Month: April 2024
-
Moving the goalposts
The key to being on-time and under-budget: Orwellian double-speak Oregon DOT projects are always on-time and under budget–because the agency simply disappears its original schedules and budgets. Delayed, half-finished projects are officially described as “On-time and on-budget” Oregon DOT routinely hides its waste, mismanagement and incompetence The last bits of fresh asphalt have been rolled…
-
The Week Observed, April 26, 2024
What City Observatory Did This Week Earth Day: Oregon is spending billions to widen freeways in a move that will only worsen the increase in greenhouse gases from transportation. Transportation is the leading source of greenhouse gases in Oregon (and in the US) and unlike other sectors, GHGs from transportation are increasing. That’s the opposite…
-
The Week Observed, April 12, 2024
Must Read The high, high cost of “affordable housing.” The Voice of San Diego takes a look at the pricetag of several affordable housing projects in California and finds they’re pushing and breaking through the million-dollar a unit mark. Across the 17 projects it examined, average costs were $574,000 a unit. Many factors contributed to higher…
-
Happy Earth Day, Oregon! Widening Freeways Kills the Planet!
Despite legal pledges to reduce greenhouse gases to address climate change, Portland’s transportation greenhouse gas emissions are going up, not down. State, regional and city governments have adopted climate goals that purport to commit us to steadily reducing greenhouse gases, but we’re not merely failing to make progress, we’re going in the wrong direction. April…
-
The Week Observed, April 19, 2024
What City Observatory Did This Week A teachable moment: Free Ice Cream Day. Traffic was lined up around the block last Tuesday at your local Ben and Jerry’s, for the same reason roadways are clogged most weekday afternoons: the price is too low. April 16 was Ben and Jerry’s annual free ice cream day. In…
-
Bye Containers, Again
Once again, Portland loses container service: the economic effects will be minimal. Economic development has long been obsessed with “cargo cult” thinking: the idea that economic prosperity is caused by ports and highways moving raw materials and finished goods. That may have been partly true in the 19th Century, but today the sources of prosperity…
-
A teachable moment: Ben & Jerry’s seminar in transportation economics
They’ll be lined up around the block because the price is too low–just like every day on urban roads Your highway department is broke, and thinks it needs much bigger roads because it gives its produce away for free every day. Charging a fair price for using roads, just like charging a fair price for…
-
The Week Observed, April 5, 2024
What City Observatory did this week Thirty seconds over Portland: Spending $7.5 billion on a freeway widening project will save the typical affected commuter about 30 seconds a day, according to the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project’s yet-to-be-released Environmental Impact Statement. IBR officials have said they fear leaks of the EIS could create a negative perception…
-
Another thing IBR doesn’t want you to know: 30 seconds over Portland
The $7.5 Billion Interstate Bridge Replacement project will save the average commuter just 30 seconds in daily commute time IBR officially determined that “leaking” the project EIS would result in “negative public reaction” to the project Guess what: We have an advance copy of the draft EIS: You can now see what they don’t want…
-
States need honest reporting on transportation greenhouse gases
You can’t tell if you’re winning or losing if you don’t keep score, especially when it comes to transportation greenhouse gas emissions. But a close look at the data shows we’re not making much progress, and not making it fast enough, primarily because we’re driving more. Your state highway department is likely to be in…