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April 29, 2010

My Reactions to the TriMet GM Appointment

I'm getting quoted in snippets in the media, so I thought it would be useful to express my full thoughts on the appointment of Neil McFarlane as TriMet General Manager.

First, my congratulations to Neil. I've had the chance to work with him on the board of Portland Streetcar, Inc. He is a talented administrator and great partner. Much of the credit for the successful delivery of TriMet capital projects in the last decade is directly the result of his leadership. I have no doubt that he will be a capable and conscientious steward of TriMet in the coming years and I look forward to working with him.

You probably hear a "but" coming. As I implied in earlier posts, I'm disappointed that the selection process was completely opaque and had no opportunity for public involvement. This is further demonstration that the current board appointment process by the Governor and State Senate effectively insulates TriMet from any accountability to the local community.

In any hiring decision at this level, the critical question is probably not the qualification of the individual (and Neil is highly qualified), but their professional focus. Neil is a rail builder, and absent any other indication that signals that TriMet's agenda for the foreseeable future is the expansion of the Light Rail network. For those of us concerned that the focus on and pace of rail expansion is choking off the bus network, this is a worry.

I think TriMet could legitimately have gone in three directions:

• As they appear to have done, focus on continuing the rail agenda.
• Seek someone with experience running a more balanced expansion program for both bus and rail.
• Seek someone who sees transit as a tool to shape the community (to some degree Fred was a choice in this direction). It's possible that Neil may have some instincts in this direction.

My complaint is not that TriMet made the wrong choice of direction, but that the process did not allow any community discussion of the direction.

An opportunity missed.

Posted by Chris Smith at 8:37 AM | Comments (29) | Permalink

Support (and Appreciate) Woman-owned Bicycle Businesses

Bike Economics: A fundraiser showcasing local, woman-owned, bicycle-oriented businesses
When: Thursday, May 6, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Where: United Bicycle Institute, 3961 N Williams Ave, Portland
Donation: $10 to $30

Come eat, drink, mingle, and learn about the role of woman entrepreneurs in Portland's burgeoning bicycle economy.

The sliding scale admission includes light food and drinks, door prizes, and informal presentations by featured business owners. Money raised will go to start a scholarship fund for training and professional development for woman leaders in active transportation.

More details about the event and about our excellent lineup of featured business owners at http://bikebusiness.wordpress.com/

You can also keep tabs on the event at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111399772228020&ref=mf

Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend!

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:07 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 28, 2010

Third Bridge One-pager

More ideas for alternatives for the Columbia River Crossing:

The Third Bridge Corridor
Focus is on the economy, safety, and the environment.

Approximately:

• 7 miles long
• 3 bridges
• 1 tunnel
• 1 viaduct

Estimated Cost: $350-370 Million $3.5B to $3.7B

Have an entire list of financing ideas.

Definitely green, including the color.

Location:

The northern end connects to the I-5 Freeway at Mill Plain in Vancouver Washington . As a viaduct adjacent to Mill Plain Extension's alignment a 6- lane freeway turning west toward the Port of Vancouver. The new freeway then parallels the Transcontinental Rail Line know as the "Center of the project area" and the "Heart of the I-5 Corridor." Provide access to the Port of Vancouver, waterfront area, Hayden Island, Marine Dr., Columbia Corridor, Lombard, across to Highway 30 west of Linton at Newberry Hill and 124th. A tunnel to Swan Island creates access to downtown Portland and a second access off the Swan Island. Local access is provided between Vancouver, Hayden Island, the North Peninsula, and Highway 30.

Multi-Modal Capacity:

Entirely multi-modal 6-general purpose lane freeway includes a Land Bridge with bicycle and pedestrian access the entire 7 miles. Possibly the first in the nation to have bike, ped access between our ports and industrial area, from our downtown's and residential areas including the 40 mile loop. The addition of transit services, and new heavy speed rail bridge with tunnel to Swan Island, and Rose Quarter.

