Here's a twist on the story of the financial abyss known as the Milwaukie MAX project: Oregon Iron Works, the local streetcar manufacturer, has reportedly been named a finalist in the competition to become a subcontractor of the Swiss outfit that's got the contract to build the light rail cars. That would certainly help the forces pushing the Mystery Train boondoggle to sell it as a local "jobs" program.
But it would be a whole lot better for the future of this region if the billion-dollars-plus about to be blown on the thing were spent on something more important and useful. We could think of a hundred better uses for that kind of dough.
And given Tri-Met's terrible track record in buying trains, both the Swiss contractor and any of its subcontractors need to be approached with extreme caution. Getting a Tri-Met rail contract these days is not particularly a good omen.
Comments (9)
If I remember correctly the steel for the rails came to us from the U.S. territory China. I was just looking around to confirm and hit Wikipedia, here's the list of future projects we are going to have shoved in the darker portions of our body.
TriMet has indicated that additional extensions have been studied or discussed with Metro and cities in the region.[32][33] These proposed extensions include:
* Line via Barbur Blvd.
* Line via Powell/Foster Blvd.
* Line to Damascus & Boring
* Extension from Milwaukie and/or Clackamas Town Center to Oregon City
Trains and bikes, full speed ahead! Damn the people and to hell with the local economy! The right people will just move here and displace the ingrates anyways!
Max is correct - United Streetcar has not a single, finished product to show for its how many years in business? It isn't as though they had to design something from the ground up (i.e. Boeing 787, Airbus A380) - they licensed the design, the blueprints - everything, from Inkeon.
Remember the last time TriMet bought from an untested, unproven vendor? TriMet was forced to bail out Colorado Railcar, send TriMet employees to Colorado to run the company and make sure the bills and payroll were made - AT THE SAME TIME TRIMET WAS CUTTING LOCAL BUS SERVICES IN ORDER TO PAY FOR THE BAILOUT!!!
Remember the time before that? TriMet, back in 1980-1981, bought a bunch of articulated buses from a company called Ikarus Bus, a Hungarian concern. They in turn contracted out the U.S. assembly of the buses to a company called Crown Coach - a then well respected manufacturer of school buses (that often had service lives of 40, 50 years!!) Thus, the Crown-Ikarus Articulated Bus. Remember how many problems TriMet had with those buses? They constantly broke down; the wheelchair lifts had to be removed... The fiasco that resulted ended up with Crown Coach - again, previously a VERY well respected business - going out of business.
So, since when was TriMet a venture capital firm designed to shore up new ventures? I don't recall that being part of TriMet's mission. TriMet's job is to move people.
The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Budget has $90 million in it for light rail cars.
But all of the Portland, TriMet & Metro supporters do not care how much anything costs or how much of the public does not want what they are forcing upon our communities.
They are a bunch of conniving and dishonest totalitarians hell bent on imposing their fanaticism upon the public. They conspire to prohibit public votes, enact new fees and rig every commission and committee with clones.
And when the public attempts to intervene with public votes they band together and try to crush them.
Clackamas County, Lake Oswego and Milwaukie have been saying NO for years and now it is becoming torches and pitchforks time with new initiatives to stop these despicable imposers.
When were they "declared" a finalist for a PMLR subcontract?
Today's article would have you believe that they just found out.
Odd since they were the largest donor to defeat the Clackamas citizens UR measure which threatened the primary funding source for Clackamas' contribution to PMLR.
They made a $10k donation to support the Clack Commissioners' decoy measure almost 3 months ago.
The local press routinely ignores blatant pay-to-play connections. Every once in a while Nigel will sniff around but he's mostly interested in Portland (and WW has a soft spot for light rail anyway).
The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Budget has $90 million in it for light rail cars.
At $425,000 a pop, TriMet could use the $90 million and purchase 210 brand new 40' buses. That would be sufficient to replace all remaining 1400, 1600, 1700, 1800 and 1900 series buses (built prior to 1995, least efficient, least reliable, high floor, no air conditioning), and possibly even the first 2000 series buses.
