Fixing congestion must be a priority

By

The Portland Tribune, May 23, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

It was welcome news last week when the U.S. Department of Transportation publicly joined Portland area business and governmental leaders in acknowledging that mounting traffic congestion places an increasingly expensive chokehold on the economy and will cost the nation $200 billion a year in freight delays, lost commuter time and wasted fuel.

In Portland alone, it is estimated that unabated congestion will grow to cost the region $844 million annually within 20 years.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta last week said congestion is a national priority as he unveiled a plan to ease highway, freight and airport congestion.

The federal plan follows the December 2005 release of a Portland regional study that demonstrated the effects of congestion on the regional economy and commuters. Since then, regional business leaders and a growing number of government officials have said strategic investments can mitigate congestion and stimulate economic vitality. Portland’s efforts have gained national attention. Earlier this month, a Portland business delegation to Washington, D.C., was congratulated by Bush administration officials for sounding the alarm about the cost of congestion.

However, identifying the impact of congestion and reducing its increasingly negative consequences are two different things. For years, transportation investments typically have not focused on economic outcomes.

That should change now.

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