Making Driving More Expensive Won’t Fix Oregon’s Congested Roads
By Micah DeSilva Metro is the regional government of the greater Portland region….
Read Blog DetailCategory: Transportation
The Ghost Train
By Sam Herrin Metro’s 2023 Regional Transportation Plan calls for expanding many different…
Read Blog Detail
Comments on Urban Mobility Strategy Finance Plan
John A. Charles, Jr.Cascade Policy Institute Submitted to theOregon Transportation CommissionJune 27, 2023…
Read Blog Detail
A Nightmare Waiting to Happen: Parking at 3000 SE Powell
By Ethan Rohrbach “3000 SE Powell Boulevard” is the name of Home Forward’s…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Money for Nothing
By John A. Charles, Jr. Over the next five weeks, the Oregon legislature…
Read Blog Detail
Time to Sound-Off on ODOT’s Tolling Proposal
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. In about 18 months, Portland-area drivers will be paying…
Read Blog Detail
Comments on I-205 Toll Project Environmental Assessment
Eric Fruits, Ph.D.Cascade Policy Institute Submitted to theOregon Department of TransportationApril 6, 2023…
Read Blog Detail
ODOT Admits Its Tolls Will Make Oregonians Worse Off
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. In about 18 months, Portland-area drivers will be paying…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Must Stop Outsourcing Policymaking to California’s Unelected Bureaucrats
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. At the end of last year, the Oregon Environmental…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
A Holiday Wishlist for Oregon
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. ‘Tis the season for holiday wishes. And, toward that…
Read Blog Detail
Tolling’s Political Pile-Up
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. If the Oregon Department of Transportation has its way,…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Needs a Free-Market Makeover
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D “What’s the one thing you’d do to fix Oregon?”…
Read Blog Detail
Portland’s “EV Ready Code” Isn’t That Electric
By Mia Tiwana Portland City Council is trying its best to bring electric…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Better Late Than Never at the Expo Center
By Micah Perry For years, Portland residents have dealt with homeless individuals parking…
Read Blog Detail
Roads Are Infrastructure Worthy of Investment
By Micah Perry The Oregon Transportation Commission recently decided how to allocate $412…
Read Blog Detail
A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Shake Up Metro
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. With the retirement of Bob Stacey earlier this month,…
Read Blog Detail
Metro’s Draft TSMO (Transportation System Management and Operations) Plan
By John A . Charles, Jr.TO: Metro Transportation Planning DepartmentFM: John A. Charles,…
Read Blog Detail
ODOT’s use of inaccurate data will yield incorrect results
By Rachel Dawson Oregon elected officials and appointed staff love to claim they…
Read Blog Detail
A Pile-Up in the Rose Quarter
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Apparently, “COVID time” is a real thing. A week…
Read Blog Detail
Roads, Not Light Rail, Get Us Through Extreme Weather
Light rail has problems with reliability despite massive government funding. By Stew Robertson…
Read Blog Detail
Anti-Freeway Group Clogs the Courts to Keep Congestion
The “No More Freeways” mantra is extending Portland’s worst bottleneck By Vlad Yurlov…
Read Blog Detail
Oregon Transportation Policy Needs to Learn from Its Mistakes
The Portland metro region tried everything to reduce automobile reliance. It’s time to…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet’s Zombie Light Rail Project
By John A. Charles, Jr. President Trump is not the only one refusing…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Low-Income Oregonians Need Wheels, Not Another Light Rail Line
By Rachel Dawson Want to help a low-income individual prosper economically? Give them…
Read Blog Detail
Metro’s Mission Creep
By Vlad Yurlov Metro is expected to spend over $1.4 billion this fiscal…
Read Blog Detail
Metro Pushes Transportation Bond While Acknowledging Serious Problems
Oregon’s Business Community Is Challenging the $7.8 Billion Measure By Vlad Yurlov After…
Read Blog Detail
Metro’s Untimely, Nonsensical Light-Rail Project
By John A. Charles, Jr. Last month, the Metro Council voted to send…
Read Blog Detail
Portland Politicians Suffer From the Edifice Complex
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. On July 24th, the New York Times ran a…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet’s decreasing ridership makes the SW Corridor project obsolete
By Rachel Dawson TriMet’s weekly system boardings were down 68% in May compared…
Read Blog Detail
Metro’s Transportation Package: Progressive Politics Mask Regressive Tax
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. While much of the region is stuck at home…
Read Blog Detail
Cars, not transit, are the COVID-19 transportation heroes
By Rachel Dawson When it comes to commuting during COVID-19, private vehicles are…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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)…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet Drops Ridership Estimate by 13% for Tigard Light Rail
By John A. Charles, Jr. After eight years of bragging that the proposed…
Read Blog Detail
Frustrated with Traffic? According to PBOT, That’s Your Problem
By Rachel Dawson The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), the agency charged with…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
T2020 is the transportation measure that Metro wants—not Portland residents
By Rachel Dawson Is it possible to spend billions of dollars on transportation…
Read Blog Detail
Deal With It—Commuters Need Cars
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. How did you get to work today? If you’re…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
The MAX Yellow Line: A Look Back After 15 Years
By Rachel Dawson TriMet’s MAX Yellow Line first opened 15 years ago in…
Read Blog Detail
Better Buses May Be the Transit Solution the SW Corridor Needs
By Rachel Dawson TriMet may have found a better alternative to the proposed…
Read Blog Detail
Portland’s Temporary Gas Tax Should Stay Just That
By Rachel Dawson Portland’s temporary gas tax should stay just that: temporary. Portland…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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,…
Read Blog Detail
WES at 10: Time to Admit Failure
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet recently marked the ten-year anniversary of the…
Read Blog Detail
You and Your Car: Portland Public Enemy No. 1
By Micah Perry Driving around Portland could get a lot more expensive. The…
Read Blog Detail
Congestion by Design on the New Sellwood Bridge
By John A. Charles, Jr. Portland-area motorists who have to regularly cross the…
Read Blog Detail
SW Corridor Project: A Net Negative for the Environment
By John A. Charles, Jr. Portland politicians claim to be concerned about carbon…
Read Blog Detail
The New Sellwood Bridge: Promises Unfulfilled
By John A. Charles. Jr. Executive Summary Portland has an international reputation for…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Wind Energy is Just Hot Air
By Miranda Bonifield TriMet recently announced its first “zero-emission” bus is ready to…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Metro’s Priorities Don’t Match Yours
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Portland regional government known as Metro recently…
Read Blog Detail
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,…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
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 john@cascadepolicy.org PORTLAND, Ore….
