John_Perkowski wrote:How far out from the centers of Portland, Olympia and Seattle are the commuting rings? 50 miles? 100? 20? The smaller the radius, the less the need for inter urban rail.
Realistically I would say 30 miles maximum for the vast majority of commuters; the top 5%ers might go up to 50 miles. Right now I'm commuting from Salem to Tualatin 2-3 times a week. The issue really is the train only goes certain places - then what? Sure, I COULD take the 1X bus to Wilsonville and then WES to Tualatin (one stop) but my office is a long ways from WES, and even a bit of a walk from the nearest bus stops. Yet, I am in a very heavy job center. Also due to the part of Salem I live in, it takes two buses just to get downtown.
John_Perkowski wrote:What is the local attitude to cooperation between Oregon and Washington? Bad intergovernmental relationships mean less work done?
I don't think this is a significant issue, Oregon and Washington generally work together pretty well and have open communications. The largest issue right now is Oregon's absolute insistence on light rail on the replacement bridge for the Interstate Bridge (I-5); while many in Washington do not want light rail (they are open to various bus options, including dedicated bus lanes or BRT.) Those who support light rail in Washington do so with an asterisk - "we want it, but we aren't going to pay a penny towards it."
John_Perkowski wrote:What is the commuter volume, and the cross city visit volume?
Uh...can you be more specific? Not sure how to answer this.
John_Perkowski wrote:Would the two cities be better off pushing TOFC instead of passenger rail traffic?
This is already happening at least on a small scale, due to most of the trans-Pacific container market calling on Tacoma and Seattle rather than Portland (which only sees one ship a week). The State of Oregon funded a new "intermodal center" in Millersburg to try and get farmers in the Willamette Valley to ship their containers via rail, but then the market dropped out and the facility hasn't moved one single container. (There's an even larger debacle in eastern Oregon with a similar facility...) But so many of the trucks are headed to intermediate points like Chehalis and Lacey - what good would TOFC from Portland to Seattle to do if you have to then truck your trailer back 70 miles?