by Paul Jacob

The Federal Highway Administration recently reprimanded Oregon's Metro -- the bigger-than-countywide government surrounding Portland -- for goofy planning.

The federal agency had difficultly finding any transportation focus in Metro's Regional Transportation Plan. Instead, the plan focuses on bike paths, light rail, and expensive skyline transport. "The plan should acknowledge that automobiles are the preferred mode of transport by the citizens of Portland. . . . They vote with their cars every day."

My goodness, the federal government just actually acknowledged simple reality. It sure would be nice if Metro planners followed suit.

But that's not likely. In Portland, as elsewhere, city planners are now trying to rebuild society according to a blueprint that doesn't include cars. And they are in control of our highways!

John Charles of Oregon's Cascade Policy Institute puts Metro's goofy vision in context. It reminds him, he says, "of futuristic exhibitions I saw at the New York World's Fair as a kid in 1965. But in the real world, most people don't want to live that way. They prefer single-family houses with a yard and a double-car garage."

Unfortunately, Charles predicts that the roads Metro ignores "will continue to deteriorate." Shockingly, he insists, "that's part of the plan, too."

Isn't it a little crazy to destroy the transportation system people use to give them what they don't want?

Paul Jacob's "Common Sense" is published by the Sam Adams Alliance. Their website can be visited at www.samadamsalliance.org.