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: ‘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.
- Opinion: IBR falsely blaming inflationJoe Cortright argues that inflation explains only a small portion of the IBR project’s cost increases and that rising consultant and staff expenses are the primary drivers.
- Letter: The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s $141 million bribe can be better spent on sandwich steel-concrete tubesBob Ortblad argues that an immersed tunnel using sandwich steel-concrete tubes would be a more cost-effective alternative to the current Interstate Bridge Replacement Program design.
- A sub-district vote could be a way to go to pay O&M costs associated with light railClark County Council members heard details on how a voter-approved C-TRAN sub-district could be created to fund long-term operations and maintenance costs for light rail tied to a new Interstate Bridge.
- Letter: British Columbia’s new immersed tunnel can solve Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s $17.7 billion problemBob Ortblad argues that an immersed tunnel similar to a project underway in British Columbia could significantly reduce costs and impacts associated with the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program.







Amen Bryan!
Yes. And even with this knowledge, they want us who live in Vancouver to buy into this boondogle.
At the current time, only 46 percent of the new bridge would be dedicated to cars and trucks. 54 percent would be dedicated to light rail, walkers and bicyclist. Doesn’t make any sense.