PLSO The Oregon Surveyor Mar/Apr 2019

18 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 42, No. 2 Featured Article Slow Traffic May Ease With New Initiatives E veryone knows that traffic has gotten a lot worse on Portland freeways recently. INRIX, which col- lects traffic data from all over the world, recently ranked Portland as one of the ten cities in the U.S. with the worst con- gestion. INRIX estimates that congestion costs you $1,625 every year! The Oregon Department of Transporta- tion (ODOT) just released the 2018 Traffic Performance Report for the Portland area on its website, which indicates that solu- tions to Portland’s congestion aren’t easy or cheap, but they can improve urbanmo- bility. It also provides information on the health of the region’s freeway system and examines key traffic performance areas. By monitoring these indicators, ODOT can identify problems, and effectively manage the system to better enable the movement of people, goods and services. ODOT’s report shows that hours of congestion increased over 13% since 2015. The daily cost of congestion in Portland now stands at $2 million. The causes? INRIX, which collects traffic data from all over the world, recently ranked Portland as one of the ten cities in the U.S. with the worst congestion. For more info, contact Tom Fuller (Thomas.Fuller@odot.state.or.us) , 503-986-3455(o), 503-480-5143(c) Growth Rapid population growth, job growth, growth in the number of cars and trucks —all fighting to use the system. Bottlenecks Certain portions of the system clog due to merging traffic or where the num- ber of lanes narrows (such as the Rose Quarter), older roadway designs (such as I-5 at the Interstate Bridge), or lots of merging traffic (I-5 at Lower Boones Ferry Road).