Summary of Bi-State Indicators – ARCHIVE

Summary of Bi-State Indicators

September 13, 1999

The Portland/Vancouver Metropolitan area is intertwined. The region shares:

• An interdependent economy
• Interrelated land use plans
• One air shed and set of federal air quality regulations

Conditions on I-5 and I-205, the two critical transportation links between the Portland and Vancouver areas, limit the region’s ability to achieve its economic and land use goals and meet air quality standards. I-5 is the most congested corridor in the region and the traffic delay problems are increasing at a faster rate than any other corridor. As a result, congestion on the I-205 corridor is expected to get worse. These two corridors serve the region’s central city, Vancouver and Gateway regional centers, residential neighborhoods and Main Streets of Martin Luther King, Interstate Avenue, and Broadway among others. The corridors serve the region’s marine terminals and airport, rail and truck intermodal facilities, and industrial areas.

This paper presents some examples of how the Clark County and Metro tri-county areas are intertwined and the limitations that an inadequate transportation system can create.

1. An interdependent regional economy

The Portland/Vancouver region’s labor force, trade and overall economy are interdependent. Examples include:

• The Portland Metro area has a large base of job opportunities. In 1997, average annual wages in the Portland Metro area were $32,000 while average annual wages were $28,000 in Clark County (Source: Oregon Economic Department and Metro and LMEA).
• Oregon’s industrial area is dependent to a degree on labor from Clark County. In the Rivergate and Columbia Corridor industrial areas, the largest in the region, 23% of the work trips are from Clark County. In comparison, 38% of the industrial area work trips originate in Multnomah County, 34% from Clackamas County and portions of east Multnomah County and 5% from Washington County. (Source: Metro)
• Approximately one in every three workers in Clark County works in Oregon. Of the total labor force in Clark County, 69% remain in Clark County to work. Other subareas within the region export an even higher percent of workers. For example, only 30% of the east Multnomah County labor force work in that subarea and 41% of the east Clackamas County labor force work in their subarea, as shown on Figure 1.

  Figure 1: Labor Force Working Locally (1994 & 2020)

  Source: values shown are predicted computer travel demand model estimates by the Travel Forecasting Section, Metro Regional Services, September 1999.

  What makes Clark County’s jobs to housing balance more of a problem than for Clackamas or East Multnomah County is the dependence upon just two routes, I-5 and I-205. (Source: Metro)

• In contrast to the significant labor force that the Portland Metro area imports, almost all of Clark County’s jobs are filled by Clark County residents. As Figure 2 illustrates, the percent of jobs filled by the employment base residing in Clark County is 94%. The percentage of jobs filled by the employment base residing locally ranges from 42% to 72% in subareas in the Portland Metro area. As Figure 2 illustrates, Clark County residents will fill an even higher percentage of jobs in Clark County by 2020. (Source: Metro)

  Figure 2: Employment Base Residing Locally (1994 & 2020)

  Source: values shown are predicted computer travel demand model estimates by the Travel Forecasting Section, Metro Regional Services, September 1999.

• The Portland International airport serves the Portland and Vancouver area. The Portland International Airport supports business travel and air cargo needs of Clark County, including Clark County’s growing high tech industry which use air freight. Clark County residents have the fourth highest use of the airport following use by residents in the tri-county area. Clark County residents contribute 10% of the air passengers who reside in Oregon and Washington ahead of Marion, Lane and other Oregon counties. (Source: Port of Portland)
• Portland Metro area and Clark County businesses engage in a large volume of cross Columbia River trade. Of the total freight trips by truck within the region, approximately 16% either originate or end in Clark County. This is a greater percentage than Clark County’s share of regional employment. (Source: Metro)
• The Portland/Vancouver region shares cultural ties. For example, 10% of the Oregon Symphony audience is from Clark County. (Source: Oregon Symphony)

2. An interdependent state economy

The economic interdependence within the region extends to the two states as a whole. The Columbia River is an important link between the two states. For example, barges carry petroleum and other products upriver to Lewiston and to Washington cities. Another example is the dependence that both states have on the main line freight railroads. Rail capacity limitations in the Portland/Vancouver area affect movement of goods to the Puget Sound and other regions in both states. Other examples of interconnections between the states include:

• The Seattle to Portland Corridor is critical to both states. More freight tonnage moves between Portland through Vancouver and to Seattle than any other two-city pairs within the 17 western states. (Source: Western Transportation Trade Network Study, 1997)
• Trade between the two states is a significant portion of total trade. Washington is Oregon’s largest destination of outbound freight in terms of both value and weight for freight shipments originating in Oregon. Oregon is Washington’s largest outbound destination in terms of weight and third, behind California in value. (Source: 1993 Commodity Flow Survey, USDOC)
• In addition to depending on over-the-road freight originating in Oregon, Washington firms and consumers depend on Columbia River bridges and the highways in Oregon and southern Washington to carry a large volume of freight between California and Washington. Compared to trade between all state pairs, trade between Washington and California and Washington and Oregon rank among the top 50 for interstate commodity flows by value. (source: 1997 Commodity Flow Survey, USDOC)

3. Interrelated land use plans

Clark County and the Portland Metro area are working on mandated land use plans. In Clark County, the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA) requires counties to prepare a plan for accommodating forecasted growth, including provision of an adequate transportation system to meet forecasted needs. Metro’s state land use laws and the Metro Charter, approved by the voters in the tri-county area, require Metro to develop and implement a growth management plan. Both Clark County, through GMA, and Metro, through the development of the 2040 Growth Management Plan, are implementing adopted land use policies to manage growth.

