Cars, busses, trains, bikes - but mostly cars

Once again, Metro proceeds on a path that THEY think is best for the masses while their charges are interested in something else.
"Do you like this kind of bus system, or this other kind of bus system?"
"We want to drive our cars and need bigger and better roads! Maybe add lanes to existing ones."
"You can't have better roads to ease congestion.

 You must understand - we have finally achieved our goal of creating congestion just so you would be glad to take a bus or ride a bike  instead of drive to work.  Besides, we took all the transportation money and spent it on light rail and walkable streets where we took out lanes of traffic!"
"Your busses don't come near my house and don't go near my work or help me get my errands done at the end of the day.  We want to drive our cars! 
"That is not what we have planned for you. We are the professional Planners and know what's best."
"We like the idea of mor busses, but we really don't want you to cannibalize more major thoroughfares and state highways for your bus plans."
"We just asked you about bus plans because the law requires public involvement.  We will be choosing a transportation system for you.  We always do." 

Portland Tribune, August 24, 2017. By Jim Redden

Traffic jams undermine essential bus service

City studies ways to relieve congestion on TriMet routes to help meet future growth goals

Portland is concerned about the problem because so much of its future growth plans are based on a robust regional transit system. An additional 260,000 people are expected to live here by 2035. But the streets cannot handle the additional traffic if most of residents drive to work, shopping and recreation. Numerous reports document the long delays being caused by the current level of congestion, and Portland has no plans to increase street capacity.

Portland officials became so concerned about problems caused by increasing congestion a few years ago that they applied for a Transportation and Growth Management grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation to study the problem and develop solutions in 2015. 

Bus-only lanes already are used on the downtown Transit Mall and other versions exist in other parts of town, inlcuding Southeast Madison Street and Southwest Barbur Boulevard. 

The study identified four relatively inexpensive ways to move buses more quickly through congested streets. As explained by Bertelsen, they include: 

~  Full-time, dedicated, curbside, bus-only lanes. 

~  Rush hour-only dedicated bus lanes (available for parking other hours) and bus-only turn lanes.

~ Signal controls that allow buses to use a curb lane to jump ahead of cars at intersections.

~ Consolidating bus stations to increase the distances between them and reduce the number of stops on a line.

All of the ideas were discussed by Metro and TriMet planners working on the Powell-Division Bus Rapid Transit Project, which dropped the Southeast Powell Boulevard portion before being submitted to the federal government for partial funding. The final design — including the number and location of station stops — has yet to be determined. 

Bertelsen told the board the plan identified three other corridors in Portland where such projects are being considered. They include Northeast Sandy Boulevard, 82nd Avenue and 122nd Avenue. Of the three, 122nd Avenue is especially intriguing because TriMet already has agreed to provide frequent bus service along it in exchange for city-funded improvement projects, such as new curbs and sidewalks. Several projects already are underway or being designed. 

In addition, Bertelsen said three other potential enhanced transit corridors are being studied further. They include downtown, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and outer Stark Street. 

City documents list additional potential corridors in Portland as Belmont Street, Cesar Chavez Boulevard, Columbia Boulevard, Foster Road and Lombard Street. Potential corridors outside Portland include the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and the Tualatin Valley Highway.

Then on Aug. 4, the Portland Business Alliance released a survey that found almost all city residents— 97 percent — consider congestion the city's most serious transportation problem. Eighty percent of respondents said they have altered their travel behavior because of congestion, with the largest block, 38 percent, changing their travel times. 

The PBA survey found that most respondents prefer their transportation dollars be spent on road projects, however, not transit enhancements.