Ever wanted to know the width of a MAX seat?

Justin over at neverbeencool wrote a long blog post about breaking his streak of 49 days without coffee, Kashi goLEAN & the width of a TriMet max seat. Turns out the width is probably around the average for a plane’s seat… which ranges from 17 – 18 inches wide. He goes on:

“Or rather, on me. Because that’s really all there’s room for. If you’re the same size as me or wider, and you aren’t willing to spill out into the aisle, you will not fit without crushing me against the wall or sitting my lap. And either of those are likely to make me wanna shank a bitch.”

Gotta say, I lawled when I read that section 

TriMet bus driver cleared of deadly accident back in February

Just read over at Oregon Live that the TriMet bus driver who fatally hit a 15 year-old cyclist back in February has been cleared of any wrongdoing.  Based on the reports of the examination, it seems like it was just a really unfortunate & unlucky turn of events that just happen to fall in place at that point of time.

An opinion on transit oriented development

Read this really interesting write-up over at the 5views blog: the problem with transit oriented development.  The author brings the recent news story of a developer buying land near a TriMet light rail station for $1 in the discussion..

The post does bring up some good points… definitely worth a read.

Would you call this a good will evangelist?

TriMetiquette reader Kristin sent me this story:

Kristin notes: face has been cutout to protect identity

Most riders are conscious of this unspoken etiquette: keep the volume low (conversations, music, drunk ramblings, etc.) and respect the almighty SILENCE.

It’s 5:30pm on Tuesday evening and I’m taking bus #12 home from Downtown. It’s the end of the workday, people are tired and we all want to enjoy a few minutes of solitude before we get off the bus and have to get back to the demands of our lives.

The bus is at full capacity; every seat is taken and people are standing so close to one another that I can smell my neighbors’ lunch on his breath. Fortunately, we can all keep our cool. Upon entering this bus, each of us vowed to respect thy neighbor by maintaining a code of silence.

Just as the bus is taking off, heading over the Burnside bridge, I hear a woman talking loudly – almost yelling – ‘Come on damn it, it’s Earth Day – smile! What the hell’s wrong with everyone.’ She proceeds to look at the people sitting to the left & right of her, gets up in their face and says ‘Why aren’tcha smiling? COME ON SMILE!’ People are looking away from her in hopes they will be spared from the rude awakening.

I can appreciate wanting to spread a little cheer. It would do us good to smile a bit more. Being rude & overtly loud certainly didn’t make me smile; in fact, it turned my smile upside down.

Reminder – MAX service between Gateway & 102nd closed this weekend

Just like last weekend, MAX service will be down once again on April 26 & 27 between the Gatway transit center and the 102nd station.  TriMet is working around the clock this weekend to connect the new MAX green line with the existing tracks.  Red line service will not be affected.

If you’re riding this weekend and plan on going through these stops, buses will be providing shuttle service.  So plan on a couple of extra minutes for your trip.