Why Tri-Met is cutting your bus service
Here's an interesting report from a reader down in the southern 'burbs, last night:
I was sitting at the signal at Boones Ferry Road and Tualatin Sherwood Road this evening at 7:51 when the WES train came through. The crossing lights came on, barricades dropped and the train approached and slowed at the Tualatin stop. Then it continued without stopping at the Tualatin station and passed right in front to me in my front position at the traffic signal. There were 2 people on board. TWO.That's too funny. Good thing TriMet is preserving this transit service.
| Posted at 10:02 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (13)
It appears, at the rate WES is going, that the service will have to be cut when the contract period runs out.
Currently the reason it hasn't gotten cut is because they've already sunk the money for it. If they run it or not the money is gone - spent - swooshed away.
Government is AWESOME! So flexible and accountable! ya!
Posted by Adron | September 23, 2009 10:24 AM
Yeah, but ridership is going to skyrocket once they add the club car with all the video poker terminals.
Posted by Roger | September 23, 2009 10:34 AM
I was out for dinner last Friday, and we had the "opportunity" to watch two of those WES trains go by. I didn't see more than five people either time.
Our tax dollars at work, yadda yadda...
Posted by GreyDuck | September 23, 2009 11:18 AM
Can we assume that some of those WES riders were fare inspectors or other staff doing time studies?
Posted by Abe | September 23, 2009 11:55 AM
Hmmm, people aren't clamoring to travel between Tualatin and Beaverton? Who'da guessed?
Posted by Snards | September 23, 2009 2:09 PM
What is even worse is that Tualatin-Sherwood road is one of the more congested areas- and having teh train regularly block taffic is making the problem even worse for hundreds, if not thousands, of commuters
Posted by buck | September 23, 2009 3:06 PM
According to TriMet logic, the congestion caused by WES is precisely the reason that more people should ride WES.
Posted by Garage Wine | September 23, 2009 3:48 PM
Great...we can't get our kid home from school using Trimet in under 2-3 buses and 90 minutes. Nice.
Posted by abs | September 23, 2009 3:52 PM
I agree that WES is a disaster. However, if it was a MAX line with a flyover ramp to Washington Square, it would do a lot better. I tried riding it when it first opened but no more. It's not reliable, frequent transit service. Once, I missed the last train and had to take a long bus ride back home. Another time, I missed the train by seconds and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one.
Posted by dave | September 23, 2009 10:35 PM
The only time I'd like to use it is to hit some Beaverton shopping spots on the weekend. Oh, but it does not run on weekends you say?..
Posted by notjustforlooks | September 24, 2009 7:10 AM
WES is a conspiracy to increase population density near the railbelt. When the horns blast through residential Tualatin, it's too early to get out of bed and too late to go back to sleep (concept stolen from PLAYBOY some thirty years ago)
Posted by dhughes609 | September 24, 2009 9:31 AM
The TWO people were the engineer and the ticket taker.
Posted by lw | September 24, 2009 11:25 AM
I tesified against this HUGE BOONDIGLE years ago during the "public" comment period. And it was very clear from the bored expressions on the Metro, TriMet and ODOT people that I was mostly wsting my time. Even the Federal DOT people thought the pasenger projections were BS; but somehow the funding for the BOONDOGLE got through. Could someone please give me a reason why when projects like this become a financial sinkhole; that some public employee heads don't roll? In the private sector, most people would be out of a job or demoted to graveyard shift janitor if they were responsible for such a financial sinkhole.
Posted by Dave A.. | September 24, 2009 4:24 PM