How are we all liking the new Portland Transit Mall?
With the big changes to 5th and 6th avenue downtown, the new Portland Transit Mall is close to what it’s going to be like at usual capacity with the Green MAX Line running on September 12 (now that we’re seeing test runs for the Green Line).
How is everyone liking the set-up?
Honululu is trying to get rid of offensive odor on public transportation
The Honululu, Hawaii city council is considering a bill that will make it illegal for public transportation riders with “odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system” to ride. The bill proposes that if someone with an offensive smell does ride, that person…
“… may be ordered to leave transit property and issued a summons or citation by a police officer. If convicted, a person could be fined up to $500, spend up to six months in jail, or be both fined and jailed.”
Jail time for an offensive odor?! Wow.
Free rides for all (high school students)
Just saw that our mayor just tweeted that the City Council has approved free transit passes for 14k Portland Public School students in grade 9 - 12. You can read about this here. This allows all PPS students from grade 9 - 12 to ride the MAX, bus or streetcar for free from September 1st to June 30th, 2010.
Why this is a good idea
Obviously, allowing students to take public transportation to and from school helps the morning and afternoon commute via automobile by getting some more cars, trucks and vans off of the roadway. This also helps parents of these students by letting their son or daughter get to school responsibly via public transportation.
There is not time restriction for the pass either, so if a student is involved in any extra-curricular activities, they’ll still be able to use public transportation to get around. I know when I was in the high school band (laugh all you want! Band president junior and senior years in high school!), my Mom and Dad would have LOVED for me to somehow hop on a bus and go home; who knows how many hours of their time they spent waiting in a car to pick me up after a high school football game because I was in the pep band or even taking me to school at 6:30 in the morning for jazz band.
Why this is a bad idea
Maybe I’m an old cranky man inside a 27 year old guy’s body, but more often than not those in the 9 - 12 grade age range seem to act like preschoolers on the MAX or bus (I’ve actually not encountered too much rude behaivor on the streetcar…). I wonder if there can’t be some sort of program where ticket inspectors can cite students who are eligible for this program if they’re acting rudely and have their free pass taken away for some set amount of time.
Also - these passes are good anytime during any day of the week. Why not restrict these passes to Monday - Friday use? Why Saturday and Sunday as well?
And then there’s the problem of overcrowding. MAX lines are already super crowded during the morning rush hour ( 6 - 8am). This will only make it even more crowded. Is TriMet planning on running more MAX trains? I’m sure the Green Line (opening September 12th!) will help somewhat, but I would hope we might see a couple more trains during this time period.
What do you all think? Is this a good decision on the City Council’s part? Are you a parent with a student who is in the 9th - 12th grade in a Portland Public School? Let me know.
Fareless Square to go rail-only fareless in January 2010
Fareless Square will be going fareless rail-only effective Sunday January 3, 2010. This means no more fareless rides for bus service in the Fareless Square. TriMet reports that 51% of public opinion supported the cut for free bus service.
OregonLive reports that there was one dissenting vote:
“Lynn Lehrbach, of eastern Multnomah County, was the lone dissenter in the board’s vote. He said the fareless area helps bring rich and poor together.”
Umm… yeaaaaah. That seems, to me, to be a really weird reason.
Here’s the release from TriMet.
What do you all think? Good idea? Bad? Personally, I guess I support this move more-so than abolishing Fareless Square entirely. Having the MAX Green Line downtown should help a bit.
Thank you!
Dear Trimet and the Powers That Be–
This is Mrs. Trimetiquette speaking. Officially. I’ve been behind the scenes mostly, calmly and unconditionally supporting my husband in his quest for decency, courtesy, and common sense when it comes to public transportation here in Portland. But I’ve had enough of Christian taking all my ideas and posting them as “new” blog posts. It’s my turn. And I would like to personally, publicly, and officially thank you, Trimet, for finally stepping up to the plate and enforcing your very own rules. I ride Max two days a week to and from work, and I don’t remember the last time my fare WASN’T checked. Like clockwork. You all are out there, sporting your crisp navy blue and white uniforms, checking fare DAILY. Now, before, a fare inspector was a rare sight. So rare that I used to have panic attacks when I saw one of you because I was afraid the ink on my newly stamped All-Zone ticket has smeared from holding it firmly between my anxious and sweaty fingers. Or I would have day-mares that I would mix up my current pass with one from the week before that I had inadvertently thrown into my bag. But now, you are predictable. And I thank you for that. Thank you for so diligently inspecting EVERYONE’s fare, for kicking off the low-lifes who try to cheat, and for thanking those of us who don’t. Thank you for freeing up seats for paying customers. I only hope that it’s not “just a phase” that you all will grow out of. Truthfully, when people see you all stepping onto the train, they behave (most of the time). And the ones who don’t, well…thank you for kindly escorting them off, because more often than not, the misbehaving ones don’t pay fare. Just please keep it up. Don’t get lazy. I know I’m not the only one when I say that I actually enjoying riding Max much more now that I know you all are out there. For us.
