METRO TRANSPORTATION PLANNING COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING

Tuesday, January 12, 1999

Beaverton City Council Chamber

Beaverton City Hall,

4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton

Present:  Ed Washington, Metro Council, District 5 (Co-Chair); Jon Kvistad, Metro Council, District 3 (Co-Chair); Rod Park, Metro Council, District 1; Bill Atherton, Metro Council, District 2; David Bragdon, Metro Council, District 7; Rob Drake, Mayor of Beaverton (JPACT); and Dick Feeney, Executive Director of Government Affairs, Tri-Met.

Co-Chair Jon Kvistad called the meeting to order at 7:06 PM. He welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending. He said the purpose of the meeting was to address regional transportation issues. He said the unmet transportation needs in the region total some $10 billion. He said Metro needs to create a program based on what people in the region believe is needed. He said it is not a matter of elected officials designing a program and then telling the people to just go along with it. He said everyone must work together to put together a program that sets priorities. He said the program we put together now will affect the region for decades to come.

1.  INTRODUCTIONS

Co-Chair Kvistad introduced those at the dais, which included members of the Metro Council and members of the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT). He said the Federal Government designates a body to allocate all the federal highway and transit money that comes into the region. That body is made up of elected and appointed officials from governments around the region to establish priorities. In this region JPACT is that body. JPACT sends its recommendations directly to the Metro Transportation Planning Committee, which was chaired last year by tonight’s co-chair, Councilor Ed Washington. Councilor Kvistad said he would be the chair of that committee this year. From JPACT, the recommendations go to the Metro Council.

He said this evening’s meeting would consist of testimony from citizens. He explained to those present how to fill out a testimony card for the public record if they wished to speak. He said everyone would have at least three minutes to speak.

2.  COMMUNICATIONS FROM REGIONAL PARTNERS

None.

3.  Public Hearing

Co-chair Ed Washington opened the public hearing. He thanked the Mayor of Beaverton for the opportunity to be there that evening. He emphasized that the hearing is not about a revival of the South/North Light Rail. He said the purpose was to address the total transportation picture in this region, of which South/North is only one part. The primary reason for this meeting is to hear from the citizens of the region. He said again that the purpose is not to revive the South/North Light Rail, but to find ways to address the transportation morass that could sink the region if people do not work together to solve it.

Jill Fuglister, Coalition for a Livable Future, 534 SW 3rd, Ste. 300, Portland, OR 97204. Ms. Fuglister said the Coalition comprises 48 member organizations working together toward a compact, equitable, and sustainable region. Among the members are 1000 Friends of Oregon, Urban League of Portland, Audobon Society, League of Women Voters, Washington County Community Action, and Friends of Clark County. The Coalition views transportation as a key issue in the future livability of the region. She thanked the committee for holding the Listening Posts and for the opportunity to testify. She said she was there to share the Coalition’s new vision of a transportation plan for the region. She said it’s called a “Transportation Plan for Everybody.” The plan calls for a transportation system connecting every community in the region with safe, convenient, affordable, and accessible transportation choices. The plan acknowledges that we cannot build our way out of congestion, that new freeways to not result in reduced congestion. The program director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, who was in Portland earlier today, recently released a report concluding that increased road capacity does not reduce congestion. Instead, his research shows that traffic increases to fill new road capacity. We cannot afford to spend limited regional transportation dollars to build more freeways. Rather, we should spend this money creating a transportation system with choices that includes alternatives to the automobile and that moves people efficiently throughout the region. One important piece of the Coalition’s plan is extension of light rail from the Rose Quarter Transit Station to Vancouver. She emphasized that despite the November vote on light rail, many people in the region still like light rail and want to see public transit and are willing to pay for it. She said they do not see building more freeways as a solution to traffic congestion. She said instead they wanted to see a transportation system with options. She said light rail was one of those options. She said that as its name clearly states, the Coalition’s proposed transportation plan is a plan for everybody. The plan calls for improvements that will benefit bike riders and pedestrians; it integrates transportation strategies with land use planning and support of developing regional centers; it supports neighborhood connectivity. She said light rail will help reduce future air pollution caused by increasing congestion, benefiting residents in North/Northeast Portland, who suffer from the worst air pollution in Portland, caused by traffic on I-5. In addition, configuration of light rail offers the opportunities for economic revitalization in communities like North/Northeast, where there has been a lower level of economic investment than in other areas of the region.

She said she knew there were others present who would not be testifying but who support light rail. She asked them to stand up. She urged support for the good policies proposed in the Coalition’s plan. (A summary of the Coalition’s plan is attached to the meeting record.)

