Awhile back The Reflector asked readers the following: “Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this month said that if a new Interstate 5 bridge is to be built, Southwest Washington needs to compromise with Oregon by allowing it to feature light rail — otherwise it won’t get done. Do you believe this is a fair compromise to finally get the project moving?”
Who will light rail serve? Will it reduce traffic congestion?
The CRC demonstrated the planned new bridge with light rail would reduce the morning southbound commute time by one minute. That was because Oregon refuses to add new through lanes to I-5 at the Rose Quarter. Furthermore, roughly $2,000 per year in tolls would be required to pay back borrowed money. Southwest Washington residents would pay up to 60 percent of those tolls.
Every past new light rail line saw a reduction in bus service by TriMet. They simply reduced or eliminated bus service to force people to use the more expensive light rail transit.
C-Tran currently offers seven separate “express” bus lines into Portland. They travel both the I-5 and the I-205 corridors. In 2017, only 1,437 people used these express buses on an average day. That’s a rounding error of the 310,000 vehicles WSDOT reports cross the Columbia River daily. Furthermore, since the light rail would only travel the I-5, it would attract a small, unknown portion of the 1,437 people.
John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute reports TriMet’s light rail carries just under one percent of the region’s daily trips. Furthermore, all mass transit carries less than 5 percent of trips. As the recent PEMCO survey reported, 94 percent of people prefer to use their privately owned vehicles.
The MAX yellow line travels at an average speed of 18 mph. There are nine stops between Delta Park and the Rose Quarter in addition to congested downtown Portland streets. Current C-Tran express buses are faster for commuters than riding light rail.
The TriMet Milwaukie MAX extension cost $200 million per mile. The Tigard/Tualatin proposal will be $240 million per mile. Compare that with a $500,000 bus. A bus has “flexible” routing, when there are traffic accidents, weather, or other problems. Trains can’t divert.
Contrary to what Governor Inslee says, light rail is not required to get federal money. The CRC had $830 million federal “transit dollars” plus $400 million non-transit federal dollars. The “transit” could be buses. Our Congresswoman can fight for non-transit funds.
If we want to solve the nation’s 12th worst traffic congestion, we need more bridges and new transportation corridors. It’s been almost 40 years since the I-205 bridge and transportation corridor opened. Regional population has doubled. That’s the problem. In the words of citizen Steven Wallace (to the Bi-state Transportation Committee): “we need lanes, not trains.”
