Latest news with #OregonTransportationCommission
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon Transportation Commission: How to best address ‘speedbumps' in transportation revenue
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — When it comes to setting transportation policy in Oregon, that responsibility falls to the Oregon Transportation Commission, which oversees ODOT. Currently, the Oregon legislature is considering what's called the Oregon Transportation Reinvestment Package (TRIP), that seeks to raise $1.9 billion in the next biennium. This could include higher fees and new taxes. Lee Beyer is the Vice-Chair of the Oregon Transportation Commission, and a former longtime state legislator. He joined Eye on Northwest Politics form his home in Springfield to touch on what will need to happen to get things moving again. Watch the full interview in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tolling delay on I-5 bridge could mean higher rates for Oregon, Washington drivers
Tens of thousands of people use the Interstate 5 Bridge every day. (Photo courtesy of Interstate Bridge Replacement Program) Tolling on the Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River will start a year later than planned — but drivers traveling between Washington and Oregon may pay a little more than originally forecast as a result. Tolling in both directions on the existing bridge will be one of the first things the public experiences once construction of a replacement bridge gets underway. It is also a critical source of funding to help cover the cost of the project, which could range from $5 billion to $7.5 billion. For months,it's been projected that toll collections would begin on the existing bridge early next year when construction of the replacement bridge was expected to start. Project managers now say tolling won't start before the summer of 2027, likely after the megaproject is underway. On Friday, a panel of transportation commissioners from each state pondered how best to avoid losing out on a year's worth of revenue. The Bi-State Tolling Subcommittee recommended sticking to the initial toll rate shared with the public over months of meetings, but the committee said rates should increase enough in the second and third years to make up for the year delay. Each state's transportation commission must approve the recommendation. If that happens, work will begin to detail how much revenue can be generated from different toll rates. Several possible rate scenarios are under review. These have one-way rates ranging from $1.55 to $4.70 with higher prices during peak travel times. It is assumed rates will rise on a yearly or biannual basis. In separate meetings this month, the Washington State Transportation Commission and Oregon Transportation Commission learned about the different options for making up for the year's loss of collections. On Tuesday, Washington commissioner Debbie Young said that in the first year it was important to let the public know they would 'keep the toll rate that we said we would.' She supported increasing it more in the ensuing years to catch up. Other commissioners agreed with the approach – as long as the target for toll receipts is met. 'We want to finish this with a bridge,' Commissioner Nicole Grant said. Delayed toll collections are a byproduct of slower-than-planned progress on other parts of the project. The final analysis of the project's environmental impacts won't be done until the end of the year. Officials with the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program said in a statement that they expect to get a key federal approval known as an amended record of decision in early 2026. It is needed before construction-related contracts can be issued. 'Our federal agency partners have provided us with our current schedule,' the statement reads, adding construction is expected to begin sometime in 2026. Based on that schedule, planners now anticipate cars would begin driving across a new bridge in 2032 or 2033 and construction would last at least 10 to 15 years through the five-mile corridor on either side of the bridge. Meanwhile, Washington state lawmakers passed legislation allowing for a huge increase in the amount of toll revenues assumed for the multi-year project. House Bill 1958, which awaits action by Gov. Bob Ferguson, would authorize the state to sell up to $2.5 billion in general obligation bonds, $900 million more than assumed when the bill was first introduced in February. With significant cost increases on major highway and bridge projects in recent years, backers have said it made sense to recalibrate but doing so doesn't mean the state will necessarily seek higher bonding capacity. Bonds, a long-assumed source of financing for the new span, would pay for design and construction, as well as future maintenance and operation. The borrowed money would be repaid with toll proceeds, gas taxes and vehicle fees. Because the bonds would be backed by 'the full faith and credit of the state,' the general fund could be tapped as a last-resort source of repayment. Because Washington will be administering the tolling program, it is the one that needs to issue the bonds. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Oregon Democrats unveil $1.9 billion transportation funding plan