Doris Colmes, Arbor Lodge Neighborhood, 6539 No. Montana, Portland, OR 97217. Ms. Colmes said she was present because she was slightly confused. She said she understood this listening post was for alternatives to light rail, since light rail was voted down twice. But she read in the newspaper on Monday that stated Metro actually wants to continue to study the feasibility of North/South light rail. She said she was confused because she did not know what part of “no” Metro does not understand, seeing that light rail was voted down twice. She offered some alternatives to light rail along the south/north corridor. She noted that a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane has been put in going north near Jantzen Beach. She suggested one going south there, also. She suggested an express bus route along that route. She said light rail can only go about 20 miles per hour, whereas an express bus can go much faster in an HOV lane.

John R. Bartlesje, 9333 No. Lombard, Ste. 23, Portland, OR 97203, suggested a trolley track in St. Johns.

Dan Long, Willamette Area Transit Resources, 18250 SW Scholls Ferry Rd., Beaverton, OR 97007. Mr. Long described an idea for using water buses on the Willamette from at least St. Johns and possibly Vancouver to Oregon City. He said the river is already there and runs through the center of Portland, it has been used in the past for transportation, it’s free, and little infrastructure would need to be constructed. The Oregon Transportation Plan identifies water transit as a means of transportation. The start-up costs would be low. No property would need to be condemned for rights of way. He said it would also be a tourist attraction. The river as a transit corridor prompted the development of many cities that lie along it, Portland included. He said light rail could connect towns to the east and west. He said whereas the river is a barrier to ground transportation, river buses can zig and zag, creating direct connections across the river.

Cheryl Taylor, 18250 SW Schools Ferry Rd., Beaverton, OR 97007. She said she owns a small farm and does a lot of traveling. She said transit should be free, as little money is made on fares. She said this could be paid for by raising taxes a little. She said the river bus is a wonderful idea. She said it would put the city on the map. She said money ought to be sought from the federal government. She supported bicycle-only roads into Portland and shuttles at shopping centers. She advocated for less, more-expensive parking downtown. She advocated providing parking on the perimeter of town, with shuttles going from there into town. She thought big-box developments ought to have parking contingent on their parking arrangements. She advocated reactivating old rail lines to connect the suburbs. She also advocated for a transit beltway, connecting the suburbs. She supported electric buses and trolleys in town. She supported more pedestrian friendly areas, more walkovers. She also advocated a car-less core for downtown Portland.

Steve Schopp, 10475 SW Helenius, Tualatin, OR 97062. Mr. Schopp said he did not agree with Mike Burton’s assessment that Washington County’s transportation needs have been met and that efforts should be focused on the south/north transportation needs. He said he opposes everything Metro has proposed and everything it has done so far. He said he did not understand why Metro has not paid more attention to the Cascade Institute and those who propose ideas like their. He opposes developing anything more for bicycles. He said the bad suburban roads and the lack of affordable housing are the result of Metro’s past policies. He said the congestion is terrible, the bus system needs to be converted to natural gas. He said variances should not be granted to build on small parcels. He said the light rail is overloaded. He said it is not a high-capacity system. He said he did not know how the overloaded system would accommodate the villages being build along the line. He opposes the downtown trolley and the light rail to the airport, which is being built without approval from the voters. He said road funds are being diverted to light rail which has led to the congestion. He said the urban growth plan prevents natural, economy-driven growth, which is incremental, in favor of developing large tracts all at once. He said we need adequate roads and more consideration for cars. He said we need to plan for everything including vehicles, not everything except vehicles.

Dick Schouten, West Beaverton NAC and Citizens for Sensible Transportation, 6105 SW 148th Ave, Beaverton, OR 97007. Mr. Schouten said that the West Beaverton NAC supports citizen involvement in road projects, particularly with planning connections. He said connectivity is lacking in Washington County. He said improving this should involve citizens extensively. As a member of CST, he said he that Washington County has lots of big, wide roads, but lacks connectivity. It also lacks facilities for alternative modes of transportation--bike paths, sidewalks, trails. He said large roads like 185th are barriers to everything but cars. They also create barriers to neighborhoods. He said the county needs smaller, narrower roads that are connected to one another. He also advocated for light rail. He said Washington County has supported light rail up until this last vote. He said Multnomah County has consistently voted for light rail, so he thought pursuing that was appropriate. He also advocated for streetcar connections to light rail lines. He said more trains need to run, and he believed the current system was not at capacity.

Randy Luethye, Light Rail Business Directory, 3470 SW 12th Ave., Beaverton, OR 97005. Mr. Luethye said he supports MAX and the types of communities it encourages. He said MAX reduces pollution and congestion. It help shoppers and workers, and it creates business opportunities in station areas. However, construction was disruptive. He said Tri-Met needed to compensate those who suffered during the construction. He said he had developed a business guide for light rail users, but Tri-Met would not allow its logo to be used nor would it help distribution. He said he supported the south/north line and would support a line on that corridor, but he thought Tri-Met should do more for past supporters. He said in closing that although we perceive the westside line as being packed, it is not as crowded as lines in Tokyo.

