Two Editorials


Regular Portland Transport commenter Erik Halstead had a guest editorial published in the Portland Tribune a couple of weeks ago, regarding the state of TriMet’s bus fleet:

http://www.portlandtribune.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=120578246708008500

Today, TriMet’s Fred Hansen responded:

http://www.portlandtribune.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=120699417903725300

Check out the original editorials, and share your comments (there or here).


0 responses to “Two Editorials”

  1. Erik says ridership is down two years in a row, while Hansen says it is up 4% this year over last. Are these using different measures or is someone just wrong?

  2. I’m glad to see Erik making a constructive challenge to TriMet in this case. I think his piece was well-written, and effectively conveyed his point of view.

    It’s always enjoyable to read the Tribune blog following the story – in this case the anti-transit trolls came out to bash TriMet, pretending to be, like Erik, a bus advocate. Of course, they really just aren’t able to pass on a chance to dig at TriMet and the use of transportation dollars on anything but SOV capacity.

    I still think using our limited dollars for system expansion rather than having the newest or most luxurious equipment is a better choice, but I applaud Erik for his constructive initiative here, and think he made good points about bus system needs. Hopefully the discussion he started was educational for some people on the regional choices we make.

  3. It is interesting how Fred Hansen can put a positive spin on a troubling situation.

    He states, “Our bus ridership continues to grow – up nearly 4% in February compared to the same month in 2007, climbing to nearly 215,000 trips on an average weekday”. What he failed to mention is that is fewer trips than were taken in February 2004 and 2005.

    Since 2004, annual bus ridership has declined by 1.7 million trips or 2.7%.

    What’s more troubling is that total TriMet ridership, bus and rail, has only grown by 2.7% over the same time period in spite of skyrocketing gas prices and a booming (until recently) economy.

  4. “What’s more troubling is that total TriMet ridership, bus and rail, has only grown by 2.7% over the same time period in spite of skyrocketing gas prices and a booming (until recently) economy.”

    I’m not particularly troubled by it. (Don’t get me wrong: TriMet could do better, but so could everyone, so…) Bicycle use is up, and I know that a lot of bicyclists are former (and still occasional: when the weather is awful or whatever) transit users. In most other cities transit ridership is up, but bicycle usage is flat, (at basically 0%,) as a result of high gas prices. But if you add the recent change in bicycle mode shift to the transit mode shift, Portland is doing very well compared to most other cities…

    I heard a joke a year or two ago that the best way for TriMet to increase ridership was to blow up the BTA, and it is kind of true…

  5. Matthew’s point about transit trips converting to bike trips is a good one.

    What do others suspect is behind the flat ridership numbers? Has service noticeably decreased? I don’t buy the argument that old buses substantially limit ridership, so long as they are well-maintained. It does seem like the continuing urbanization of Portland and the burbs should generate riders in of itself.

  6. I enjoyed both articles, and I think both authors made very good points.

    I would like to see TriMet speed up the purchase of newer buses, if they need them. If they really do buy 200 new buses by 2014 I’ll be very impressed, but unless a bus is brand new I can’t ever tell how old it is unless I look it up.

    One of the comments brought up something I’ve wondered about. Does TriMet evaluate noise when they decide to purchases buses?

    Living on a bus line, I can tell you when it’s 6:04, 6:34, 7:04, etc. All before my alarm goes off. At least it usually runs on time.

  7. Erik says ridership is down two years in a row, while Hansen says it is up 4% this year over last. Are these using different measures or is someone just wrong?

    Peter,

    My source is http://www.trimet.org/pdfs/ridership/busmaxstat.pdf – one of the few publicly available documents on TriMet’s website.

    Comparing FY04 to FY07:

    Passenger Miles: 232,925,328 to 221,346,048 (-11,579,280)
    Originating Rides: 48,394,800 to 47,463,600 (-931,200)
    Boarding Rides: 63,640,800 to 62,882,400 (-758,400)
    Average Weekday Originating Rides: 159,000 to 156,600 (-2,400)
    Average Weekday Boarding RIdes: 208,400 to 205,700 (-2,700)

  8. So the average age of the buses is 10 years?

    Anybody have the actual numbers?

    What are the numbers on air conditioned vs non air conditioned?

    Very few transit agencies still run so many non air conditioned buses on so many lines.

    A lot of us drivers feel like the heating systems on the old buses are making us sick. I myself notice that when I turn on the internal heaters many passengers start coughing, adding credibility to that. Have the filters been changed in all the years of running these buses? Or even cleaned? I get sick with a respiratory infection every year as soon as I turn on the heating systems. And I have spoken with over a dozen drivers myself that have the same experience.

    “””made TriMet No. 1 in the nation for the distance between breakdowns.””

