Governor Ted Kulongoski has received a final report from his Transportation Vision Committee.

The “comprehensive transportation plan” is intended as a guide for the Governor’s  2009 legislative agenda. According to the press release,  the report

“includes recommendations for reducing vehicles miles traveled in urban areas, a dedicated fund for non-highway transportation investments, a new transportation utility commission, and dollars for rural counties hit hardest by the scheduled sunset of the federal forest payments. The committee also recommends a series of funding options, including bonding, a new vehicle title fee, and a path to transition away from the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation.”

The transportation plan’s stated objective is to “strategically expand the entire transportation system to support job growth and quality of life and ensure the state’s competitive stance in the global marketplace”. So right off, it’s business as usual.

While paying lip service to alternatives, the report foresees that automobile and truck travel will continue to grow and to be the dominant mode. The big problem, as the report sees it, is how to pay for the necessary road system maintenance and expansion? The “vision” foresees huge and expensive needs for airport and especially road system growth. Public transportation and the rail system are given short shrift by comparison.

Stunning by its absence is any mention or consideration of peak oil or its impacts on our transportation systems. How can a plan that is supposed to identify transportation needs and lay out a strategy for meeting them be taken seriously if it fails to address how our transportation system is to be powered in a world where the oil fields we rely on produce 9% less oil each year?

The obeisance to “quality of life” in the statement of objectives is a fraud. The phrase “quality of life” appears five times in the report; once in the introductory letter; twice in the introduction; once in the preface;  and in the meat of the report, once en passant in discussion of “least cost alternatives” in passing, in the same sentence as “environmental issues” and “climate change”. Nowhere in the report is any exploration of what “quality of life” is, how to measure or achieve it, or how transportation fits in.

Insofar as “quality of life” means anything at all in the report, I think the authors see it as “relieving traffic congestion”. The willful blindness of the authors is revealed by this assertion:

“[P]roperly designed capacity projects addressing system bottlenecks could have a net greenhouse gas reduction benefit by contributing to congestion reduction.”

You read that right: the way to solve global warming is by expanding the road system. Un-friggin’-believable.

What reality are the folks responsible for this report living in?

The makeup of the “vision” (or rather, “blindness”) committee is listed below the fold. In the Oregon tradition, it seems like almost every interest imaginable was represented – and again in the Oregon tradition, these are mostly the same names that show up in working group after working group.

The only “out” for members of the environmental community on this list is the disclaimer in the report that “the recommendations in this report capture the discussions of the Vision Committee, but should not be read as a blanket endorsement. Regardless, I’m glad my name isn’t on this list of infamy.

Legislators

Senate President Peter Courtney
Senator Richard Devlin
Senator Mark Hass
Senator Betsy Johnson
Senator Rick Metsger
Senator Rod Monroe
Senator Bruce Starr
Senator Joanne Verger
Representative Terry Beyer
Representative Bruce Hanna
Representative Dave Hunt
Representative George Gillman
Representative Tobias Read

Committee members

Pat Reiten, Chair, Pacific Power
Gail Achterman, Oregon Transportation Commission
Jessica Adamson, Associated General Contractors
Tony Andrews, Teamsters
Jim Austin, Clackamas County
Dan Bates, City of Portland
Jeremiah Bauman, Environment Oregon
Len Bergstein, Oregon Business Association
Hans Bernard, Governor’s Office
Bernie Bottomly, Portland Business Alliance
David Bragdon, Council President, Metro
Scott Bricker, Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Tamara Brickman, Department of Administrative Services, Budget and Management Division
Susan Brody, Oregon Environmental Council
Rex Burkholder, Metro Councilor
Craig Campbell, AAA of Oregon/Idaho
Olivia Clark, TriMet
Steve Clark, Community Newspapers
Jay Clemens, Associated Oregon Industries
Marshal Coba, American Council of Engineering Companies
Bob Cortwright, Department of Land Conservation and Development
Danielle Cowan, Clackamas County
Ryan Deckert, Oregon Business Association
Angi Dilkes, Governor’s Office
Craig Dirksen, Mayor, City of Tigard
Brian Dougherty, Western States Petroleum Association
Angus Duncan, Bonneville Environmental Foundation/Oregon Global Warming Commission
Andrea Durbin, Oregon Environmental Council
Pat Egan, PacifiCorp
Ben Fetherston Jr., Associated Oregon Industries
Matthew Garrett, Oregon Department of Transportation
Lanny Gower, Conway
Rick Gustafson, Oregon Environmental Council
Chris Hagerbaumer, Oregon Environmental Council
Fred Hansen, TriMet
Marion Haynes, Portland Business Alliance
Brad Hicks, Medford Chamber
Craig Honeyman, League of Oregon Cities
Tom Hughes, Mayor, City of Hillsboro
Tom Imeson, Port of Portland
John Ledger, Associated Oregon Industries
Mark Landauer, City of Portland
Sid Leiken, Mayor, City of Springfield
Don Lindly, Lincoln County Commissioner
Linda Ludwig, League of Oregon Cities
Keith Mays, Mayor, City of Sherwood
Mary Kyle McCurdy, 1000 Friends of Oregon
Deanna Palm, Oregon State Chamber of Commerce
Lynn Peterson, Chair, Clackamas County Commission
Jim Piro, Portland General Electric
Joan Plank, Oregon Department of Transportation
Harvey Platt, Platt Electric
Annette Price, Port of Portland
John Rakowitz, Associated General Contractors
Karl Rohde, Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Danelle Romain, Oregon Petroleum Association
Paul Romain, Oregon Petroleum Association
Bob Russell, Oregon Trucking Associations
Mike Salsgiver, Associated General Contractors
Art Schlack, Association of Oregon Counties
Marcy Schwartz, CH2MHill
Mel Sears, American Council of Engineering Companies
Andy Shaw, Metro
Bob Shiprack, Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council
Bob Stacey, 1000 Friends of Oregon
Chip Terhune, Governor’s Office
Randy Tucker, Metro
Chris Warner, ODOT/Governor’s Office
Duncan Wyse, Oregon Business Council

Oregon Department of Transportation staff

Kevin Beckstrom
Jerri Bohard
Travis Brouwer
Patrick Cooney
Victor Dodier
Jack Evans
Damon Fordham
Robin Freeman
Shelley Snow
Doug Tindall
David Williams

Legislative staff

Phil Bently, Senate Presidents Office
Amy Fauver, Senate Majority Office
Jim Keller, House Republican Office
Debbie Koreski, House Majortiy Office
Abby Tibbs, Senate Majority Office
Angela Wilhelms, House Republican Office