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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…
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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…
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Audio: Bruce Babbitt on Sprawl
On last week’s Smart City radio program, former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt talks about (MP3, 15M) sprawl and the current pattern of mindless roadbuilding. There’s also a segment with local Portland educational thinker Laurel Dukehart about getting high school dropouts back on the path to college.
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Maximizing the Value of Carsharing
Yesterday’s Willamette Week features an article about the cities (including Portland) and state agencies converting the motorpools to use carsharing companies like Flexcar. Clearly this is a good deal for the governments, they are saving real dollars on the vehicle costs. And presumably it’s good business for Flexcar. But why is it good for transportation…
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Netherlands Trip Featured in the O
Our traveling companion Jeff Mapes writes in the In Portland section of the Oregonian this morning about our field trip to the Netherlands. Over at Bike Portland Jonathan has already done a nice summary of the article so I won’t repeat it here. I’ll just take the opportunity to mention that we’ve created a new…