Portland
Basics
Ray LaHood Gives Go-Ahead to Portland’s Sprawl-Inducing Mega-Bridge
You don't need to look too hard to find signs that the ground is shifting when it comes to highway construction. Around the country, state DOTs are running out of money. Headlines ask "Are Freeways Doomed?" Overall vehicle miles traveled are down in the Pacific Northwest.
December 8, 2011
How Value Capture Financing Will Revitalize White Flint
White Flint, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC, should be a shining example of transit-oriented development. It’s centered on a metro station on the busy red line, sandwiched between the bustling suburban downtowns of Bethesda and Rockville.
October 20, 2011
Stimulus-Backed Programs Struggle to Stay Alive After Funds Run Out
In an old supermarket space in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, a diverse community of bicycle aficionados are getting greasy. Young and old, Latino and white, they are truing wheels and replacing cables and adjusting brakes in L.A.’s newest, and completely unplanned, bike co-op.
June 29, 2011
Google Shows That When Transit Agencies Free Their Data, Riders Win
Earlier this week, in a forum about intelligent cities and the ways data can improve urban planning, Carolyn Young of Portland’s TriMet let it slip that Portland was one of the first cities to share its real-time transit tracking data on Google Maps. (Google announced the news two days later.)
June 10, 2011
The Columbia River Crossing: A Highway Boondoggle in Disguise
The Columbia River Crossing is a mega-project by any standard. A bridge replacement, a highway widening, and light rail project wrapped into one, the CRC is a proposal to span the distance between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. With a $3.2 billion price tag -- by conservative estimates -- it would be the largest public works project the region has ever undertaken.
April 14, 2011
NRDC Names 15 Smarter Cities
How long do you have to wait for a bus in your city? How much does it cost? Does every family on your block have two cars? And tell us about your bikeshare program…
February 24, 2011
Transpo Committee Adds Southern Locations to Field Hearing Schedule
The T&I Committee has fleshed out the schedule of its nationwide tour to solicit input on transportation issues. The tour is an opportunity for lawmakers to hear what communities around the country would like to see in a new transportation authorization bill.
February 3, 2011
The Capitol Hill Streetsies, Continued: The Best and Worst of 2010
Check out our first installment of the Streetsie winners for who will be missed, who will be a hero, and the best ideas and legislation that didn't come to pass.
January 4, 2011
Could Common Design Standards Bring Back U.S. Transit Manufacturing?
The Portland area is the only place in the country that manufactures streetcars these days. United Streetcar, in the suburb of Clackamas, opened last year to build Portland's streetcars -- and to serve as a lesson, perhaps, that rail transit manufacturing doesn’t all need to happen overseas.
October 22, 2010