Oregon governor brings an end to Portland-area toll plan
5 min readTo toll, or not to toll, that is the question for Oregon lawmakers as they continue work on a comprehensive plan to create a sustainable revenue stream that will support the state’s transportation infrastructure.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek sowed confusion on Monday when she halted plans to toll Portland-area freeways, citing uncertainty about freeway project costs and the amount of revenue that tolling would amass.
Kotek’s announcement came
“The state’s path towards implementing tolling in the Portland metro area is uncertain, at best. After years of work, the challenges of implementing the Regional Mobility Pricing Project (RMPP) have grown larger than the anticipated benefits,” Kotek wrote. “Therefore, I believe it is time to bring the agency’s work on the RMPP to an end and delay additional expenditures for implementation of tolling on I-205 to the future when the Legislature can further evaluate and provide clearer direction on tolling.”
Her letter singles out the transportation department’s plan to impose per-mile tolls on interstate 5 and 205 from Wilsonville, 18 miles south of downtown Portland, to the city’s northern border on the Columbia River.
Plans to
“Taking this action today will allow the state to focus its limited resources on high priority needs and provide an opportunity for meaningful legislative conversations about alternative revenue sources in the 2025 legislative session,” Kotek wrote.
The concept of imposing tolls on the Portland-area freeways has caused a stir.
Pressure from politicians who represent Clackamas County to the south and east of Portland has grown as residents complained about the expense of proposed tolls on I-205 and the possibility of drivers overwhelming surface streets to avoid paying.
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This was after ODOT approved a plan in December to adjust fees for low-income drivers. Under the program, Oregon and Washington residents with a household income up to 200% of the federal poverty level would receive a tolling discount of at least 50%.
U.S. Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer also tried to pressure Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt into
She was asking if what she called ODOT’s inadequate efforts to gather public input could be a breach of federal regulations and prompt rejection of the federal environmental study.
In June, Kotek had already pushed out potential adoption of a tolling program from 2024 to 2026 requesting that ODOT do more research.
Transportation commissioners have previously said tolling needs to be part of the mix as the state tackles capital projects and works to maintain its road and transit systems.
Oregon Transportation Commission Chair Julie Brown and Vice Chair Lee Beyer both reiterated that stance in written statements.
“While I believe tolling cannot be the only tool to solve all our challenges, as steward of our state’s transportation system, I believe it should be one of our tools,” said Brown, longtime general manager of the Rogue Valley Transportation District. “I look forward to our continued conversations throughout the state to identify additional solutions to address our growing challenges and needs.”
Beyer, a former state lawmaker, said in his statement he had supported tolling, but metro leaders’ views have changed and “opposition to tolling makes it clear that Oregon is not ready for regional tolling.”
Kotek’s decision represents a setback for a tolling program the state
The governor was speaker of the Oregon House when the Legislature passed the expansive transportation bill that launched plans for tolling, along with
Rep. Susan McLain, D-Forest Grove, co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee, said the governor’s letter does not necessarily represent the end of discussions on the issue.
Lawmakers will continue to work to find ways to fund every mode of transportation Oregon depends on, she said.
“We have the same task as we did on Monday,” McLain said. “The Legislature has the responsibility to make sure we have stable and diverse funding for our system and that hasn’t changed.”
Lawmakers have invested seven years in creating a plan around a systems fee that a “lot of folks thought was important, and not just for controlling congestion, but good for our climate goals as it would encourage people to use other transit modes in our system, like light rail or buses,” said McLain, who was part of the task force that drafted the 2017 legislation.
McLain said she has supported adopting a tolling system, as long as it’s a bespoke system, specific to the state’s needs.
“We are trying to keep an open mind,” McLain said. “Our No. 1 consideration is the general public, and how they function, in a fee system. We also need to make sure we have sufficient funds and resources to support the transportation system our public has asked for.”
In December, Oregon lawmakers approved
Overall, the state’s economy is doing well with the state’s productivity gains outpacing the nation, according to the
The state’s economists said the state revenue outlook remains stable heading into the personal income tax filing season with general fund revenues expected to come in $76 million ahead of expectations in the December forecast, and total available resources $588 million ahead.
The state holds ratings of AA-plus from both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings and Aa1 from Moody’s Ratings. All assign stable outlooks.