Portland's on the cutting edge for mass transit (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 26, 2011 6:44 PM. The previous post in this blog was Live long and prosper. The next post in this blog is Latest Japan nuke threat: It's the water. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« Live long and prosper | Main | Latest Japan nuke threat: It's the water »

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Portland's on the cutting edge for mass transit

Literally. Too many streetcars, not enough cops, make for a lawless atmosphere.

Posted at 6:44 PM | Permalink

Comments (11)

Mass stabbings in "old town, downtown and LO". Lake Oswego may be on the "cutting edge" if the street car comes.

Posted by lw | March 26, 2011 7:10 PM

Ya but we have the most boarding rides per capita!

Posted by AL M | March 26, 2011 8:10 PM

Didn't TriMet tell us a couple of years ago that there was no crime problem on MAX?

Sure they did. Right before Tri Met and PPB and Washington County / Beaverton established an enhanced transit police unit.

So, obviously these recent stabbings did not happen.

Posted by Nonny Mouse | March 26, 2011 9:56 PM

The Max Is Back in Town

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
But if you want scary, try a Max stop,
That's what's giving us a fright.

When that shark bites, with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
But the light rail and these street cars
Also put our budget in the red.

Now on the sidewalk … early mornin’
Lies a body just oozin' life …
And someone’s sneakin' ‘round the corner
Near a Max Stop with a knife.

Now … Jenny Diver … yeah..Sukey Tawdry
Ooh … John Q. Public and old Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Yes, the Max is back in town.

Posted by Bill McDonald | March 26, 2011 10:21 PM

Well done Bill. Well done.

Posted by Tom | March 26, 2011 11:09 PM

Bravo Bill!
Luv it!

Posted by al m | March 27, 2011 1:58 PM

All we need now is to find someone to put those words to the music and use this as the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJWPFJoS3ak

Posted by al m | March 27, 2011 2:05 PM

I ride the MAX quite a bit. There is never any sign of authority on the MAX or platforms. You can't even see the drivers through the smoked glass.

Posted by Snards | March 27, 2011 2:19 PM

Now I'm not a big NRA fan (can you say tin foil Pith helmets?)but see what happens when you create gun free zones...People get all stabby and stuff.

Posted by Hand Banana | March 27, 2011 4:53 PM

Tacoma has a neat little solution to the problem:

It's "light rail" (really a streetcar line, and it has only five stations, from the Freighthouse Square transit center to downtown), has a security guard on every train.

It helps that almost nobody rides it, and that each train is a streetcar and thus a single car. The security guard spends most of his time kicking off homeless folk, because no fare is charged to ride the train (it was basically built as a way to placate the city of Tacoma for inclusion in Sound Transit, and serves no real purpose other than to connect a bunch of government institutions.)

Posted by Erik H. | March 27, 2011 6:56 PM

From what I would guess it costs to clean off the litter and cigarette butts (from the non-smoking platforms), it might be money better spent to put some patrol folks on a platform or a train periodically.

And, does anyone know why there is always a security officer at the end of the Yellow/Green lines at PSU? It appears all they do is kick off the stragglers before the trains go around the corner with the "Out of Service" sign in the windows.

Posted by umpire | March 28, 2011 4:58 PM

In Vino Veritas

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
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

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: 54
At this date last year: 50
Total run 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