Portland bus riders getting cranky
Can't say as we blame them. A once-proud bus system has been chopped up and decimated so that Tri-Met can become a rail company. This looks good in The New York Times and makes life easier for Earl Blumenauer when Neil calls.
But the folks who ride public transit on rubber tires are starting to fight back. It will be a long, losing battle, of course. Go by streetcar!
| Posted at 10:49 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (10)
A losing battle is right. Make the transfer last three hours. Now you have a larger group of people who can make a round trip on a single fare. Not only do ticket revenues get cut in half for these people, but a bunch of people who have bought monthly passes no longer need to. So the reduced revenues require further schedule cuts, and so on.
Posted by Allan L. | September 29, 2011 11:22 AM
Put a vulture on it (Tri Met)
Posted by LucsAdvo | September 29, 2011 11:54 AM
I'm sure people who live along bus lines are expected to simply move to one of the shiny new condo canyons that will line light rail lines in the City of Tomorrow.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | September 29, 2011 12:01 PM
Just remember that TriMet's "customers" are not transit users. The customers are politicians and Federal agencies. TriMet's behavior makes sense through this lens.
Posted by Snards | September 29, 2011 12:22 PM
"I'm sure people who live along bus lines are expected to simply move to one of the shiny new condo canyons that will line light rail lines in the City of Tomorrow."
Exactly.
Shouldn't public transit be about getting people around who can't get around by themselves? You know, the elderly, handicapped, etc. Don't buses and vans do that better than trains? It's a shame that bus service is being cut while a new light rail line, and fancy pants bridge for it, is being constructed.
Posted by dg | September 29, 2011 12:25 PM
Brilliant ! Snards
Posted by Portland Native | September 29, 2011 12:32 PM
If they expand the transferability up to 24 hours or more, it would be interesting to see if you would get a secondary market going where you can resell your ticket once you get off the bus or rail.
Might not get much from selling to rail customers as many of these customers really don't pay fare, instead risking the once in awhile when TriMet wakes their fare inspectors from long snoozes to write a few tickets in front of cameras.
One big solution would be to split TriMet up into two independent companies with one taking over the bus assets and the other taking over the rail assets. TriMet Board would be independently elected and removed from Metro oversight.
But this is stump town so this is just dreaming. The only real solution in stump town is to flee it.
Posted by Bob Clark | September 29, 2011 2:31 PM
This will "drain" up to $5.3 million/year, depending on whose study you believe. Compare that to the annual cost of the new Milwaukie line. Or of the streetcar system. Or WES. And then compare the number of riders affected by each mode of transit.
Put a dodo bird on it.
Posted by Michelle | September 29, 2011 4:00 PM
My comment about various costs got mysteriously deleted from Oregonlive.com...
But for the operating deficit of WES for one year - it would pay for the expanded transfers for several years.
The subsidy to the City of Portland for its streetcar system would pay for the expanded transfers for at least three or four years.
Eliminating the "Free Rail Zone" and making ALL MAX riders pay their fair shake - would easily cover expanded transfers (which, ironically, would benefit the MAX riders too.)
Posted by Erik H. | September 29, 2011 7:40 PM
My comment about various costs got mysteriously deleted from Oregonlive.com...
I'd keep posting it.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | September 29, 2011 8:10 PM