“Oregon System” Sends Governor Back to Square One
By Naomi Inman The final signatures were plunked down on December 30—down on…
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Shrinking 82nd Avenue: John Charles Responds to Tyler Frisbee
By John A. Charles, Jr. At TriMet’s December 10 board meeting, director Tyler…
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TriMet Retreat Should Focus on Crisis, Not Expansion
By John A. Charles, Jr. On November 12, the TriMet Board will hold…
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$2 Trillion and No One Aboard
By Randal O’Toole Since 1965, when Congress began subsidizing urban transit, taxpayers have…
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Decision Time for TriMet’s 82nd Ave. Road Diet
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet’s “Road Diet” planned for 82nd Avenue is…
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Oregon Energy Strategy is Doomed to Fail
By Randal O’Toole The Oregon Department of Energy “Oregon Energy Strategy” for saving…
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Oregon’s Electric Vehicle Policy Fail
By John Charles On September 15, the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) released…
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Spending Solutions for ODOT’s Spending Problems
By Naomi Inman The Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation Funding will consider…
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John Charles’ Testimony Re: ’25 Special Session Transportation Funding
Testimony of John A. Charles, Jr.Regarding LC 2Before the Joint Interim Committee on…
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The Tapeworm Eating ODOT’s Record Gas Tax Revenue
By John A. Charles, Jr. Governor Tina Kotek has called a special session…
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Special Session Should Use Emergency Funds, Not Punish Oregonians
By Connor Roberts The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has a $350 million…
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Metro Council Votes to Approve $88.5 Million Bond for Road Diets: One Intern’s Reflection
By Connor Roberts The summer of 2025 brought Cascade three talented Research Associates…
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Metro’s Ballooning Bond for Road Diets
By Jacob Beckwith On July 31st, the seven Metro councilors will vote to…
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Metro Should Reject the Burnside Bridge Road Diet
By Connor Roberts The new “Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge” lane designs, backed with…
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TriMet’s Plan for 82nd Avenue “Road Diet” Looms in Metro Decision
By Maxwell Powers TriMet has a new “road diet” planned for Portland, this…
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Voters Aren’t Interested in New Transportation Taxes
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon legislature ended on June 27 without…
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Metro Should Scrap Visioning and Long-Range Planning
By Randal O’Toole Metro will soon be revising its 1995 Regional Framework Plan,…
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Testimony on SB 1182 to Gift, Lease, or Sell I-5 Rose Quarter Property to Albina Vision Trust, Inc.
May 12, 2025 Joint Committee on TransportationOregon State LegislatureState CapitolSalem, OR Dear Co-Chairs…
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Testimony to Metro on Proposed Transit Bond
From: John CharlesDate: Wed, Apr 30, 2025 at 4:49 PMSubject: Comment on proposed bondTo: transportation@oregonmetro.gov…
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Do We Still Need TriMet?
By John A. Charles, Jr. Recently The Oregonian published a feature about TriMet’s…
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WES Commuter Rail Should be Shut Down, Not Expanded
By John A. Charles, Jr. On March 11 the Joint Transportation Committee of…
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Testimony for the Joint Legislative Committee on the IBR
December 17, 2024 Joint Legislative Committee on the IBRSalem, OR 97301 Dear Committee…
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Extending the Yellow MAX Line to Vancouver Is TriMet’s Worst Idea Yet
By John A. Charles, Jr. At a December 17th meeting of the Joint…
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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) 330-3855micah@cascadepolicy.org…
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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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