Proposed TriMet bus route changes

The Portland Transit Sleuth has a detailed blog post about some proposed bus route changes TriMet has cooked up.  In the post, there are some images of proposed route changes for Bus Lines 6, 70, 10, 14 and 36.  So if any of you use those routes regularly, these proposed changes might be interesting to you.

Now, keep in mind, these changes are just being discussed.  TriMet is hosting several open house meetings to get feedback from riders about these proposed changes.  Take a look at this page for more info.  An excerpt from the page (meeting times):

“The Portland Mall renovation is nearing completion. TriMet is considering possible route changes beginning May 2009 and we invite you to share your thoughts by attending an open house meeting:
Tuesday, September 30

Multnomah County Building
501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
6–8 p.m.
Served by Lines 4-Division, 6-Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, 10-Harold, 14-Hawthorne and 33-McLoughlin.

Wednesday, October 8

Portland State University, Smith Memorial Building #296
1825 SW Broadway
10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Served by Lines 1-Vermont, 8-Jackson Park, 9-Powell, 12-Barbur Blvd, 19-Woodstock and 44-Capitol Hwy.

Grant Park Baptist Church
2728 NE 34th Ave.
6-8 p.m.
Served by Line 10-NE 33rd Ave.

Thursday, October 9
Blazer Boys and Girls Club
5250 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
5:30–7:30 p.m.
Served by Lines 6-Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and 72-Killingsworth/82nd Ave.

You may also submit comments through October 10, 5 p.m. as follows:

* Call TriMet at 503-962-5806
* Email comments@trimet.org”

New site on accessibility in Portland

Portland transportation, entertainment, food and more from an accessibility point of view.  Toshio dropped a note for me letting me know if his new site Where’s Lulu?:

“We just launched the site Where’s Lulu, which lists accessibility ratings for places around Portland, including public transit wheelchair accessibility. People can use the site to describe (and soon, upload photos depicting) street curb cuts, busline accessibility, etc.”

I checked it out and it seems like it’s shaping up to be something special.  Keep up the good work, fellas!

You & your seat partner – you’re both in this together

As I rode the 20-line home last night, a thought came across my mind:

“On the bus (and on the MAX too), my seat partner and I are in ‘this’ together.”

By ‘this’ I mean experiencing a pleasant ride to whatever destination you may be going.  Thursday morning I got on to a full 20-line bus.  There was an outside seat open, with the window seat currently occupied.  I noticed the individual sitting there had his legs sprawled out a bit, crossing that ‘invisible line’ from when his seat ends and mine begins.

I sat down and the individual didn’t move a muscle.  I had to literally keep my legs in the aisle, as my seat partner didn’t move.

We’re in this together.

My ride home on Thursday was a little different.  I had a seat partner that, for whatever reason, I guess thought I was taking up too much space.  Now, I like to keep within my own “seat bubble” – I’ll keep my legs together, make it nice & roomy for my seat partner.  This individual put his left leg against my right leg, bobbled it up and down, and pushed on my leg to move it more towards my side of the seat.

It was the strangest thing.  I had a thought of asking what the heck he was doing, but did not.

In any case, we all need to realize – on the bus or on the MAX, we’re all in this together.  We’re all just trying to get to our destination in a pleasant fashion like everyone else.  So please, be it placing your backpack on your lap to free up space for a seat partner or sitting in a fashion where people can fit into their seats, let’s try to be a little more helpful when riding.

TriMet to axe fare inspectors in October?

I received an anonymous tip recently from someone in the know claiming that TriMet fare inspectors will “cease to exist on October 6th, 2008.”  This individual’s story starts:

“I was riding the MAX home the other day when I struck up a conversation with a Fare Inspector who was working, but also on his way home. In a nutshell, TriMet feels that the Bus Supervisors don’t have enough to do and that they spend most of their time riding around in their vehicles, so, on October 6th, a transition will take place.”

Interesting… but could this happen?  The individual provides more details about this ‘transition’:

“On or around October 6th, 4 or 5 Fare Inspectors will be allowed to stay on as Fare Inspectors because they are retiring within the next few years, and when they do, the positions will not be refilled. 3 or 4 Inspectors who are Rail Certified will become Rail Supervisors, or the equivalent of Bus Supervisors on the Rail side. The remaining Fare Inspectors (I think there are a total of 15-18 in the department, so that leaves 9) become Bus Supervisors. The kicker: All of these “new transferees” go to the bottom of their respective division’s seniority lists, so even if, say you had 10 years as a Fare Inspector, the Bus Supervisor that was hired 2 months ago has seniority over you.”

Quite a detailed account of things that might happen. The individual goes on:

“And what about Fare Inspecting? After this is all done, TriMet is supposed to hire 10-15 MORE Supervisors (NOT FARE INSPECTORS), to which up to 2/3 may go to Rail as Rail Supervisors. Bus & Rail Supervisors are to have collateral duties as Fare Inspectors when they are not doing Bus & Rail duties.  Supposedly, with the additional “help”, they will have even more people available to “combat” this problem.”

Yikes.  If this is the case, can we believe that we might have even less individuals checking fare and being able to ticket those on a free ride on MAX?  The individual then tells me about an unannounced audit that the Federal Government did to check TriMet’s security system:

“This same person indicated that the Federal Government came through about six months ago unannounced to do a security check on their system. Then they told TriMet about the results. TriMet was basically told that they are one of the top 10 busiest transit systems in the nation, and as such, they should have a Transit Police system of at LEAST 175-200+, not the 20 or so Transit Cops and the roughly 35 Wackenhut workers they have now.”

If that number is correct (about needing 175 – 200+ transit police officers), then I could believe the stories I’ve heard of people not getting their fare checked for years.  As far as my personal experience, my fare has been checked twice in the last three years riding the MAX on an almost daily basis.

If this were all true, can we believe that TriMet might be axing fare inspectors in October?  I’m still firmly in the camp that if TriMet figured out a plan to enforce fare on the MAX (specifically on the MAX – I know the bus has its fair share of problems, but this problem is huge on the MAX system), be it by hiring more fare inspectors or even figuring out a way to have a ticket machine at one door of a MAX train and an official “exit door” as the other, they would be bringing in all of that fare money from individuals who don’t pay on a daily basis.

Quite an interesting story.  Thanks, anonymous, for sharing – I guess we’ll just have to see around October 6th if this is really the case…

New TriMet TV focuses on bike safety

A new TriMet TV video is online and this time it’s all about bike safety.  Great subject to cover, especially at this point of the season where people are biking more often.

Key takeaway for me from the video:

“If you have a bad experience with a bus or a train, please let us know by calling 503-238-RIDE (7433) or email customerservice@trimet.org. Be sure to note the bus line, location and the time of day.”

Good to know that they’re concerned with bus operators who aren’t properly sharing the road with bikers.