At $550,000 a pop, TriMet could instead buy 160 hybrid-electric buses - less fuel economy, lower pollution and lower maintenance expense, but identical capacity to the above vehicles. Higher reliability would allow for the reduction in TriMet's contingency fleet, and lower fuel burn would result in operational savings that could be used to increase service hours (keep the buses on the road longer).
At $600,000 a pop, TriMet could purchase 150 articulated buses - while fewer in quantity, each bus would have 40% higher capacity than the older buses. These would also be low-floor buses with A/C and all of the other benefits of a new, technologically current vehicle. Fewer buses with greater capacity could mean reducing service on some routes to 20 minute headways (instead of 15-18 minutes), lowering both fuel and labor expense, while maintaining equal capacity or in some cases increasing capacity.)
At $750,000 a pop, TriMet could purchase 120 articulated, hybrid-electric buses. Best of all worlds.
At $1M a pop, TriMet could purchase 90 Bus Rapid Transit, articulated, hybrid-electric buses (like Eugene's EmX buses). This would be sufficient to equip a half dozen new BRT routes along T.V. Highway, Barbur, McLoughlin, Powell, Division and 82nd Avenue. (Two routes entirely within Multnomah County, two routes that connect Multnomah and Clackamas Counties, one route that connects Multnomah and Washington County, and one route entirely within Washington County.)
AND...the $90 million is still a capital expense - not an operating expense, as TriMet claims that bus replacements are.
Unless I'm mistaken, this falls in line with Portland's Climate Action Plan which city council members and county commissioners committed the residents of Portland and Multnomah County to without their approval. I do not believe Clackamas County signed on to it, though I suppose they could at any time without warning.
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
Comments (9)
If I remember correctly the steel for the rails came to us from the U.S. territory China. I was just looking around to confirm and hit Wikipedia, here's the list of future projects we are going to have shoved in the darker portions of our body.
TriMet has indicated that additional extensions have been studied or discussed with Metro and cities in the region.[32][33] These proposed extensions include:
* Line via Barbur Blvd.
* Line via Powell/Foster Blvd.
* Line to Damascus & Boring
* Extension from Milwaukie and/or Clackamas Town Center to Oregon City
Posted by phil | December 14, 2011 7:58 AM
I hope you aren't counting the PDX-to-LO Streetcar. We citizens have yet to vote on this boondoggle. This one ain't gonna happen.
Posted by Nolo | December 14, 2011 9:37 AM
The subsidiary, United, has never delivered a finished product.
Posted by Max | December 14, 2011 11:25 AM
Trains and bikes, full speed ahead! Damn the people and to hell with the local economy! The right people will just move here and displace the ingrates anyways!
Welcome to Portland!
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | December 14, 2011 11:29 AM
Max is correct - United Streetcar has not a single, finished product to show for its how many years in business? It isn't as though they had to design something from the ground up (i.e. Boeing 787, Airbus A380) - they licensed the design, the blueprints - everything, from Inkeon.
Remember the last time TriMet bought from an untested, unproven vendor? TriMet was forced to bail out Colorado Railcar, send TriMet employees to Colorado to run the company and make sure the bills and payroll were made - AT THE SAME TIME TRIMET WAS CUTTING LOCAL BUS SERVICES IN ORDER TO PAY FOR THE BAILOUT!!!
Remember the time before that? TriMet, back in 1980-1981, bought a bunch of articulated buses from a company called Ikarus Bus, a Hungarian concern. They in turn contracted out the U.S. assembly of the buses to a company called Crown Coach - a then well respected manufacturer of school buses (that often had service lives of 40, 50 years!!) Thus, the Crown-Ikarus Articulated Bus. Remember how many problems TriMet had with those buses? They constantly broke down; the wheelchair lifts had to be removed... The fiasco that resulted ended up with Crown Coach - again, previously a VERY well respected business - going out of business.
