The study argues that without a comprehensive plan to mitigate traffic, Oregon businesses could fall behind in the future.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
The study argues that without a comprehensive plan to mitigate traffic, Oregon businesses could fall behind in the future.
From a news release from the Portland Business Alliance:
Key report findings include:
- Additional transportation investments would generate 8,300 jobs, $1.1 billion in benefits, and a $2.40 return for every $1 of investment, by 2040.
- More than 346,000 jobs were transportation-related and transportation-dependent in Oregon in 2013.
- $300 billion worth of goods moved in Oregon on all modes of transportation in 2012.
- By 2040, the average Portland-metro household will experience nearly 70 hours of congestion annually, equating to nearly two weeks of time spent sitting in traffic.
- $920 million of Oregon annual economic output/sales would generated by businesses as a result of an improved transportation system by 2040.
Meanwhile, the Portland street fund has lost someone who was considered to be a key ally in commissioner Amanda Fritz.
According to the Portland Tribune, Fritz expressed interest in moving the vote to the 2016 election:
The progressive income tax would have exempted the poorest 40 percent or so of Portlanders from paying the fee at all. Fritz says the new proposal places to heavy a burden on the poor, even though the it was only $3 a month.
“I have many friends and constituents for whom even $3 per month would mean skipping a meal, or being unable to buy a bus ticket to get to work,” Fritz said. “Three dollars per month is $36 per year, more than the [$35 a year] Arts Tax which is also regressive. We should learn from past experience, and we should not solve one problem by making another struggle worse.”
But while the street fee is losing Fritz’s vote on the council, the PBA has switched its stance on the controversial legislation.
That’s because the business organization says it can live with the new residential fee unveiled by Novick last week. It replaces the progressive personal income tax with a gasoline-user fee, based on income. The charges range from $3 to $12 a month.
“Overall, we’re glad to see this move to a fee-based system. We hope this formula will work so we can all move forward with the important goal of fixing streets,” said PBA President and CEO Sandra McDonough.
Read more at the Portland Tribune.
