Last night, my brother’s car was stolen from the parking lot at that transit center between 7:30am and 5:30pm. If you look at this map of the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center,  he parked his car on the East side of the parking lot (so, towards the bottom of the image). Apparently, this section of the parking lot lacks the light that the North and South parts of the parking lot have and, thus, are the last spots remaining if you’re running late and most of the crowd has parked.

Now, I understand that you may be thinking, “So this Mr. TriMetiquette guy’s brother has his car stolen and he wants to blow it out of proportion!” Fair enough. But when my brother was looking for his car, a gal pulled up next to him and asked if his car had been stolen… to which he replied it had. Apparently, her car had been stolen only a week ago from the same parking lot.

So what can C-TRAN do to combat this problem?

Install More Light Fixtures

The way the parking lot is set-up now, there are lots of bushes and shrubbery around where car prowlers can easily hide. I understand that they want the park and ride to look nice and not look like a flat slab of concrete. But I was there last night waiting for the cops with my brother and there were portions of the parking lot that had barely any light. That’s unacceptable.

Install Security Cameras

I don’t see this happening. Both TriMet and C-TRAN have the blanket “(Transit Agency) is not responsible for blahblahblah” on their websites. I know that they don’t wish to really be held responsible for any personal belongings being lost… but you could at least try to upkeep your park and ride parking lots in a fashion that doesn’t cater to car prowlers.

Has Your Car Been Stolen At A Park And Ride?

Please write up a comment if your car or personal belongings have been stolen at a park and ride location, either at a TriMet one or a C-TRAN one. Let me know what park and ride location it was as well as some general comments (such as maybe you thought the lighting wasn’t enough of a deterrent for car prowlers, etc.).

Fare Increase

There will be an overall fare increase of $0.05 to “help keep pace with inflation.”

Bus Service Cuts

These are the changes TriMet is proposing for bus routes:

• Discontinuing lines - 27, 65, 154 and 157
• Discontinuing Saturday and / or Sunday service - 32, 45 and 80
• Discontinuing portions of routes - 33, 43, 53 and 67
• Weekday time between buses increased by 2-3 minutes during mid-day and by 2-10 minutes in the evenings - 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 33, 57, 70 and 71
• Weekday time between buses increased by 2-10 minutes throughout the day - 16, 24, 32, 43, 44, 52, 58, 62, 68, 73 and 77
• Weekend time between buses increased by up to 6 minutes - 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 20, 33, 54, 56, 57, 71 and 75
• Specific trips eliminated because of low ridership during certain times - 1, 51, 85, 92, 94 and 99
• Begin service one trip later in the morning and/or stop service one trip earlier in the evening - 8, 9, 24, 28, 32, 45, 48, 51, 55, 70, 73, 65, 87, 88 and 155

MAX Service Cuts

The start and end times of MAX service and rush hour service will remain the same. The time between trains will be increased from 15 minutes to 17 minutes on all lines during midday, evening and weekend trips. In the early morning and late evening, the time between trains will be increased by up to 4 minutes.

Personal Thoughts

As a predominately bus rider, the service cuts to the bus system seem a bit more drastic than the last round. Some of the lines I typically ride (15, 19, 20) are directly affected with these proposed cuts. As someone who also boards on the SE side of the Willamette river during rush hour times, the proposed cut to the 20-Burnside bus will make an already under-serviced route even more so. Most of the time, I have to wait… and wait… and wait just because the bus is too packed to even board. With the proposed cut to frequency, this will make this line even worse. This is comparison to the 19-Glisan bus, which usually has two buses literally two minutes apart around 5:20pm with the first still having room and the second bus having two riders on it. Why are there no cuts for the 19-Glisan route?

The 12-Sandy bus traveling East is also an extremely crowded line that will only be seeing worse conditions with these cuts… not to mention the 14 and 15.

As much as I wouldn’t like to include this as a possible scenario, but I wonder how much of a budget cut (if at all) TriMet would need to make it the WES was never conceived? Just a thought.

In any case, I encourage all of you to voice your opinions by contacting TriMet (as I will be doing). Feedback needs to be received by April 23rd. Here is how you may do so:

Web: Feedback form
Comment line: 503-962-5806
Fax: 503-962-6469
Mail: TriMet-MK2, 4012 SE 17th Ave., Portland, OR 97202
TTY: 503-238-5811 (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays)

There are a couple of shots of TriMet transportation. The one thing I noticed during a scene Brendan Fraiser where was riding the MAX was all much TriMetiquette the other riders were displaying! Brendan was at a middle pole, hanging on, with the train being partially full; everyone was minding their own business, displaying good public transportation riding etiquette.

In any case, thought it was kind of fun to see. Is it only in the movies that riders of TriMet show good riding etiquette?

“In addition to all the extra money you’ll have, having TriMet deliver you safely to your destination will give you the extra time you need to meet your other New Year’s resolutions—relax, read more and catch up on sleep.”

Sometimes I can relax a bit on the bus (usually, on a packed bus, you can’t really relax) and I can usually get some reading time on my Kindle in the morning commute… but “catch up on sleep”?!  I’m sorry, I don’t think so!  I have to get up earlier and take a bus that takes 35 minutes to get to a stop that is a 10 minute walk to my final destination.  If I were to take a car, it would take me about 15 minutes total.