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
Proof by Assertion
By John A. Charles, Jr. Many Portland drivers probably wonder why there are…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet’s New Electric Buses Will Be Less Reliable, More Costly
By John A. Charles, Jr. The TriMet board recently voted to replace the…
Read Blog Detail
Metro Should Let Transit Customers Drive Transportation Innovation
By Justus Armstrong ABC’s Shark Tank may be coming to the Portland region—not…
Read Blog Detail
Electric Buses: Another Costly Fad
By John A. Charles, Jr. The TriMet Board recently approved a plan to…
Read Blog Detail
Moving in the Wrong Direction
By Jakob Puckett Oregonians have a proud tradition of giving back to distinguished…
Read Blog Detail
When Did ODOT Become a Consumer Advocate?
By Jakob Puckett Do you need to be protected from your own judgment?…
Read Blog Detail
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…
Read Blog Detail
New Transportation Tax Is on the Wrong Side of History
By John A. Charles, Jr. Oregon employers began receiving notices this week regarding…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet Shows Pension Reform Is Possible
By Scott Shepard and John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon legislature recently adjourned…
Read Blog Detail
In 9 Years, WES Hasn’t Decreased Westside Congestion
By John A. Charles, Jr. February marked the nine-year anniversary of the Westside…
Read Blog Detail
WES at 9: Time to Admit the Mistake
By John A. Charles, Jr. February marked the nine-year anniversary of the Westside…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet Shows Public Pension Reform Is Possible
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon legislature recently adjourned and once again…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet Shows That Public Pension Reform Is Possible
By Scott Shepard and John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Legislature is currently…
Read Blog Detail
Following in TriMet’s Tracks: Defined-Contribution Pensions a Necessary First Step to Oregon’s Fiscal Health
By Scott Shepard Scott Shepard is a lawyer and was a visiting law…
Read Blog Detail
TriMet Needs a Broader Definition of Diversity
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet has been recruiting a new General Manager…
Read Blog Detail
For Green Activists, the Cleanest Cars in History Are Bad News
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Legislature convened again this week. A…
Read Blog Detail
Road Policy Belongs to Those Who Show Up
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Department of Transportation is hosting three…
Read Blog Detail
Poll Shows Voters Are Smarter Than Politicians Think
By John A. Charles, Jr. In November the regional government, Metro, released the…
Read Blog Detail
Tolling People on to Portland’s Highways
By John A. Charles, Jr. Earlier this year the state legislature passed a…
Read Blog DetailPortland’s latest attempt to centrally plan transportation patterns is backfiring
By Jessica Miller Portland has a longstanding history of attempting to socially engineer…
Read Blog Detail
Transportation Finance Isn’t as Complicated as Legislators Make It
By John A. Charles, Jr. Some members of the Oregon Legislature think you…
Read Blog DetailThe Case of the Missing Transit Money
By John A. Charles, Jr. Last week the TriMet Board adopted a budget…
Read Blog DetailThe Greatest Challenge to Traffic Safety? It’s Not Residential Speed Limits
By John A. Charles, Jr. Earlier this week the Oregon House of Representatives…
Read Blog DetailLet’s Build Some Highways
By John A. Charles, Jr. Oregon stopped building new highways in 1983 when…
Read Blog DetailPortland’s Regional Transit Strategy Is Not Working
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Portland Auditor released the 2016 Annual Community…
Read Blog DetailUber Translated: Better Service for the Underserved
By Lydia White It’s not news that free-market visionaries provide better service than…
Read Blog DetailLight Rail to Bridgeport Village: The Dumbest Train Project Yet
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet and Metro are promoting the idea of…
Read Blog DetailMAX at 30: Portland Transit Needs a New Plan
September 5 marked the official 30th anniversary of the opening of TriMet’s light…
Read Blog DetailNew Report: Transportation Funding Should Be a State and Local Responsibility
Study Finds That Transportation Funding Should Be a State and Local Responsibility May…
Read Blog Detail