Art Lewellan, L.O.T.I., 3205 SE 8th, #A, Portland, OR 97013. Mr. Lewellan said he had been involved in the planning of south/north since the spring of 1995. He said he is disappointed in Metro for not supporting his ideas. He does not support the northern extension of light rail. He does support light rail in general. He supports the regional center idea but not one in Milwaukie. He supports better connection to light rail using other types of transit. He disagrees with several plans for building bridges on the South Willamette. He proposed a $0.25 gas tax increase.

Ray Polani, Citizens for Better Transit, 6110 SE Ankeny St., Portland OR 97215-1245. He said the proposed south/north line cost more than it should. He said the extravagant cost killed it. He advocated building light rail but a less expensive system. He said Multnomah County passed the bill. He said the name should be changed to “North/South.” He said Portland should not build more parking, as it encourages more cars and creates more congestion. He said the light rail should not go downtown. He supported the light approved by voters in 1994, from Clark County to downtown Milwaukie. He said it should stay on the east side, with dedicated buses connecting passengers with the existing light rail. He said the object should be to keep the costs down. He said planning should focus on putting the light rail underground through the heart of the city, as San Francisco’s did. He said building the line should take place incrementally.

Ross Williams, Sierra Club, Columbia Group, 426 SE 19th, Portland, OR 97214. Mr. Williams said the Sierra Club has made growth and sprawl its primary focus. He said Los Angeles, Seattle, and Minneapolis suffer from sprawl worse than Portland does because Portland has planned for growth. He said light rail was supported by the Sierra Club because it has the ability to prevent sprawl. He described how relatives of his wife bought a home here in Portland with the idea of commuting to Intel by car. That did not work. The couple moved onto the light rail line with the idea of commuting that way. Intel provides free passes. The problem is that there are no sidewalks nor safe streets to walk to the light rail. He said building a transit system is not enough. Beyond that, provisions must be made for transporting people to the light rail stops.

Ramona Crocker, 11765 SW Wilkens Lane, Beaverton, OR 97008. Ms. Crocker expressed concern about population growth and the actions that encourage it. She said she favors finishing the westside bypass. She said she does not favor building more highways, but this one needs to be finished. She said she agrees with Mr. Long’s idea of providing water buses. She said a system like that runs in the Boston area, transporting people from the airport to downtown Boston. She advocated for a high-speed rail line from Vancouver to at least Salem and possible Eugene. She said it ought to run three times a day. She said she favors regular, dedicated bus service from Washington County to the airport. Right now, taxis are the only option other than private automobile. Airport parking is expensive and so are taxis.

Bruce M. Pollock, 9601 NW Leahy, 201, Portland, OR 97229. Mr. Pollock said he lives within walking distance of light rail, but no path exists and he would have to walk up a steep hill. A bus goes by, but only during commuter hours. He said he served on the CPO transport committee trying to get better bus service. He said Tri-Met apparently does not think it is profitable to run a bus more often. He said the light rail is no good if you cannot get to it. He said a bridge that crosses Cedar Hills Boulevard goes nowhere. He objected to spending transportation dollars on projects like that.

Sandy Cooper, 15000 SW Farmington Rd. #32, Beaverton, OR 97007. She said she has used Tri-Met for about 20 years. She has supported light rail. However, she said the westside light rail is way too crowded. She said more trains closer together are needed. She said she understood not enough trains are available. She said she voted against south/north because she believes Tri-Met needs to fix what it has now before starting something new. She said she takes the bus, but the bus she takes comes only every half hour during non-commuting hours. She said that if Tri-Met does not fix what is has, people will not support giving them more money for new projects.

Chris Walker, 957 NE Sturgis, Hillsboro, OR 97124. He complimented Tri-Met’s LIFT services. He said he is a student at Portland Community College. He would like to see more LIFT passes available at the college. He said many people who need the service cannot get downtown easily to get their passes. He also suggested more discounted student passes. He said light rail is great, but it is too crowded. He said he cannot balance well and cannot stand up on a moving train.

Lynsley Rollins, 10823 NW Supreme Court, Portland, OR 97229. Ms. Rollins said she would love to take the train, but parking is generally unavailable at the Sunset Park & Ride. She suggested more parking be made available. She said she would walk or ride a bike, but sidewalk access is not available and bike travel is unsafe in the area. She said pedestrian facilities in general are lacking. She suggested sidewalks be built along collectors that run near transit stations to get people to the station without having to drive. Better pedestrian facilities in general might allow people to do business without having to drive, also. She said she supports commuter rail and the downtown trolley. She suggested that increasing stations in the area might be done incrementally in order to avoid a bond measure.

Councilor Atherton that he had heard many people complain about the lack of pedestrian access to stations and elsewhere. He said in Japan concrete block paths have been built in the ditches that run along roadways. The path still provides drainage.

Paul J. Heydenrych, 13248 Rogers Rd., Lake Oswego, OR 97035. Mr. Heydenrych many people still support light rail. Some of the objections seemed to be to the cost. He said many of the jurisdictions through which the light rail passes see light rail as an opportunity to improve many ancillary things. He said some of those things push the cost up. He said he believed that many systems are currently being built in North America at less cost than the proposed light rail. He said any proposed system should be affordable. He said many people have good ideas, but when it comes to voting for a way to pay for them, they fall short.

