#Freetransit cleaned the air and made Portland a #publictransit city

KGW.com: "TriMet started Fareless Square in 1975 in response to the federal Clean Air Act. The idea was that offering free public transportation in downtown Portland would cut down on carbon monoxide in Portland.

It worked. In 2008, TriMet said carbon monoxide was no longer a pollution problem in downtown Portland.

TriMet also saw a huge jump in ridership as Portlanders began to adopt a consistent use of public transportation, leading to the city’s status as a center for public transit today."

A teaspoon of #publictransit to make the #autosprawlsubsidy go down

OPB : " The bulk of the money would go toward untangling highway choke points on key freight and commuter routes, including along most of the freeways in the Portland area. The package also contains funding for mass transit, although lawmakers specified it would not go toward expanding light rail. There’s also money in the package for bicycle and pedestrian paths and seismic upgrades to earthquake-vulnerable bridges."

Trump’s transportation cuts will hurt communities

HeraldNet: "Increase traffic congestion. Traffic congestion already costs our nation an estimated $160 billion annually in lost time and fuel, and it will only get worse without public transit investments."

Letter points out that Trump's trillion dollar "infrastructure" plan doesn't make sense if congestion is just going to get worse. To answer, the plan is just a giveaway to domestic and foreign private interests, so there will be a lot of "fixing," but not much repairing.

One could add that if making all current urban buses fare-free could save 20% on congestion alone, it would pay for itself.

Anchorage - #autosprawl meltdown, people begging for buses

The Echo News: "One woman who shared she is disabled and whose name was difficult to hear without microphones, related that she will have to walk a half a mile more. Another person related that the new routes will cause her to walk further, but with the winter condition of the city sidewalks, she’ll be walking in the street as she already has to walk on top of sidewalks covered with tall piles of snow."

Boise choked by cars, studies problem five years and discovers buses

KTVB.COM: ""Everyone sees what's been happening in downtown Boise in recent years and they understand that over time we're running out of room for building more lanes, we’re running out of room for building more parking spaces," said Journee.

That's why Journee says people need new transportation options for moving around the city and within the downtown area.

One of the ways the city would do that would be with a circulator.

"This is very specific to downtown this would be something that someone could wait for for a few minutes at a stop and hop on and take them to a very specific place downtown," he said.

In October, the city completed a five-year-long alternatives analysis of how the circulator would work."

Utah should use #freetransit to fight bad air

Jesse Ruins Utah’s Air – UVU Review: "For starters, on days that it gets to be so bad that it is classified as a “red air day,” the state should offer free public transportation with UTA busses, Frontrunner and Trax. It would be a class act move from Utah, but it is something that I don’t see happening in the near future."

Upthegrove calls for free, expanded late night public transportation on Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve holidays

Ballard News-Tribune: "King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove introduced legislation to advocate for free and expanded public transportation service on the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve holidays to reduce drunk driving. Last year, the Washington State Patrol made 24 arrests for driving under the influence on New Year’s Eve and 223 arrests over a five-day period around the Fourth of July."

Why does bike share fail in US, but succeed in Taipei? A: #publictransit

Seattle Bike Share system is being shut down : TreeHugger: "Bike share systems are not free and they are not toys; they are part of the transportation system. If the network is big enough and properly designed, people will use it instead of public transport (often overcrowded) and instead of driving. It is never going to be a profit center any more than the roads themselves are. "

In Taipei, buses are everywhere, convenient, and affordable. US cities should invest in buses. Make them fare-free to speed things up. Then bike share will work.

#Autosprawl bill is due in Oregon - cars before people

Northwest Public Radio: "Among Brown’s stated priorities was a package that would pay for highway and mass transit improvements. One suburban Republican lawmaker, Julie Parrish, tweeted during the speech that she'd support a package only if it widened I-205 in the Portland area."