Entries Tagged 'TriMet News' ↓

The final piece of the new Portland Mall MAX track was installed on May 9, marking a big completed milestone for the Portland Mall Light Rail Project. With this being done, here are the numbers for the overall project:

• All 57 blocks along the Portland Mall now have track installed, totaling 13,000 linear feet (nearly 2.5 miles).
• Completion of all major light rail construction along 6th Avenue is expected by mid-June.
• Major construction of the Portland Mall is 90 percent complete and the overall project is 66 percent complete.

Though, I’m wondering - I see a lot of overhanging wires and such at the new mall location being tied around trees… is this permanent? I hope not…

Hey! Good news! More & more people are taking public transportation (most likely due to the soaring gas prices) these days! And TriMet has the numbers to prove it - they just had a record-breaking April:

“* More than two million trips were taken on MAX and buses each week, the first time TriMet has topped two million trips for weekly ridership.
* Nearly 69,000 more trips were taken weekly during April 2008, as compared to April 2007.
* 5,400 additional daily trips were taken on transit during the morning rush hour (7-9 a.m.), as compared to April 2007. This adds up to an 11.6 percent increase over April 2007.”

As ridership grows, let’s hope TriMet keeps up with the demand by providing more buses for high-trafficked routes & MAX trains running more frequently.

New MAX trans are coming to Portland in Fall 2008!  Color me excited!  The new trains will be able to hold 36 more individuals per train and will be about seven feet longer than the existing MAX models.  They’ll also have air conditioning!  Take a look at this new MAX train sexy beast:

Love the new “aerodynamic” styling going on!  Makes it look so… so… 21st century.   Seating area illustration:

I’m loving the new look & design, but one thing that’s seemingly missing: more bike storage!   Finding room for the “bike hook area” even not during rush hour times can be hit-and-miss… and people are wanting a better solution for what we have now.  Well, I guess the increased capacity may help in clearing that area a bit… but I’d love to see some other areas riders with bikes can take their bike and ride on the MAX.

Want to hear first-hand about TriMet’s plans on the I-205 / Portland Mall Light Rail & WES (Westside Express Service) Commuter Rail projects? Well, this month’s your lucky… month because TriMet is having a couple of open house meetings for us, the public, to attend.

Monday, May 19, 2008, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Portland Mall Information Center
519 SW 6th Avenue
Portland, OR 97204

Monday, May 19, 2008, 4-7 p.m.
Public Works Building, Richard Brown Auditorium
8777 SW Burnham St.
Tigard, OR 97223

Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 4-7 p.m.
OIT Conference Center
7740 SE Harmony Rd.
Milwaukie, OR 97222

More info about these meetings and, if you can’t attend but wish to get the lowdown on what went down, you can view the resources that will be at the meetings online right here.

I’ve already written a post about TriMet & their involvement with the Cinco de Mayo festival going on at the Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park May 1 - 4… but I saw a little tidbit of NEW news in a new press release put out by TriMet.

Apparently, when the festival is up and running, MAX light rail trains will be running near the waterfront every 10 - 15 minutes. If you’re planning on going, paying your fare and taking the MAX would be a great way to get there this weekend.

Here is a resource I found that goes into greater detail about the Sixth Avenue Street Fair on May 1 in downtown Portland.  Looks like a lot of fun!  I do believe I’ll be hanging out in Ground Kontrol in the evening hours…

Hope to see you all there!  I’m sure it’ll be a fun time for all

Just got an alert in my inbox letting me know that TriMet has a new Interactive Map. You can access it here.

Think of it like their Trip Planner service on their website… but having a bit more interactivity with the map being there on the same page as your trip planner.

Since this is a new service, they do have some bugs. From their alert:

“Please be patient with the map as we continue to refine it over the next couple months. Here are a few issues we are working on:

• Do not include the state in the address (e.g.: OR, WA). When typing in an address, the map will find it faster if you just include the city and/or zip.

• Print functionality will be expanded. Currently you can only print from the browser.

• We will soon add a marker to the map to show the exact location of an address plotted using the Location Search tool. Currently, when a location search is performed, the map will zoom to that area and only show the info in the legend on the left.

• When you move your mouse over them, MAX & Streetcar icons may turn into Bus Stop icons, and you may not be able to select the Bus Stop icons on the map when certain tools are selected on the left (this depends on the browser… we’re working on a fix).

• Zooming into the map may take time to render, especially using the aerial imagery. However, this will improve as we tune the performance.”

Pretty cool stuff!  I already like it more than their regular Trip Planner service.  You can submit feedback on what you think to mapfeedback@trimet.org

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.

Missed this little nugget of news, so apologies for it being a couple of days late:

TriMet is now testing automated stop announcements on seven bus lines.  What exactly is an ASA (automated stop announcement)?  From the news release:

“Buses with internal Automated Stop Announcements (ASA) are now notifying riders where they are along bus routes on seven TriMet bus lines. ASA ensures people who are hearing or sight impaired and those new to transit are informed of upcoming stops, by providing both internal readerboard and voice announcements of major stops along a bus route.”

The seven bus lines that are testing this out are:

• 6 - Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
• 14 - Hawthorne
• 54 / 56 - Beaverton Hillsdale Highway / Scholls Ferry Rd
• 57 - TV Highway / Forest Grove
• 72 - Killingsworth / 82nd Ave
• 75 - 39th Ave / Lombard
• 79 - Clackamas Town Center

I personally think this is a nice feature to have on buses.  I know if I haven’t ridden a particular bus line before, I get antsy about which stop is coming up.  And most of the time I can’t seem to hear the bus driver over the speaker announcing some of the stops.  What is everyone else’s opinion on this?  Good, bad, indifferent?

If you’re interested, you can read more about this feature.

TriMet is done with construction along NW 6th Ave in downtown… and we’re all invited to celebrate with them! On May 1st, TriMet is having a 6th Avenue Street Fair from 5 - 9pm. Details from the news release:

6th Ave Street Fair
Thursday, May 1st 5-9 p.m.

* Pedi-cabs will provide free rides up and down 6th Avenue between NW Burnside and Hoyt streets
* Portland Classical Chinese Garden is free during fair hours
* Artist Dane Wilson’s work at the Rake Art Gallery; Artists Ted Katz and Dorothy Goode’s work at Butters Gallery
* A farmers market will be located near the Greyhound Station
* A skateboarding jam in front of Cal Skate

Cover charges apply to the following club shows:

* Punk Rock show at Club Satyricon starting at 6 p.m.
* Susannah Mars and Tom Grant will perform at Wilf’s starting at 7:30 p.m.
* Comedian Jeff Burghart will perform at 8 p.m. at Harvey’s Comedy Club

The street fair is the second in a series of The Next Big Thing Downtown events. Each event will celebrate completion of major construction of different segments of the Portland Mall Light Rail project, set to open in Sept. 2009. The Mall project is more than 50 percent complete; heavy civil construction is 78 percent complete.

I’ll make it out there…