Ryan Phillips

Aside from the tone-deafness of these priorities, the "business taxes have increased by an astonishing 81%" is a textbook case of lying with statistics. Let's look at the likely source for this claim: an EY report commisioned by Oregon Business & Industry: oregonbusinessindustry.com/wp-content/u...

Interested in how transportation decisions are made in Oregon? PSU is providing a course open to any Oregon resident free of charge, remote or in person, stipends available for childcare and transportation costs.

trec.pdx.edu/community-tr...

My daughter took her first trip on public transit today without adult supervision. She and her friends went to protest against ICE abductions.

Or as I am thinking about it: Using a public good for the public good.

Options: 1) very large amount of one time funding that can be used over many years, 2) smaller, but significant amounts of funding on ongoing basis. 3) smaller, one time funding that staves off some immediate cuts but only temporarily.

2/3 of the cost of running transit is operating expenses, mostly labor. One time funding will only make significant impact if a) it replaces large amounts of planned future capex and 2) supplanted and saved $ can be redirected to opex.

100%. I believe a valuable role state DOTs could play, assuming they have some funding to put to this use, is to be “public consultancy agencies”. It’s incredibly inefficient for small and medium sized agencies to staff or rely on consultants for many of their planning needs.

from Ganz @lioneltrolling.bsky.social

www.unpopularfront.news/p/living-in-...

I agree Sunday Parkways aren’t good enough. Let’s do Everyday Parkways for bicyclists and pedestrians! Save on the need to set them up and break them down periodically!

Got an e-bike. Been taking my kid to school on it. It’s the best.

Less importantly, I’d be surprised if ODOT figures showed that, but I’d be willing to look at those figures and figure out where the misinterpretation arises.

“In the past, Oregon Department of Transportation figures show, TriMet received more than half of its total revenue from the payroll tax. “

The .1% Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund payroll tax is not 50% of TriMet’s budget. It’s more like 3% of the budget. trimet.org/budget/pdf/2...

Definitely the aim. Priority Intercity Bus Network study will be out this month or next. ODOT will be assessing this investment alongside other priorities in the coming months.

This is accurate although a little nuanced. ODOT administers 5311(f) funding as a federal-state partnership. 5311(f) comprises 15% of OR’s annual federal apportionment of 5311 funding. In short, its federal funds that ODOT administers.

NWSL is also providing the non-federal match

Roughly 2/3 of cost is being covered by NWSL service revenues - fares, etc. 1/3 is a 5311(f) grant of up to $600,000. No state funds are paying for the service.

Monday (12/15) I’ll be at Union Station in Portland at 10 AM to celebrate the relaunch of I-84 intercity bus service and everyone is invited.

You should come. Why not.

Northeast Oregon regains daily bus service to Portland and Boise after an 11-month gap Nearly a year after Greyhound ended bus service, residents of northeast Oregon will again have a public transit option to reach Portland and Boise. The daily service will be operated by Northwestern S...

Happy that intercity bus service is being restored on I-84 for the communities of NE Oregon in time for Christmas and New Years

www.opb.org/article/2025...

Having solar installed on our house today and it’s very satisfying

Campaign jabs give way to ‘lovely’ lunch between Youngkin and Spanberger Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) met for a traditional lunch Tuesday with outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) as she begins assembling her transition team.

Won’t pretend to know much about VA politics, but this is how the peaceful transfer of power in a democracy is suppose to work.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Judge rules Trump administration can’t tie transportation funding to immigration Judge John McConnell previously issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Transportation Department directive.

Update: “The Constitution demands the Court set aside this lawless behavior” www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

Isn’t a key problem that only one OEM manufacturers them for N America and they had to be persuaded by King County and SF MUNI not to end their production all together in the last couple of years?

“We are home now. We marched from the park to ICE, very peaceful crowd. We were standing around ICE pushed us down, sprayed us with chemical and I was hit in the head with a projectile. This was so unprovoked. People have to know that the Feds are attacking people with NO provocation whatsoever.”

29 years for me

For Oregonians, Better Elections Are Hidden in Plain Sight | Sightline Institute The state’s constitution lets localities opt for methods that better reflect their mix of voters.

Many Oregon voters are stuck using flawed, outdated winner-take-all voting methods — even though their constitution calls out a better option by name. www.sightline.org/2025/09/23/f...

To be fair, to the extent there has been reporting on divisions within the R’s there are some members who realize the role of a party is to win elections. The opposition to Dallas Heard was such an example. But overall the party has taken too many policy positions that too few Oregonians support.

They could run on a policy platform that could win a majority of seats in the legislature or statewide office. The lack of competition means D’s do not have electoral incentives to competently govern.

No. That’s not what it basically says. What the article states is there’s been no significant policy wins and that’s largely due to a dysfunctional council. A proper defense would say yes there have been and describe what they are. What are policy wins does the article miss?

I regularly wonder if Oregon would have a better Democratic Party if it had a better Republican Party.

The article is too generous towards republicans. Their actual proposal was to eliminate the dedicated transit tax altogether and redirect that funding to the state highway fund.

I think it is partly due to the fact that shamelessness and norm destruction is integral to their appeal