Oh Jack. You're so silly.

MAX was always about real estate development, not public transportation.

The geniuses at Tri-Met always expected to lose money on light rail operations. They need lax fare inspection to keep the ridership numbers higher than they would be otherwise be. That keeps the Federal DOT Fairy happy and boosts their bragging rights.

If they actually required all the tweakers and gutter punks to pay everytime they hopped on MAX, then light rail would get a smaller slice of the multi-modal pie. That's bad news for those who own real estate along new and proposed MAX tracks.

Huntington made a fortune in real estate off his red line concept. The red line failed when subsidies couldn't carry it any more.

Forcing people to pay to ride MAX is racist!

LOL

Here is a tip for Tri-Met management:

Why not use the fare inspectors to try out each of the ticket machines during their rounds?

This should keep them real busy, and Tri-Met will have first hand, timely info on their machine reliability.

Reminds me of the recent fines granted for the PPS election infractions. $75 isn't a bad fee to do whatever one wants to do during an election.

Tri-Met can't seem to get anything right. First, too little enforcement, and now, too much. For the casual user who was unable to buy or validate a ticket because of Tri-Met's equipment failure, a guilty plea seems unsatisfactory and a $175 penalty is unreasonably harsh. Another set of reasons to stay off the system altogether.

poor Tri-Met, aced out by all the dang middlemen:

According to TriMet, it gets only $69 from a $175 ticket. Thirty-seven dollars is for a unitary assessment that goes to the state; forty-five dollars goes to the state for an offense surcharge, and the county takes $18. That leaves a “fine” of $75. Then a state court administrator takes out 8 percent of that.

Might be interesting to find out the number of cites issued vs. the number ever paid. I doubt any of those trying to cheat the system are actually mailing in certified checks when caught.

If they actually required all the tweakers and gutter punks to pay everytime they hopped on MAX, then light rail would get a smaller slice of the multi-modal pie. That's bad news for those who own real estate along new and proposed MAX tracks.

Is it really? What about the flip side to that argument--that if MAX improves its reputation for being a safe mode of travel, that more people would use it?

TriMet is its own worst enemy for fares. A few weeks back my work team in Beaverton arranged a big luncheon downtown. We decided to use MAX as we are near a station. Well, the fare machines were a nightmare. One ate my change and gave me no ticket. I put a $5 in and got a ticket and less change that I should have. Other co-workers using another machine had similar issues and had to use their credit cards. People on platform said the machines at the previous station were not working at all and that fare inspectors kicked them off and told them to pay at this station. Coming back from downtown the machines would only accept credit cards at that station. That would suck for a teenager with parents who don't lay plastic on them. I have to wonder is there any on-going preventative maintenance done on the MAX fare machines.

Perhaps my memory is faulty but I do not recall the LIRR and PATH trains running slower when the temperature hit the 90s:

Subject: Service Alert: MAX and WES trains will be traveling at
reduced speeds once temps reach 90 degrees

Due to high temperatures today, MAX and WES trains will be traveling
at reduced speeds once temperatures reach 90 degrees.

MAX trains will travel 10 mph slower in all areas where the speed
limit is 35 mph or higher. If temperatures reach 100 degrees or
higher, the maximum speed for all trains will be 35 mph with a 10 mph
speed reduction in areas where the speed limit is between 25 and 35
mph. High temperatures can cause MAX’s overhead power lines to sag and
rails to expand, so trains will travel at reduced speeds in key areas
to maintain safe, reliable service.

WES trains will also be traveling at 35 mph during the afternoon
commute for safety due to possible rail expansion caused by the heat.

And we are building more of these things? Feh!

Why hasn't anyone filed a lawsuit against Tri Met over their faulty ticket machines? I'm not an attorney, but this seems like entrapment to me.

All this hassle with the ticket machines makes me nostalgic for the old Rose City bus line drivers with the change-makers on their belts.

It used to be (circa 2006) that the citation for no ticket was actually a Theft of Services charge. (Many of them were then sent to Community Court.) If that is still the case, the $100 "annual pass" plan might come with some pretty strong collateral consequences if you have a job requiring any sort of licensing or detailed background check.

Job? Portland? Ha! Ha!

Huntington made a fortune in real estate off his red line concept. The red line failed when subsidies couldn't carry it any more.

How dare you tell the truth and refute the "Streetcar Scandal" fallacy!

Of course, the "Streetcar Scandal" believers also believe it was General Motors that shut down the Red Cars...when, National City Lines never owned the Pacific Electric (which ran the Red Cars), and it was the newly former Metropolitan Transit Authority, a predecessor to today's LACMTA, that acquired and then shut down the last of the PE lines.

And, the National City Lines owned Los Angeles Railway (the "Yellow Cars" or the actual streetcars) ran longer than the Red Cars did, and ran a full ten years longer than the streetcars ran in Portland. Which, were NEVER owned by NCL. And part of the reason why the federal anti-trust lawsuit against National City Lines fell apart, resulting in a meager guilty verdict for monopolizing the sale of buses by GM to NCL (basically, NCL wasn't allowed to buy buses from other companies like Kenworth, Mack, Flxible.) And NCL was fined $5,000 for that ONE guilty charge. They were found NOT GUILTY for shutting down the streetcar lines themselves; the federal court even said so far that streetcar lines in non-NCL controlled areas (like Portland) were shutting down as well.