I am well over a month into my cross country journey, and one thing I have noticed is that there is traffic congestion everywhere. It doesn’t matter what state I’ve been in, I’ve run into traffic in all of them. Traffic sucks, and it is only getting worse.
One of the cities I recently visited, Portland, Oregon, has been making moves to become more sustainable. But like many river cities, bridges are an integral part of the traffic equation. A proposal by the city council has been approved to widen six-lane I-5 bridge to Vancouver, Washington to 12 lanes. The project is called the Columbia River Crossing. It is projected to cost $3.6 billion, and in reality, will probably cost much, much more, both in actual costs and increased traffic/lost time. But I may have a better idea.
Portland’s Mayor, Sam Adams, has written here on Gas2.org previously about making Portland into a sustainability leader in the US. A 12-lane bridge expansion doesn’t exactly mesh with those plans, as it will merely allow more traffic into Portland. I enjoyed my time in Portland, and the public transportation system and bike lanes are top notch. But public transportation alone will not be enough to cut down on commuters.
A study commissioned by Adams reveals that a smaller, 10-lane bridge would cost $50 million less and ease traffic almost as well as a 12-lane bridge. An 8-lane bridge would require 37% of the 134,000 commuters that cross the I-5 bridge daily to carpool to work. Only 3% (about 4,100 people) do so now. Here is where I had my idea.
$4 billion is a lot of money. You could build a bridge and employ some people for a few years, but it is at the end of the day a money pit. Even with tolls, it would take decades to recoup the money spent on expanding the bridge. Instead, call city business leaders together, sit them down, and tell them that they need to get their workers to carpool. Set realistic, achievable goals for reducing the number of cars crossing the bridge. Offer financial incentives to companies who get workers to carpool. Set up neighborhood car pool systems. Even better, get companies to have workers telecommute, or cut down on the number of days they come in to the office.
It isn’t something that will fix itself over night, but give the plan one year and $1 billion of the bridge budget and see what happens. This way the money actually goes back into the hands of businesses and (hopefully) the community at large. Basically, you’re paying people to be sustainable. Is bribery the most noble way of going about greening a city? No. But the other option, a $4 billion bridge with tolls and years of traffic doesn’t sound nearly as bad as cramming into a car with four other co-workers.
It is just an idea. Some of you will probably find a problem with it. But, if you’ve got a better idea, I’d love to hear it, and I bet the citizens of Portland wouldn’t mind hearing some alternatives too.
Source: Columbia River Crossing
Image Credit: StuSeeger’s Flickr Photostream
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About Christopher DeMorro
There are a lot of incentives for car pooling. When a chunk of the Oakland Bay Bridge dropped a level during the earthquake in 1989, commuters formed ad hoc car pools to cross the limited number of lanes.
Suppose a commuter was forced to pay a high toll on each EMPTY seat in his or her vehicle. Provide enough park-ride parking close to the bridge to encourage a corps of riders to fill those expensive empty seats. Perhaps encourage riders to congregate in areas with signage that relates to their ultimate destination on the other side of the bridge. Voila! Full cars crossing the bridge and everyone gets to meet new friends.
There are a lot of incentives for car pooling. When a chunk of the Oakland Bay Bridge dropped a level during the earthquake in 1989, commuters formed ad hoc car pools to cross the limited number of lanes.
Suppose a commuter was forced to pay a high toll on each EMPTY seat in his or her vehicle. Provide enough park-ride parking close to the bridge to encourage a corps of riders to fill those expensive empty seats. Perhaps encourage riders to congregate in areas with signage that relates to their ultimate destination on the other side of the bridge. Voila! Full cars crossing the bridge and everyone gets to meet new friends.
Carpool lanes don’t work!. Having three cars pass bye at 60 MPH while 10,000 cars sit idling doesn’t sound like it is very efficient. I’m sure the car pool crowd will continue beating this dead horse.
Carpool lanes don’t work!. Having three cars pass bye at 60 MPH while 10,000 cars sit idling doesn’t sound like it is very efficient. I’m sure the car pool crowd will continue beating this dead horse.
How about a new 3 lane bridge with 6 foot high jersey barriers dividing each lane. One lane for two way bicycle traffic. AM southbound 2 lanes for buses and carpools >=3 ONLY! with one lane reserved on I5/405 to a MAX station. PM both lanes go north. Add the toll to the existing bridge and double it for 18 wheelers between 6AM and 7PM to encourage through trucks to take the 205 and local trucks to do business at night.
How about a new 3 lane bridge with 6 foot high jersey barriers dividing each lane. One lane for two way bicycle traffic. AM southbound 2 lanes for buses and carpools >=3 ONLY! with one lane reserved on I5/405 to a MAX station. PM both lanes go north. Add the toll to the existing bridge and double it for 18 wheelers between 6AM and 7PM to encourage through trucks to take the 205 and local trucks to do business at night.
Hey, Chris. Please with your website designers guys on these damn ads that keep popping over the comments. I was getting into what Bill was saying and then this damn Audi ad popped over and darkened everything. And there’s no “X” to close out the thing.
Hey, Chris. Please with your website designers guys on these damn ads that keep popping over the comments. I was getting into what Bill was saying and then this damn Audi ad popped over and darkened everything. And there’s no “X” to close out the thing.
@carpool doesn’t work:
It sounds like you are jealous of those 3 cars…
The amazing thing about carpool lanes is that they are free for anybody to use. Nothing is preventing those 10,000 idling drivers from asking their coworker or friend if they want to ride together. Then they get to drive 60mph too!
Would it be more efficient for those 10,000 idling cars to block all 3 lanes rather than just 2? There would still be 10,000 idling cars
@carpool doesn’t work:
It sounds like you are jealous of those 3 cars…
The amazing thing about carpool lanes is that they are free for anybody to use. Nothing is preventing those 10,000 idling drivers from asking their coworker or friend if they want to ride together. Then they get to drive 60mph too!
Would it be more efficient for those 10,000 idling cars to block all 3 lanes rather than just 2? There would still be 10,000 idling cars