Streetcars are the new "in" thing, among liberal government "planners", and soon-to-be-Mayor Sam Adams is right there in the trough. His motto: "Nineteeth-Century Technology For Twenty-First Century Cities". It's a bell that rings for some folks, and with good reason - build more fixed-rail, and when nothing happens, provide "incentives" to developers. You know Homer Williams is salivating in anticipation of the bell.
But Sam's not done yet; as they say in the infomercials, "Wait! There's More!"
We have a bicycle "crisis" in Portland, because a couple of folks got killed in the course of finding out that their bikes aren't any match for, say, a cement truck making a right turn. That's unfortunate, but hardly a crisis. It's actually a product of the City of Portland and Ten Metropolitan Service district (CoPo and Metro, respectively) "planners". Both governmental entities employ legions of highly-paid "planners" whose job is to create increasing congestion on freeways and streets. As a result of these "plans", conflicts and "accidents" will naturally increase. They aren't "accidents" - they're "planned".
This means that government should "step in" to further reduce vehicular traffic in order to make the streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
And once again, Sam the Tram is right there for ya. What a surprise.
