnist Neal Peirce is more optimistic. He proposes three filters for stimulus projects:
States instead could be instructed to use "mode neutral" measures to decide between road and transit projects, and employ a "three E's" filter -- evidence a project not just stimulates the economy, but is also environment-friendly and sensitive to equity issues. Plus, major chunks of the stimulus cash should go directly to existing metropolitan planning organizations, with instructions to give major attention to such Obama priorities as public-transit funding, biking, walking and health, maybe even connections with affordable housing.
It still worries me that the Federal Highway Administration is very good at just turning money over to states on a formula basis, while the Federal Transit Administration has to review every project for cost-effectiveness. If the Feds just handed money over to MPOs for transit and other alternative modes, that would be a good thing for the country, but maybe not so much for Portland. Because we've gotten so good at making the case for the cost-effectiveness of our transit projects, we probably would not get nearly as large a slice of the transit pie if it were distributed on a formula basis.
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:08 AM | Comments (6) | Permalink
December 8, 2008
To Wave or Not to Wave?
Randy Gragg has a nice post over at Portland Spaces on the two alternative designs for the Transit/Ped/Bike bridge proposed for the Milwaukie Light Rail project.
Posted by Chris Smith at 7:26 AM | Comments (27) | Permalink
CRC Peer Review Unlikely to Convince Skeptics
Saturday's Oregon reports on the presentation of a peer review panel of "leading traffic forecasters from Seattle, Atlanta, Dallas and Sacramento".
The panel's conclusion:
A bridge with double the current number of lanes would have "minimal" impact on growth, the panel concluded, even though the project would nearly eliminate the evening rush-hour for commuters from Clark County, one of the fastest growing areas of the region.
But Metro President David Bragdon wasn't necessarily convinced:
"So then it comes down to, what's your faith in modeling?" asked Metro Council President David Bragdon, later citing the growth of urban regions where highways grew and sprawl followed. "Especially when you're constantly being asked to ... ignore the lessons of the last 50 years?"
Meanwhile, significant funding for the project doesn't appear to be on anyone's short-term priority list.
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:49 AM | Comments (20) | Permalink
December 5, 2008
Least Cost Planning
The annual Oregon Business Plan Summit is next week, and in advance of the meeting they've published a discussion paper on transportation (PDF, 138K).
I find one point especially refreshing:
3. Develop new transportation planning and project selection tools to assure that each dollar spent on new transportation capacity achieves the greatest return on investment. Our existing transportation planning and project selection methods focus on supplying transportation services, particularly road and highway facilities. They are not designed to analyze the least-cost method of providing transportation services across modes; they do not evaluate demand management, nor do they consider the comparative economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of alternative solutions. We need to build on our ground breaking models integrating land use and transportation to develop new models for least-cost transportation planning.
And doesn't least cost planning pretty much assure funding for bicycle infrastructure? I don't know of a mode with a better return on investment...
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:38 AM | Comments (9) | Permalink
December 4, 2008
The First Priority
Today's Trib has an article on the Safe Routes to School program and some schools that are on the waiting list once additional resources are available.
Wouldn't this be a great top priority for any transportation stimulus package?
Posted by Chris Smith at 1:51 PM | Comments (5) | Permalink
December 3, 2008
KBOO Bike Show: Holiday Show
Listen to the show (mp3, 19.3MB)
It's better to give than receive so with that in mind we interview the Community Cycling Center about the Holiday Bike Drive, taking a sneak peak with Elly Blue at the upcoming BikeCraft, and...
Posted by Chris Smith at 2:50 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Fix it First Generates More Jobs?
A blog post over at the Oregon Environmental Council makes the case that fixing our existing roads and bridges will generate more jobs than building new roads or lanes.
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:38 AM | Comments (21) | Permalink
December 2, 2008
Transportation for "Fringe Urbanism"
Portland State University
Center for Transportation Studies
Fall 2008 Transportation Seminar Series
Speaker: Nico Larco, University of Oregon, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture
Topic: Fringe Urbanism: Potential Transportation Patterns in Overlooked Suburban Density
When: December 5, 2008, 12:00 - 1:00p.m.
Where: PSU Urban Center Building, SW 6th and Mill, Room 204
Posted by Chris Smith at 7:13 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
December 1, 2008
Oregonian Launches Commuting Column, Blog
The Oregonian debuted a new Monday column on commuting by Joseph Rose. Unfortunately it does not appear to be online yet (the link on the summary page goes to a very helpful "Story Not Found" page).
Rose also has a commuting blog: Hard Drive, which appears to have started late last week.
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:31 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Coming Up on the KBOO Bike Show: The Holiday Show
Welcome to our holiday show! It's better to give than receive so with that in mind we'll be interviewing the Community Cycling Center about the Holiday Bike Drive, taking a sneak peak with Elly Blue at the upcoming BikeCraft, and talking with our very first guest host, Janis McDonald, about how to pick out a great bike or cycling stocking stuffer for your favorite cyclist.
9-10AM, Wednesday, December 3rd
KBOO FM 90.7
Streamed live at KBOO.fm
Podcast here later that day
Posted by Chris Smith at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
