Portland to Expand Streetcar, Riders Not Included
By John A. Charles, Jr. In mid-November, the Portland City Council approved a…
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DEQ’s Plan to Raise the Cost of Driving Should Be Cancelled
By John A. Charles, Jr. On November 21, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission…
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Zero-emissions? Not Really
By Emily Schutte When an Electric Vehicle is marketed as “zero-emission,” consumers expect…
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Is a New, Earthquake-Ready Burnside Bridge Necessary?
By Ethan Rohrbach For the past 40 years, the scientific community has been…
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Paying Twice for Oregon’s Roads
By John A. Charles, Jr. A committee of the Oregon legislature will soon…
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Repealing Oregon’s EV mandate should be next on Gov. Kotek’s list
By John A. Charles, Jr. Recently Gov. Tina Kotek decided to pull the…
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Rose Quarter I-5 Project Testimony on ODOT AVT Proposed Partnership Agreement
March 12, 2024 Ms. Julie BrownChairOregon Transportation Commission355 Capitol Street NESalem, OR 97301…
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Legislative committee wants to extend commuter rail to Salem at a cost of $118 per ride
By John A. Charles, Jr. On February 22, the Joint Committee on Transportation…
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Oregon’s highway freeze is not about the weather
By John A. Charles, Jr. The last segment of Oregon’s Interstate Highway system…
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Re: Adoption of RTP and HCT Plan
November 29, 20323 Metro Council600 NE Grand AvenuePortland, OR 97232 Re: Adoption of…
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TriMet’s Existential Crisis
By John A. Charles, Jr. For those of us who came of age…
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Metro Gives Up on Reducing Traffic Congestion
By John A. Charles, Jr. For the past 30 years, opinion polls have…
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It’s Time to Bring Transit into the Twenty-First Century
By Mia Tiwana Portland’s TriMet transit agency and the Metro regional government have…
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Press Release: Cascade Policy Institute Report Recommends Ways TriMet Can Modernize Transit Service for the 21st Century
September 14, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cascade Policy Institute4850 SW Scholls Ferry Rd.,…
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TriMet in the Twenty-First Century
By Randal O’Toole Executive Summary The pandemic has made it painfully clear that…
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Westside MAX, Still a Dream at 25
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet’s Blue rail line to Hillsboro opened on…
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Making Driving More Expensive Won’t Fix Oregon’s Congested Roads
By Micah DeSilva Metro is the regional government of the greater Portland region….
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The Ghost Train
By Sam Herrin Metro’s 2023 Regional Transportation Plan calls for expanding many different…
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Comments on Urban Mobility Strategy Finance Plan
John A. Charles, Jr.Cascade Policy Institute Submitted to theOregon Transportation CommissionJune 27, 2023…
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A Nightmare Waiting to Happen: Parking at 3000 SE Powell
By Ethan Rohrbach “3000 SE Powell Boulevard” is the name of Home Forward’s…
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Replacing the I-5 Interstate Bridge Is Not a Solution for Anything
By John A. Charles, Jr. Over the next four weeks, the Oregon legislature…
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Money for Nothing
By John A. Charles, Jr. Over the next five weeks, the Oregon legislature…
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Time to Sound-Off on ODOT’s Tolling Proposal
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. In about 18 months, Portland-area drivers will be paying…
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Comments on I-205 Toll Project Environmental Assessment
Eric Fruits, Ph.D.Cascade Policy Institute Submitted to theOregon Department of TransportationApril 6, 2023…
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ODOT Admits Its Tolls Will Make Oregonians Worse Off
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. In about 18 months, Portland-area drivers will be paying…
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Rose Quarter Highway Project Should Focus on Congestion and Traffic Safety. Period.
