WES Commuter Rail Should be Shut Down, Not Expanded - Cascade Policy Institute

WES Commuter Rail Should be Shut Down, Not Expanded - Cascade Policy Institute

By John A. Charles, Jr. On March 11 the Joint Transportation Committee of the Oregon Legislature took testimony on HB 3453, which would create a new transit authority with a mission to take over TriMet’s Westside Express Service (WES) commuter line and expand it to Eugene. While I share the enthusiasm of the bill’s sponsors for passenger rail, the history of WES shows that a market for commuter rail does not exist. WES was originally projected t…