I’m not complaining about how public transportation takes more time than taking a car (I can bike faster to / from work as well), but I am finding it kind of funny about being able to “catch up on sleep” by taking public transportation.  Do they mean sleeping on the bus or MAX to catch up on sleep?

First, this one line will explain it all:

Rain does not equal cold.

Sometimes, when it’s raining outside, it doesn’t necessarily mean riders are cold and that you need to pump up the heat. Typically, we’re wearing jackets and are already all bundled up. Making it extremely warm doesn’t help.

Also note that on January 1, 2010, TriMet buses and MAX trains will be running on Sunday schedules.

It was originally reported that this incident was due to a “door malfunction” and that the repeated attempts by the father to contact the MAX operator over the intercom via the emergency call button were also not working due to a malfunction of that service. However, the MAX operator has been placed on administrative leave after TriMet has determined that there were no mechanical problems with the handicap ramp system or the intercom.

What an unfortunate incident. In any case, I’m just happy that a caring citizen was there to stay with the kid until the father could hop on a train and get back to the station. How can we avoid instances like this one? After how the media has jumped on this incident, I’m sure the TriMet brass are making sure any and all intercom communications on the MAX are responded to in a timely manner.

I strongly recommend anyone concerned with their safety on MAX to read EMS’s “Come walk in my shoes” post. As you’ll see, she’s an example of a MAX operator who takes pride in her work and give us insight as to how qualified each and every MAX operator truly is.

it won’t.

Sorry to all of you ghoulies and goblins, but presenting yourself with a Halloween costume won’t get you a free ride on TriMet nor will there be any kind of increased service of any kind.  Though, I wonder what would happen if I dressed up as a TriMet bus driver (as Al M?) or MAX operator (EMS? Don’t think I could pull that off very well…).

In any case, since there isn’t a Halloween-themed event that TriMet offers, we have to turn to our friends at PDX Pipeline that have produced a list of Portland Halloween Parties, Events, Costumes, Contests, Pictures, etc

Happy Halloween!

First, I need to thank a reader who I had some back and forth with; this individual brought this back into my attention and I thank this reader for sharing some insights, of which I’ll be using in this post.

The Zone System is Flawed

Here’s a map provided by TriMet to explain how the zones are laid out:

Looks simple enough… but is it really that simple?

An example: all train stops east of SE 82nd are in Zone 3 — even though the Green Line from Division to Foster runs within sight of Zone 2. And unlike the bus, there’s still no way for a MAX rider with a monthly two-zone pass to buy an upgrade ticket.  Furthermore, though all stops east of SE 82nd are Zone 3, on the east side there are no “paid” stops in Zone 1 — unless you count the stops in Fareless Square.

Confused yet?

Here’s a look at the rail zone map (click for bigger image):

Say you own a Two-Zone monthly pass.  If you’re traveling west on the red or blue line, that two-zone pass isn’t doing anything for you.  So you’ll need to purchase a fare upgrade for this.

Fare Upgrades for Two-Zone Pass Holders is Ridiculous

If you own a two-zone monthly pass and need to upgrade to an all-zone pass for the day if you’re riding the MAX west, you’re going to have a hell of a time doing so.  If you’re hopping on the bus, purchasing an upgrade to an all-zone day pass is as easy as $0.30. If you’re riding the MAX, you might think that a ticket machine has an upgrade option for you to purchase.

Nope.

TriMet’s advice if you’re a rail rider and you want to upgrade to an all-zone pass?  Buy the upgrade on a bus.

Does that sound at all reasonable?

Possible Solutions

First, keep in mind that any change to the zone and / or fare system will impact revenue.  The question is whether or not it would impact it in TriMet’s favor.  If it decreases overall revenue for TriMet, for whatever reason, you need to think of side-effects that come about from making any sort of change:

1. A more-friendly image of TriMet. Riders won’t be as confused. The ticket buying process will be easier to understand. Riders will understand how much a single two-hour or all-day ticket costs without having to think about zones.
2. This also helps bus operators by not requiring them to look whether or not the transfer receipt is an all-zone or two-zone pass.  This can also help in terms of keeping buses on schedule by reducing the time it takes for riders to have to show fare, bus operators having to inspect said fare, etc.
3. This helps ticket inspectors too. Easy “does the individual have the fare or not?” checks.

Get Rid of the Zone System

The first possible solution is just to get rid of the zone system.  I could see some protests from those who might be riding from Zone 2 who only require a two-zone pass.  But look at it this way: currently, a two-zone two-hour pass is $2.00. An all-zone two-hour pass is $2.30.  This is a difference of $0.30.  Say TriMet was generous, got rid of the zones, and just required $2.15 for a two-hour pass for all zones.  This isn’t a huge hike in price, is it?

Get Rid of the Two-Zone Daily / Monthly Pass

You can buy a two-zone monthly pass… but, when purchasing a day pass, you can only purchase an all-zone pass.  The upgrade system if you hold a two-zone pass to an all-zone daily pass is ridiculous and requires you to buy an upgrade on a bus if you’re riding the rail.  Why does the two-zone pass exist?  And if it’s truly important for it to exist, why not give riders an easier way to upgrade to an all-zone pass for the day?