John A. Charles Jr. says the Oregon State Legislature should cut light rail from the project while it still can
John A. Charles, Jr.
Cascade Policy Institute
At a December 17th meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Interstate Bridge Replacement, legislators were promised that the proposed light rail service to Vancouver would arrive every 6.7 minutes during weekday rush hours.
We don’t need to guess whether this forecast will be wrong. We already know it.
Before the Yellow Line opened in 2004, TriMet promised that peak-hour trains would arrive every 7.5 minutes by 2020.
That never happened. In fact, the Yellow Line only arrives every 15 minutes, 50 percent below what was promised.
Not only did TriMet planners give the wrong forecast for levels of service, they weren’t even close on the ridership estimates. TriMet predicted 35,320 weekday riders on the Yellow Line by 2020. Actual ridership is 10,611, 70 percent below the forecast.
The transit agency for Vancouver already offers express bus service to Portland, which is a superior ride compared to light rail. Spending $3 billion to add rail will be a waste of money.
The legislature should cut light rail from the project while it still can.
John A. Charles Jr. is president and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.
Also read:
- POLL: With updated estimates reaching as high as $17.7 billion, what should happen to the I-5 Bridge replacement project?
A new poll asks readers how the I-5 Bridge replacement project should proceed amid higher cost estimates and questions about transparency within the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. - Opinion: ‘The IBR team has been lying to us and thanks to a veteran Oregon journalist, we have the smoking gun’
Ken Vance argues newly obtained documents show Interstate Bridge Replacement staff withheld updated cost estimates from lawmakers and the public. - Oregon Gov. Kotek calls for repeal of transportation funding package she championed
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is urging lawmakers to repeal a transportation funding package she previously supported after a referendum effort halted key tax increases. - Letter: Has $450 million been wasted on a bridge that’s too low for the Coast Guard with a foundation too costly to build?
A Seattle engineer questions whether hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on a bridge design he argues is unnecessarily risky and costly compared to an immersed tunnel alternative. - Opinion: Transit agencies need accountability not increased state subsidy
Charles Prestrud argues that Washington transit agencies face rising costs and declining ridership due to governance structures that lack public accountability.
wpDiscuz