A woman walks a bike along Oregon Highway 99 in an undated photo. The Oregon Transportation Commission voted this week to spend $50 million to make state highways like this one more accessible to people walking or riding bikes. (Oregon Department of Transportation) This is a developing story and will be updated. Oregonians would pay more at the pump, higher fees when they buy a car or bike and see more money deducted from their paychecks to pay for transit under a wide-ranging plan released Thursday by Democratic lawmakers for filling a transportation deficit. The framework that Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, and Rep. Susan McLain, D-Forest Grove, released is the result of nearly two years of meetings and a statewide tour to hear about transportation needs. It comes as state and local transportation departments struggle to pay for basic maintenance like potholes and snowplows, let alone finish some major projects like the Rose Quarter highway improvement and Abernethy Bridge replacement in the Portland area. McLain and Gorsek's plan, shared early with the Capital Chronicle under the condition that the publication not seek comments from anyone else before 3 p.m. Thursday, aims to raise at least $1.9 billion in additional revenue per two-year budget cycle for the State Highway Fund, Oregon's main source of transportation funding, by the time a 20-cent gas tax increase is fully phased in, in 2032. Much of that increased funding would come through increases to the gas tax, vehicle title and registration fees and the weight-mile tax paid by truckers. Oregonians would also see more money deducted from their paychecks under an existing payroll tax to pay for transit, and all electric vehicles would gradually be enrolled in a now-voluntary road usage charge program meant to replicate what their drivers would pay for gas-powered cars. 'It's a big picture thing where we're resetting everything,' Gorsek said. 'But we're not going to say to the public, 'OK, we're going to fix the gas tax today, and it's going to go through the roof, or we're going to do EVs, and it's going to be through the roof right away.' The idea is to work these things into something that can keep us from getting where we are now in the future.' 'Where we are now' is a funding crisis years in the making, as gas tax revenues decline, inflation hikes construction costs and the state and local governments split transportation funding. The Oregon Department of Transportation predicted an immediate deficit of more than $350 million, with warnings that it may need to lay off nearly 1,000 employees. Without legislative action, the agency has warned, it will take longer to plow roads, open and close highways during fire season and fix potholes. The transportation co-chairs' proposed fix comes as Oregonians deal with higher prices on all kinds of goods and anticipate increased costs due to President Donald Trump's tariffs, the highest tax on foreign goods in generations. 'We're very conscientious about the cost of living and some of the experiences we've had economically, but it also costs money to do nothing,' McLain told the Capital Chronicle. 'And right now, we have maintenance, and we have preservation, and safety that all are the very pillars of what we've heard in our tour around the state.' The plan, which will be refined by the Legislature before it adjourns in June, includes raising Oregon's current 40-cent gas tax to 60 cents per gallon by Jan. 1, 2032. The biggest jump, to 48 cents, would happen Jan. 1, 2026, with 4-cent increases every two years until 2032. It would also add $66 to vehicle registration fees, which now run between $126 and $156 every two years. Titles, which cost about $101 to $116, would increase by $90. Electric vehicle drivers now pay more — $192 for title and $316 for registration — but their registration costs would go down as they enrolled in a road user charge program or paid a flat annual fee. The current road user charge program, OReGO, is a voluntary two-cent-per-mile fee, but lawmakers want to expand it to all electric vehicles. Existing EVs would be enrolled in the program by July 2026, newly purchased vehicles by July 2027, plug-in hybrids by 2028 and all new vehicles rated at 30 mpg or greater by July 2029. Additionally, McLain and Gorsek want to charge a one-time fee of 1% of the vehicle price when a car is sold. Oregon is one of only five states that doesn't currently have such a fee. Tolls, a tool lawmakers laid the groundwork for in their 2017 transportation package, are nowhere in the framework. Gov. Tina Kotek ordered a moratorium until 2026 on tolls, which the transportation department planned to use on Interstates 5 and 205 in and around Portland in part to pay for replacing the I-5 bridge connecting Oregon and Washington, and they're politically unpopular in Oregon, which has no toll roads. 'The governor didn't say no to tolls in the future, but that is not what is in the package currently,' Gorsek said. The current 0.1% payroll tax all Oregonians pay for transit would nearly double to 0.18%, adding an additional $268.6 million per two-year budget cycle. A 3% tax on tire sales would provide $50 million every two years to fund rail, wildlife crossings and salmon restoration. Bikes that cost $200 or more, which now carry a $15 tax, would see that rate increase to $24.50 per bike to provide $1 million per budget cycle for local paths and trails. 'There's no competition between transit, maintenance and finishing our promises,' McLain said. 'We have different streams of money available for stable, sufficient funding for all three.' McLain and Gorsek said they're confident in Oregon's ability to continue to receive federal transportation grants, despite directives from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that federal funding should go toward states with high marriage and birth rates, no vaccine or mask mandates and that are committed to working with the federal government to enforce Trump's immigration policy — all areas that don't apply to Oregon. 'I think what helps us is that this isn't just about Portland,' Gorsek said. 'This is about the West Coast, and the bottlenecks that we have in Portland for the whole I-5 system. There are comments about Oregon and Washington in terms of the Trump administration not being very happy with us, but this is really about the region and serious economic impacts if we don't fix this.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