Overview:

The Third Bridge Corridor is an alternative that adds multi-modal capacity across the rivers, and connecting I-5 Freeway with direct freeway access to the ports and industrials. The ports and industrials areas will be on one continuous corridor with direct freeway access to I-5 Freeway, HWY-30, and Swan Island.

Safety and Health:

Removes freight and overflow traffic from neighborhood streets adjacent to I-5 Freeway, ports, and industrial in both states. More bridges provides more route for safety between our two states, for Hayden Island, and Vancouver. The bridge over the Willamette into the Rivergate area will reduce freight and regional traffic off the Historic St. Johns' Bridge and town center. Viaduct in Vancouver removes surfaces level port and industrial traffic off of neighborhood streets with grade separate freeway.

Green Construction:

Construction without interruption to I-5 freeway, or current roadways cost less and is environmental friendly. As bare vacant publicly owned land construction can start immediately. 24-Hour a day construction inside industrial area.
The bridges on this alignment are already in the adopted Oregon Regional Transportation Plan of 2000.

Economy:

The Third Bridge Corridor will provide jobs now, and needed infrastructure for jobs in the future. This new freeway infrastructure will bring density in the industrial attracting business.

Relieves Congestion:

Removes traffic from the I-5 freeway, I-205, I-84, I-405, and HWY-26. Less traffic going thorough center of Portland Construction causes no congestion. Creates new parks and viewing areas. Addresses safety issues, cleaner air, helping the economy, environment, and adding a new freeway that will not increase urbane sprawl. Direct access to our ports and industrial areas from residential areas, downtown Vancouver, and Portland.

http://www.Thirdbridgenow.com

Posted by Chris Smith at 10:11 AM | Comments (43) | Permalink

Coming Up on the KBOO Bike Show: Cycling and Health

We all know that riding a bike is good for your health. But what exactly are the health benefits of bicycling? If you ride a bike, what can you do to take care of your body? Are there stretches you can do and food you can eat that will help you ride faster and feel better? How do aspects of urban riding--like car exhaust and road rage--affect your health? Hosts Lindsay and Elly will be in the studio with a variety of health care practitioners to address these issues and answer your questions.

11AM-Noon, Wednesday, May 5th
KBOO FM 90.7
Streamed live at KBOO.fm
Podcast here later that day

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:52 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink

April 27, 2010

Totally Opaque Selection Process Will Produce New TriMet GM Tomorrow

The grapevine suggests that Grace Crunican will be the new General Manager.

Before her stint in Seattle, Grace was also ODOT Director here in Oregon.

Posted by Chris Smith at 1:11 PM | Comments (8) | Permalink

Our First CRC One-Pager

While some folks responded to our request for "one page" ideas for alternatives to the Columbia River Crossing with speculation that you couldn't replace several years of planning with one page, Jim Howell shows how clearly it can be done:

A Two Crossing Option for the CRC
"Twice the bang for half the bucks"

1. New High-speed Rail Bridges (including improved infrastructure for trucks, freight trains and marine traffic) Cost - $1 billion
   • Is an essential component of the federally designated Northwest High-speed Rail Corridor "Project of National Significance"
   • Location - adjacent to the freight rail bridges in the BNSF rail corridor
   • Include a "truck-way" connecting Marine Drive and Mill Plain Blvd.
   • High-level bridges (no opening spans)
   • Bi-level long-span over main channel with minimum number of piers
   • 60 feet wide - top level for vehicles, bikes and pedestrians)
   • Replace swing span on BNSF Bridge with new lift span
   • Include passenger train flyover of North Portland Junction
   • Build high-level platform for Vancouver Station or relocate further north
   • Develop a C-Tran bus hub at Vancouver Station
   • Provide Commuter Rail service between Vancouver and Portland US
2. New Light Rail Bridges (including infrastructure for vehicles, bikes and pedestrians) Cost - $600 million
   • Location - midway between I-5 and BNSF RR Bridges (Force Ave.)
   • High-level bridges (no opening spans)
   • Long-span over main channel with minimum number of piers in river
   • 90 feet wide - two tracks, two travel lanes, 16' bikeway and 8' sidewalk
   • Provides Hayden Island with additional vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian access to and from the mainland
   • Hayden Island station at ground level near west end of Mall
   • An additional light rail station in Vancouver could be located to serve the "Boise Cascades" development site.
   • Initially, loop light rail at 17th St. Do not build park an ride garages

