A new Cascade Policy Institute analysis argues decades of policies designed to suppress driving have left Portland with worse congestion, collapsing transit ridership and sharply higher traffic fatalities while delivering few of the promised environmental or equity gains.
Right Now Oregon August 17, 2026 (Last updated: August 17, 2026) 4 minutes read 1 comment
Portland, OR. — Portland’s transportation system is in measurable decline after four decades of deliberate anti-automobile planning, according to a July 2026 report from the Cascade Policy Institute. Author Randal O’Toole, director of the Oregon-based Thoreau Institute, documents rising congestion, collapsing transit ridership and a sharp increase in traffic deaths even as the city and Metro poured hundreds of millions into planning that prioritizes modes carrying less than 5 percent of passenger travel.
The report’s central finding is straightforward: automobiles account for more than 95 percent of passenger-miles in the Portland urban area, yet nearly all planning energy has gone to transit, walking and cycling. The region has not opened a new freeway since 1983. Instead, officials have reduced roadway capacity, slowed traffic and treated congestion as a policy tool. The results, O’Toole argues, were predictable…