Oregon
Jets no longer run solely on fuel derived from petroleum, thanks in part to Colorado-based Red Rock Biofuels. They signed contracts with FedEx and Southwest Airlines for "renewable jet fuel" that is derived from wood-based biomass.
The Denver Post - Business
The city of Portland has allocated funding for the purchase of land reported to be under consideration as the new location of a large homeless camp called Right 2 Dream Too.
The Oregonian
Forget Hollywood's proclivity for destroying Los Angeles and San Francisco in movies like San Andreas—the greatest seismic threat in North America is in the Pacific Northwest.
The New Yorker
The newest addition to the city of Portland's Street Seats program is the result of a student team of designers and builders from Portland State University.
Portland State University
Eric Jaffe's July 1 article in CityLab has 18 reasons, and not one in opposition. The date is significant as it marks the official kickoff of the Oregon Road Usage Charge program.
CityLab
It makes economic sense: increase supply in desirable areas to match demand. These articles look at some of the factors complicating that story in on the west coast.
City Observatory City Commentary
The Associated Press reports that while the exact details of the compromise plan that involve an 11.9-cent gas tax increase have yet to be released, the deal affects Gov. Jay Inslee's proposed low carbon fuel standard.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Portland is picking up momentum on fitful long-term planning efforts along the east bank of the Willamette River.
The Oregonian
Yes, vehicles have become more fuel efficient, but a just-released report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that inflation is 3.5 times more responsible for the decline in the purchasing power of the gas tax.
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Oregon may end its low carbon fuel standard, one of two in the nation, to increase the gas tax by four cents and implement a bevy of clean fuel alternatives to replace the three-month-old clean fuels program.
The Oregonian
Vermont's Transportation Secretary points to increased fuel efficiency as reason to look for an alternative revenue option, favoring Oregon's Road Usage Charge. Meanwhile, U.S. DOT reactivated its "ticker" to warn of funding cutoff after July 31.
VPR
A Hummer weighs 2.6 times more than a Prius C, so it must contribute that much more to road wear, right? Actually, that's wrong, not even close. To understand the main cause of road wear, one must look at heavy, not light trucks.
OReGO Communications
To curb suburban "sprawl on steroids" and foster higher density infill in Portland, a shift in planning strategy is needed, according to Rick Potestio, the principal of Potestio Studio, an architecture and design firm based in the city.
UrbDeZine
The affordance theory, a combination of environment psychology and art, can be tapped to help make the design of urban neighborhoods more appealing to a community, writes Phil Myrick, MIG’s head of placemaking and performance design.
UrbDeZine
Inside the deal that could open a huge swatch of highly protected Oregon coastal land to a developer with plans for a golf course.
The Oregonian
Long one of the rosiest of transit services in the country, thanks to low fares and its status as progenitor of a streetcar renaissance of sorts, changes are coming to the Portland Streetcar.
Progressive Railroading
On op-ed in the Oregonian makes the case for Portland to design and build a unique architectural icon that differentiates the city from its rivals in the Pacific Northwest.
The Oregonian
The Trust for Public Land released its 2015 ParkScore today, ranking the 75 largest U.S. cities on the metrics of acreage, facilities and investment, and access.
Trust for Public Land
Ben Adler of Grist makes a convincing case of why we should stick with gas taxes and not switch to a road usage charge, as Oregon will do July 1 in a limited program. Tax what you burn, not by how much you drive, he argues, to get the best results.
Grist
A powerful realty group fears tolls will 'marginalize' downtown Montreal, so they propose a regional kilometer-traveled-fee to finance the new Champlain Bridge.
La Presse
