Archive for the ‘Transportation’ Category

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For Portland, more bikeways mean fewer paved roads

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

The Portland City Council unanimously approved the nation’s most ambitious bike-projects initiative Thursday, with Mayor Sam Adams promising to submit a $20 million “kickstart” funding plan within 30 days.

At the heart of the proposal is nearly 700 miles of new bikeways that would make up a “safer and more comfortable” two-wheeled urban network for new cyclists.

The figure above shows that as Portland had added to its bikeways, the motoring majority has suffered a deterioration of the the City’s roads.

However, Portland is notorious for its road paving backlog. Many streets of the City are entirely unpaved and some streets have potholes so big they could damage a Hummer and almost swallow an Aveo. The City’s current road paving backlog could pave a two-lane road from Portland to San Francisco, California (yes, really).

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Portland sacrifices streets for streetcars

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Streets versus Streetcars

Portland politicians love their streetcars. Earlier this month, the city council unanimously approved a streetcar concept plan (PDF) that calls for a massive expansion of the streetcar system throughout Portland.

Streetcar systems have substantial construction costs. On top of that, Portland’s system has huge operating losses. The City of Portland alone provides a subsidy of $1.9 million (or more) a year, or about $1.50 per rider (this PowerPoint has more information). Other funding comes from TriMet, sponsorship, and farebox revenues.

Since the streetcar began construction, Portland’s streets have suffered.  During that time, Portland has added 500 lane miles to its backlog of unpaved streets. Portland’s current backlog could pave a two-lane road from Portland to San Francisco, California. Since streetcar construction began, each additional mile of streetcar has been associated with an additional 114 miles of unpaved roads in the City of Portland.

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The figure above is from the Portland auditor’s office report on the city’s street repaving projects (PDF). The report request that the Portland Office of Transportation, through its commissioner-in-charge, to provide the auditor with a status report in one year (i.e., August 2009) detailing steps taken to address those recommendations we have reported as not yet resolved. It has been one month since that deadline has passed.

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Portland’s bus pass giveaway will cost the State of Oregon as much as $3.64 million

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

trimet_youthThe Portland mayor announced that the City Council has entered into an agreement with TriMet in which the City provides free bus passes to 14,000 students in Portland Public Schools.

According to the agreement (pdf), the estimated cost of the program will be $3.64 million and will take advantage of the state’s large and growing subsidies for “green” projects to fund the giveaway.

Oregon’s green subsidies come in the form of tax credits.  Corporation that use the credits can reduce their tax bills. Organizations that do not pay taxes—such as local governments and nonprofits—can sell the credits to corporations that have a tax obligation, thereby reducing state income tax revenues.  This means that local initiatives like the Portland’s bus pass program reduce the amount of corporate tax revenues the state government collects. This puts pressure on the state to increase personal and corporate income taxes and diverts funding from other state programs, such as K-12 classroom instruction.

A study commissioned by Oregon’s Department of Energy found that bus pass projects that qualify for the tax giveaways actually have a net negative impact on employment and income. In other words, the projects take away more jobs than they create.

Posted in Energy, Government, Transportation | 1 Comment »

USA Today on stimulus and stimulus skepticism

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

usat_logo2USA Today ran a front page story on the the impacts of early stimulus projects. While the story focused on the businesses and families that hope to benefit from the stimulus spending, there was one dissenting skeptic:

Eric Fruits of Economics International in Portland, Ore., warns that stimulus spending may not revive the economy in the long run. “Borrowed money has to be repaid. A job today may come at the cost of someone not having a job in two or three years,” the economist says.

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Portland’s newest commuter rail line: More troubles

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

train_wreck_at_montparnasse_1895_small1

The Oregonian reports that the company TriMet hired to make the cars for Portland’s newest commuter rail line is now out of business. Colorado Railcar Manufacturing went out of business last week, unable to attract new financing.

In response to an earlier post, I received information on the wide range of 2020 WES ridership projections TriMet has disseminated.

1997: 5,000 riders (Daily Journal of Commerce)

2002: 4,650 riders (Presentation at Portland State University)

2003: 5,000 riders (Tualatin Times)

2004: 3,037 riders (Oregonian)

2004: 4,650 riders (TriMet website)

2004: 3,000 riders (U.S. Dept. of Transportation press release)

2005: 3,037 riders (Daily Journal of Commerce)

2006: 3,000 riders (Rep. Wu press release)

2007: 3,000-4,000 (TriMet website)

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Construction of Portland’s newest commuter rail will cost more than $13 per ride

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

trimet_wesThe Oregonian recenty reported that Portland’s newest commuter rail project, known as WES, will be about $34 million (25 percent) over budget.

The latest estimates put construction costs at $166 million.

The newspaper also reports that the rail project is designed to carry 4,000 passengers a day.

Assuming a 30 year life for the project, a 7% discount rate, and 250 days a year of operation, construction costs alone will be $13.38 per passenger.  Add in operating costs, and the costs of mass transit will likely exceed the costs of driving by 50 percent or more.

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100 most congested cities in the U.S.

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

INRIX released a report of the 100 most congested cities in the U.S. The study reports that traffic congestion across the U.S. increased nearly 2 percent in 2007 over 2006.

Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago are the most congested cities, according to the study.  The Portland-Vancouver (pdf) area is ranked 21, right behind the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area.

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Congestion pricing and the transportation economy

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Eric Fruits was invited by the Columbia Corridor Association to present a speech on the Portland’s transportation economy.  With the proposed Columbia River Crossing recently in the news [1,2,3], the conversation focused on the principles of congestion pricing, its benefits, and it complexities.

Some of the discussion covered recent issues in cutting carbon and light rail.

The slides and some brief notes are available for download (PDF).

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The consequences of cutting carbon

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

Economists are notorious for offering advice on how to boost economic growth. So why in the world would some one provide advice on how to slow a state’s economy? Answer: To cut carbon emissions.

Eric Fruits writes in Oregon Business that the state’s efforts to cut carbon are sure to reduce the state’s economic growth. Similarly, reducing economic growth is one way to cut carbon emissions. Dr. Fruits provides five ways in which cutting carbon will slow the state’s economy:

  1. Carbon taxes mean that every good purchased by every household and business in the state would be more expensive
  2. “Green” energy mandates, euphemistically known as renewable portfolio standards, force companies to use more expensive sources of energy
  3. Deferring road maintenance will reduce the flow of goods in an out of the state.
  4. Eliminating industrial land means that carbon emitting businesses will have to locate elsewhere.
  5. “Picking winners” with “green” tax credits will stifle investment in other businesses in the state.

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Can streetcars bring life to languishing urban areas?

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007

Politicians and the planners they hire argue that streetcars and other rail projects provide a magical opportunity to change the zoning and uses of languishing urban areas.

Eric Fruits writes in Oregon Business that there is nothing magical about streetcars.  Politicians always have the opportunity to wave their zoning wands to accommodate developers demands.  Streetcars are to development as french fries are to a burger platter–a nice, but not necessary, complement.

Posted in Press, Real Estate, Transportation | Comments Off

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