For the last couple of years, regional leaders have been assigned with a heavy lift: Come up with a plan to cut the Portland region's vehicle emissions by 70 percent by 2035.
Deciding how to do that is a years-long process, and in the last couple of years, planners took a kitchen-sink approach to the problem. They started looking at just about everything that could be done to reach the goal, created by a mandate from the 2009 Legislature.
Climate Futures series
As Metro's planning staff looks at ways to address a state mandate to reduce tailpipe emissions in the Portland region, Metro News is digging into some of the 144 ideas under study. Our goal is to paint a picture of what the Portland region could look like if any of those scenarios are adopted.
Please note that Metro planning staff is not responsible for this content. Comments on the content should be directed to Metro News at 503-813-7583 or [email protected].
In the next few months, Metro News will be looking at some of the policy issues and on-the-ground realities researchers will face as they try to reach the state's goals.
But before we dive into those stories, let's have a refresher on the project and why Metro is looking at it.
What is the Climate Smart Communities project?
It's a study of the way people in the Portland region get around, mandated by the Legislature as part of its transportation bill in the 2009 session. As part of a bill to fund projects including the Newberg-Dundee bypass, the Sunrise Corridor and others, the state required Metro to study how to reduce tailpipe emissions in the Portland region.
The air here seems pretty clean most of the time. Why did the state put this mandate on Metro to reduce tailpipe emissions?
It's about carbon footprint – reducing the Portland region's impacts on global warming. The average Portland-area resident emitted 4.05 tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2005, and the Legislature wants to see that number drop to 1.2 tons per person by 2035.
That's a ton of carbon!
No, it's 2.85 tons of carbon. But there's some good news here – our current path gets the Portland region most of the way to that 1.2 ton goal. Particularly, if the region develops in the way communities have planned out, much of that 2.85 ton gap will be closed. Improvements to auto efficiency standards move that line even closer – all the way down to 1.3 tons per person.
That leaves about 200 pounds per person of carbon emissions that need to be cut by 2035.
What are some of the ways Metro is thinking about reducing tailpipe emissions?
It's studying a variety of methods, all of which have the same gist: Improve the economy closer to where people live, so they don't have to travel as far to work, shop and play, and improve transportation all around the region, so that it's easier for everyone to get around, be they in a car or on a bus, a bike or on foot.
I work downtown and live 15 miles away. Is Metro going to try to make me take a bus or bike?
No, but the plans could call for a leveling of the playing field. For a lot of people, taking a bus or bike to work means taking more time to get to work, or being less comfortable getting there. Would you think differently about your options for getting to work if your employer paid you to not drive? What if the bus took less time and didn't involve paying for parking, even if you had to walk in the rain for a few minutes to get to the stop? And what if the bus came more often, or went more places? Those are all options that could be looked at in the studies coming in 2013.
Adding more transit service is expensive. How is Metro going to pay for that?
There's no guarantee the study will recommend increased transit service, and cost hasn't been addressed in the study yet. Still, the big outstanding question is what happens if Metro comes up with a plan to reach the tailpipe emission reduction goals, but can't afford to pay for it? Would local officials go back to Salem and ask for money to implement the plans?
So what has the study addressed?
So far, 144 scenarios have been looked at for their potential to close the gap – maybe on their own, maybe in combinations. They range from improving the flow of traffic on freeways to cutting the amount of carbon in car fuels. Some scenarios include expanding car sharing in the region, others call for encouraging more bike use. It pretty much runs the gamut.
Will all 144 be studied?
Yes, but not to the same level of detail. By the time the Metro Council chooses a plan in 2014, three plans will be presented to look at in detail. Those are set to be presented in April, at a summit of regional leaders. The results of that study will be discussed for most of the following year and a half, with a target of adoption by the Metro Council in late 2014.
Is Metro going to force my neighborhood to look like Northwest Portland?
Hardly. When planners at Metro talk about implementation, they talk about offering a sort of tool kit to cities – here's where you (cities) need to get to on carbon emissions, and here are some ways to get there – it's up to the individual cities to choose what works for them, as long as they do their part in helping the region comply with the Legislature's mandate.