BRT

It exists, if this Cato Institute study is to be believed. Shocking!

The idea that Portland is an “unlivable,” and “unaffordable” city is pretty absurd on its face. It’s still the least-expensive major city on the West Coast, and often ranks as one of the most livable cities in America. Such is the grasp of Portland’s nefarious light-rail mafia, I suppose, that they can supress housing prices and buy off news media. Truly nefarous stuff.

Of course, if I were to start a transit-oriented mafia, I’d surely start with roads, not rail, since road construction offers far more poured concrete in which to make the bodies of my enemies disappear. But that’s just me.

P.S.: … and that Measure 37 that Cato cites as evidence that “Portland–area residents have expressed their opposition to these plans”? Yeah, it’s on it’s way to being repealed.

This is a bit outside the Puget Sound, but since it involves some of our most beloved transportation institutions, it’s worth a moment to take a look at what’s going on down in Vancouver, WA, Portland’s northern suburb:

The two Clark County projects are developing independently of each other. And while each watches what the other is doing, neither is bound to follow the decisions of the other and could conceivably wind up creating entirely different transportation systems.

Here’s what they’re up to:

- The Columbia River Crossing is evaluating both light rail and bus rapid transit as the mass-transit component for its new bridge. The draft environmental impact statement, expected by the end of the year, is looking at one route along the east side of Interstate 5 and another north along Main Street, both winding up at a park-and-ride lot north of 39th Street.

A final selection – on both a mass-transit mode and the whole bridge project itself – is expected in 2008. The search then begins for money, with perhaps $6 billion for the whole shebang: the new bridge, mass transit and related interchanges, bridges, overpasses and such on both sides of the river.

- The Regional Transportation Council, meanwhile, narrowed its choices to four modes – bus rapid transit, streetcar, light rail and commuter rail – and five corridors. The final RTC plan may select one mode in one corridor and an entirely different mode for another.

Two separate agencies, overlapping proposals, not working together. Sound familiar?

Certainly it’s no fun when transit systems overlap state boundaries. We’re actually lucky here in Puget Sound that our metro area is contained within a single state and only three counties. Compare that with New York, where the metro area (and transit system) spans three states and a dozen counties!