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Fine Wine and Car-bashing
We had a conversation here last week that kicked off with a quote from Metro President David Bragdon and developed into a series of analogies about cars, roads and congestion. This kind of stuff often gets us accused of car-bashing. So let me set the record straight. I like cars. My family of 3.5 drivers…
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Dueling Op-eds
It would seem our contributors don’t always agree :-) Last week, Scott Bricker had an op-ed piece in the Oregonian questioning whether the benefits suggested in the “Cost of Congestion” study were worth the cost. Yesterday brought another op-ed in the O, this one from another contributor, Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder. Rex counters that while…
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Oil Supply Uncertainty
The rising demand for and declining supply of oil will likely have tremendous impacts on land use and transportation planning efforts in the Portland region for decades to come. This will be an issue of ongoing concern to Metro as we work with the public, businesses and other governments to shape regional transportation planning and…
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Eastside Transit Alternatives Open House
Mark your calendars. This Wednesday (May 3) there is an open house at Metro (room 370) from 4 to 7pm to review options for circulator transit service from dowtown to the east side. Options include Streetcar and a bus circulator (or doing nothing at all). There will also be a public hearing on May 10th…
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Scenarios, Sensitivity and Resilience in Regional Planning
I started thinking about this post following the Regional Transportation Plan scoping workshop that occurred last week, which others have written about. But it really jelled for me yesterday after another workshop with Metro’s panel of economic advisers (engaged to help validate the models for the 20 year forecasts). During the breakout session for the…