Ira Frankel, 4450 SW 107th, Beaverton, OR 97005. Mr. Frankel said he is a public transit advocate. However, he said the south/north project seemed to him to be a “big science” solution. He said the city club had supported the project, but the reasons they gave seemed to be all the wrong reasons. He said he feared that if the line is built out to where growth is expected, then that will actually encourage sprawl in that direction. He said many of his suggestions had already been made so he would not repeat them. He had two he would like to make--being proactive and providing incentive. As to being proactive, he said when he was in the middle east he could call a service taxi at anytime. These were inexpensive and self-regulating. They ran when the demand was there. He suggested, therefore, that taxi licenses not be restricted. He said with regard to providing incentives, companies might be rewarded for staggering work hours or for running a shuttle to an from the light rail systems. He said he would like to see lots of little cabs providing service to the stations.

Bob Powne, 9601 NW Leahy Rd., #301, Portland 97229. Mr. Powne said he would prefer to use public transit rather than drive, but bus service is inadequate during non-commuting hours. Good non-motorized paths do not exist in his neighborhood. He would like to see non-motorized paths throughout the region. He said he would like to see the taxi experiment in Cedar Mills expanded to take people to and from light rail stations. He said if more roads are built, more cars will come to fill them up. He did not think that was a good solution. He said we need alternatives.

Ty Russell, 6360 SW 192nd Ave., Beaverton, OR 97007. Mr. Russell said he works at an architectural firm on the east side of Beaverton. He lives about 5 1/2 miles from his work. He said before the light rail, commuting on the bus took three transfers over an hour’s time and left him about 3/4 of a mile from his work. He said since light rail, the commute now takes about 3/4 of an hour. By car even in bad traffic the commute takes only 15 minutes. He said there is a need to not only get people in and out of Portland, but also around outside of Portland. He said that he understood most of the population increase would take place in the suburbs, yet the light rail runs only in an out of Portland. He said commuting to work is important, but that is not the only travel people do. People also do errands that require carrying things, like lumber, that will not fit on a train. He said trains will not solve all the transportation problems; it will primarily address commuter travel.

John Breiling, CPO-7, 4690 NW Columbia, Portland, 97229. He said he is one of the original proponents of the light rail system. He said Oregon has rain about half the year. The transportation system has to take that into account. He said that people over 40 make up most of the population. Nearly a third of those have some sort of handicap. They need comfortable mass transit. They cannot stand up on buses or trains. He said Tri-Met does not meet those needs. He said time efficiency is also important. He said the transit system does not meet that standard. He also said money is tight. Measure #50 limited funds. He said the situation should not be made worse by putting urban reserves in areas where transportation systems cannot be provided. He said he thought Metro had aggravated a bad situation by doing that recently. He said he served on a Metro citizen advisory committee recently. The committee unanimously recommended commuter rail in this area. He said heavy rail was run while the I-5 bridge was being repaired last year and it could be revived. He said rails already run to many of the places where commuters need to go. He also supports river transportation. He said Portland International Airport does not need to be expanded. He said it should not be expanded because it will attract more air traffic than is safe. He said the Hillsboro Airport could me made to accommodate regional air traffic. He said he was a Navy flyer and that was the point of view from which he was speaking. He said we need to fix what exists. He said the highways need to be fixed, the light rail system needed to be fixed, the bus system needed to be fixed, and streets needs to be connected. He said the proposed south/north line was a “C” job where an “A” system is needed.

Dan McFarling, 20585 SW Cheshire Ct., Aloha, OR 97007. Mr. McFarling said he works with senior citizens and people with disabilities. He said the first priority should be to build a transportation system that meets the needs of all people, not just automobiles. He said more than 30% of Oregonians do not have access to automobiles and more than that are driving but should not be. He said congestion is not the problem; rather, it is the inherent result of automobile dependence. He said building or widening roads creates more traffic. He said communities need to be friendly to pedestrians, bicycles, and transit. Bus service needs to be more frequent and reach more places; the light rail system should be expanded; commuter rail needs to be built as well as high-speed rail. He said that regarding light rail, the emphasis should be on the alignment between Vancouver, Washington, and the Rose Quarter. He said that is where the ridership is. He said the recent proposal put that as the lowest priority and one that might not ever be built. He said if light rail is extended to the south, either 1st Avenue and the Hawthorne Bridge should be used as an interim solution to reaching downtown, or keep the alignment on the east side entirely, running along Water Avenue. He said ridership on the east side alignment jumped dramatically when the westside opened up. He said part of that is increased frequency, which generates much higher ridership. Another part relates to connectivity--to the fact that the lines represent more of a system. He said having a system is the key to ridership. He encouraged people to read a book called “Conservatives and Mass Transit.”

