Money for Transit, not Roads
Does this sound familiar? This is the same direction that our local government is taking us based upon this city’s failed program. Why can’t we learn from their mistakes instead of copying them?
The Portland area spends about $630 million on transportation projects each year, about half for transit and half for roads. Congestion is getting worse and businesses are complaining that it is dramatically increasing their costs. Yet the city and region say they have no money to build new roads to relieve congestion.
Yet they seem to have money to build light-rail lines, streetcar lines, and other transit boondoggles. In 2003, transit carried just 2.3 percent of passenger travel in the Portland area, about 0.9 percent of which was rail and the rest bus. Of course, transit carried virtually none of the region’s freight. Why should the region spend half its money on 2.3 percent of travelers?
The Blog article this quote is taken from is here. And the news article Here.