By Robinson Foster, Executive Director, Steel Interstate Coalition
I. Summary
Great highways alone are insufficient to truly relieve freight and passenger congestion on Portland, Ore. metro highways. Alternative modes of transportation are needed including river, railway, and “transit on demand.” Efficiencies and operating revenues created by effective application of these alternative modes may take the place of tolls.
II. Oregon House Bill 2017 won’t work
In Oregon House Bill 2017, (https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2017/Enrolled), the Oregon legislature and governor instructed the OR DOT to generate scenarios to toll, modernize, and widen Portland metro highways.
The law states that the tolls are to, “encourage some people to travel at less congested times or to choose an alternative mode.” However, it provides no process to assess and develop alternative modes for freight and people.
The Oregon Transportation Commission, (www.oregon.gov/ODOT/Get-Involved/Pages/OTC_members.aspx), will receive the OR DOT preferred tolling scenario at the Sixth and last Value Pricing advisory committee meeting is June 25th, 2018 in Portland, (http://www.steelinterstate.org/projects). Before December 31st, 2018, this four-person body alone will rule whether or not to approve an application to the Federal Highway Administration to implement the preferred tolling scenario.
There are four problems with House Bill 2017:
1. It is not possible to solve a highway congestion problem with greater highway capacity alone. Just ask Los Angelinos with sixteen lanes in each direction not enough. Read “Braess’ Paradox, Building new roads can increase traffic congestion,” (https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/10/20/bad-traffic-blame-braess-paradox/#28411ab614b5).
2. Tolls drive toll evaders onto city streets creating problems there, read “Motorways, tolls and road safety: evidence from Europe,” (https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13209-011-0071-6.pdf).
3. Tolls are regressive. They hurt middle and low income businesses and families who have never factored tolls in their business and family budgets, and have no other choice than to drive. Read WA DOT’s “The Impacts of Tolling on Low-income Persons in the Puget Sound Region,” (https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/721.1.pdf).
4. Efficient, effective alternative modes of transportation are not available for freight and people. While OR DOT has spent about $7 million through April 2018 fulfilling House Bill 2017, and forecasts spending $15 million total through the end of 2018 on it, nothing has, or will be spent to learn about the following alternative river, railway, and “transit on demand” modes of transportation. Any or all of these may better fulfill the objectives of House Bill 2017 to truly decongest highways.
III. Learn more about alternative modes of transportation
The public needs to learn more how alternative river, railway, and “transit on demand” modes of transportation may decongest highways, pay for themselves, and create positive benefits:
A. Reopen the Willamette Falls Locks in West Linn?
Settle ownership and repair cost issues to allow freight to ship, and people to travel on the entire river, decongesting highways?
1. Take shipments of sand and other commodities off the highway, into barges?
2. Leverage riverfront redevelopments, recreation, and tourism?
3. Read the Economic Benefits of Reopening the Willamette Falls Locks, (http://orsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/WFL-Economic-Benefits-Final-Report-2018-0404.pdf).
B. Rebuild railways for new and improved freight and passenger services?
Create railway capacity, velocity, and reliability to help truckers and people, decongesting highways?
1. Why drive through a metro area if one may bypass it at less cost, in less time? See the Land Ferry, (www.steelinterstate.org/projects), and Rolling Highway, (www.steelinterstate.org/Mission), videos.
2. Improve conventional unit, manifest, and intermodal railway freight services using the same tracks.
3. Improve passenger Cascade Corridor service, implement OR DOT’s “Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor Study,” (http://www.oregonpassengerrail.org/page/routes).
C. Create “transit on demand” service?
Allow individuals and families to confidently reduce automobile ownership, decongesting highways?
1. Use ride share service, (similar to Uber, or Lyft), to serve low population density origin and destination zones, (e.g., residential, commercial). Connect to a grid of fixed express bus, streetcar, and light rail routes.