These projects, coupled with traffic management techniques such as ramp metering and carpool lanes on I-5, would provide sufficient alternatives for commuters and truckers that traffic demand on I-5 and its interchanges would drop to a level that would eliminate the need for a massive freeway project.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:10 PM | Comments (14) | Permalink

Barriers to Cycling

Portland State University
Center for Transportation Studies
Spring 2010 Transportation Seminar Series

Speaker: Overcoming Barriers to Bicycling in Low-Income and Minority Communities

Topic: Lynn Weigand, Director, IBPI; Alison Graves, Executive Director, Community Cycling Center

When: Friday, April 30, 2010, 12:00 - 1:00pm

Where: PSU Urban Center Building, SW 6th and Mill, Room 204

Posted by Chris Smith at 7:53 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 26, 2010

Absent from the CRC Debate: the Legislature

A guest opinion piece by PSU's Ethan Seltzer points out that the Oregon Legislature has completely ceded leadership on the Columbia River Crossing.

Can we get them back in the game?

Posted by Chris Smith at 8:43 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink

One Place for All Your High-Speed Rail News

The good folks at Planetizen have created a news hub for High-Speed Rail:

A New Hub for High-Speed Rail News

With high-speed rail capturing the public's imagination, Planetizen is pleased to launch a new website dedicated to covering high-speed rail in the United States. HSR News (http://www.hsrnews.com) will be a centralized source of information and objective news coverage of the high-speed rail boom, which has received a significant push from the Obama administration.

On January 28th, 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded $8 billion to states across the U.S. to develop a nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service. Projects are happening at a breakneck pace across the nation in order to take advantage of stimulus funding, and HSR News will be following every step.

David J. Carol, Market Leader of High-Speed Rail at Parsons Brinkerhoff, helped launch the new site with an editorial explaining "Five Things You Need to Know About High-Speed Rail." Carol wrote, "Planetizen's new website, HSR News [will...] focus on key issues relating to implementation of HSR, offering a path through the rhetoric of advocates and opponents and provide a platform to appreciate both the benefits and limitations of this important mode of transportation."

While HSR News will cover the details of the business side of high-speed rail, the goal of the site is to bring the topic into focus for a national audience. "We saw that the general public is very excited about high-speed rail, and want to know the real story," said managing editor Tim Halbur. "HSR News will be a place for objective reporting and lively discussion from experts on all sides." HSR News will also track news about established systems in Spain, China, Korea, Japan and around the world.

HSR News is produced by Planetizen (http://www.planetizen.com), the foremost news and information site for the urban planning, design and development community.

Links: HSR News http://www.hsrnews.com

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:56 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink

April 23, 2010

Can You Put Your CRC Idea on One Page?

Metro Councilor Robert Liberty would like you to. He's tired of waiting for the current project to collapse under its own weight and wants to start generating alternatives now.

From his current newsletter:

Columbia River Crossing: Time to leave the monster project behind and find some smarter, cheaper, greener solutions

The designation of an expensive expert panel by the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation is the latest, and most embarrassing, exercise in rubber-stamping for the $3 to $4 billion project.

The temptation is to rage against the two state agencies for this latest waste of public funds on opinion management.

But rage is not a constructive emotion. It is time to move on, to leave the monster project (which is primarily a freeway widening project with a bridge included in the mix) and the DOTs behind and begin talking about solutions that are smarter, cheaper and greener.

Many such proposals have been offered by thoughtful citizens in Oregon and Washington, including interesting mixes of upgrades or repurposing the existing bridges, supplemental lanes for local or freeway traffic, pricing to pre-pay for improvements and reduce congestion immediately, improvements to the downstream rail bridge to enhance barge movement and perhaps allow for commuter rail connections, and many, many others.

