SALEM -- A group of Oregon mayors say they want legislators to pass a large, statewide transportation funding package that includes money for transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructure. But they acknowledge there won't be enough money with current sources like bonds, gas taxes and federal funds. So, some say it's time to consider another method: tolling.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler told reporters Thursday that officials don't have the option of saying no to considering tolls at a time when metro area infrastructure is "crumbling at our feet."

What's more, he said assuming the federal government will provide states and cities with enough funding to meet their transportation needs is "a search for fool's gold." President Donald Trump has said he wants Congress to finance $1 trillion of infrastructure projects, but the plan hasn't been sketched out yet.

Wheeler said with federal assistance in flux, local, regional and state governments need to be more resourceful -- and step up to the plate with more money. Tolling will be a part of that conversation, he said.

Wheeler was speaking to reporters at the Oregon State Capitol during a press conference held by the Metropolitan Mayors' Consortium, which lobbies on local government issues.

Tualatin Mayor Lou Ogden told reporters that he too supports toll roads because the money is directed at specific infrastructure improvements.

"We all pay tolls every time we buy a gallon of gasoline. The difference is we as a person buying the gasoline have no discretion over how that money's used," he said. "On a toll you get to choose -- I want to buy that passage, so here's my dollar."

Ogden said if tollways are implemented they should be "means tested" so low income Oregonians can pay less of the toll or avoid it altogether. There should also be alternative routes so drivers can avoid tolls if they choose, he said.

Wheeler added that any decisions on tolling will be made at the statewide level. A group of lawmakers are currently drafting a transportation spending package and weighing whether to use tolls for congestion-relief projects in the metro area.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is also asking permission from the federal government to put tolls on existing freeways in the Portland area for upgrades to I-5 through the Rose Quarter or a widening of the Abernethy Bridge, which carries I-205 over the Willamette River in Oregon City..

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com; 503-221-8209