First,
Please take this transportation survey from the state of Oregon, house speaker
Second, get to know your lawmaker. Show up at PCC Cascade 10am Jan 28th ( Same link above)
Do you live near 9 lawmakers who set the fate of public transit?
ANSWER: Not if you live in Portland! Nobody near you sits on this key committee.
Please call your lawmaker (maps below ) and post your own reflections on ODOT failures
503-986-1870 Ask the clerk to transfer you.
Here are my reflections:
A) Our lawmakers assigned to the job are new and don’t use public transit
B) The managers of the Dept of Transportation are too focused on promoting people who drive alone. They also lie frequently.
C) ODOT is causing more deaths. ODOT does not act on #visionZero to reduce deaths to zero. 2016 saw nearly 500 dead on our roads, that’s an increase from previous years. It’s close to the 2003 record high of 520.
The house committee on transportation has 9 members. None live in Portland. None live in Multnomah county. Only one lives near 24 hour transit. Only 3 could get to Salem by walking to transit. 6 of 9 must use a personal vehicle to get from their remote homes to Salem.
Interactive Map.
Browse the homes of 9 lawmakers on the Transporation Committee
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Mj8jywAfCSR32bHySDfOiVfON_M&usp=sharing
As a bonus, I’ve compiled a timeline of ODOT and lawmaker lies
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2017 Portland Tribune
“the request for an independent staffer indicates “a complete disintegration of trust” between ODOT and the commission tasked with overseeing it:
“an independent review of ODOT’s management to ensure the agency is prepared to efficiently manage the influx of money. The nearly $1 million review by New York-based McKinsey & Co. is scheduled for completion by the end of February. ”
http://portlandtribune.com/bvt/15-news/340930-220573-rift-exposed-over-odot-oversight
2016
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ODOT Lied: “claimed that tens of millions of dollars in freeway investments would be part of reducing long-run carbon emissions in Oregon by more than 2 million metric tons.” Matt Garrett ODOT “Chief Under Fire for Claiming Highways Cut Emissions”
http://usa.streetsblog.org/2015/11/20/oregon-dot-chief-under-fire-for-claiming-highways-cut-emissions-2/
“ODOT faces ‘incompetence or dishonesty at the highest levels,’ former Metro president says”
ODOT faces ‘incompetence or dishonesty at the highest levels,’ former Metro president says
Video:
Bragdon: “It(CRC) did not add up..They continually stonewalled and through either incompetence or dishonesty at the highest levels of ODOT just refused to acknowledge” https://youtu.be/Pk1rW5S-S5A?t=1h5m29s
Video:
On the ODOT failure of a 2015 Transporation Bill – It “was old school, no performance measures” — “Big road widening at the edge of town” — “key projects for key legislators if they vote the right way”
https://youtu.be/Pk1rW5S-S5A?t=34m5s
2014
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Video
2014 The speaker of the Oregon house did not answer questions about the CRC. Activists were stonewalled. When you toss out lies, you have never answered a question. For years activists presented alternatives that were scaled down and phased in slowly.
The CRC freeway cost $200 million to plan a failed $10 billion project .
Oregon paid $200 million for consultants to construct the lies used to design the CRC. Most of these contractors were friends donors to lawmakers.
“The project will shut down completely by May 31, 2014.”
http://bikeportland.org/2014/03/07/the-zombie-is-finally-dead-odot-will-shut-down-crc-project-102623
Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist exposes many lies in the CRC freeway
http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-17566-a-bridge-too-false.html
– ODOT deleted reports that the CRC will last 60 years:
2013 Website: “These CRC bridges need to be replaced,”
2005 Website:: “With ongoing preservation, the bridges can serve the public for another 60 years.”
Here’s the 2005 Website that was deleted by ODOT but saved by the Tides Foundation Project Archive.org
http://web.archive.org/web/20100806211221/http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION1/interstate_bridges_elec/index.shtml
– The project cost of $3.5 billion is a myth, The real cost is $10 billion. The cost of construction was $3 to 5 billion , but you need to add $5-6 billion for bond interest and operational costs. video
Stonewalling on the CRC noted by a lawmaker Lew Frederick
“more of the questions asked, should have been answered”
Activists came up with an alternative to the CRC
for videos about the Common Sense Alternative see
http://tinyurl.com/csatalking
Map to find your lawmaker
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator/leg-districts.html