In a follow-up to his plea to put back the north end of Westmoreland / Harold Street light rail station in the Southeast light rail plans, Eric Norberg gives us more insight into TriMet’s thought process to exclude a light rail station in that particular area. His conclusion?
A one minute delay.
Apparently TriMet’s computer model calculates a delay of one minute if there was a Harold Street light rail station in the plans.
One minute.
Eric sums up his feelings (and I’m sure just about everyone elses on this matter):
“Think about it: A substantial number of Clackamas County commuters — says the computer — would be discouraged from taking a direct trip downtown on light rail — and presumably would turn back to their cars to make the trip, with $4 a gallon gas and all the delays commuters encounter on S.E. McLoughlin Boulevard — simply because of that “unacceptable” 60-second delay.”
Adding a station at Harold Street would only cause more ridership, an ease of congestion at a location that experiences it tremendously, a more cost-efficient means of transportation for public transportation riders around the area & more.
But yeah, that extra minute of commute time if it was planned? Yeah, so totally inconvenient…
Come on TriMet, wise up. This is getting a little ridiculous, don’t you think? Why are they so against building a station in an area that so desperately needs a light rail station? And one that was already figured into the plans in the first place and was taken off for who-knows-what-reason at some point of time.
5 comments ↓
While I don’t know enough about the Harold Street situation to comment directly, the 1-minute delay theory in and of itself is not ridiculous.
How many times do we hear from regular riders and would-be riders that MAX is too slow in various places, especially through downtown. Every minute counts, and there are several places along the line where stations were added specifically to placate loud local interests but where the overall ridership doesn’t justify the extra stop. (Of course, in some of these cases, decisions were made directly by TriMet for their own reasons, but the end result is the same…) Permanently built-in delays add up and dissuade riders. If you get more ridership from a stop than is discouraged by delay, then it’s a no-brainer to add it, but if the models show otherwise, then more work needs to be done to justify that stop.
A Harold Street light rail station seems like a good idea to me. Where reducing stops needs to be considered is at the PSU end of the line where there are 2 stops within 2-3 blocks.
I agree with Bob R. In addition:
1) Kevin: Having so many downtown stops is a not an asset, it’s a mistake.
2) Let’s not forget that it’s only .2 miles to Foster.
I would rather deal with a one minute wait onboard from a station 5 minutes from home than walk an additional twenty-thirty minutes to stops at Holgate or Bybee from my apartment at 28th and Steele by Reed College.
There are many, many apartments on both sides of 99 around Harold, as well as open spaces I’m sure will be filled in coming years. A footbridge might also increase bike and foot traffic to the Springwater Corridor.
Max, it’s probably closer to 2 miles, not .2, to Foster.
Sorry - thought you were talking about the green line.
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