By John A. Charles, Jr. In 2017, when the Oregon Legislature authorized a…
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Snowstorm Shows Taxpayers the City of Portland’s Dystopian Side
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Last week’s snowstorm was more than a snow-pocalypse, it…
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ODOT Says Households Will Pay $575 a Year in Its First Round of Tolls
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. This next week is going to be a big…
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When the State Stays Silent, It’s Easy to Assume the Worst
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. What do spy balloons, a state liquor scandal, and…
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Oregon Must Stop Outsourcing Policymaking to California’s Unelected Bureaucrats
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. At the end of last year, the Oregon Environmental…
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ODOT Is Gassed Up and Ready to Go on Tolling: But They Don’t Know Where They’re Going
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. “We got a full tank of gas, half a…
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A Holiday Wishlist for Oregon
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. ‘Tis the season for holiday wishes. And, toward that…
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Tolling’s Political Pile-Up
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. If the Oregon Department of Transportation has its way,…
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For Oregon’s New Governor, Great Power Comes with Great Responsibility
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. It’s the day after Election Day and the votes…
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Oregon Needs a Free-Market Makeover
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D “What’s the one thing you’d do to fix Oregon?”…
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Portland’s “EV Ready Code” Isn’t That Electric
By Mia Tiwana Portland City Council is trying its best to bring electric…
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Plans Are in Place to Force Oregonians to Pay for the Privilege of Waiting in Traffic
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Are you ready to pay a toll to cross…
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The MAX Yellow Line Doesn’t Deserve a Green Light
By Taylor Marks Over-promised and under-delivered. Throughout its 18-year life, TriMet’s Yellow Line…
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Press Release: The I-5 Bridge Replacement Project’s Administrators Are Misleading State Legislators About Light Rail
May 19, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts:Micah PerryOffice: (503) 242-0900Mobile: (303) [email protected]…
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Better Late Than Never at the Expo Center
By Micah Perry For years, Portland residents have dealt with homeless individuals parking…
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Roads Are Infrastructure Worthy of Investment
By Micah Perry The Oregon Transportation Commission recently decided how to allocate $412…
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A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Shake Up Metro
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. With the retirement of Bob Stacey earlier this month,…
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Metro’s Draft TSMO (Transportation System Management and Operations) Plan
By John A . Charles, Jr.TO: Metro Transportation Planning DepartmentFM: John A. Charles,…
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ODOT’s use of inaccurate data will yield incorrect results
By Rachel Dawson Oregon elected officials and appointed staff love to claim they…
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A Pile-Up in the Rose Quarter
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Apparently, “COVID time” is a real thing. A week…
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Roads, Not Light Rail, Get Us Through Extreme Weather
Light rail has problems with reliability despite massive government funding. By Stew Robertson…
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Anti-Freeway Group Clogs the Courts to Keep Congestion
The “No More Freeways” mantra is extending Portland’s worst bottleneck By Vlad Yurlov…
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Oregon Transportation Policy Needs to Learn from Its Mistakes
The Portland metro region tried everything to reduce automobile reliance. It’s time to…
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TriMet’s Zombie Light Rail Project
By John A. Charles, Jr. President Trump is not the only one refusing…
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Dude, where’s my car? New Oregon data shows where electric vehicles are located and where they continue to remain a rarity
By Rachel Dawson Where are all the electric cars in Oregon? If you…
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Low-Income Oregonians Need Wheels, Not Another Light Rail Line
By Rachel Dawson Want to help a low-income individual prosper economically? Give them…
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Metro’s Mission Creep
By Vlad Yurlov Metro is expected to spend over $1.4 billion this fiscal…
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Metro Pushes Transportation Bond While Acknowledging Serious Problems
Oregon’s Business Community Is Challenging the $7.8 Billion Measure By Vlad Yurlov After…
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Metro’s Untimely, Nonsensical Light-Rail Project
By John A. Charles, Jr. Last month, the Metro Council voted to send…
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Portland Politicians Suffer From the Edifice Complex
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. On July 24th, the New York Times ran a…
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TriMet’s decreasing ridership makes the SW Corridor project obsolete
By Rachel Dawson TriMet’s weekly system boardings were down 68% in May compared…
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Metro’s Transportation Package: Progressive Politics Mask Regressive Tax
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. While much of the region is stuck at home…
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Cars, not transit, are the COVID-19 transportation heroes
By Rachel Dawson When it comes to commuting during COVID-19, private vehicles are…
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ODOT Must Move Forward on the Rose Quarter I-5 Bottleneck
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Last week, the Oregon Transportation Commission took a significant…
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Cascade Policy Institute Asks the Federal Transit Administration to Enforce Light Rail Contracts with TriMet
March 9, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: John A. Charles, Jr. (503)…
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TriMet Drops Ridership Estimate by 13% for Tigard Light Rail
By John A. Charles, Jr. After eight years of bragging that the proposed…
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Frustrated with Traffic? According to PBOT, That’s Your Problem
By Rachel Dawson The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), the agency charged with…
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Oregon and Washington Need to Think Bigger on I-5 Bridge Project
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. “It’s time to get this done!” Governor Kate Brown…
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Why are rural, low-income residents subsidizing Teslas for Oregon’s urban elite?