Bob Behnke, 11895 SW Burnett Lane, Beaverton, OR 97008. Mr. Behnke said he has lived in the southwest part of the area for the past 23 years. He said he 20 years ago he was asked by the governor of Hawaii to investigate the potential for rail in Hawaii. As part of that task, he traveled around the United States investigating rail lines. He said all over the country, rail lines overestimate ridership and underestimate costs. He said the reason is that most of the population and job growth occurs in suburbs. He said no city can afford the visions. He said he lived in Bangkok and it had a cheap jitney system. He said it would be possible to do the same thing here if only people were willing to work for $30 a month. He said new technology make other solutions possible. He said jitneys operated in Portland during the depression. They ran along the trolley lines and charged the same price as the trolleys. He said suburban land developers and electric companies got the jitney service outlawed--including some good reasons--in order to promote sprawl. However, the idea could be revived. He said Portland has a good wireless communication system. With technology such as Palm Pilot, a good jitney system could be developed. He said the federal government has done some market research on this and the results are promising. He said instead of running a fixed rail system running downtown, other systems could be developed without putting in any more roads.

Jim Howell, AORTA, 3325 NE 45th, Portland, OR 97213, made five points: 1) Defeat of the light rail is not a call for more freeways. He said to verify this, ask property owners to pay for the next freeway project with property taxes. 2) A better and more efficient bus systems needs to be built. Tri-Met needs to do this now. In the past 13 years, Tri-Met has reduced bus service. The light rail has been built, which has increased ridership, but the bus service has stagnated. It must be improved in terms of frequency, hours of operation, and connectivity. The light rail needs more cars and more frequent service. 3) The infrastructure out there should be used efficiently. HOV lanes should be put on major freeway. The heavy rail needs to be used for commuter service and to increase connectivity. A rail runs across the river, which could be used now. Rail serves many of the small communities right now. 4) If light rail is pursued, stick to the north and go to Vancouver. Going to Kenton makes no sense. He said the line does not need to go nine miles north of Vancouver; it just needs to go to downtown Vancouver. 5) The voter’s approval in 1994 could be used to build the same alignment as proposed, but the costs would need to be kept to the levels approved then.

Betty Bolz, 7305 SW Trillium Ave., Beaverton, OR 97008-5751. Ms. Boltz said she moved down here from Seattle in 1984. She said Tri-Met needs improving. She said sidewalks need improving so people can get to the bus stops. Bus stops need more shelters, yet the shelters are being removed.

Paul H. Keller, 5605 SW 90th Ave., Portland, OR 97225. Mr. Keller said he had hoped to learn why people were so totally dedicated to a light rail system. He said light rail will not work unless there are a lot of people going from one destination to another. The area is spread out, and that is a problem. Light rail will not solve that problem. He said the true cost of MAX are $15 to $75 per trip per person. The east side MAX is about $10 per person. He said fares do not cover that. The fares are subsidized. He said to solve transportation problems, everything needs to be considered. He said jitneys work in foreign countries. He said they are a private operation. He said in New York City, some congestion has been relieved somewhat by authorizing 20 new jitneys. Opposition has come from taxi drivers. He said more HOV lanes needed to be put in. He said if you put rails on real estate and spend billions of dollars, you will not solve the problem. You need to think creatively and remember that it is the public’s money that you are playing with even if it comes from the federal government.

Gerard Mildner, Portland State University (USP), PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207. Dr. Mildner submitted hard copy of his overhead presentation (attached to this record). He said he wanted to emphasize six things on which he believed the transportation committee needed to focus: 1) The bus system is relatively inexpensive and allows movement from point to point cheaper than light rail. The good markets are where people tend to be low income (inner cities) and where parking is expensive (downtown Portland). He said they should focus on frequency so people don’t have to wait; they should follow up on Tri-Met’s fast link plan from a number of years ago; they should offer off-peak discounts. He said people have complained that buses are geared to the rush hour and not off-peak times. There is no incentive to the bus system to choose off-peak. 2) Focus on HOV lanes. The experiment on I-5 North is working very well. The reopening of the Hawthorne Bridge in March could easily be made into an HOV-only facility during rush hour and other highway lanes could also be utilized for HOV to promote both car pooling and transit. Car pooling gets over twice as many passengers as transit in this region and has no subsidy from the taxpayer. 3) Focus on congestion pricing for expressways. There is already a Metro project underway for congestion pricing and we should consider that as a way of funding the South Willamette Bridge crossing that is being considered. [Editor’s Note: Dr. Mildner skipped number 4.] 5) Focus on better ways to improve auto pollution. Most of the reductions we have seen in the last 20-30 years have been as a result of new standards for new cars being implemented. Cars built prior to 1975 are not tested and there are lower standards for cars built between 1975 and 1990 and all cars should be tested against the same standard. He echoed comments from Mr. Howe and Mr. Benke regarding competitive transit. He said one of the ways to reduce the cost of mass transit was to require Tri-Met to contract out certain bus lines and allow private entrepreneurs who could offer it at a lower cost for similar levels of service currently offered by Tri-Met. This system is used in many countries and other cities in the US. 6) he said the taxi market should be deregulated and we should promote jitney service and shared ride service.

