Waterbuffalo
05-23-2008, 09:39 PM
This is from the Portland tribune. It was such a small and nice article, I posted it.
"Portland-area residents overwhelmingly support one of the most hotly debated proposed transportation projects in the region — replacing the aging Interstate 5 Bridge between Portland and Vancouver, Wash.
Sixty percent of tricounty residents think replacing the bridge is a good idea compared with only 13 percent who think it is a bad idea, according to a recent poll on metropolitan issues commissioned by the Portland Tribune and Fox 12 News.
“Generally speaking, this project makes sense to people,” said Adam Davis, a founding partner with Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc., the opinion research firm that conducted the poll.
A replacement bridge that includes a new transit lane is one of several proposals being considered by the Columbia River Crossing, a bistate project involving public and private leaders in Oregon and Washington. That idea is supported by some business groups, including the Portland Business Alliance.
“People intuitively know that a replacement bridge is critical to our region’s economic health,” said Sandra McDonough, PBA president and chief executive officer. “There are 135,000 vehicles trying to cross this bridge every day as people are trying to get to work, make a freight delivery, or take their kids somewhere, and they spend their time sitting in traffic. This traffic is only going to get worse if we don’t replace these spans and add light rail.”
A number of environmental and other activists question the proposals under consideration, including the replacement bridge, which is estimated to cost more than $4 billion.
“That is so vague as to be meaningless,” said Jill Fuglister, co-director of the Coalition for a Livable Future, an umbrella organization representing environmental, labor and community organizations. “People need to know how much it’s going to cost and who’s going to pay for it.”
The organization also is concerned that none of the current proposals will significantly reduce motor vehicle emissions, a major source of greenhouse gas pollution.
Davis agrees that support for the project is likely to decrease when people consider such issues as cost and whether it will be partly financed by tolls.
At the same time, Davis notes that support for the project cuts across geographic boundaries. Sixty-two percent of the residents in both Clackamas and Washington counties consider it a good idea, while 56 percent of Multnomah County residents feel the same way.
“It’s very much a consensus finding,” he said.
On June 24, the bistate task force advising the project is scheduled to recommend which proposal to submit to the federal government for funds.
Schools on residents’ minds
Despite the strong support for this project, only 12 percent of those who were polled identified traffic congestion as the No. 1 or No. 2 issue they want local and regional governments to address.
Issues that ranked higher in the poll include the quality and funding of Oregon schools at 44 percent, the cost of things like gasoline and food at 36 percent, and the cost of health care at 35 percent.
Davis suspects the relatively low showing for traffic congestion may be misleading, however. He believes frustration also is reflected in higher-ranked issues like the cost of food and gasoline, because traffic congestion adds to such prices.
“People know they’re wasting gas when they’re stuck in traffic, whether it’s on the way to work or the way to shopping,” he said.
According to the poll, tricounty residents want governments to take a balanced approach when it comes to solving transportation projects. By a margin of 62 percent to 34 percent, most people think spending public money on transit is a better investment than roads.
Support for transit is strongest in Multnomah County at 69 percent, followed by Washington County at 59 percent and Clackamas County at 52 percent. The ratios are reversed for roads, where they are supported by 41 percent of Clackamas County residents, 36 percent of Washington County residents and 29 percent of Multnomah County residents.
“Roads have more support in the suburban counties, but transit is still seen as the better investment,” Davis said.
At the same time, however, when projects are broken down by specific categories for future funding, residents want the money evenly split between streets, highways and bridges and such alternatives as trains, buses, bicycle paths and sidewalks (see results above). According to Davis, although metropolitan residents believe transit is a better investment than roads, they are also aware of the funding problems facing the I-5 and Sellwood bridges.
“That 50-50 balance is something we’re seeing a lot of these days. People do not want government to put all its eggs in one basket,” Davis said.
Land-use rules get support
Despite that even split between traditional and alternative transportation systems, tricounty voters overwhelmingly support the land-use policies that have contributed to the growth of the regional transit system — including the urban growth boundary that concentrates development in existing urban areas.
According to the poll, 59 percent believe the boundary is a good idea, compared with only 12 percent who think it is a bad idea.
Support for the boundary is strongest in Multnomah County at 63 percent, followed by Clackamas County at 56 percent and Washington County at 55 percent.
In a related question, 82 percent of those polled say it is better to add new housing to existing neighborhoods, compared with 12 percent who prefer converting farm and forest land to housing. The numbers range from 86 percent in Multnomah County to 82 percent in Washington County and 76 percent in Clackamas County.
Davis believes support for those policies only will increase in the future as higher gas prices force people to reduce their driving.
In the poll, 68 percent already say rising fuel prices have caused them and their families to drive less. Twenty-four percent say they are using transit more.
Transit use varies by county, though, with the biggest increases occurring where the systems are the largest. The increase in Multnomah County is 34 percent, compared to 21 percent in Washington County and 7 percent in Clackamas County.
The telephone poll of 400 tricounty residents was conducted between May 6 and May 8. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
Tricounty residents are evenly split on where new transportation funds should be spent over the next 20 years. Half of the residents prefer money go toward roads and bridges, and half choose alternatives. Here is the breakdown from the poll conducted by Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc.:
Streets and highways — 28.9 percent
Trains and buses — 25.2 percent
Bridges — 21.7 percent
Sidewalks — 12.2 percent
Bicycle corridors — 12 percent
I am only including the rest of this because it fits into a pattern related to CRC. What do you guys think?
