OPINION: Other Forms of Transit Needed Here
By Tom Koenninger, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Jan. 17–On the north side of the Columbia River, it would seem few people believe there is any other form of transportation than four wheels with an engine and control mechanisms.
America’s love affair with the automobile has become a grotesque romance in Clark County.
Cars are everywhere, crowding and crashing into each other on jammed roads at rush hour day and night, and smothering travel lanes on two Columbia River bridges. Like swarms of homing pigeons, some 60,000 commuters cross to Portland daily, and try to return at night.
Mention light rail, a system that would take many single–occupancy vehicles off the road, and some go ballistic. The lame protest, “We defeated light rail in 1995 by public vote,” strongly implies it should never again be considered.
Near the south Columbia shoreline, Portland, a near and dear neighbor, has found many modes of mass transportation — light rail, streetcar, trolley and bus — and its lifestyle is better for it.
Displaying its flexibility, the Rose City has added a new mode — the Portland Aerial Tram.
Riding the tram from the South Waterfront at the new OHSU Center for Health and Healing building to Oregon Health & Science University’s main campus on Marquam Hill could be the glide to health or heaven. It’s that smooth. The tram covers 3300 feet in little more than three minutes, rising to 500 feet and offering spectacular views north, south and east. It will become a tourist’s delight.
Each of the two tram cars — one going up as the other comes down the hill — can hold 78 people.
The $57 million system will be available to the general public after grand-opening activities on Jan. 27 and 28.
Harry Lenhart, senior communications coordinator for OHSU, estimates 10,000 people have signed up for tram rides during two grand-opening days, and no more slots are available. After the general opening, the public can ride for an expected $4 round trip.
Talk about “green” planning: Motion of the tram generates enough electricity and heat to run it, according to OSHU sources.
Over each year’s operation, the tram should eliminate about two million vehicle miles, save 93,000 gallons of gasoline and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,000 tons.
The Portland streetcar is a connecting link for Tri-Met bus lines, the new OHSU Center for Health and Healing, and the tram station.
What’s more, the tram has allowed OHSU, with a jam-packed campus, to expand down the hill, near the Willamette River. It also sparked investments of millions of dollars in high-rise condominiums and other amenities in the South Waterfront district.
Yes, there was a cost issue, from an early estimate of $15 million to $57 million. OHSU is paying 70 percent, with the remainder being raised between South Waterfront property taxes and South Waterfront property owners’ fees.
On this side of the river
There are similar opportunities for Vancouver and Clark County.
The first is a creative mix of development and transportation, serving proposed waterfront developments in Vancouver, Camas and elsewhere. Jim Brown, Vancouver fire chief between 1975 and 1977, suggested a trolley or streetcar line along the waterfront many years ago. The second is strong consideration of a light-rail extension into Vancouver along the Interstate 5 freeway from the Expo Center two miles south. Light rail and bus rapid transit systems are being studied for the new Columbia River bridge. With the aid of federal funding, the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council is looking at mass transportation systems and routes through Clark county.
The time for blathering and blustering about light rail is past. It must receive endorsement as a 21st century form of high-capacity transportation. Electricity will be with us as long as the Columbia River flows to the sea. Electric-powered buses, but not fossil-fueled ones, could be a mass transit competitor.
Some means must be found to lure automobile drivers — especially the single-occupancy kind — to mass transit.
Hordes of cars, like locusts, will pester us, but their numbers can be lessened.
Tom Koenninger is editor emeritus of The Columbian. His column of personal opinion appears on the Other Opinions page each Wednesday. Reach him at tom.koenninger@columbian.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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