So, since when was TriMet a venture capital firm designed to shore up new ventures? I don't recall that being part of TriMet's mission. TriMet's job is to move people.
There needs to be a stop to the madness.
Posted by Erik H. | December 14, 2011 12:32 PM
The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Budget has $90 million in it for light rail cars.
But all of the Portland, TriMet & Metro supporters do not care how much anything costs or how much of the public does not want what they are forcing upon our communities.
They are a bunch of conniving and dishonest totalitarians hell bent on imposing their fanaticism upon the public. They conspire to prohibit public votes, enact new fees and rig every commission and committee with clones.
And when the public attempts to intervene with public votes they band together and try to crush them.
Clackamas County, Lake Oswego and Milwaukie have been saying NO for years and now it is becoming torches and pitchforks time with new initiatives to stop these despicable imposers.
Posted by Ben | December 14, 2011 1:04 PM
When were they "declared" a finalist for a PMLR subcontract?
Today's article would have you believe that they just found out.
Odd since they were the largest donor to defeat the Clackamas citizens UR measure which threatened the primary funding source for Clackamas' contribution to PMLR.
They made a $10k donation to support the Clack Commissioners' decoy measure almost 3 months ago.
https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/gotoPublicTransactionDetail.do?tranRsn=1078137
Same sort of thing happened with the Sellwood Bridge fee vote. An out of state contractor put up $25k to support the bridge fee campaign.
https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/gotoPublicTransactionDetail.do?tranRsn=1028714
But they weren't awarded the contract until months later.
http://www.sellwoodbridge.org/?e=66
The local press routinely ignores blatant pay-to-play connections. Every once in a while Nigel will sniff around but he's mostly interested in Portland (and WW has a soft spot for light rail anyway).
Posted by PanchoPDX | December 14, 2011 1:58 PM
The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Budget has $90 million in it for light rail cars.
At $425,000 a pop, TriMet could use the $90 million and purchase 210 brand new 40' buses. That would be sufficient to replace all remaining 1400, 1600, 1700, 1800 and 1900 series buses (built prior to 1995, least efficient, least reliable, high floor, no air conditioning), and possibly even the first 2000 series buses.
At $550,000 a pop, TriMet could instead buy 160 hybrid-electric buses - less fuel economy, lower pollution and lower maintenance expense, but identical capacity to the above vehicles. Higher reliability would allow for the reduction in TriMet's contingency fleet, and lower fuel burn would result in operational savings that could be used to increase service hours (keep the buses on the road longer).
At $600,000 a pop, TriMet could purchase 150 articulated buses - while fewer in quantity, each bus would have 40% higher capacity than the older buses. These would also be low-floor buses with A/C and all of the other benefits of a new, technologically current vehicle. Fewer buses with greater capacity could mean reducing service on some routes to 20 minute headways (instead of 15-18 minutes), lowering both fuel and labor expense, while maintaining equal capacity or in some cases increasing capacity.)
At $750,000 a pop, TriMet could purchase 120 articulated, hybrid-electric buses. Best of all worlds.
At $1M a pop, TriMet could purchase 90 Bus Rapid Transit, articulated, hybrid-electric buses (like Eugene's EmX buses). This would be sufficient to equip a half dozen new BRT routes along T.V. Highway, Barbur, McLoughlin, Powell, Division and 82nd Avenue. (Two routes entirely within Multnomah County, two routes that connect Multnomah and Clackamas Counties, one route that connects Multnomah and Washington County, and one route entirely within Washington County.)
AND...the $90 million is still a capital expense - not an operating expense, as TriMet claims that bus replacements are.
Posted by Erik H. | December 14, 2011 8:11 PM
Unless I'm mistaken, this falls in line with Portland's Climate Action Plan which city council members and county commissioners committed the residents of Portland and Multnomah County to without their approval. I do not believe Clackamas County signed on to it, though I suppose they could at any time without warning.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | December 15, 2011 6:56 AM