Be well,
Mrs. Trimetiquette, Jess Bullock
TriMet bringing sexy back with new trains this Thursday
Indeed, TriMet is bringing “sexy back” by unleashing six of the 22 new Type 4 MAX trains into regular service. You’ve no doubt seen those big, beautiful trains running test runs on the tracks. Well, I’m here to tell you that you might be riding on one of those bad boys this Thursday, August 6.
Joseph Rose has the ‘deets on the new train type:
“Compared to the typical Type 3 MAX trains, the Type 4 offers four more seats per vehicle for a total of 136 seats per two-car train. It also has a little more standing room with a design capacity of 344 for a two-car train, compared to 332 for the existing Type 3 trains.”
Roomier too? Sounds very nice!
Nice new blog ranting about C-TRAN
The author of the blog Rantings of a Regular C-Tran Rider left me a note asking if I could take a look and let readers know about the blog. It looks as if, yep, this blog definitely is all about ranting on C-TRAN.
In the spirit of sharing the blog to all of you, here’s my personal rant about C-TRAN: all caps? Really? Like you’re screaming at me. C-TRAN. No, I didn’t yell that… in fact, I whispered it in my head. But I had to type it like C-TRAN.
In any case, feel like reading some ranting against C-TRAN? Now you know where to go!
A very enjoyable ride last night
Last night I rode the MAX from downtown to my destination in Zone 3. Now, I typically ride the bus these days due to the location of my work. But I was downtown in the evening and hopped on a MAX to get home.
Gotta say, I had a very enjoyable ride. Here are some of the things I had the pleasure to experience:
- Some kid, probably about 17, getting a call from someone he didn’t know, telling that individual that he’s going to “____ him up if he calls again” or, if he would like, come to his residence at any time (”I don’t care, it could be at 3 am!”) and he’ll kick his @ss. Then he proceeded to tell the individual that he doesn’t sell crack, he only sells pills and weed.
- Some guy who accidentally dropped his skateboard a couple of times. No biggie. Except for the fact that every time he did, he had to yell out the f word.
- Some girls behind me, probably about 13 / 15 years old, telling their friend that they used to, for fun, ride the MAX from one end of the line to the other. “Did you every get caught?” “Nope.”
Why is it seemingly socially acceptable to act rude and disrespectful on public transportation? Maybe I’m just getting old..
Top five reasons why public transportation stinks in hot weather
I’m not so sure you all know this… but it’s hot. With the next several days predicted to hit 90 degrees, I do not look forward to hitting the bus during my rush-hour commute home.
So I thought hey, why don’t I like to ride public transportation in hot weather? I’m going to get all David Letterman (“Got any gum?”) and present the top 5 reasons why public transportation stinks in hot weather:
5) Air conditioning is really hit or miss. Some buses will have fantastic air conditioning; others will seemingly be pushing hot air around.
4) Summer means school is out. Which means teens riding at all hours. Which means you’ll no doubt hear at least one person’s music even when his / her headphones are on.
3) The biker that just got done biking several miles only to board to get up that hill in the bus is dripping in sweat and sitting right next to you.
2) Hot weather only seems to agitate people. Which, in a crowded bus, never ends up being very fun.
And the number one reason why public transportation stinks in hot weather:
1) Some individual’s ‘unique’ smell (B.O.) only gets more ‘unique’ as the weather gets warmer.
Anyone have any additional reasons why they don’t like riding during the hot summer months? Or is it just me..?
TriMet App Center is live
Well lookie here! TriMet now has an official App Center on their website. From Andrew Wallace’s fantastic PDX Bus iPhone / iPod Touch app to Android, text message and web apps, this is a definite collection of TriMet applications.
I will say - TriMet’s stance on not linking to non-affiliated websites is in full force here, having text links in place while not actually linking to them. Kind of weird, but whatever.
And seriously - if you’re an iPhone user, go grab the awesome PDX Bus app.
