Here's an interesting report from a reader down in the southern 'burbs, last night:
I was sitting at the signal at Boones Ferry Road and Tualatin Sherwood Road this evening at 7:51 when the WES train came through.
The crossing lights came on, barricades dropped and the train approached and slowed at the Tualatin stop.
Then it continued without stopping at the Tualatin station and passed right in front to me in my front position at the traffic signal.
There were 2 people on board. TWO.
That's too funny. Good thing TriMet is preserving this transit service.
Comments (13)
It appears, at the rate WES is going, that the service will have to be cut when the contract period runs out.
Currently the reason it hasn't gotten cut is because they've already sunk the money for it. If they run it or not the money is gone - spent - swooshed away.
Government is AWESOME! So flexible and accountable! ya!
What is even worse is that Tualatin-Sherwood road is one of the more congested areas- and having teh train regularly block taffic is making the problem even worse for hundreds, if not thousands, of commuters
I agree that WES is a disaster. However, if it was a MAX line with a flyover ramp to Washington Square, it would do a lot better. I tried riding it when it first opened but no more. It's not reliable, frequent transit service. Once, I missed the last train and had to take a long bus ride back home. Another time, I missed the train by seconds and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one.
WES is a conspiracy to increase population density near the railbelt. When the horns blast through residential Tualatin, it's too early to get out of bed and too late to go back to sleep (concept stolen from PLAYBOY some thirty years ago)
I tesified against this HUGE BOONDIGLE years ago during the "public" comment period. And it was very clear from the bored expressions on the Metro, TriMet and ODOT people that I was mostly wsting my time. Even the Federal DOT people thought the pasenger projections were BS; but somehow the funding for the BOONDOGLE got through. Could someone please give me a reason why when projects like this become a financial sinkhole; that some public employee heads don't roll? In the private sector, most people would be out of a job or demoted to graveyard shift janitor if they were responsible for such a financial sinkhole.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (13)
It appears, at the rate WES is going, that the service will have to be cut when the contract period runs out.
Currently the reason it hasn't gotten cut is because they've already sunk the money for it. If they run it or not the money is gone - spent - swooshed away.
Government is AWESOME! So flexible and accountable! ya!
Posted by Adron | September 23, 2009 10:24 AM
Yeah, but ridership is going to skyrocket once they add the club car with all the video poker terminals.
Posted by Roger | September 23, 2009 10:34 AM
I was out for dinner last Friday, and we had the "opportunity" to watch two of those WES trains go by. I didn't see more than five people either time.
Our tax dollars at work, yadda yadda...
Posted by GreyDuck | September 23, 2009 11:18 AM
Can we assume that some of those WES riders were fare inspectors or other staff doing time studies?
Posted by Abe | September 23, 2009 11:55 AM
Hmmm, people aren't clamoring to travel between Tualatin and Beaverton? Who'da guessed?
Posted by Snards | September 23, 2009 2:09 PM
What is even worse is that Tualatin-Sherwood road is one of the more congested areas- and having teh train regularly block taffic is making the problem even worse for hundreds, if not thousands, of commuters
Posted by buck | September 23, 2009 3:06 PM
According to TriMet logic, the congestion caused by WES is precisely the reason that more people should ride WES.
Posted by Garage Wine | September 23, 2009 3:48 PM
Great...we can't get our kid home from school using Trimet in under 2-3 buses and 90 minutes. Nice.
Posted by abs | September 23, 2009 3:52 PM
I agree that WES is a disaster. However, if it was a MAX line with a flyover ramp to Washington Square, it would do a lot better. I tried riding it when it first opened but no more. It's not reliable, frequent transit service. Once, I missed the last train and had to take a long bus ride back home. Another time, I missed the train by seconds and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one.
Posted by dave | September 23, 2009 10:35 PM
The only time I'd like to use it is to hit some Beaverton shopping spots on the weekend. Oh, but it does not run on weekends you say?..
Posted by notjustforlooks | September 24, 2009 7:10 AM
WES is a conspiracy to increase population density near the railbelt. When the horns blast through residential Tualatin, it's too early to get out of bed and too late to go back to sleep (concept stolen from PLAYBOY some thirty years ago)
Posted by dhughes609 | September 24, 2009 9:31 AM
The TWO people were the engineer and the ticket taker.
Posted by lw | September 24, 2009 11:25 AM
I tesified against this HUGE BOONDIGLE years ago during the "public" comment period. And it was very clear from the bored expressions on the Metro, TriMet and ODOT people that I was mostly wsting my time. Even the Federal DOT people thought the pasenger projections were BS; but somehow the funding for the BOONDOGLE got through. Could someone please give me a reason why when projects like this become a financial sinkhole; that some public employee heads don't roll? In the private sector, most people would be out of a job or demoted to graveyard shift janitor if they were responsible for such a financial sinkhole.
Posted by Dave A.. | September 24, 2009 4:24 PM