LaHood has become a pretty good soldier for Obama so far. He's really adopted much of the language going beyond just Amtrak. His clearly stated support for transit and the goals of transit is even a little stunning for me. The federal government is saying this--and then hinting they might drop by with a check later? Wow.

STREETCARS ALL AROUND!

END THE BUS SERVICE RIGHT NOW!
Max and streetcar is all the Portland metro area needs anyway.
If the citizens can't get with the program let them eat cake!

Someone should tell LaHood that for all the money being wasted to construct and operate this project, all the streetcar will do is gum up traffic and increase congestion on MLK, Grand and Broadway In addition, it will take decades to recover from the negative eco effects that come with digging the streets to add rails. The term “green wash” accurately describes this entitlement program.

except there are FOUR one way travel lanes in each direction. MLK and Grand have excess road space than what the actual traffic needs. luckily they are slowing these streets down with the streetcar so that people can safely patronize the businesses located on these streets. its too bad they arent going further to actually make MLK and Grand a pleasant place to shop so shoppers dont have to put up with 4 lanes of one way traffic zipping through uninterrupted at 40 mph.