Public transportation barely used? That's an odd assessment. According to the US Census American Community Survey, about four times as many people in Portland drive alone as take public transportation. That translates to 13.4% of Portlanders getting to work via public transportation, which is hardly "barely used" imo.

In the end, we can't expect to pave our way out of congestion. All the research data supports this. Congestion will not get better, but can be made worse, by adding lane miles. If we are serious about transportation we are long overdue to make significant improvements for options other than personal motor vehicles. If we're not serious, we can continue to do what we've been doing and whine about the predictable results.