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What the Transit Rider’s Union SHOULD be Focusing On
The current murmur is that the Milwaukie Light Rail project is going to need about a $50M injection of capital funding (if anyone has a draft funding plan document, please share it) to complete the local match, which TriMet plans to provide by bonding future payroll tax revenue. Depending on Interest rates, that means something…
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Is there a Silver Lining in the Transportation Bill?
The Oregon Environmental Council, which opposed the transportation bill along with other environment organizations, nonetheless has published a plus/minus analysis on the bill and finds about a half dozen positives: ODOT is required to develop a “least-cost planning” model, in consultation with local governments and metropolitan planning organizations, as a decision-making tool in the development…
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Transportation Bill Passes State Senate
The Business Journal is reporting that the transportation bill passed the Senate by a comfortable 24-6 vote (18 votes were required). The Governor will certainly sign it.
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Mary Nolan is My New Hero
Not that I didn’t respect her a lot before… Nolan (from Portland), the Oregon House Majority Leader, parted company with House Speaker Dave Hunt and voted against the Transportation bill. The bill passed anyway 38-22 (because it raises taxes, it needed a 36 vote super-majority to pass) (and somehow I suspect that if she had…
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Why Local Governments are Likely to Get Onboard the Sprawl-Inducing Transportation Bill
In a word – Maintenance. The City of Portland, as one example, would see about a 40% increase in gas tax revenue available to fix potholes and rebuild streets that are too far gone for routine maintenance. As one transportation official told me, this would “stop the bleeding”. The bleeding in this case being the…