Portland Transport

Author: Chris Smith

  • Hope for Transit Operations?

    Congressional surface transportation chair Jim Oberstar is reported by Streetsblog to be in support of allowing Federal formula funds for transit to be used for operations, not just capital. Interestingly, APTA (the association of transit agencies) has historically been opposed to this. Now perhaps if Congress offered additional funds for operations…

  • If I Were Asking the Questions

    If I were on the interview committee for TriMet’s General Manager position, here’s what I’d be asking: How will you ensure that the agency has sufficient financial reserves to whether economic downturns without extensive service cuts? How would you develop a series of measures to determine if transit service is being provided equitably across geographic…

  • That’s the Sound of the CRC Unravelling

    The two major candidates for the Democratic nomination for Governor both oppose a 12-lane Columbia River Crossing (Bradbury favors the supplemental bridge approach). Earl Blumenauer declined to put in an earmark request this year for Federal support for ongoing planning.

  • Potpourri

    The Daily Journal of Commerce has listed its Top 10 Transportation Projects and it leads with a favorite of mine. But my favorite is their name for the Columbia River Crossing – they call it the “Goldilocks Project” because it’s either too big or too small…

  • Another Attempt at a TriMet Riders Union

    Last year there was an effort to form a Transit Riders Union. I don’t know the official state of that effort (someone please comment and tell us) but I understand that effort has factionalized somewhat. Now OPAL (Organizing People – Activating Leaders), a local environmental justice organization, is working on organizing TriMet riders, using principles…