Clark County accommodates 18% of the region’s population and 13% of the region’s employment. Figure 3 summarizes the 1994 population and employment forecasts for the region. Between 1994 and 2020 Clark County is expected to accommodate 25% of the population growth and 16% of the employment growth for the region. Figure 4 summarizes the percentage of population and employment growth between 1994 and 2020 by subarea.

Meeting growth management plans depends on the transportation system’s ability to accommodate growth. Examples include:

• Metro area land use plans depend on Clark County being able to accommodate forecasted population. Clark County’s ability to accommodate the forecasted population will become increasingly difficult as traffic congestion decreases accessibility in the I-5 and I-205 corridor. When considering the effect of traffic congestion, Metro’s land use model forecasts that Clark County may only be able to achieve 87% of its forecasted population growth, or have a shortfall of meeting the housing demand for 14,000 people.Though this number is an estimate and will require more thorough consideration of the effect of traffic congestion on housing demand, the shortfall presents a dilemma for the Portland Metro area. Accommodating an additional 14,000 people within the Portland Metro urban growth area would require approximately 970 more gross acres, assuming average population per household and households per acre. Such an increase would equal almost 30% of the land that Metro amended into the Urban Growth Boundary last year. If Clark County can not meet housing demand, possible consequences are expanding Metro’s urban growth boundary or increasing growth in the Willamette Valley and satellite cities.
• Metro’s 2040 Growth Management Plan designates portions of arterial streets in the I-5 corridor as Main Streets, with mixed commercial and residential development and pedestrian friendly streets. One of these is MLK, where new development is adding to the Main Street mixed-use character. The other is Interstate Avenue where planned light rail will be a major catalyst for the Main Street concept. As planned, Interstate Avenue, will lose _ of its vehicular capacity by converting the right of way from two of its four travel lanes to light rail transit. If these north-south running arterial streets must also handle traffic overloads from commuter traffic on I-5, then land use plans will be in jeopardy.
• According to the recently released Regional Industrial Lands Study, the forecasted demand for industrial lands in the region depends on land availability in Clark County. The study showed that Clark County has 58% of the 2,317 readily available industrial land acres in the six-county region and 32% of all 9,050 acres of industrial land, including land that needs improvement prior to industrial development. Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the relative share of Clark County industrial land compared to land in other counties. However, the 58% of readily available industrial land in Clark County may be an overestimate given the requirements of the Growth Management Act. (Source: Regional Industrial Land Study, Draft, 1999)

4. One air shed and set of federal air quality regulations

The Portland Metro area and Clark County share the same air shed for ground level ozone and carbon monoxide. The region is currently in compliance with Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Until 1997, the region was not in compliance and was designated a non-compliance area.

One ozone air shed covers several square miles and is affected by winds through the Portland/Vancouver area. Emissions in one part of the region can affect other parts of the region. Carbon monoxide (also called hot spot pollution) is related to traffic congestion and is worse in the most congested corridors, such as downtown Portland. Carbon monoxide levels are an especially sensitive issue near residential areas. Bi-state traffic in the I-5 corridor in North Portland raises hot spot pollution in the corridor as a potential bi-state issue.

Air quality is monitored by a different agency in each state. In Oregon, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) monitors air quality. In Washington the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) and the Southwest Washington Air Pollution Control Authority (SWAPCA) monitor air quality. The agencies work together to coordinate implementation of the air quality standards for one bi-state region and plan additional coordination efforts for the future. Examples include:

• As required in the maintenance plans, each state has implemented transportation control measures (TCMs) to improve air quality. The TCMs are similar for the Portland and Vancouver Metro areas but not the same. TCMs include transit, 2040 land use, bike, pedestrian, employer commute options (ECO) and other programs. Additional TCMs will be triggered if the area reaches non-compliance. DEQ and DOE are required to coordinate their response to achieve compliance but are not required to implement the same control measures if the area were to fall into non-compliance again.
• Oregon and Washington coordinate clean air day declarations in response to ozone problems. As a result, all clean air day plans are implemented in the Portland/Vancouver Metro area together. The states have different pollution control measures that are in effect on Clean Air days, reflecting differences between the communities.
• Industries on both sides of the Columbia River must invest in the same level of pollution control technologies. New industries on either side of the Columbia River must apply best available control technologies. Because the area is in compliance, existing industries do not have to implement additional pollution control technologies. If TCMs were not in place and air quality was worse, industry controls would be greater.
• DEQ and DOE can issue offsets, which allow a company that emits less pollution to sell their right to emit to another company. A company can trade offsets within the Portland area and within the Vancouver area. DEQ and DOE are working together to offer interstate offsets.
• EPA will soon list the multi-state region for non-compliance for regional haze standards, which refer to cumulative emissions that can travel long distances. Oregon and Washington, and other states and agencies are working together to respond to the standards through a new Northwest Air Management Group.