Chief
12-27-2007, 07:32 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1198734914306320.xml&coll=7
Travel - Portland wants money for an eastside line, but the transit administration says buses are more efficient
DYLAN RIVERA The Oregonian Staff
Portland officials, eager to expand the city's heralded streetcar line across the Willamette River, are learning that federal transit managers favor buses for efficiency and may delay or withhold construction funding.
The expansion, pegged to cost $147 million, would extend the streetcar from the Pearl District across the Broadway Bridge and south to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, nearly completing a streetcar loop of the city's core. The federal government, according to the Portland City Council's plan, would pay for half.
But the City Council scrambled in early September to meet a deadline to apply for funds, only to learn from the Federal Transit Administration that Portland is failing to meet a cost-effectiveness test that planners here say is biased against streetcars in favor of high-capacity bus lines.
Interesting article with implications for the Columbia Crossing Project's "Transit" solutions. This is a good overview of what Smart Starts looks at before they fund any kind of transit solutions, so this is worth reading and bookmarking...
Travel - Portland wants money for an eastside line, but the transit administration says buses are more efficient
DYLAN RIVERA The Oregonian Staff
Portland officials, eager to expand the city's heralded streetcar line across the Willamette River, are learning that federal transit managers favor buses for efficiency and may delay or withhold construction funding.
The expansion, pegged to cost $147 million, would extend the streetcar from the Pearl District across the Broadway Bridge and south to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, nearly completing a streetcar loop of the city's core. The federal government, according to the Portland City Council's plan, would pay for half.
But the City Council scrambled in early September to meet a deadline to apply for funds, only to learn from the Federal Transit Administration that Portland is failing to meet a cost-effectiveness test that planners here say is biased against streetcars in favor of high-capacity bus lines.
Interesting article with implications for the Columbia Crossing Project's "Transit" solutions. This is a good overview of what Smart Starts looks at before they fund any kind of transit solutions, so this is worth reading and bookmarking...