Transportation on the Cheap


A common criticism of Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) is that it drives up housing costs. While I believe there is ample evidence that housing costs have risen even more dramatically in many sprawling regions, a new report offers evidence that Portland’s compact urban form generates an economic benefit in reduced transportation costs.

Driven to Spend: Pumping Dollars out of Our Households and Communities, released this month by the Center for Neighborhood Technology and the Surface Transportation Policy Project, puts Portland at position 27 on the list of the country’s 28 major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) for cost of transportation (Baltimore edged us out for the lowest cost). The national average is 19.1% of household expenditures spent on transportation, while here in Portland we come in at 15.1%. Houston is most expensive at 20.9%.

On the housing side of the ledger, the Portland MSA spends 34.5% of household expenditures (12 MSAs are more expensive), against a national average of 32.9%. Looking at housing and transportation combined, we are the fourth most affordable, at 49.6% of household expenditures (national average, 52.0%).

Among the key findings of the report: “Households in regions that have invested in public transportation reap financial benefits from having affordable transportation options, even as gasoline prices rise.”

I’ll cringe a little bit less as I pay my Trimet fare come September.


18 responses to “Transportation on the Cheap”

  1. I love the fact that while TriMet’s district is the 29th largest in population, its ridership is 13th highest!

  2. Are there studies that anyone is aware of that attempt to actually get at what drives the cost of housing in the Portland area, and in the actual city of Portland in particular? Housing costs are not cheap here, but my feeling is that it’s because people want to live here. Why? Because people have fought tooth and nail to not let Portland become Houston, or LA, or Atlanta. It’s not because there is a supposedly constrained supply of developable land.

    Or, at least, that’s my theory. Any research to back that up? I know Portland is proven to be a magnet for the “creative class” types, but I don’t think that fully addresses the question.

  3. I found this report to be very exciting. Like the recent announcement about this region’s success on lowering greenhouse gas emissions, the savings to families from less need to drive is another happy if unintended consequence of planning for walkable/bikeable/bus-able communities. And of not building more highways to meet “demand”.

    And there is a major economic impact of this as well. Every family having an average of 4% more disposable income means that that money is spent or invested here, not in Saudi Arabia, New York or Detroit. Add it all up and there is something like $1.8 Billion more in the local economy from savings on transportation than there would be if we drove as much as the average metro area. Adding in the slightly higher average housing costs and the savings are a bit less but at $1.5 Billion still considerable. Complaints about Tri-Met’s $200 Million cost seem a bit wan when the return on investment is so good.

    So, compact, mixed use communities with transportation choices adds up to more money in my pocket and yours! And cleaner air, too!

  4. Are we forgetting that other taxpayers pick up 80% of the cost of that low cost transit. If you paid you fair share, you would pay over $10 every time that you stepped on a TriMet vehicle.

    Car ownership is probably less costly than the REAL cost of trimet. And don’t forget that transit uses energy too – at about the same rate as cars (not SUVs).

    Thanks
    JK

  5. Jim, I think the methodology of this report takes that into account. The metric is ‘household spend’. Since Oregon households pay proportionately the same for Federal taxes, etc. as do other states and regions, the question is really about how those tax dollars are invested and what the impact is on household expenses as a result. The correlation would appear to be that building MAX instead of the westside bypass (for example) has lowered out-of-pocket costs for households in our region.

  6. Of course transit is cheap – othr pepole are paying around 80% of your ride.

    If you paid the real cost, it would be close to $10 per ride. (Owning a car may actually be cheaper!)

    Also trimet uses energy at about the same rate as a car (not SUV) on a per passenger mile basis.

    Any comments on this Mary Fetch?

    Thanks
    JK

  7. But Jim, by that line of thinking, am I not helping pay for 80% of some other city’s freeway?

  8. Sorry about the double post, somehow I didn’t see my earlier one an assumed it didn’t post.

    Sorry
    JK

  9. Chris Smith at July 5, 2005 04:45 PM But Jim, by that line of thinking, am I not helping pay for 80% of some other city’s freeway?

    JK I am not getting your point. DO you not know that road users pay the entire cost of road construction and maintence PLUS a chunk of the mass transit subsidy?

    Additionally all of this region’s employees pay a payroll tax to support transit riders.

    Thanks
    JK

  10. Jim, I understand where the federal dollars come from (gas taxes), but my point is that our gas tax dollars are part of the the ‘household spend’ compared in the report. So given how we have chosen to invest those funds, our citizens wind up paying less of those gas tax (and other transportation cost) dollars.

    While technically the TriMet payroll tax is paid by employers, not employees, for the sake of argument I’ll make the assumption that if the tax did not exist, it would be passed on as additional wages. The rate is 0.6318%. So if you added that as a ‘transportation opportunity cost’ to the 15.1% metric for Portland, we would still be under 16% and still much lower than the national average.