Gayle Hughes, 2722 SE Hollyhock Court, Hillsboro, OR 97123 said thank you for light rail to Hillsboro and said she rode it every day. She noted some things that would be helpful for the service. She said the people in south Hillsboro lost all their good bus service when the light rail went in and they had to drive to a park and ride. She would appreciate having the bus service back as service is awful now. She supported light rail to the airport. She supported the Talgo trains as fast and convenient. She noted water boats were great in Venice.

Trip Allen, 9645 SW Buckskin Terrace, Beaverton, Or 97008 spoke about roadway problems like the ODOT signs at $250,000 each that tell drivers nothing. A more recent issue with him was taxes spent on transportation. He was troubled that when the Beaverton High School band played for the westside MAX opening, the politicians got all the attention including a free ride on the train but the kids were not even acknowledged as participating in the event. He noted that lots of people move around Disney World without automobiles. He urged monorail discussions for our local transportation system as cheaper and cleaner. He supported MAX as well as other creative solutions such as streetcars, jitneys and water taxis. He was opposed to remedial ideas such as expanded freeways and westside bypasses.

Michael Doane, 19155 SW Oak St., Aloha, OR 97007 suggested that we need to remember in the transit and planning policies the people whose quality of life they were trying to improve. He felt we could learn from what was happening on the westside. His first concern was that rail was not the 100% solution. It takes longer to get into town and the express bus was cut when the rail went in. He said he also has to wait 8-10 minutes between transfers. He was disturbed by the park and rides seeming to serve no particular infrastructure but appearing to be built in the middle of nowhere. He noted the Sunset Transit Center where the parking was not adequate to serve all the riders in the area and was not near the TV Highway for the bus service available there. He noted decreased bus service for the area since the opening of the light rail.

Tom Hughes, 2722 SE Hollyhock Court, Hillsboro, OR 97123 spoke about the political system involved in transportation. He said a sound transportation proposal that had a chance of voter approval was the important piece. He felt there was a trend towards low voter turnout even with mail in ballots. That low voter turnout tended to lean towards a “no vote rich” electorate. There was also a need for many taxing districts to go with bond proposals at the general and primary elections. That need will not go away. The result is the voter is confronted with a choice: schools or light rail, parks or light rail, police or light rail. He felt the voters in the last election were saying they did not want to buy the whole menu,but they would take what they needed most. He felt part of the difficulty in that was that it focused on light rail. He said there was a need not to pit light rail against the other things on the ballot, but transportation needs against the other things on the ballot to develop some kind of comprehensive omnibus transportation package that looked at other alternatives. He suggested looking at an incremental approach to building the north/south route for light rail and include a comprehensive approach to solving a corridor problem that included funding for additional surface streets and other alternatives that had been discussed tonight. That would broaden the base of support and eliminate the conflict where transportation users competed with each other. He felt a majority of people supported light rail but it needed to be repackaged.

Councilor Park asked if the reality of the funding at the federal level was that the money was available for 2 years or less and was earmarked for a particular line, what would he suggest so as not to lose that funding.

Mr. Hughes said that funding formula provided about twice as much federal match as was customary in other parts of the country so it was a sweet deal. He was not sure but thought part of the solution might be looking at building the whole system but look at ways to make it be more cost effective.

Robert W. Boulware, Sellwood Moreland Improvement League, 1216 SE Tenino St., Portland, OR 97202 said their neighborhood plan was predicated on the light rail serving the neighborhood. He said do not assume that meant he supported light rail because he did not because if fiscal, environmental and infrastructure constraints were not respected and ethics, equity, environment and economics did not balance it was not a good thing. He said the Sellwood neighborhood plan was to put high density housing in the Johnson Creek flood plain where there was 3’ of water in 1996. He said the idea of putting low income housing in a flood plain violated ethics and environmental constraints. He suggested if you want to spend money on light rail please consider the opportunity costs, in other words, what are you giving up. If some of that money was spent on buses, it would increase bus service by 25%. He felt Metro should stop servicing growth and start serving the constituency who was actually living there now. He noted he saw light rail lines being put down where there were no people living now which only made for nice rail related speculative real estate. He noted the farmland used up in the UGB. He commented to Councilor Bragdon that since he now worked for the people of District 7 and had severed all ties with the Port of Portland who dropped toxic silt into the Willamette River, he could redeem himself by taking a leadership role and using whatever means necessary to get that toxic silt out of there.

Rory Renfro, 10685 SW Lucas Drive, Tualatin, OR 97068 said he was a transportation planning student in Phoenix. He had come to realize that freeways were not the answer to growth. He felt a westside bypass or freeway was not a good idea because it would only bring more traffic and pollution. He felt the best thing to do was to fix what we had now. He suggested carpooling lanes were a good thing to focus on. He was disappointed that light rail went down and said since it was defeated by such a slim margin that it should be pursued by asking people what was wrong with that plan. He also suggested express buses. He said more consistent bus service was needed.