    How do we verify that? If that’s true that would be quite an achievement.

    All that technical stuff Fred quotes is beyond me.

    If they are actually keeping the smoke out of the air then great!

    IF THERE IS ONE THING TRIMET COULD REALLY DO BETTER,

    ITS CLEAN AND DISINFECT THE INSIDE OF THE BUSES ONCE AND AWHILE.

    Not just vacuum the things out! And change those heater filters! They are spawning mold spores, we are sure.

    And the driver seats in the old buses, well we won’t go there right now!

    Personally, I like driving the older buses to the newer buses.

    Throw in a few wi-fi bus routes while you’re at it!

  9. OK Al,
    I will try to answer some of these questions for you

    So the average age of the buses is 10 years?

    –Yes it is for now. This number will go up a little for the next 5-8 years and then settle down. This is where Fred was a little sneaky. He didn’t state the age of our fleet’s OLDEST busses (around 18 years at retirement) he used the AVERAGE age which is 10 years. In the year 2012, our oldest busses will be 20 years old at retirement. After that the retirement age will go down until busses are regularly retired at 15 years.

    Anybody have the actual numbers?

    — If you go to the employee website, then click the following; Operations>Transportation Planning>Other at that point you will several documents that refer to fleet management. If you click the 3rd one down and then look in the Appendix you will have most of this information.

    What are the numbers on air conditioned vs non air conditioned?

    –I count 239 busses without A/C (1400,1600,1700,1800,1900) and a further 20 with crappy A/C (2100). Of course most of these will be retired or in the reserve fleet by FY 2012

    Very few transit agencies still run so many non air conditioned buses on so many lines.

    –Do you know this for a fact?

    A lot of us drivers feel like the heating systems on the old buses are making us sick. I myself notice that when I turn on the internal heaters many passengers start coughing, adding credibility to that. Have the filters been changed in all the years of running these buses? Or even cleaned?

    –Yes. Ask your friendly neighborhood mechanic…I assume that you return your bus to a garage when your shift is done.

    I get sick with a respiratory infection every year as soon as I turn on the heating systems. And I have spoken with over a dozen drivers myself that have the same experience.

    –Don’t know what to say here…it could be that the system gets dirty over the summer? This is another good one to as a mechanic…

    “””made TriMet No. 1 in the nation for the distance between breakdowns.””

    –in terms of quality of care for our busses our mechanics are some of the best in the nation–the numbers that Fred used I have heard from other sources–though never “on paper”

    How do we verify that? If that’s true that would be quite an achievement.

    All that technical stuff Fred quotes is beyond me.

    If they are actually keeping the smoke out of the air then great!

    IF THERE IS ONE THING TRIMET COULD REALLY DO BETTER,

    ITS CLEAN AND DISINFECT THE INSIDE OF THE BUSES ONCE AND AWHILE.

    Not just vacuum the things out! And change those heater filters! They are spawning mold spores, we are sure.

    –I think that you seriously sell our night crews short and do them an injustice with this comment. As far as I know ALL our busses are AT LEAST cleaned out daily. Those folks work their asses off and most drivers don’t even know they exist.

    And the driver seats in the old buses, well we won’t go there right now!

    Personally, I like driving the older buses to the newer buses.

    Throw in a few wi-fi bus routes while you’re at it!

    [Moderator: Italics added for clarity.]

  10. Mr Smooth Operator;

    Thank you for your help!

    Did I say that any of this has to do with the front line people?

    NO I DID NOT!

    I know for a FACT they DO NOT DISINFECT the interior of buses, they use that ‘vacuum’ machine to get all the loose crap out of there. When somebody pukes on the bus they put that cat litter type junk on it to soak it up and sweep it out. If somebody craps on the seat they put something on it, supposedly disinfectant.

    The shaggers are doing what they are supposed to do, I know that. I am not criticizing them!

    Now I DO NOT KNOW FOR A FACT that no other transit agency runs so many non-air-conditioned buses on so many lines. However every time I go somewhere I never see any non air-conditioned buses anymore. Just here at TRIMET.

    “”””Fred used I have heard from other sources–though never “on paper”””””

    ~~~>Well if its not on paper its not worth the paper its written on is it?

    2012 is a long way away! I could be dead by then, OF HEAT STROKE!

    YOUR PAL AL

  11. And how much has the population increased over the past two years? I bet if you take THAT into consideration ridership is decreasing even more than they lead on. The buses and MAX are always overflowing during commuting hours and nearly empty most of the time. They should just contract with a cab company during those times.

  12. [The buses and MAX are always overflowing during commuting hours and nearly empty most of the time.]

    Come on, you know better than that!

    Some lines are packed at all hours of the day!

