Portland Transport

Month: December 2005

  • And Another Perspective on the Congestion Study

    I start to pen this piece on PBA/Metro/Port’s “Cost of Congestion” with exhaust fumes in my nose after walking past two Port of Portland landscape crewman blowing leaves off the freshly cut grass at McCarthy Park…perhaps a symptom of the Port’s disconnect from reality in this age of Peak Oil and global warming. But where…

  • Welcome, Paul Smith

    A while back, we noted that Commissioner Sam Adams had two critical hires to make, a new PDOT Director, and a new head for the planning section. These hires will help shape the next step in Portland’s transportation evolution. For now, Sam does not appear to have set a direction for the Director hire. Sue…

  • Budgeting for Transportation Outcomes

    Of late, the book The Price of Government has gotten a lot of attention. The thesis of the book is that citizens essentially pay a fixed percentage of their personal income to government (36% for the last 50 years in the U.S.) and government needs to figure out how to spend it most effectively. I…

  • Cost of Congestion Study: Another Perspective

    Here is why I think this is an important, possibly historic effort. For the first time in many years, leaders of both the business community and transportation agencies are sitting at the same table, in the same room, having a discussion about the issues we face as a region.

  • Metro’s Congestion Study

    The Portland Business Alliance, Metro, and others got decent ink this morning about a report they purchased on the costs of congestion, and a proposed $6 billion plan to address it. Both the Oregonian and the Tribune reported it as, well, media tend to report on economic studies — go with the press release. Skimming…