The federalist approach to transportation funding moves forward


In the aftermath of this month’s elections, lobby group Transportation for America (created to support reforms to federal transportation policy that would make it less hideous) announced today that it’s shifting resources toward the legislatures of “states that want to continue investing.”

Great!


2 responses to “The federalist approach to transportation funding moves forward”

  1. Boy, I hope that (somehow) that offsets the higher costs of housing, that is if you want to live in a transit-friendly, non car-dependent area. That seems to be the only practical choice, because I actually don’t see a lot of people using the bicycle for longer range transportation—-with the beginning of the winter season. I live right on the Springwater Trail, so maybe I would notice?

    But if you can make it in the central city, where I concede it is possible to ride a few miles (even if the wind is blowing 20 mph and it’s 33 F) then I guess you can cough up the added 400/mo on your rent or $1000 on your mortgage and taxes to make this great experiment work out. Maybe that’s your highest aspiration in life?

    • The Springwater is maintained as a park, rather than as transportation infrastructure. It is not lighted at night, nor plowed when it snows, and there are few police patrols. It’s surrounded by bushes and some parts have homeless encampments.

      I use it for transportation in the spring and summer, but I take Burnside back to Portland in the winter. I’m not surprised that you see few transportation bike riders this time of year.

      Add lights, keep the path maintained even in bad weather, and enforce the no-camping rules, then we would see much more transportation use. THe 205 path, which is not nearly as useful (considering that it goes north-south rather than toward job centers), is more heavily used in the winter because it is lighted and it is next to houses.

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