I hope you’re ready, because April will be a huge month for transportation policy in Oregon.
Any day now, lawmakers in Salem are expected to reveal the long-awaited transportation funding and policy bill (or at least a broad stroke outline). And on April 17th, transportation reformers from around the state will meet in Salem for Move Oregon Forward’s Advocacy Day. Then just one week later, on April 23rd through 25th, The Street Trust will host their annual Oregon Active Transportation Summit (OATS).
The funding bill should be very interesting. We’ll finally get to see the mix of funding sources the legislature believes to be ready for prime time. When it comes to new money, my money is on some type of e-commerce delivery fee, more bonding authority for ODOT, new fees on electric vehicles (including e-bikes), tying the gas tax to inflation, another toll pilot program, and maybe a mandate for some road users to join the OreGo pay-per-mile system. I’ve heard rumblings that lawmakers want to tweak the traditional 50/30/20 State Highway Fund (40 cents from every gallon of gas) formula where 50% goes to ODOT, 30% goes to counties, and 20% goes to cities; but that might be too political to stomach given the other heavy lifts the bill will face.
In a post today, The Street Trust said, “Whatever quilt lawmakers patch together to cover ODOT’s needs, it cannot leave our communities, transit agencies, or active transportation users out in the cold.”
I’m not sure what we’ll see in the bill and I’m eager to see what gets placed on the table.
To get plugged in, I would highly recommend signing up for the Advocacy Day. I attended in 2023 and it was really cool. You’ll meet other advocates, get some training on how to speak with lawmakers, then you’ll visit offices in the capitol to share your opinions. It’s democracy in action and with all the stuff going on in D.C. these days, it will feel really good to exercise that muscle.
OATS is sure to be a solid event. This year it will be held at the Hilton DoubleTree across from Holladay Park in the Lloyd. Expect the typical slate of keynote speakers, smart presenters, workshops, networking across many fields, and fun social events.
So gear up, stay tuned, and read those articles you’ve had bookmarked to make sure you’re up to speed on the latest news. It’s going to be an eventful month!
And if you need to decompress, the annual Ladds 500 is April 12th.
P.s. I’m getting a total knee replacement surgery on April 11th (and then another one on June 13th!), so I’ll be slowing down a bit. I’ll work as I can, but will probably miss a bunch of stuff too. We’ll see how recovery goes. Wish me luck.
Thanks for reading.
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I hope they pay for some trains.
And congrats/good luck on the knee replacement! Wishing you a speedy and smooth recovery!
My bet is on a statewide PCEF-type 5% indirect sales tax on all businesses making more than $100 million in Oregon sales, that Oregon voters won’t get to vote on.
Good luck on the knee surgery. I had knee surgery a month ago (although less intensive than what you will be doing), and it’s definitely not fun. Make sure you do your PT, and you’ll be back on a bike soon enough. With limited mobility post surgery, I found that having computer work to do kept me more focused and sane. You can only do so much reading/movie watching.
Good luck on the knee surgeries Jonathan!! I’ve had three repairs on one and one on the other, but not full replacements. Best wishes for a speedy and productive recovery!
The feds are allegedly dropping their list of (Biden era) grant projects that will be funded/not funded on 4/20 (ha ha) as well.
Judging from its title, I don’t need to read this article to have its intent to be objectionable. Multi-billion dollar ODOT and Tri-Met projects – Rose Quarter so-called “Improvement” BS; The SW Corridor MAX extension to Tigard Atrocity; The Columbia River I-5 Bridge Replacement FIASCO – These engineering stunts are a incredible examples of WASTE, FRAUD and ABUSE of authority and ruling class elitism.
Funding for the Rose Quarter so-called “Improvement” – the Columbia River Bridge replacement fiasco – the voter rejected SW Corridor MAX extension to Tigard and Tualatin monster of all three examples of inexcusably terrible engineering that puts the public in harm’s way some call reckless endangerment and when injury and fatalities occur some call that Negligent Homicide.
At the recent State transportation committee hearings, Kris Strickler began his 10 minute testimony with most important money concerns, ended with money concerns and in between was money for this project, that project and others. Not once did he address public safety concerns therefore committing “willful concealment of safety concerns” and “intentional misdirection of project studies to predetermined outcomes” – principally lucrative development unfortunately inappropriate locations (speeding heavy traffic leading to/from freeway on/off ramps.
If fthe projects weren’t objectionably flawed I’d be the first to support them and staff designers.
If you feel able to go there, I’d be interested in a moderate length story on how a knee transplant subject arrives at that point in life, and at that decision. Is riding too much, or too hard, a thing?
I wish you the best in your recovery!
Wow – good luck with your surgeries. You have mentioned in various forums that you have been slowing down, but I didn’t realize it had reached the point of total knee failure. Hope your recovery is fast and complete!
Given Trump’s 54% tariffs on China and 32% tariffs on Taiwan, I think it would be hilarious if the legislature passed an additional tax on e-bikes.