No money for fare inspectors, or buses, but obviously for new 4 wheeled, carbon emitting vehicles from Chevrolet.
Drive less? Maybe not so much!

“Sarcasm: intellect on the offensive"

I never understood why TriMet's supervisors/managers needed anything more than a subcompact vehicle for those absolutely essential trips (obviously Supervisors need to be able to respond to calls in a car, but they clearly don't need much.)

These Supervisors NEVER transport stranded passengers, so they don't need extra room.

They never carry materials, so they don't need cargo space.

And only once in a great while, will all-wheel (or four-wheel) drive come in need. If it's essential that the Supervisors have it, why aren't our buses four-wheel drive? (OK, they don't exist, but still...)

The Chevrolet Equinox costs about $30,000, plus the cost of the light bar, radios and so on.

A Chevrolet Aveo is more than sufficient for the needs of those TriMet employees who needs a car, and costs just $14,000.

And those managers, service planners and so on? They don't need a vehicle at all, they have an entire transit system at their disposal. They can ride the bus like the rest of us.

A Chevrolet Aveo is more than sufficient for the needs of those TriMet employees who needs a car, and costs just $14,000.

But how will you know who's in charge? The $30,000 vehicle commands a level of respect that a $14,000 vehicle just can't convey.

People who really need to get around need decent cars to do it in.

I wish the City of Portland, Tri-Met, Metro ad nauseum had the courage of the convictions they want the rest of us to have. If I'm expected to bring home a new couch on a streetcar, all government workers should be doing their jobs on public transit or bikes. I wonder if a ballot measure to that effect would pass??

TriMet won the Golden Fleece Award from
CommonSense for Oregon for having the most
expensive benefit package of any transit agency in America.

expensive benefit package of any transit agency in America.

Actual translation---->The health care industry is ripping off the American public but its easier to blame the people with health care than solve the real problem.

dg: If the employees of Trimet need "decent cars" to get around, then perhaps they could drive their own vehicles and get reimbursed for their travel, as some other government agencies and private companies do.
And just how many fleet cars does Trimet have?

"I never understood why TriMet's supervisors/managers needed anything more than a subcompact vehicle"

I never understood why they can't take the bus/MAX/streetcar/WES. Where would they go that doesn't have to do with TriMet's lines anyways?

UNLESS - They don't think TriMet is safe. Kinda like public school teachers sending their kids to private schools.

As far as the "City of Portland, Tri-Met, Metro ad nauseum" having "the courage of the convictions they want the rest of us to have," when I worked for Multnomah county not so long ago we drove (awful) Dodge Neons and Ford Contours to visit clients and attend meetings, and were also encouraged to use Tri-Met whenever feasible.

You might wish to see how a car's mileage affects the agency's overall fleet mileage. Ten cars get 25 mpg and one bus gets four mpg, so we average that out. That may be how they are figuring their fleet mileage.

Since TriMet lauds the savings, the convenience, the Green, the great service, the all-encompassing service of TriMet, why doesn't TriMet try having it's supervisors do their job using TriMet? Makes sense to me.

They can haul their de-icing probes, ticket machine parts and all that on TriMet since they are asking us to haul our work paraphernalia around.

They can haul their de-icing probes, ticket machine parts and all that on TriMet since they are asking us to haul our work paraphernalia around.

Well, the NYC Subway system has the "money train" which serves all the fare machines each night. Certainly an old 100 series car can be converted into a "Money Train" that runs the system each night and services each and every fare machine.

You might wish to see how a car's mileage affects the agency's overall fleet mileage. Ten cars get 25 mpg and one bus gets four mpg, so we average that out. That may be how they are figuring their fleet mileage.

So, the new cars make up for WES and its' 1 MPG rating? (Each WES car carries as much riders as two buses, but requires THREE diesel engines - two for propulsion, one for on-board hotel power).

Maybe they need to (be prepared to) attend to breakdowns and other emergencies. Making them use transit would be the equivalent of police or medical not being able to get to an incident in decent time because they have to behave like everybody else and can't use their lights and sirens.

And if you're a regular transit rider and have a urgent issue, that's when you use some of the savings earned by not driving to hire a cab.

"Maybe they need to (be prepared to) attend to breakdowns and other emergencies."

Funny, that car and most of the TriMet vehicles I see don't have tools or tow capacity. They can take the bus.

Maybe they need to (be prepared to) attend to breakdowns and other emergencies.

Regional Resident, I was involved in a "bus emergency" when my 21 year old Gillig Phantom crapped out with a locked up transmission in the center lane of Barbur Boulevard (the bus was immobile at that point and had to be towed).

The Supervisor in his brand new Chevy Equinox showed up. He was utterly useless as an employee - despite having the SUV chock-full of emergency equipment, he stood next to the bus driver's window and had a cigarette, standing in the middle of the road.

Never mind the 40 people on the bus stuck. Never mind we were in the center of the road. Never mind that he had a vehicle with flashing lights and he (and the Operator) had safety vests, so they could have made a half-assed effort to stop traffic to let us off the bus and walk the rest of the walk to the Barbur Transit Center, or to the side of the road to wait for another bus to come and pick us up. No. The Operator announced "I can't force you to stay on the bus, but if you get off the bus TriMet isn't responsible for your safety." The Supervisor didn't do a damned thing.

Yeah, they need a SUV. How about this: Fire all the damn supervisors.

Did you know that TriMet doesn't even own a single tow truck capable of towing a bus? (But they own a Mercedes Benz Unimog to rescue stranded MAX trains.)

"Funny, that car and most of the TriMet vehicles I see don't have tools or tow capacity."

Well, they're not the tow truck driver. Their job is to be a responder and investigator (like when a bus or train is involved in a collision). And there's many incidents besides ones where the vehicle needs to be towed (or a full-on mechanic). Plus, they can also write citations and enforce rules.

"Fire all the damn supervisors."

How about surveying the operators (the ones who they are supposed to help) and see what they think of that?