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A Geeky but Practical Bicycle Question
Folks who follow this blog know I’m a transportation geek. What folks may not know is that I’m also a geek geek, i.e., my day job is doing Internet technology. So sometimes my travels around the region require that I carry a laptop with me. I have yet to find a way to do this…
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Sellwood Bridge: Can’t Get No Respect
I recently attended a meeting of the Portland Freight Advisory Committee, where the Freight Master Plan was being reviewed. Once again, the Sellwood Bridge came up. The line of discussion: it’s not a freight project, so don’t list it as a project it in the master plan, and certainly don’t spend any funds targeted on…
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Tolls in Our Future?
Today’s Oregonian reports on the possibility of using tolls to fund new lanes on Highway 217, and reminds us that tolls are not completely foreign to Oregon. The Barlow Trail was a toll road and the Interstate Bridge was once tolled. Metro forecasts that the 12-minutes average commute on 217 is headed to 16 minutes,…
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My Trip: Jumping the Queue
I recently flew to the East Coast for a long weekend. As usual, I left straight from downtown Portland, leaving my bike at work, and riding the Red Line MAX to the airport. As we sped by alongside I-84, I looked at the hundreds of cars creeping along, nearly at a standstill, and I couldn’t…
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More from Japan: Should Standards be Standard?
[Editor’s note – contributor Rick Browning is currently in Japan studying urban streetcape issues, supported by a grant from the Architectural Foundation of Oregon.] Konichi wa Portland Transport Gang! Still in Japan. It has been more challenging than I thought trying to sketch, diagram, keep a journal, interview Japanese designers and planners and — do…