The city will use revenue from a 20-cent hike in street parking fees to subsidize transit and bike share passes for low-income residents.

A new 20 cent per spot “climate fee” for street parking in downtown Portland, Oregon is “intended to remind people of ‘the externalized costs of driving (including greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, and use of roadway space),’” writes Helen Huiskes in Willamette Week.
The fee was the brainchild of a city task force, which met for a year to find ways to “address the climate crisis by reducing driving, while also addressing the historic inequities in our transportation system,” says PBOT spokeswoman Hannah Schafer.
The fee is the first part of a package of strategies recommended by the task force. “Schafer says the bureau expects to raise $2 million in the first year, and use that money provide transit passes to people living in affordable housing and give Biketown rides to people receiving social services.” According to the article, “City Hall has not created exemptions for low-income drivers—although the task force suggested it try.”
FULL STORY: Parking Fee Hike Will Fund Low-Income Transit Rides

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
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