Emerging transportation trends
During the development of the 2023 Regional Transportation Plan, the Emerging Transportation Trends Study will help to inform decision-making.
This is a time of rapid changes. The last few years have been marked by a global pandemic that affected nearly every aspect of life. Metro researched eight societal shifts such as increases in remote work and online shopping, as well as the greater affordability and efficiency of electric vehicles. These are changes that are expected to last at least five years into the future, and they are the trends that may continue to impact how people and goods travel throughout greater Portland.
This research forecasts how long each trend will last and how it will affect people’s travel behavior. It will help decision-makers understand whether current policies and programs are adequate to advance shared regional goals of safety, equity, climate and mobility as travel changes.
Equitable transportation funding
Findings and recommendations from the Equitable Transportation Funding Research Report will be used to help update the narrative of the finance chapter of the 2023 Regional Transportation Plan. This information also may be used to inform future discussions as agencies consider potential new revenues and update transportation funding strategies.
Transportation planning and funding practices disproportionately burden and harm low-income households; Black, Indigenous and other people of color communities; and people with disabilities. Transportation funding can lead to different outcomes for different communities; therefore, it is critical to examine the varying impacts and implications of existing and future funding strategies prior to implementation.
The report asks two essential questions: Who does revenue collection burden and benefit the most? And, how can the revenue collection and disbursement be balanced to address inequities? To help answer these questions, the Equitable Transportation Funding Research Report provides an analysis of existing, emerging, and potential revenue sources through an income and racial equity lens and recommends strategies to equitably transform transportation funding while increasing revenues.
Regional freight delay and commodities movement
During the development of the 2023 Regional Transportation Plan, the Regional Freight Delay and Commodities Movement Study will inform regional policy that addresses freight movement and the growth in e-commerce and delivery. The Regional Freight Delay and Commodities Movement Study began in September 2021 and will be completed by August 2023.
The global pandemic has caused disruptions to the movement of vital commodities, the supply chain, and retail shopping. Metro studied the effects of these disruptions at both a national and regional level. Factors considered include increases in the number of people working from home, and in online shopping. Metro is also studying how people of different incomes have been affected differently by the recovery in employment that followed the pandemic.
The study is identifying regional mobility corridors that are carrying the highest volume and highest value of commodities, and how groups of certain types of commodities like food and electronics flow through the transportation system in the region. The study is exploring how e-commerce is impacting and benefiting the transportation system and regional economy, and examining how unreliability and mobility on the regional transportation system impacts commodity movement.