CPO 1 To Study Transportation
By Bruce Bartlett, CPO1 Chair
Getting from ‘here to there’ in
our area has always been a challenge, originally because of an absence
of any road, then because of an impassable road and, nowadays, because of
extremely congested roads. As society has evolved,
our demands on our transportation system have exceeded our means to pay for them. A
few facts:
• On Highway 217, traffic volumes have increased 100% in 20 years
to 120,000 cars a day.
• Currently we have three hours of ‘rush hour’ traffic a day
and it is predicted to increase to ten hours in 2025.
• Oregon has less taxes and fees per car by half than any other state in
America.
• In the Metropolitan area, approximately $12 billion in transportation
needs are identified in the next 15 years but only about $2 billion in funding
is available. Money for modernization is very limited.
So what to do? The first
thing I suggest is to thoroughly understand the situation: what is currently
planned and funded, what is the additional planning required and what are
options to generate enough money to pay for a meaningful amount of
modernization.
In our February 2nd meeting, Citizen Participation Organization
#1 (CPO 1 – www.cpo1friends.org ) will have a series of speakers discussing regional and local transportation
needs, planning and funding. You will notice that the term ‘planning’ comes
up often in this discussion. That is because transportation planning requires
at least a 20-year horizon: it takes 20 years to conceive of and implement
major transportation improvements.
This year’s transportation planning
work is very significant. The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), the
Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan (MTIP) and the funding for Washington
County’s
Transportation Plan are all in the works. Growth in the region has occurred
faster than expected and factors like an aging population are being
recognized, driving deeper changes in the region’s overall transportation
planning. More details on the fascinating hierarchical system can be found
at: www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=18823.
Join us at the CPO 1
meeting February 2 at 7:00 PM in the Souther Auditorium of St. Vincent’s
Hospital to learn more about the needs, plans and options for implementing
a transportation system for the 21st Century.
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