Examining the air transportation demand forecast that underlies the 2000 PDX Master Plan led to the initiation of a unique strategy for commercial airport master planning. The Port of Portland partnered with the Portland Institute for Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University to create an independent task force to study demand forecast issues. In the final report of the Regional Air Transportation Demand Task Force, the group recommended a new approach to the PDX airport master planning process.

To insure an objective process, Dr. Ethan Seltzer, Director of the Institute for Metropolitan Studies, was tasked with selecting the members of the task force from across the region and with acting as an intermediary between the Port and the task force. Rob Drake, Mayor of Beaverton, chaired the task force.

The task force was charged with going beyond the traditional facility plan approach. It was convened to examine two questions:

• Is the forecast underlying the master plan a reasonable depiction of future demand for passenger, cargo, military and general aviation usage at the airport?
• What alternatives should be considered in addition to those examined as part of the master planning process?

The findings and recommendations of the task force have moved the PDX Master Plan beyond its customary role. They have challenged the Port and the community to keep options open for future development as "long as possible to take advantage of new technologies, knowledge and trends." The Port of Portland Commission has demonstrated its willingness to engage in this progressive approach to airport planning.

In addition to the facility-planning component, the PDX Master Plan has incorporated the recommendations of the task force in four additional areas of implementation. These areas of "follow-on-work" are underway and form the core of the master planning work currently being done at PDX. See Current Follow-on-Work Efforts for more information.