Some of the comments here have gotten downright nasty in the last little bit. I have edited out a few of the most extreme, but I can’t keep up.

Since the recent newspaper coverage, we’ve gotten some new readers (yeah!), so it might be a good time to review the rules:

1. All contributions and comments become the property of Portland Transport.
2. Opinions in posts and comments are those of the authors, not necessarily those of Portland Transport. Responibility for those opinions rests with the authors.
3. Passion and robust debate about ideas are what Portland Transport is about. Passion directed at individuals is not, and will be deleted promptly.
4. A lot of knowledge and intelligence resides in the heads of staff at various transportation agencies in the region and they are encouraged to participate both as individuals and as representatives of their agencies. To be clear in what capacity these folks are blogging, all entries signed with just a name will be assumed to be individual comments. Entries signed with a name and title will be read as representing the view of the agency involved.
5. This site HAS a point of view, generally supportive of transit and compact development, and efforts to reduce VMT (vehicles miles travelled) per capita. This is intended to be the general center of the conversation here. While opposing views are welcome, participation that is of a quality or quantity that combines to undermine the purpose of the site may be restricted or refused.

In particular, let’s all try really hard to talk about ideas, not people.

To help things cool off, I’m doing two things:

1. I’ve turned off comments on the “Transportation, Talent and the Traded Sector” thread, since we’ve beaten that one to death and are repeating ourselves
2. I’d like to ask Paul and Ross to slow down a little. The two of you are posting the majority of comments (yes, I have a tool that counts) and we’d like to let other people get a word in.

Please remember that this site is about the exchange of ideas. It’s not about repeating yourself until you wear other people down.

Thanks.

Chris