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Joe Cortright

Recent Posts

Photo: Nelson Ngondala, CC

A Reporter’s Guide to ‘Congestion Cost’ Studies

By Joe Cortright | Jan 17, 2023 | No Comments
Every year or so, one or more traffic-counting organizations trots out a report claiming that congestion is costing us tens of billions dollars each year. Despite the “big data” and elaborate estimates, the results are simply bunk, because they’re based on a flawed premise.
The current Columbia River Bridge is slated to be replaced with one that has room for  light rail. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Two Big Reasons States Keep Expanding Freeways

By Joe Cortright | Apr 22, 2022 | No Comments
Highway widening advocates offer up a kind of manifest destiny storyline: population and traffic are ever-increasing, and unless we accommodate them we’ll be awash in cars, traffic and gridlock.  The rising tide of cars is treated as a irresistible force of nature. But is it?
An unfiltered image from Salem, Ore. during a 2020 wildfire. Source:  Bruhmoney77, CC

Oregon DOT’s Real Climate Plan: Keep on Polluting

By Joe Cortright | Dec 14, 2021 | No Comments
The Oregon DOT’s “Climate Action Plan” claims the agency wants to decrease greenhouse gases, but its revenue projections show it is planning for gasoline consumption not to decline at all – meaning that carbon emissions don’t decline, either. 
I-65 crossing the Ohio River at Louisville. Photo: Trimarc

Opinion: Louisville’s ‘Fix’ for Traffic Congestion Shows the Irrationality of Drivers

By Joe Cortright | Nov 18, 2021 | No Comments
Two states spent $1 billion doubling the size of I-65, only to have half as many people use the bridge. Nothing more clearly illustrates the utter folly of highway expansions.
The one socialist utopia America has achieved: the parking lot. Image: UCTC.net

Opinion: American Parking Policy is the Real Socialism

By Joe Cortright | Oct 22, 2021 | No Comments
"There may be massive inequities in other aspects of life, but each citizen is guaranteed equal access to adequate parking spaces." - Joe Cortright
Photo:  Paul Sullivan/Flickr/CC

How to Stop Giving Parking Developers A Free Ride

By Joe Cortright | Jan 18, 2021 | No Comments
There are good reasons of efficiency and fairness for asking parking lot owners to pay more toward dealing with the costs they impose. A tax on parking could be one way to get it done.
Just one of Phoenix's massive interstates, via Creative Commons

Phoenix Leaders Are Climate Hypocrites

By Joe Cortright | Dec 4, 2020 | No Comments
Phoenix says it’s going to reduce greenhouse gases 90 percent by 2050, but the city’s transportation greenhouse gases have risen 1,000 pounds per person since 2014, and it’s planning to spend hundreds of millions widening freeways.
Photo: Montgomery County Planning Commission/Flickr

It Shouldn’t Cost 31x More To Take Transit Than Park

By Joe Cortright | Sep 24, 2020 | No Comments
Everything you need to know about equity and privilege in urban transportation is reflected in how much we charge for parking compared to transit.
Projects like this pedestrian bridge aren't really about making the world better for walkers, Cortright argues. They're about avoiding any inconvenience for drivers. Photo: ##http://taimages.railstotrails.org/1-Ped-Bike-Facilities/Galer-Street-Ped-BridgeSeattle/i-G4fWfCd##Rails-to-Trails Conservancy##

Most Ped Infrastructure Is for Drivers

By Joe Cortright | Sep 7, 2020 | No Comments
Big money “pedestrian” projects are often remedial and performative — and their real purpose is to serve faster car traffic.
Photo:  Wikimedia Creative Commons

Why Peak Period Road Pricing Is Fair

By Joe Cortright | Sep 29, 2017 | 3 Comments
Peak hour car commuters in Portland have incomes almost double those who travel by transit, bike, and foot.
Net zero, provided you ignore what its used for. Photo: Haselden Construction

How Green Is My Free Parking Structure? Not Very.

By Joe Cortright | Jul 20, 2017 | 8 Comments
Why does the National Renewable Energy Lab give its employees free parking?

Urban Myth Busting: Congestion, Idling, and Carbon Emissions

By Joe Cortright | Jul 6, 2017 | 8 Comments
Increasing road capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will backfire.
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