Joe Cortright
Recent Posts
Two Big Reasons States Keep Expanding Freeways
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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?
Oregon DOT’s Real Climate Plan: Keep on Polluting
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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.
Opinion: Louisville’s ‘Fix’ for Traffic Congestion Shows the Irrationality of Drivers
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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.
Opinion: American Parking Policy is the Real Socialism
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"There may be massive inequities in other aspects of life, but each citizen is guaranteed equal access to adequate parking spaces." - Joe Cortright
How to Stop Giving Parking Developers A Free Ride
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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.
Phoenix Leaders Are Climate Hypocrites
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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.
It Shouldn’t Cost 31x More To Take Transit Than Park
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Everything you need to know about equity and privilege in urban transportation is reflected in how much we charge for parking compared to transit.
Most Ped Infrastructure Is for Drivers
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Big money “pedestrian” projects are often remedial and performative — and their real purpose is to serve faster car traffic.
Why Peak Period Road Pricing Is Fair
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Peak hour car commuters in Portland have incomes almost double those who travel by transit, bike, and foot.
How Green Is My Free Parking Structure? Not Very.
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Why does the National Renewable Energy Lab give its employees free parking?
Urban Myth Busting: Congestion, Idling, and Carbon Emissions
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Increasing road capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will backfire.
Yet Another Flawed Congestion Report From Inrix
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Do the costs of congestion outweigh the costs of building wider roads? Probably not. Despite an impressive amount of data, Inrix falls into the same old traps with its congestion report.