Safety & Service Excellence Task Force Meetings

TriMet is allowing you three whole minutes of input during their scheduled Safety & Service Excellence Task Force Meetings, taking place starting tomorrow, July 29 to October. Three minutes. These meetings are open to the public.

The July meeting will, again, take place on July 29 at the Portland Building, 2nd floor, 5-7pm.

So get practicing – you only have three minutes to comment. Here’s the entire schedule of meetings.

On Etiquette and Values

Recently, I’ve seen a decent amount of comments that state that the riding etiquette I post are more about my own personal values than general riding etiquette tips to the TriMet-riding public. In fact, I even received a comment from a reader accusing me of leading a “pretty cushy lifestyle” and that I should “get my mommy and daddy to buy me a car.” Other comments - particularly about pointing out the smoking rules for bus and MAX stops and shelters – typically get some comments directed at pointing out that it’s my personal preference I’m trying to push on the blog here, not general riding etiquette.

The truth of the matter is that it does partly come from my values and beliefs that everyone riding public transportation should do their best to make not only their ride but everyone else’s rides more enjoyable. I would hope that everyone has this mentality and it just doesn’t seem like everyone does.

But the majority of what I like to focus on when posting riding etiquette tips for TriMet are not exactly rules.. but tips on more of the “unwritten rules.” Sure, it may not state that you can’t put your feet on the seat… but I would think you wouldn’t want to do that so someone else can take that seat, right? I’m continually surprised that it usually just doesn’t really seem that way, hence why I decided to start up and write for this blog.

I’m a rules guy. When the weather gets nice, I like to commute to work via bike. What peeves me is when bikers don’t stop at stop signs; this just really grabs my goat. I actually wrote a quick comment about this on Yelp, where I got both some supporting comments and some that weren’t so supportive.

So if you believe that I write these riding etiquette tips based on my own personal values and beliefs… you’re halfway right. The other half, though, comes straight from the school of “no duh”, where I think a lot of people don’t really consider when riding.

Maybe this blog comes across as more of a venting outlet than anything else. Maybe that is part of it. But I write these riding etiquette tips because I hope that I can share these ideas with other TriMet riders who feel the same as I do… and hopefully, we all can make our TriMet riding experience more enjoyable.

Crime rates increase at Clackamas Town Center due to MAX Green Line

Spotted this article about how the Sheriff believes the MAX Green Line has spurred the almost 50% increase in crime around the Clackamas Town Center. Unfortunately, KGW’s article is really vague on any specific information. Many people seem to correlate crime with light rail and it was interesting to see someone in a position such as a sheriff mentions this correlation and back it up with a fairly remarkable high increase in crime.

What do you all think? Does having an accessible light rail system increase crime in those areas where there are stops? Is there a correlation?

Dave Lister on upcoming TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane

Oregon Live recently ran a great guest columnist piece about the kinds of things Neil McFarlane, the new upcoming TriMet general manager, needs to address once he steps into his new job role. I have to say, Dave Lister, the guest columnist, hit the nail on the head. Echoing his thoughts:

The light-rail system needs turnstiles to board, or maybe better yet, a ticket-taker.

I’ve said this time and time again. I cannot imagine the kind of money TriMet is losing out on everyday with MAX passengers who do not actually pay fare. And if they get checked once a year or so and get a ticket, hey, that’s cheaper than buying fare every time they ride! A turnstile system shouldn’t slow things down much at all; trains already take a good amount of time at each station.

TriMet should provide transit, not development planning. It should provide transportation to people where they are, rather than building new lines in hopes they’ll move there.

So basically, focusing more on bus lines than building out new rail lines that help out a fraction of riders. Yeah, a rail line from Portland to Milwaukie sounds like a great idea… but how many people will really be using it? Will it be another *gasp* WES?! And while the Green Line hasn’t really been a huge success for TriMet, it still has been a better success than the WES.

In any case, feel free to read Dave’s article here. It’s a good read.

TriMet forces sale of home / business

Spotted this on craigslist this morning -

TriMet Forces Sale

Unfortunately, there’s no way to contact the guy aside from swinging by his business, which I may do; I’d like to hear more about this…

Summer Riding Tips

It’s officially summer in Portland, with temperatures hitting the mid-80s today and expected to climb the next couple of days. Here are some tips for you to remember when riding TriMet during the summer:

• Air conditioning varies from bus to bus and MAX train to train (our WES correspondant Wes Breaksalot reports that the WES trains are quite cool and nice, especially when you’re the only one riding).
• Truth be told, when the temps rise, so does the stinkiness of riders’ body odors. Not really any tips here, except be prepared.
• Best seat on a hot bus? Hit the back and sit in one of those seats that face the aisle; you’ll most likely be the recipient of a couple of drafts from some open windows.
• Best spot on the MAX? Right in the middle of the lower-platform older trains right on top of the pivot point to the side. You’ll be out of the way and most likely won’t get sweated on.

Anyone have any summer riding tips they would like to share?