The DOTs weren't interested in hearing those ideas.

I am.

I would appreciate it if you would share your proposals with me. List the needs or goals your proposal addresses, give an estimate of the cost and how it might be financed and provide a photo or map or diagram illustrating your idea. If there are illustrations of your idea already being used in other places, provide that information.

And put it all on one page. Yes, one page. We need to show that you don't need $90 million, a huge staff and hundreds of pages of paper to come up with solutions that are smarter, cheaper and greener.

I will sort through those proposals and begin to share them with other citizens and elected officials on both sides of the Columbia River.

Councilor Liberty's e-mail address is robert.liberty@oregonmetro.gov. Feel free to copy us on your ideas as well, here at webmaster@portlandtransport.com.

Posted by Chris Smith at 5:13 PM | Comments (13) | Permalink

Join Me in Volunteering for a Sunday Parkway

The City of Portland is hosting FIVE Sunday Parkway events this summer.

These amazing events celebrate community and remind us that streets are for people, not just cars. And they're a great way to get someone on a bicycle for the first time (or back on a bike after a long time).

But these are volunteer-fueled events. It takes about 400 volunteers to pull off one of these events.

I've just signed up to help at the first event in NE Portland on May 16th. Will you join me? There's a T-shirt for you in it :-)

Posted by Chris Smith at 8:04 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

April 21, 2010

CRC Wheels Keep Turning

Project Sponsors Council conducts joint work session with local agency staff on April 23

VANCOUVER - The Columbia River Crossing Project Sponsors Council will hold a public work session with local partner agency staff at its April 23 meeting. The work session will be held 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Southwest Region office of the Washington State Department of Transportation, 11018 NE 51st Circle, in Vancouver.

The work session includes staff representatives designated by the Project Sponsors Council members, the Ports of Vancouver and Portland, and the CRC. Local staff is working to address design and engineering questions about the project raised by Project Sponsors Council members.

At Friday's work session, members will report on their collaborative work efforts and their work plan for the rest of the summer. Discussion topics include updates on the design of interchanges on Hayden Island and in Vancouver, traffic modeling, performance measures and ways to manage traffic.

The Project Sponsors Council is composed of representatives from the Oregon and Washington departments of transportation, cities of Portland and Vancouver, Metro, Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, TriMet, and C-TRAN, as well as two citizens who serve as co-chairs for the group. The governors of Oregon and Washington charged the Project Sponsors Council with advising the project on completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, project design, project timeline, sustainable construction methods, consistency with greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and the financial plan.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:59 AM | Comments (8) | Permalink

April 20, 2010

Post-Motordom Thursday Night

University of Oregon Graduate Forum
Portland Urban Architecture Program

Gordon Price
Director, Simon Fraser University Urban Center and
Former City Council Member, City of Vancouver, British Columbia

"Vancouver and the Post-Motordom City"

Lecture. Thursday April 22, 7:00 PM.
Room 142, University of Oregon Portland Center. 70 NW Couch Street
Follow-up Seminar. Friday April 23, 9:00 AM.
Room 451 (4R on elevator), University of Oregon Portland Center, 70 NW Couch Street

Both events are open to the public and free of charge.

Gordon Price was elected to six consecutive terms on the Vancouver City Council during the city's recent transformative years. As a key member of the Council, he is widely credited as a guiding force that re-shaped the city center and inner-neighborhoods, building the high density, transit and pedestrian-oriented city that exists today. Price served on the Greater Vancouver Regional District (Metro) Commission and on the Commission of Translink, the region's transportation agency. He is a Board member of the International Center for Sustainable Cities.

As a frequent speaker at urban conferences and events throughout the world, Price will describe the urban design and planning choices a city must make to build a more environmentally-sustainable future. Transportation choices and reduction of automobile dependence figure prominently into his vision, concepts that have been highly successful in Vancouver's central city regeneration. While increasing its city center population tenfold during the past fifteen years, Vancouver has actually reduced traffic volume by offering high-quality transportation and personal movement options.

