Portland's transportation systems need some $20 billion in investment, but Metro's transportation plan doesn't specify where all that money would come from. At a recent meeting with the Portland Business Alliance, someone addressed the elephant in the room: tolls.
"It seems to me that it's pretty obvious at this point that the big untapped resource is user fees," said Bill Scott, general manager of Zipcar.
Scott's comments came during a meeting of the Portland Business Alliance's transportation committee, where members got a look at Metro staff's growth report, "Making the Greatest Place: Strategies for a sustainable and prosperous region." The report encourages channeling most growth inside the existing urban growth boundary, investing in repairing and maintaining existing buildings and infrastructure, and holding Metro and its local government partners accountable for the goals they put in place for themselves and the region.
District 5 Councilor Rex Burkholder backed away from the idea of tolling at first, instead choosing to talk about tax credits for bike commuters. He said that could encourage more people to bike to work and alleviate some congestion on the region's roadways. But later in the conversation, he said the political class – himself included – doesn't feel comfortable pushing for tolls or other new taxes.
Scott said charging to use high-speed freeway lanes (like carpool lanes) could be a good way to start gauging how the public would adapt to paying to drive on the region's major roadways. "Give more people a chance to see the benefits of it," he said.
And Gerald Mildner, the director of the Center for Real Estate at Portland State University, said improving roadways without imposing some sort of fees will only make traffic worse. He said the public would understand a boiled-down message: "This is going increase congestion unless you bite the bullet" and pay tolls.
Some members of the committee also took issue with the tone of the report, calling it "timid." Burkholder agreed, saying that Metro staff had to scale back its recommendations and prioritize its goals for a simple reason: money.
"I think we did back off," Burkholder said. "We really had to face the financial limitations we have."
Scott Bricker of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance said the plan doesn't seem like it lives up to its introductory statements of accommodating growth while encouraging alternate modes of transportation. Instead, the plan seems like a conglomerate of local road projects, Bricker said.
Burkholder said the plan isn't complete, and that the current transportation system has gaps that the plan tries to fill.
"It recognizes growth, but keeps in mind that there's an ideal system we're trying to create," Burkholder said.
The meeting also addressed connecting high speed passenger trains between Portland and Seattle and light commuter trains like MAX. Metro transportation planner Kim Ellis said plans for high speed passenger trains are detailed in the full Regional Transportation Plan.
Also during the meeting, Port of Portland representative Susie Lahsense said Metro needs to be accountable for how it disperses money throughout the region for transportation projects. Additionally, she said there's an element of the growth plan that she thinks gets short shrift: jobs.
"I'm just concerned that if this really is going to be our region's strategy, then we need to say something a little more strongly about trying to meet our economic needs," Lahsense said.
– by Sean Breslin, Metro staff