Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Feds to Rex: Transportation means ROADS!

The Federal Highway Administration is my new hero.

Rex Burkholder sent them Metro's draft update of the long range transportation plan. The feds rejected it, and sent back some juicy comments.

Basically they said: "Rex, we think that a regional transportation plan should actually try to plan for transportation."

Rex says: "Screw you."

OK, I am reading between the lines just a little. What the feds actually said was:

"It is difficult for us to find the transportation focus in this opening chapter of the Regional Transportation Plan. The plan should acknowledge that automobiles are the preferred mode of transport by the citizens of Porltand. They vote with their cars every day."
Rex's response? He said that the feds' comments should be "taken with a grain of salt."
Meaning, of course, that we should ignore them. Rex went on to say that the feds raise the same kind of questions that Metro will face as it moves forward with the plan.
Translation: Metro will have to railroad this through even though citizens want roads, not more traffic calming, one-way streets, light rail, and street cars.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rob,
They don't call him "BikeHolder" for nothing.

Troutdale Canfield said...

I guess I'll take Metro's density requirements in Troutdale with a grain of salt.

Anonymous said...

i wish, just once, the federal government would cut off transportation funding to metro or some other car-hating government.