Recent Publications

New Pilot Study Initiative Aims to Increase the Mobility of Low-Income Workers in Portland through Auto Ownership

Cascade Policy Institute has released a report unveiling a pilot project to examine the feasibility of promoting low-income auto ownership as a transit strategy.

Cascade’s Wheels to Wealth Program is promoting the formation of a committee to discuss the feasibility of creating an auto-loan program for the low-income population in the Portland tri-county area to assist in meeting the complex transportation needs of this demographic group. This program will be funded using the savings that would come from the cancellation of the lowest performing TriMet bus routes. . . . Read more!

Why Things Seem to Go on in One Direction

Democracy is not an excuse for tyranny. It must be more than two…

Wheels to Wealth: A Pilot Project to Examine the Feasibility of Promoting Low-Income Auto Ownership as a Transit Strategy

Synopsis Wheels to Wealth is a proposal with a dual purpose: First, to…

Pilot study initiative to explore the transportation needs of the low-income population in the Portland tri-county area

The population composition of the Portland area has changed in the last 5 years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000, 8.5% of families and 13.1% of individuals in Portland were below the federal poverty level. In 2005, 11.8% of families and 17.8% of individuals in Portland were below the poverty level. The minority population also has increased, both in Portland and statewide.

The demographic group known as the working poor is also growing. Following the welfare reforms of 1996, though Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cases have gone down comparably, a significant pool of working poor are still struggling to reach family-wage jobs.

The proposed Wheels to Wealth initiative is an attempt to incorporate the working poor, and the minority population, in the regional transportation plan by giving them better access to job markets and consumer services. . . . Read more!

How to Increase Low-Income Homeownership Without Subsidies

A recent study published by the Urban Institute discusses how the current system…

Response to TriMet comments on Cascade’s pilot project proposal

To: TPAC We appreciated the time allocated by TPAC recently to consider our…

How happy are we?

Economists measure all kinds of things, such as income, assets, inflation and unemployment….

Oregon Wears the Union Label

Summary Private sector unionism has declined to the point of irrelevance in America,…

Who Owns Your Social Security? (hint: it’s not you)

Summary The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that retirees do not have an ownership…

Carbon Grandstanding

Last week Gov. Kulongoski and the governors of five other western states signed…