Terry,

I hope you are well. It was good to talk with you at the city budget forum at David Douglas School the other night. Thanks for your passionate email.

If you read the recent congestion report, you know this region is headed towards transportation gridlock caused by congestion. Meanwhile, construction costs are going up through the roof while transportation funding is flat or declining.

With an avalanche of new money for transportation unlikely, our key focus is to be smart and creative in getting the most capacity out the $6.5 billion local transportation system that we already have.

Eliminating non-repeating delays is one cost effective way to speed up traffic. For example, up to 50 percent of congestion is due to non-repeating delays, like vehicle crashes.

A high percent of vehicle crashes are due to driver distraction. Hand held cellphones are a preventable driver distraction. Other cities have banned hand-held cellphones. I have to go to the state legislature to ban them in Portland. I will.

Another way to get the most out of our $6.5 billion local transportation investment is to prioritize the swift movement of certain kind of trips over others.

Portland is the third most dependent city on trade in the US. So, for example, a high priority for me is to ensure the swift movement of freight throughout the region.

People who drive alone to get from one point to another when they have another viable travel options are my lowest priority for speed of travel.

Not everybody can realistically use transit or a bike, so I am not talking about them. But for those that do, the swift movement of freight is more important to me than moving someone driving alone who has other travel options.

That