Your Input Is Needed This Saturday!
Dear Land Use & Transportation Committee Members & Community Partners,
An important transportation decision is happening right now! The Special Committee on Transportation Planning is holding open houses now to hear from you about tolls on regional interstate highways. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is required to listen and address the concerns raised by you and the public. Our partners at The Street Trust have prepared a handy guide to aide your testimony. We highly recommend you read it.
We need your public comments emphasizing these points:
- Traffic Demand Management: Tolling can effectively manage traffic demand, reduce congestion and prevent new traffic (“induced demand”).
- Build Community, Share Revenue: The community wants toll money to support public transit and safe streets for everyone. Urge that revenue go to local partners and support alternatives to driving, such as transit and biking, and avoid additional demands upon our freeways.
- Equity and Accountability in Tolling. Support the recommendations of ODOT’s Equitable Mobility Advisory Committee (EMAC) for a fair and equitable toll program. This includes using the 400% Median Family Income (MFI) threshold for the low-income toll program and insist that clear, measurable policies are followed.
- Community Impact Mitigation: Insist that a toll revenue-sharing program to help communities, especially those with low incomes or vulnerable populations, be developed by ODOT.
- Transparency and Communication: Urge ODOT to work closely and openly with the community on toll projects, sharing their data and decision-making processes clearly. Push for the use of the latest data and technology in setting toll prices and collecting revenue, clarifying who has authority to make final decisions.
Town Hall Meetings:
Rose Quarter Project
Saturday, December 2, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Portland Community College Cascades, Moriarty Arts & Humanities Auditorium
I-205 Tolling for East Portland
Saturday, December 2, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Portland Community College Southeast, Community Hall Annex
I-205 Tolling for East Portland
Thursday, December 14, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Wilsonville City Hall Council Chambers
Cannot make it to the town hall meetings? Email JTSSTP.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov with “Rose Quarter” or “I-205 East Portland” as the subject. Let them know that sharing toll revenue with local partners for public transit and active transportation is an essential condition for your support of tolling.
Tell them you only support tolling if they share the revenue with local partners for public transit and active transportation. Will you help us ensure safe and fair transportation options for our neighbors? Thank you for joining SE Uplift in making our neighborhoods informed, inclusive, and participatory, supporting both our social and ecological well-being.
-Matchu Williams, SE Uplift
Additional Information:
- Oregon Legislature’s Special Committee on Transportation Planning (meeting information is at the bottom of the page, e-subscribe for updates at the top of the page).
- The Street Trust