Rob Fisch, 2116 SE Sherman St., Portland, OR 97214 said the best places he had lived in his life were places where he did not need to rely on an automobile to get around. He said he would prefer to see money spent on more buses, easier bicycle access and better pedestrian facilities rather than spending disproportionately on automobile transit. He supported light rail but felt the current system was not optimal. He added that the westside light rail did give him more flexibility in getting to work but actually took about 10 minutes longer than the express buses used to. In regard to the light rail proposals, he said he had no sense of what was in the future for the light rail and wished he could see it as part of something larger that they were building towards.

John Leeper, 11160 SW Muirwood, Portland, OR 97225 appreciated the listening pose and supported north/south rail and felt it needed some close study before being resubmitted for another vote. He also supported light rail to the airport and westside light rail. He felt that the westside light rail had been overwhelmed by its success and needed more trains on the line to keep up with the demand. He noted a study on revised bus service to light rail stations and said there was a need to look at that again and increase bus service to different areas that did not get included in last Septembers addition. He supported increased road connections for north/south in Washington. He strongly recommended that Metro develop in the next 9-12 months a transportation plan and publish it so they did not continuously study it and get on with it. It was hanging up other communities’ plans waiting for the Metro plan.

John Poer, 18805 NE LaPine, Portland, OR 97229 said assume that the north/south line was not passed, he said the one very important thing that would make sure it would work was to make sure each arterial and freeway had its lanes open 100% o the time and not closed to detours, lane closures, pothole crews and the like. It was important to keep the roads open all the time for traffic. He noted that people should be able to expect that the roads would last 30+ years before needing work. It has been proved it can be done. Continuing freeway construction was not acceptable and did not need to happen. He said concrete highways were the answer to the problem as proven by ODOT studies.

Wes Risher, 6840 SW 7th Ave., Portland, OR 97219 felt Tri-Met’s board should have been present to hear their shortfalls that the Metro Council had a lot to do with. He felt maybe Metro should take over Tri-Met because they were getting the shortfall of Tri-Met’s inability to serve its citizens. He said he was a daily user of Tri-Met and did not own a car. He supported south/north light rail but had severe reservations about the property tax burden he would take on in that support. He felt the federal support for alternative transportation should be looked into more. He said transit ridership had not been well calculated. He said studies he had seen were based on 1990 values. Without good ridership numbers it was not possible for Tri-Met to see where they needed transit shelters. He noted no shelters had been added in 5 years although some had been taken out. He said Tri-Met and Metro should look at a way to get people to invest in the corridor for land use options and get ridership in the area with 5 minute headway and then move into light rail.

Councilor Bragdon commented that although Mr. Risher was modest about his credentials, he was active in a neighborhood association that had done a lot of creative things with transportation, growth management and sidewalks. He had put lots of time on the project.

Co-Chair Washington assured everyone that there were representatives of Tri-Met present and the information people were sharing was being taken back to Tri-Met.

Mr. Risher said he intended to e-mail his concerns to Tri-Met also.

Joe Blowers, 2050 SW 78th Ave., Portland, OR 97225 said he had spent the entire day without getting in a car and would not have to use his car to get home that night. He noted that he had ridden his bike to work that morning for exercise on the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway which had excellent bike lanes until the Schools Ferry/Beaverton-Hillsdale intersection which was not bike friendly. He went through the Safeway parking lot to get around it but worried that a child on a bike would not think about going around like that. He said later on he rode light rail to go to Portland State but to get to the light rail station at Sunset he had to brave either Canyon Road or the Sunset Highway which were both very bike unfriendly if you do not know shortcuts through parking lots and neighborhoods. He noted there was an excellent pedestrian overpass there, though. Downtown Portland was bike friendly but Beaverton was not. He also challenged everyone present to take light rail from downtown to Beaverton and then try to navigate from the light rail station to the Beaverton City Hall across Canyon Road, Farmington Road and Broadway. He said there were lots of barriers to nonathletic people. He would like to see eliminating such barriers a priority so the system would work for all people.

Councilor Atherton asked Mr. Risher for the rate of growth for Tri-Met at this time.

Mr. Risher said he could not say and did not believe the Tri-Met staff could say either. They counted heads boarding periodically throughout the year but they truly did not have a good count of boarding.

Councilor Atherton asked about the amount that Tri-Met had been investing into increasing their service, not necessarily their ridership.

Mr. Risher said he did not have those numbers but he was sure they were out there.

Councilor Atherton said he was asking was because there were air quality maintenance plans for the region that had been certified by EPA and DEQ and the attainment of that air quality required a 1.5% grant of increase in investment or service.

Mr. Risher said he was a DEQ employee and had worked on those plans and ventured to say that the westside light rail had met that requirement for the Portland/Vancouver airshed.

