Thanks for pointing that out, Nat -- apologies for not tracking the sequence!
Responding to Roman -- and again, this is my opinion, alone -- the Gorge management is very fractured, so while I think there's a good chance that ODOT will try to address congestion and parking problems along the HCRH in the Waterfall Alley section where ODOT operates the right-of-way, but most trailheads and parking in the Gorge are operated by the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State Parks. That's why it's such a crazy quilt now, with NW Forest Passes required at some USFS trails but not others and some State Parks have a use fee while others are free. A coordinated plan across these agencies would take all three entering some sort of agreement to work together -- and throw in Washington Dept. of Ecology if you want to extend to the Washington side. In other words, it's a big lift and any changes are likely to be very gradual, despite the crowding and impacts.
Most here know that I'm a transportation planner in my day job, so with that in mind, I thought I'd offer a couple of thoughts for those tracking the ODOT proposal, just for context. The first is that ODOT is trying to serve all visitors to the Gorge using their facility, not just hikers. So if you look at the parking areas at Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls, in particular, hikers tend to consume a lot more of the parking spaces per/capita as measured in time. Most visitors make a short stop (30 minutes, maybe an hour) while hikers are likely to fill spot for several hours or even a whole day. If you were to ask me to figure out a plan to serve both user types at Multnomah Falls, I would put a de-escacalting Friday-Sunday price (let's say $2 for the first hour, $0.50 for each hour beyond that) on a set number of 8-hour spots located away from the Lodge and simply put 1 and 2 hour timed limits on the rest of the parking lot (1 hour closest to the lodge, followed by a ring of 2-hour spots, then the long-term spaces). That would force some turnover of timed spots for the tourists but also ensure that hikers have a few paid spots open on busy weekends. It would also encourage hikers to park in the less convenient, long-term spaces even when the meters are off, since the timed 1 and 2 hours spaces for tourists would still be in effect. That's just an example to describe some of the dynamics that ODOT is trying to sort through.
The other thought I would put out there is that any sort of actual pricing on parking in the Gorge is likely to be a money-loser for ODOT. It costs money to administer meters, so while the City of Portland has enough meters to benefit from economic of scale in operating them (and enough demand to have fairly hefty parking rates), the number of trailheads that ODOT manages parking for in the Gorge is really unlikely to generate more than what it might cost to actually run the system -- with the goal being to spread out demand and reduce impacts on the Gorge, not raise money.
A couple folks have mentioned equity, and that's a major concern for any public agency putting limitations on access. That's why timed, free spaces are the safest way to begin managing parking, whether in the Gorge or in an urban area that is currently unmanaged. But even if meters were added to a place like Multnomah Falls, the cost of parking is still very small compared to the overall cost of simply getting to the Gorge (owning or renting a car, buying gas, buying overpriced coffee somewhere along your trip). This is why a meaningful transit option is such a good equity strategy, as it allows anyone to access the Gorge with very low overall cost. It's not a perfect solution, but actually removes some of the barriers that already exist for many who might otherwise want to visit the Gorge.
Okay... enough opining for now...
Tom