By Rachel Dawson Oregon state officials recently celebrated helping the state reach 25,000…
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T2020 is the transportation measure that Metro wants—not Portland residents
By Rachel Dawson Is it possible to spend billions of dollars on transportation…
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Deal With It—Commuters Need Cars
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. How did you get to work today? If you’re…
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Like Other MAX Projects, TriMet’s Green Line Underdelivers at 10th Anniversary
By Rachel Dawson TriMet has proven time and again that it is unable…
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Shrinking Roads and Rising Fatalities Don’t Bode Well for Portland’s Vision Zero
By Rachel Dawson Portland hasn’t seen 50 road fatalities since 1996. With 43…
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The MAX Yellow Line: A Look Back After 15 Years
By Rachel Dawson TriMet’s MAX Yellow Line first opened 15 years ago in…
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Better Buses May Be the Transit Solution the SW Corridor Needs
By Rachel Dawson TriMet may have found a better alternative to the proposed…
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Portland’s Temporary Gas Tax Should Stay Just That
By Rachel Dawson Portland’s temporary gas tax should stay just that: temporary. Portland…
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Congestion Pricing in Portland: Good in Theory, Bad in Practice
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. “Good in theory, bad in practice.” Sure, it’s a…
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Think TriMet’s New Electric Buses Run on Wind Power? Think Again.
By Rachel Dawson TriMet unveiled five new battery-electric buses (BEBs) in April 2019,…
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WES at 10: Time to Admit Failure
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet recently marked the ten-year anniversary of the…
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You and Your Car: Portland Public Enemy No. 1
By Micah Perry Driving around Portland could get a lot more expensive. The…
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Congestion by Design on the New Sellwood Bridge
By John A. Charles, Jr. Portland-area motorists who have to regularly cross the…
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SW Corridor Project: A Net Negative for the Environment
By John A. Charles, Jr. Portland politicians claim to be concerned about carbon…
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The New Sellwood Bridge: Promises Unfulfilled
By John A. Charles. Jr. Executive Summary Portland has an international reputation for…
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Press Release: Multi-year case study of Multnomah County’s Sellwood Bridge explains the history behind worsening traffic congestion in the SE Portland bridge corridor
June 6, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: John A. Charles, Jr. 503-242-0900…
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Wind Energy is Just Hot Air
By Miranda Bonifield TriMet recently announced its first “zero-emission” bus is ready to…
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Road Widening, Congestion Pricing Can Improve Metro-Area Drive Times
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. I’ve got a big family, which means we do…
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Metro’s Priorities Don’t Match Yours
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Portland regional government known as Metro recently…
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How Ride Hailing Services Can Complement Bus and Rail—and Save TriMet Money
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. After teaching an evening class at Portland State University,…
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Ride-Hailing Could Give an Uber-Needed Lyft to TriMet Service
By Miranda Bonifield TriMet’s ridership has been steadily declining in recent years, to…
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ODOT’s Passenger Rail Project Equals Increasing Costs, High Taxpayer Subsidies
By Justus Armstrong The Oregon Department of Transportation recently published its Tier 1…
Read Blog DetailPress Release: Report shows ride-hailing services would be a viable solution for TriMet’s high-cost bus lines
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: John A. Charles, Jr. 503-242-0900 [email protected] PORTLAND, Ore….
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Ride Hailing as a Solution to TriMet’s High-Cost Bus Lines
A Proposal for a Pilot Project By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Summary and recommendation…
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Proof by Assertion
By John A. Charles, Jr. Many Portland drivers probably wonder why there are…
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TriMet’s New Electric Buses Will Be Less Reliable, More Costly
By John A. Charles, Jr. The TriMet board recently voted to replace the…
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Metro Should Let Transit Customers Drive Transportation Innovation
By Justus Armstrong ABC’s Shark Tank may be coming to the Portland region—not…
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Electric Buses: Another Costly Fad
By John A. Charles, Jr. The TriMet Board recently approved a plan to…
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Moving in the Wrong Direction
By Jakob Puckett Oregonians have a proud tradition of giving back to distinguished…
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When Did ODOT Become a Consumer Advocate?
By Jakob Puckett Do you need to be protected from your own judgment?…
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High Costs and Low Ridership Are Nothing New for Southwest Corridor Project
By Rachel Dawson Decreasing ridership paired with increasing costs makes for a bad…
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New Transportation Tax Is on the Wrong Side of History
By John A. Charles, Jr. Oregon employers began receiving notices this week regarding…
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TriMet Shows Pension Reform Is Possible
By Scott Shepard and John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon legislature recently adjourned…
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In 9 Years, WES Hasn’t Decreased Westside Congestion
By John A. Charles, Jr. February marked the nine-year anniversary of the Westside…
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WES at 9: Time to Admit the Mistake
By John A. Charles, Jr. February marked the nine-year anniversary of the Westside…
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TriMet Shows Public Pension Reform Is Possible
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon legislature recently adjourned and once again…
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TriMet Shows That Public Pension Reform Is Possible
By Scott Shepard and John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Legislature is currently…
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