2. Deliver service at a lower cost than rideshare, (e.g., Uber, Lyft), and greater cost than TriMet.
3. Service faster than public transportation as we know it, with 100% geographic coverage, and 100% reliable 24/7 service.
3. Plan, pay, communicate through one smart phone application.
IV. Fund business feasibility assessments
To learn more about these alternative modes, state and federal elected officials need to identify and allocate funds to conduct business feasibility assessments. These will assemble and assess key data and information in detail from:
1. Markets to be served, and revenues and expenses to be accrued, resulting in an internal rate of return.
2. Public benefits and costs including impacts on congestion, safety, highway pavement and bridge wear, highway modernization and widening cost, environmental quality, and economic development.
3. Private benefit and cost factors, from freight rates to inventory holding cost, and from passenger travel costs, to time savings for people.
Because public and private leadership is deeply committed to the status quo, (e.g. House Bill 2017), the Steel Interstate Coalition works to inform grassroots registered voters how alternative river, railway, and “transit on demand” modes of transportation may better decongest highways, pending the outcome of business feasibility assessments.
Grassroots Portland metro residents must work with their respective neighborhood associations, (the lowest organized level of government), to each pass the DRAFT OR DOT Toll Resolution, below.
The Willamette Neighborhood Association in West Linn passed its resolution June 13th, 2018, (signed copy pending), the first in the Portland metro. The Metro Neighborhood Association Map, (https://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/2016/10/24/NeighborhoodsRegional_0.pdf), gives an overview of all n the Portland metro neighborhood associations.
This body of resolutions is a bottom-up strategy for each neighborhood association to leverage their respective city councils, county commissions, and Metro Council, (metropolitan planning organization), to do the same. These four lowest levels of government use the body of resolutions to leverage state and federal elected officials to identify and allocate funds needed to learn more about alternative river, railway, and “transit on demand” modes.
Reach out to the Steel Interstate Coalition for help contacting your neighborhood association, and to coordinate within the Coalition.
V. DRAFT OR DOT Toll Resolution
The (fill in name of neighborhood association, city council, county commission, or metropolitan planning organization council) resolves three things:
First, that the Oregon Transportation Commission table tolling scenarios to be recommended by the Oregon Department of Transportation pursuant to its responsibilities under Oregon House Bill 2017.
Second, that before the Oregon Transportation Commission votes to forward the tolling scenarios to the Federal Highway Administration for approval, it needs to know more how alternative river-based, railway-based, and “transit on demand” transportation services may decongest highways, with positive lifecycle environmental impacts.
Third, to learn more about alternative river-based, railway-based, and “transit on demand” transportation services, that state and federal elected officials identify and allocate funds to the Oregon Department of Transportation to conduct business feasibility assessments of them.
Facts and concepts presented in the position paper titled, “The Steel Interstate Coalition strategy to reduce Portland, Oregon metro highway congestion,” (http://www.steelinterstate.org/Projects/Oregon), serve as a basis for this resolution.
VI. Donate to the Steel Interstate Coalition to implement this strategy
The Steel Interstate Coalition, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is completely dependent on donations from grassroots individuals enabling us to coalesce grassroots registered voters across the Portland metro to precipitate state and federal funds to learn more about alternative river, railway, and “transit on demand” modes to decongest regional highways.
Donations to the Steel Interstate Coalition will fund our bottom-up work in other corridors across North America, too. For example, to make I-81 Multimodal through Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, (http://www.steelinterstate.org/projects/virginia), and to Land Ferry to relieve I-80 between San Francisco and Salt Lake City, (http://www.steelinterstate.org/projects).
Please donate to the Steel Interstate Coalition via PayPal or snail mail:
http://www.steelinterstate.org/donate
We welcome your questions, feedback, and donations, contact:
Robinson Foster, Executive Director
Steel Interstate Coalition — a project of RAIL Solution
2375 Falcon Drive
West Linn, OR 97068
503-781-9339
http://www.steelinterstate.org
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