As the Vancouver Sun declared when Price stepped down from the City Council,

"Councillor Bikeways" has done more than any other elected official to shape the city and the way we use it. Active in every stage of the decade-long downtown residential housing boom that transformed this city's core from raw idea to livable community, Price may well be remembered by historians as the man who made high-density living Vancouver's collective urban dream."

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:49 AM | Comments (8) | Permalink

April 19, 2010

Continuing to Invest in our Local Streetcar Manufacturing Capacity

The good news this morning is that the Federal Transit Administration has awarded $2.4M to TriMet (most of it will eventually flow to Oregon Iron Works) for the purpose of using our prototype streetcar to investigate and develop:

• A U.S.-made (Rockwell) propulsion system
• Battery technology that would allow the vehicle to operate for some distance without overhead catenary wires

Can you say "competitive advantage for local jobs"?

Posted by Chris Smith at 10:17 AM | Comments (21) | Permalink

Get Married, Have a Short Commute

Apparently, those are the keys to happiness...

This article (via Planetizen) suggests that human psychology causes us to fundamentally mis-weight the benefits of a larger home versus a shorter commute when making housing choices.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:39 AM | Comments (4) | Permalink

April 15, 2010

From the CRC Watch

Local news on the Columbia River Crossing:

• International Design Panel (one the project didn't pay for) disses the project. [audio here (mp3, 60M)]

  I had a chance to listen to the audio today, and this is the most cogent critique of the absolute failure of imagination and leadership that this bridge is. A must listen - every minute of the 2 hours is informative.



• A new panel of experts appointed by the Governors includes no Oregon representatives, but two from Washington State. I thought experts had to be from out of town?

  Seriously, I think where these folks live is the least of our issues. I'm much more concerned about what their professional backgrounds are and the fact that local leaders don't appear to have had much (if any) say in their selection.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:42 AM | Comments (46) | Permalink

April 14, 2010

Greenhouse Gas Strategies

Portland State University
Center for Transportation Studies
Spring 2010 Transportation Seminar Series

Speaker: Lewisom Lem, Principal Consultant and Climate Change Practice Leader, Jack Faucett Associates

Topic: Promising Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategies for the Transportation Sector: Low Carbon Fuels, Leveraging Transit with Smart Growth, and Ports and Goods Movement Opportunities

When: Friday, April 16, 2010, 12:00 - 1:00pm

Where: PSU Urban Center Building, SW 6th and Mill, Room 204

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:17 AM | Comments (29) | Permalink

April 13, 2010

Perspectives on Bikes and Transit

Last year I had the opportunity to help draft the chapter on bicycle and transit integration in the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2035.

So when I learned that a University of Colorado researcher was organizing a focus group on the topic here in Portland, I asked for the chance to sit in. A couple of interesting insights:

• Even when there is room on a MAX train for bikes (empty hooks) some folks with bikes are reluctant to take their bikes on during rush hour because they feel like they are inconveniencing other passengers due to the crowding.
• Bike parking is too cheap! The $50-60 dollars that TriMet charges annually for a bike locker at a transit center is not expensive enough to discourage some folks who don't actively use them from continuing to hold the lockers. Users would happily pay more if it resulted in more lockers being built/available.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:42 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink

April 12, 2010

Is There a Rush to Replace Fred?

Updated: 10am

Spokesperson Mary Fetsch has provided this list of folks involved in the selection:

George Passadore, TriMet's Board President, appointed board members Rick Van Beveren and Tiffany Sweitzer to join the Board President in forming the TriMet Board Selection Committee.

Additionally, to assist the Selection Committee, a Selection Advisory Group was formed to help in providing screening, review and advice regarding all applicants that are presented to the Selection Committee. The individuals on the Selection Advisory Group are Tom Brian, Chair of the Washington County Commission; Lynn Peterson, Chair of the Clackamas County Commission; Diane McKeel, East Multnomah County Commissioner; Metro Councilor/JPACT chair Carlotta Collette and Robert Williams, past TriMet Board Member and the Board liaison for the Committee on Accessible Transportation.

