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

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