"Portland-area residents overwhelmingly support one of the most hotly debated proposed transportation projects in the region — replacing the aging Interstate 5 Bridge between Portland and Vancouver, Wash.
Sixty percent of tricounty residents think replacing the bridge is a good idea compared with only 13 percent who think it is a bad idea, according to a recent poll on metropolitan issues commissioned by the Portland Tribune and Fox 12 News.
“Generally speaking, this project makes sense to people,” said Adam Davis, a founding partner with Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc., the opinion research firm that conducted the poll.
A replacement bridge that includes a new transit lane is one of several proposals being considered by the Columbia River Crossing, a bistate project involving public and private leaders in Oregon and Washington. That idea is supported by some business groups, including the Portland Business Alliance.
“People intuitively know that a replacement bridge is critical to our region’s economic health,” said Sandra McDonough, PBA president and chief executive officer. “There are 135,000 vehicles trying to cross this bridge every day as people are trying to get to work, make a freight delivery, or take their kids somewhere, and they spend their time sitting in traffic. This traffic is only going to get worse if we don’t replace these spans and add light rail.”
A number of environmental and other activists question the proposals under consideration, including the replacement bridge, which is estimated to cost more than $4 billion.
“That is so vague as to be meaningless,” said Jill Fuglister, co-director of the Coalition for a Livable Future, an umbrella organization representing environmental, labor and community organizations. “People need to know how much it’s going to cost and who’s going to pay for it.”
The organization also is concerned that none of the current proposals will significantly reduce motor vehicle emissions, a major source of greenhouse gas pollution.
Davis agrees that support for the project is likely to decrease when people consider such issues as cost and whether it will be partly financed by tolls.
At the same time, Davis notes that support for the project cuts across geographic boundaries. Sixty-two percent of the residents in both Clackamas and Washington counties consider it a good idea, while 56 percent of Multnomah County residents feel the same way.
“It’s very much a consensus finding,” he said.
On June 24, the bistate task force advising the project is scheduled to recommend which proposal to submit to the federal government for funds.
Schools on residents’ minds
Despite the strong support for this project, only 12 percent of those who were polled identified traffic congestion as the No. 1 or No. 2 issue they want local and regional governments to address.
Issues that ranked higher in the poll include the quality and funding of Oregon schools at 44 percent, the cost of things like gasoline and food at 36 percent, and the cost of health care at 35 percent.
Davis suspects the relatively low showing for traffic congestion may be misleading, however. He believes frustration also is reflected in higher-ranked issues like the cost of food and gasoline, because traffic congestion adds to such prices.
“People know they’re wasting gas when they’re stuck in traffic, whether it’s on the way to work or the way to shopping,” he said.
According to the poll, tricounty residents want governments to take a balanced approach when it comes to solving transportation projects. By a margin of 62 percent to 34 percent, most people think spending public money on transit is a better investment than roads.
Support for transit is strongest in Multnomah County at 69 percent, followed by Washington County at 59 percent and Clackamas County at 52 percent. The ratios are reversed for roads, where they are supported by 41 percent of Clackamas County residents, 36 percent of Washington County residents and 29 percent of Multnomah County residents.
“Roads have more support in the suburban counties, but transit is still seen as the better investment,” Davis said.
At the same time, however, when projects are broken down by specific categories for future funding, residents want the money evenly split between streets, highways and bridges and such alternatives as trains, buses, bicycle paths and sidewalks (see results above). According to Davis, although metropolitan residents believe transit is a better investment than roads, they are also aware of the funding problems facing the I-5 and Sellwood bridges.
“That 50-50 balance is something we’re seeing a lot of these days. People do not want government to put all its eggs in one basket,” Davis said.
Land-use rules get support
Despite that even split between traditional and alternative transportation systems, tricounty voters overwhelmingly support the land-use policies that have contributed to the growth of the regional transit system — including the urban growth boundary that concentrates development in existing urban areas.
According to the poll, 59 percent believe the boundary is a good idea, compared with only 12 percent who think it is a bad idea.
Support for the boundary is strongest in Multnomah County at 63 percent, followed by Clackamas County at 56 percent and Washington County at 55 percent.
In a related question, 82 percent of those polled say it is better to add new housing to existing neighborhoods, compared with 12 percent who prefer converting farm and forest land to housing. The numbers range from 86 percent in Multnomah County to 82 percent in Washington County and 76 percent in Clackamas County.
Davis believes support for those policies only will increase in the future as higher gas prices force people to reduce their driving.
In the poll, 68 percent already say rising fuel prices have caused them and their families to drive less. Twenty-four percent say they are using transit more.
Transit use varies by county, though, with the biggest increases occurring where the systems are the largest. The increase in Multnomah County is 34 percent, compared to 21 percent in Washington County and 7 percent in Clackamas County.
The telephone poll of 400 tricounty residents was conducted between May 6 and May 8. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
Tricounty residents are evenly split on where new transportation funds should be spent over the next 20 years. Half of the residents prefer money go toward roads and bridges, and half choose alternatives. Here is the breakdown from the poll conducted by Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc.:
Streets and highways — 28.9 percent
Trains and buses — 25.2 percent
Bridges — 21.7 percent
Sidewalks — 12.2 percent
Bicycle corridors — 12 percent
I am only including the rest of this because it fits into a pattern related to CRC. What do you guys think?