Original Post:

The transportation grape vine is buzzing with a meme that TriMet already has a short list of candidates to succeed General Manager Fred Hansen.

But the official word from TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetsch is that the selection committee has yet to meet, and there is no specific timeline.

The Metro Council has had a discussion in one of their worksessions about what input Metro should have in the process, and Metro President David Bragdon has spoken with TriMet board president George Passadore. Bragdon indicates that he was left with the impression that a successor might be named as early as the end of the month.

Fetsch tells me that TriMet would welcome any citizen suggestions about the selection process, but as far as I can tell there is no defined citizen involvement process for the decision.

What are our readers hearing about the process?

Posted by Chris Smith at 10:18 AM | Comments (10) | Permalink

April 8, 2010

AARP Hearts Streetcar

Via Planetizen:

Streetcars make not only healthier communities, adocates say, but also healthier people because they walk to the stops instead of climbing into autos.

Full article, which I'm told was the centerfold of the most recent AARP newsletter, here.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:02 AM | Comments (19) | Permalink

April 7, 2010

TriMet begins comment period on FY2011 Federal Transit Funding

See TriMet's press release here.

Send your formal comments to TriMet by 5pm Wednesday, April 21.

Share your informal (but polite, and on-topic, as always) comments here.

Posted by Bob Richardson at 4:24 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Open Thread for April 2010

(A bit late)

Posted by Bob Richardson at 4:19 PM | Comments (39) | Permalink

KBOO Bike Show: North Portland Greenway

Listen to the show (mp3, 26.0MB)

Learn all about "npGreenway" the proposed trail from St. Johns to downtown.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:31 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 6, 2010

Coming Up on the KBOO Bike Show: npGreenway

The North Portland Greenway (aka npGreenway) project seeks to create an off-street trail from St. Johns to downtown, much of it overlooking the river. Learn more about the project on tomorrow's show.

11AM-Noon, Wednesday, April 7th
KBOO FM 90.7
Streamed live at KBOO.fm
Podcast here later that day

Posted by Chris Smith at 9:44 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Priceless Portland?

Over at Human Transit, Jerrett is suggesting that Portland is luring folks with a set of "unmeasurable" attributes:

People do go Portland for the lifestyle at every point on the economic ladder. That includes the young unemployed ...

I connect that to the remarkably womblike quality of Portland's physical environment. The gentle embrace of the forested hills, the wet and mild climate, the famously intimate built scale, the relative lack of crushing big-city monumentalism in its architecture.

Does that explain our declining VMT (guess I'm still hung up on things that can be measured)?

Posted by Chris Smith at 8:18 AM | Comments (4) | Permalink

In Dissent

I spent a pleasant 40 minutes yesterday being interviewed on the PDX.fm (Internet radio) "PDX Gen-Y" program about the Columbia River Crossing. You can check it out here (look for the April 5th episode).

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:06 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

April 5, 2010

VMT Explained

Via the Carsharing.US Blog:

Great presentation (PDF, 1.9M) explaining theoretical models for Vehicle Miles Traveled and doing a good job of reconciling recent changes in VMT.

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:20 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 2, 2010

Hope for Transit Operations?

Congressional surface transportation chair Jim Oberstar is reported by Streetsblog to be in support of allowing Federal formula funds for transit to be used for operations, not just capital.

Interestingly, APTA (the association of transit agencies) has historically been opposed to this.

Now perhaps if Congress offered additional funds for operations...

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:04 AM | Comments (15) | Permalink

April 1, 2010

If I Were Asking the Questions

If I were on the interview committee for TriMet's General Manager position, here's what I'd be asking:

1. How will you ensure that the agency has sufficient financial reserves to whether economic downturns without extensive service cuts?
2. How would you develop a series of measures to determine if transit service is being provided equitably across geographic areas and socio-economic groups of customers? How would you balance priority for these measures with maximizing ridership and providing efficient service?
3. How will you get health care costs under control?

What would you ask?

Posted by Chris Smith at 12:15 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink