Orchards resident Bryan White says ‘we must support the candidates who will fight to keep light rail out of Clark County and tolls off of our freeways’
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
For the last decade, it was rare to see a single-car MAX train. This summer, I’ve seen them as often as I’ve seen two-car trains.

This is Portland quietly admitting that TriMet’s ridership is too low to be worth running full-capacity trains. With the most recent trains and FX line buses, TriMet locked themselves into vehicles that cost more to run, when they could save money and better serve their paying ridership using vans.
And now they want to send their trains into Clark County?
What’s their actual goal in taking their empty trains across the Columbia? Easy: make Clark County’s citizens pay for their poor planning. It’s the same thing they hope to accomplish in adding tolls to the freeways: stick it to the people in the next state.
Every reason Portland wants to “serve” Clark County is bad. They want to give their criminals free rides out of state and shift hidden taxes to us.
We must support the candidates who will fight to keep light rail out of Clark County and tolls off of our freeways. Please join me, depending on your legislative district, in voting for John Ley, Brad Benton, Lucia Worthington, Chuck Keplar, and Joe Kent when your ballot arrives.
Bryan White
Orchards
Also read:
- Opinion: IBR’s systematic disinformation campaign, its demiseNeighbors for a Better Crossing challenges IBR’s seismic claims and promotes a reuse-and-tunnel alternative they say would save billions at the I-5 crossing.
- Opinion: Is a state income tax coming, and the latest on the I-5 Bridge projectRep. John Ley shares a legislative update on a proposed state income tax, the I-5 Bridge project, the Brockmann Campus and House Bill 2605.
- Board authorizes C-TRAN to sign off on Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s SEISThe C-TRAN Board approved the Final SEIS for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, with Camas and Washougal opposing the vote over light rail cost concerns.
- C-TRAN ridership grows for fourth consecutive yearC-TRAN ridership topped 5 million trips in 2025, marking the fourth straight year of growth.
- Opinion: ‘If they want light rail, they should be the ones who pay for it’Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance argues that supporters of light rail tied to the I-5 Bridge replacement should bear the local cost of operating and maintaining the system through a narrowly drawn sub-district.






