Oregon

Ground-level retail is often seen as essential for activating urban streets. But what happens when developers have a hard time finding tenants? In Portland, vacant spaces are being converted into ground-level apartments to meet high housing demand.

December 17, 2013 - The Oregonian

The auto fleet is becoming greener - not just with hybrids and electric vehicles, but all new vehicles are required to be more fuel efficient. While that is good for the environment, declining gas tax revenues threaten the nation's infrastructure.

December 11, 2013 - PBS NewsHour

Don't ever accuse Rep. Earl Blumenauer of not thinking big. Accompanying his gas tax increase bill, he has proposed a bill to study ways to charge drivers by the miles they drive. One takes care of the funding problem now, the other in the future.

December 5, 2013 - The Hill's Floor Action Blog

Officials in Oregon, New York, and California have embraced crowdfunding as a way to push forward with environmental projects in a time of constrained budgets. Though the emerging tool is attractive to many, others see danger.

November 21, 2013 - Governing

State DOTs generally have not been viewed as the most progressive forces in transportation, often perceived primarily as road builders. So a recent "challenge" to drive less, if only for 12 days, came as a surprise. But hey, it's Oregon!

November 19, 2013 - AASHTO Journal

With smartphone use eclipsing 60% of mobile subscribers, "distracted walking" is a growing problem in communities across the United States. Portland is testing out several technologies to prevent pedestrians from walking in front of buses.

November 4, 2013 - Governing

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown has made climate protection a centerpiece of his policy agenda, yet he has also embraced the controversial technology of fracking to tap his state's huge shale oil reserves by signing SB 4. He explains his position here.

November 2, 2013 - San Jose Mercury - Science

Not only are car-oriented environments ugly, they're costly from an environmental, health, and public investment standpoint. Elly Blue finds that for comparative pennies, bike-friendly cities get happier, healthier, and less broke residents.

October 29, 2013 - The Guardian

Take a ride with NPR's Jane Greenhalgh on one of "the most scenic rides in America", according to host, Steve Inskeep. Patients, staff, and visitors to Ore. Health and Science University enjoy the free, aerial tram ride to the top of a Portland hill.

October 28, 2013 - NPR

With Oregon set to implement their vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee program, Streetsblog's Tanya Snyder provides answers to ten questions, including the privacy challenge, that she posed to ODOT’s Jim Whitty, architect of the program.

October 14, 2013 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Come November, 11 of Colorado's 64 counties, mostly in northeast, will vote to form a new state. Jack Healy explores what's behind the 51st State Initiative, what set it off, as well as other secession movements, mostly by rural areas in the U.S.

October 10, 2013 - The New York Times - U.S.

While bike commuting is gaining nationwide, it's actually dropping in Portland which has held the enviable title of tops in bike commuting for large cities since 2005. Minneapolis and Seattle, #2 and #3 respectively, are gaining, warns BikePortland.

September 26, 2013 - BikePortland

The Calif. Air Resources Board received uplifting news from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week when they rejected the charge that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, designed to reduce carbon intensity in fuel, impeded interstate commerce.

September 20, 2013 - Reuters

As a nation, we are driving less, but we are increasingly stuck in traffic. What explains this paradox? Using Portland as an example, where driving peaked in 2004, Joseph Rose attempts to explain with lots of help from transportation experts.

September 20, 2013 - The Oregonian

A transportation study group is rolling out a proposal to place a .7%, 10-year general sales tax on the 2014 ballot with two-thirds of the revenue going for roads and one-third for transit. The state's 22-cent gas tax hasn't been raised since 1991.

September 11, 2013 - The Denver Post

Portland launches first U.S. mobile ticketing apps to enable mass transit riders to buy tickets with their iPhone and Android smartphones.

September 6, 2013 - Engadget

In this opinion piece on how to pay for roads, Noel Popwell gives 5 reasons for switching from gas tax to vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee revenue collection - even if the Highway Trust Fund wasn't facing insolvency next year. Obama is opposed to it.

August 18, 2013 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

On a recent trip to Portland, land use attorney Bill Adams couldn't help but make comparisons to redevelopment efforts elsewhere. He found 7 tangible areas in which Portland shines through its copious clouds.

August 1, 2013 - UrbDeZine.com

Surveys of parking use in multifamily buildings across Cascadia have quantified the extent to which parking requirements have 'force fed' more spaces into projects than developers would provide based on demand. Alan Durning examines the implications.

July 30, 2013 - Sightline Daily

With the impending bankruptcy of the Highway Trust Fund in October, 2014, a House Transportation & Infrastructure subcommittee invited two transportation experts - one from CBO the other from DOT, to lay out the stark facts - but did it do any good?

July 28, 2013 - Truckinginfo.com