  11. Chris, here is the page on the cost and energy usage of trimet:

    http://www.saveportland/Car_Vs_Tri-Met/TriMet_vs_Car5.htm

    It lists all data sources and calculations.

    Here is the link to Metro’s admission that they want to turn Portland in Los Angelas: with respect to density and road per capita mileage it displays an investment pattern we desire to duplicate (Los Angeles has the highest density in the USA and fewer miles of freways PER CAPTIA than most.)

    http://209.210.229.130/metrodocs/metro_measured.PDF

    See page 7 (PDF page 11), right column, 3rd paragraph.

    But be sure to at least browse it for a feel of how metro decides what to dictate to us.

    Thanks
    JK

  12. Chris, here is the page on the cost and energy usage of trimet:

    http://www.saveportland.com/Car_Vs_Tri-Met/TriMet_vs_Car5.htm

    A link at the bottom of the page goes to a page showing all calculations with links to TriMet supplied data.

    Here is the link to Metro’s admission that they want to turn Portland in Los Angelas: with respect to density and road per capita mileage it displays an investment pattern we desire to duplicate (Los Angeles has the highest density in the USA and fewer miles of freways PER CAPTIA than most.)

    http://209.210.229.130/metrodocs/metro_measured.PDF

    See page 7 (PDF page 11), right column, 3rd paragraph.

    But be sure to at least browse it for a feel of how metro decided what to dictate to us.

    You may want to browse some of the other documents at that site: http://209.210.229.130/

    Thanks
    JK

  13. Chris, here is the page on the cost and energy usage of trimet:

    http://www.saveportland.com/Car_Vs_Tri-Met/TriMet_vs_Car5.htm

    A link at the bottom of the page goes to a page showing all calculations with links to TriMet supplied data.

    Here is the link to Metro’s admission that they want to turn Portland in Los Angelas: with respect to density and road per capita mileage it displays an investment pattern we desire to duplicate (Los Angeles has the highest density in the USA and fewer miles of freways PER CAPTIA than most.)

    http://209.210.229.130/metrodocs/metro_measured.PDF

    See page 7 (PDF page 11), right column, 3rd paragraph.

    But be sure to at least browse it for a feel of how metro decided what to dictate to us.

    You may want to browse some of the other documents at that site: http://209.210.229.130/

    Thanks
    JK

  14. I think perhaps more of my federal tax money went towards Boston’s $14 billion freeway project (Big Dig) than ANY of Trimet’s bus or Max lines that have been built domestically.

  15. Chris, here is the page on the cost and energy usage of trimet:

    http://www.saveportland.com/Car_Vs_Tri-Met/TriMet_vs_Car5.htm

    A link at the bottom of the page goes to a page showing all calculations with links to TriMet supplied data.

    Here is the link to Metro’s admission that they want to turn Portland in Los Angelas: with respect to density and road per capita mileage it displays an investment pattern we desire to duplicate (Los Angeles has the highest density in the USA and fewer miles of freways PER CAPTIA than most.)

    http://209.210.229.130/metrodocs/metro_measured.PDF

    See page 7 (PDF page 11), right column, 3rd paragraph.

    But be sure to at least browse it for a feel of how metro decided what to dictate to us.

    You may want to browse some of the other documents at that site: http://209.210.229.130/

    Thanks
    JK

  16. Chris, here is the page on the cost and energy usage of trimet:

    http://www.saveportland.com/Car_Vs_Tri-Met/TriMet_vs_Car5.htm

    A link at the bottom of the page goes to a page showing all calculations with links to TriMet supplied data.

    Here is the link to Metro’s admission that they want to turn Portland in Los Angelas: with respect to density and road per capita mileage it displays an investment pattern we desire to duplicate (Los Angeles has the highest density in the USA and fewer miles of freways PER CAPTIA than most.)

    http://209.210.229.130/metrodocs/metro_measured.PDF

    See page 7 (PDF page 11), right column, 3rd paragraph.

    But be sure to at least browse it for a feel of how metro decided what to dictate to us.

    You may want to browse some of the other documents at that site: http://209.210.229.130/

    Thanks
    JK

  17. Justin Wells at July 7, 2005 02:41 PM: I think perhaps more of my federal tax money went towards Boston’s $14 billion freeway project (Big Dig) than ANY of Trimet’s bus or Max lines that have been built domestically.

    JK: Two wrongs don’t make a right and neither do two wastes.

    Thanks
    JK

  18. JK: Except that I actually rely on the bus, streetcar and max system to be able to get around Portland without owning a car and causing more congestion on the already overtaxed roads & freeways.

    However, unless the system gets even more convenient and comprehensive, once I’ve graduated college, there really won’t be much incentive for people like me to go buy 1, 2, or three cars to get me around town.

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