Mr. Feeney from Tri-Met said they had been able to increase the 1.5% of service every year. He said there had been steady ridership increases for about the last 65 months. They had been adding service hours every year, about 1.5% minimum.

Chuck Creamer, CPO #1, 1350 NW 131st Ave., (Cedar Mill) Portland, OR 97229 said freeways in the Portland area did not rate as well as in other places, particularly on the west side where the bypass system had been studied to death. He said the Sunset Highway should have been a showcase but was always inadequate. He said they were promised that when light rail came in it would turn into something beautiful because the money was not available before. He said 217 had been built piecemeal and had been rough most of the time also. He pointed out there were a lot of places that could use protective crosswalks. He said metered entry lights help some but he felt they backed up traffic so you couldn’t even get onto the ramp sometimes. He said it took twice as long to get to downtown, and there should be some kind of bus loop.

Jody Carson, 1296 12th St., West Linn, OR 97068 said her main concern was around connectivity. She said south north light rail was a wonderful concept but if you could not get to it, it would not help a whole lot. She said it was not easy to connect to the light rail lines and how to get people to the light rail line should be a focus of planning. She said it could be solved by a number of approaches including a transit loopway around the city where some of the communities would be connected and then could connect into the light rail. Then jitneys and shuttles could connect from the outlying communities to transit stations. She thought high speed rail from Vancouver to Eugene was a possibility with a stop in Oregon City. Also a water taxi option was a good one. She said pedestrian and bike paths also needed to be addressed.

Vincent Dimone, 21487 SW Gregory Drive, Beaverton, 97006 said there was confusion regarding jurisdictions and bureaucracies and the overlap of Washington County and the Cities of Hillsboro and Beaverton and Metro and Tri-Met authorities. He urged consideration to clarify that for the citizens. He said transportation included access and mobility. He said there were many bike paths but many were unsafe and poorly painted. He worried about kids riding in the bike paths in the evening hours. He said freeways separate neighborhoods and do not improve the quality of life for the region. He felt improving bike paths and jitneys were answers. He spoke of lower income families who needed light rail for jobs. Many of them have no cars and struggle along the TV Highway at night to get from place to place. There is no sidewalk or bus shelters. He said please consider needs of the underprivileged who really need mass transit.

Co-Chair Washington told Mr. Dimone that Beth Anne Steele would get some maps for him defining the boundaries of the various jurisdictions.

Jon Putman, 6960 SW Clinton, Tigard, OR 97223 said his access point to the city was the 12 line which for a number of years was an articulated line most of the time which gave very poor access but now the articulated buses which did not have lifts were gone and he was now able to ride the 12 on a regular basis except for a couple of times in the morning when the articulated buses ran. He said he had not ridden in a car today either. He said public transit worked but needed to go faster than a car. He said there was no incentive to take mass transit when it was slower because it was crowded and communal. He said one way to make mass transit better was to stop treating it like it was an alternative but a product. He said he did not believe that the no vote on light rail was so much a no vote for the light rail as it was a vote of the new way to vote to tell public servants what the people wanted them to do. He said under the new scenario the voter made his decision differently than he used to.

Fred Nussbaum, 6510 SW Barnes Road, Portland, OR 97225 was concerned about the transportation future of the Portland area. He also felt the no vote on 2674 was not a vote against light rail per se but a vote against a particular badly put together project. He felt it was a challenge to take another stab at it and should be looked at as a north south plan instead of a south north plan. He said a systematic approach to high capacity corridors was needed but had not made it into the planning because all the eggs were in the south north basket which would have only solved a small portion of the area’s needs. He felt the focus of the first phase should be on the north portion of the line and then look at other low cost solutions. He said if they could look at expanding a highway which would be in direct competition with the light rail, why could they not look at a supplementary rail solution that would make even more sense and get more people out of their cars. He said he would submit additional written testimony.

Donis McArdle, 9005 NW Cornell, Portland 97229 said light rail would never work unless there was something to get people from point “A” to the light rail. She said the bus system was grossly understated. She said if the light rail money had been spent on improving the existing roads and putting on more buses and improved the current buses and add jitneys, they could have gone a long way to solving the transportation problems of the region. She said if light rail had to be subsidized then they should get the most for their money. She felt part of the problem was that none of the contractors had ever been held to the bid they had given. She noted the contractor who had put a bridge in the wrong place on Cedar Hills Boulevard and had actually gotten paid for both bridges, even though it was his mistake. Another issue was the coast highway. The contractor was supposed to be charged for every day he exceeded his project. The weather only took a week from him and ODOT paid him for the entire late project and no one was holding anyone responsible for themselves. She said Metro needed to be totally up front and honest about the cost of the project and what it would really cost the average citizen, even maintenance and improvements that would be needed to make the project work.

Co Chair Washington asked for anyone else to testify. No one came forward so he adjourned the meeting at 10: 15 pm.