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result, the transportation mode of choice for 85 to 90

percent of trips in U.S. urban areas is seriously slighted

by many MPOs.

The Case of Portland

A good example of all of the use of those techniques is

provided by Metro, the MPO for Portland, Oregon.  Dominated

by New Urbanists, Metro has as its goal making the suburbs

as dense and congested as Portland itself.  "Suburbs are

passé," says Michael Burton, Metro's director.81  One of the

major proponents of Metro's planning process is City

Commissioner Charles Hales, who refers to the suburbs as

"trash . . . godawful subdivisions."82  Hales's complaint is

that many of Portland's suburbs are low density which, in

his opinion, wastes land.

Metro has formed numerous advisory committees, all

dominated by New Urbanist supporters, most of whom live in

the central city rather than the suburbs.  Metro has used

both focus groups and unscientific public opinion surveys

and is proud of the fact that most of the 17,000 comments it

received on its land-use plan supported density and less

reliance on autos.  But Metro never mentions that scientific

polls it commissioned found that a majority of Portlanders

who have an opinion oppose density.  Metro's pollster spe-

cifically warned that the people responding to Metro's

public involvement processes "hold views that are not neces-

sarily reflective of the community as a whole."83

Metro and the city of Portland both engage in various

forms of grassroots lobbying.  For example:

· For several years, Portland has sponsored an "annual

rail summit" at which advocates of light rail gather to

organize, learn about lobbying techniques, and rally in

support of their favorite pork.  Such "transportation

fairs" are another technique endorsed by the Department

of Transportation.84

· Documents Metro distributes to the public claim that

higher densities and light rail will relieve conges-

tion, reduce people's dependence on cars, and keep

Portland from becoming "like Los Angeles."85  Yet tech-

nical documents prepared by Metro planners show that

density increases congestion; light rail has no effect

on congestion; and Los Angeles, with the highest urban

density in the United States, represents "an investment

pattern we [Metro] desire to replicate."86