Portland Transport

Author: Chris Smith

  • Downtown Neighborhood Association Makes Case for Retaining Free Streetcar

    Daniel Friedman, writing on behalf of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, has an op-ed piece in today’s Tribune, arguing to keep the Streetcar in Free Rail Zone. The core of the argument is that downtown has unique characteristics that support a unique fare structure. Here are the four main bullets: Most of the people who live…

  • The Non-intuitive Math of the Lake Oswego Streetcar

    This morning the Oregonian editorialized against further development of the Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar project, citing the cost. That’s the new cost estimate of $208M (not including the value of the right-of-way we already own), not the $400M+ estimate that came out of the last round of the NEPA process. Without getting into an…

  • Help for Transit?

    According to T4America, there are a pair of bills in the House and Senate that would provide flexibility to allow transit agencies to use some of their formula funds for operations. How might TriMet apply this? I’m not entirely up-to-speed on the TriMet budget. How do the section 5307 funds get spent today? Bus purchases?…

  • The Sharing Time of Year

    As we approach the holidays, and year-end tax deductions, it’s time for my annual message. This site, and our transit appliance project, operate as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Our expenditures are modest, but we do depend on the generosity of our readership for a portion of our costs. So if you’ve enjoyed the discussion during the…

  • Heartwarming!

    Yesterday I had the chance to attend the Community Cycling Center’s 2011 Holiday Bike Drive, and watch some of the 400 kids who received a bicycle (for many of them, their first). I can’t imagine a better way to kick off the holiday season.