Category: Transportation Politics

  • Cars are from Mars, Busses (and Bikes and Trains) are from Venus

    In the open thread, I mentioned that a Clark County legislator (Republican Liz Pike) wanted to “restart” the CRC project.  The Columbian has the scoop–and not surprisingly, Rep. Pike’s opening bid is to get rid of light rail.  Obviously, such a proposal isn’t going to be acceptable to those of us in Oregon–a state of…

  • Transit and those dependent upon it

    There’s been quite a bit in the national press this week about the subject. Amanda Hess, writing for Atlantic Cities, penned an article called Race, class, and the Stigma of Riding the Bus in America. This article drew quite a bit of attention, including a somewhat scathing criticism from Jarrett Walker, who objected to the…

  • City of Portland engages in outrageous $2M power-play against TriMet.

    In a move which apparently came as a complete surprise, Portland mayor Sam Adams has proposed levying/hiking various fees on TriMet, related to things like benches and shelters. The amount of the proposed fee hike is 8000%, or about $2M; intended to cover the cost of the YouthPass program, which was cut by TriMet in…

  • WeAllRideTheBus and reform at TriMet

    One of the interesting developments of the past few weeks is that the organizational efforts of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon seem to be bearing fruit. TriMet’s recent scaled-back service cuts seem to take many of OPAL’s concerns into account (notwithstanding the warning that additional cuts may be back on the table if labor negotiations don’t…

  • Mayoral debate Monday, Feb 6, on active transportation issues

    From Evan Manvel on the O-TRAN mailing list: For those near Portland, there’s a debate between Smith, Brady, and Hales on active transportation issues this upcoming Monday. Feb 6, 7pm Lincoln Performance Hall Portland State University A forum for Mayoral candidates Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales, and Jefferson Smith to answer questions regarding their priorities and…