    It’s a public utility and is provided as a public service. Just because there are peak and off peak hours of service doesn’t mean that there should be no service at all during certain hours!

    FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, if the electric company operated like you want the bus company to operate, we would have NO ELECTRICITY most of the [expletive deleted] time!

  13. And how much has the population increased over the past two years? I bet if you take THAT into consideration ridership is decreasing even more than they lead on.

    I believe that is true and has been reported in numerous studies, the transit “share of ridership” in Portland has gone down over the last 20 years. In other words, the percentage of people who use transit is going down even through the actual riders go up (because of population increases).

    These same reports also show a dramatic rise in the share of bicycling as a form of commutation (and are often cited by the bicyclists’ lobby for the city to increase spending on bike-related improvements.)

    The buses and MAX are always overflowing during commuting hours and nearly empty most of the time.

    A story in the Oregonian a few months ago actually compared ridership on MAX during the weekday AM commute and had ridership information.

    As Greg alluded to, inbound (to downtown Portland) trains could be packed. Outbound trains were, well, less-patronized (more so on the eastside than the westside, because there are employment destinations in Beaverton and Hillsboro that are lacking in Gresham and East Portland).

    However it’s often the busses that run rush-hour only (generally 6:00-9:00 AM and 3:00-6:00 PM) that have the worst financial performance. If you know you can’t use the bus 18 out of 24 hours in a day, you’re more likely to rely on a automobile, or use the bus only for a specific purpose (i.e. get to work and back). It also raises questions of “what if there’s an emergency” – and there is no convenient way to get home?

    Yes, employers who participate in one of TriMet’s monthly pass programs do have access to an “emergency ride home” program in which TriMet will pay for a taxi ride, but how many employers actively promote that to encourage riders to use mass transit? In three years at one employer we did get one e-mail that reminded us of the program (and, they would pay for parking for one day a month if you had a bus pass and needed to drive into downtown). My current employer…not a peep.

    Routes that are the most successful have reliable, frequent service at times when people need it, not when TriMet thinks it should be operated. That’s why you see consistent ridership on lines like the 12, 15, 33, 44, 57, and 72. I used to ride the 12 line in the late evening (i.e. after 8:00 PM) and it was common to ride on packed busses outbound – AND see packed busses inbound (of course it was north of Bertha, south of Bertha the loads started thinning out.) Yes, off-peak ridership is usually less, but it’s hardly “empty”. Except maybe the 12 line from King City to Sherwood…wait, when I was riding the bus at 8:00 I rode out past King City and I was never the only person on the bus other than the Operator.

    Al makes a good point – do we only provide transit service to match loads, or are we providing a “public utility” (Greg, you ought to know this!!) – just like a freeway or street is always available. IMO it makes sense to provide a utility, as long as there is a reasonable level of demand. Unfortunately TriMet has not made sufficient attempts to build ridership on its network by improving service frequency. In Fred Hansen’s tenure, I can recall one instance – the 39 Lewis & Clark line – in which to counter declining ridership, service was increased into the evening hours as well as additional weekend service. Unfortunately ridership didn’t increase and the service additions were cut back (granted, you’re talking about a bus line to a private college where most students have the ability to buy their own cars, and the college itself (through a contract with RAZ Transportation) runs its own busses into downtown).

  14. IMO it makes sense to provide a utility, as long as there is a reasonable level of demand.

    Erik,

    I think the transit agencies would be run better if they were better co-ordinated, were private entities with oversight, like utilities. TriMet is good, but they’re not great (in my opinion). I would like to see a monthly regional unlimited pass option (something like unlimited rides on TriMet, SMART, Cherriots, C-Tran and Amtrak for $99).

    I am not anti-transit. I don’t even own a car at the moment, in fact, I patronize the Cherriots (better buses, MUCH friendlier drivers but not very frequent service), the SMART, TriMet *AND* Amtrak (but never Greyhound of course). If they really want people to ride, they need to have more frequent runs to move places instead of trying to force this notion that everyone must live in a shoebox condominium and ride a slow train. Employers and governments should do something innovative like stagger everyone’s work hours or allow 4×10 or 3×6 schedules. On the other hand, if people drove fewer days to work that would probably also driver transit ridership down further, too. Getting people to completely “give up” their cars isn’t practical (although for the past 10 years I’ve really only driven exclusively about 2 years when I worked for a nursery out in Banks).

  15. We don’t operate the police/fire/sewer/streets/parks etc on a “demand” basis do we?

    They cover all of Portland, not just the high crime areas.

    Using the supply/demand theory, there would be no police services in the West Hills since the demand is less there.

    That’s how we need to operate transit systems.

    It’s a public service, not a demand based service.

    We have to stop thinking in terms of profit/loss on this stuff or else we will never have decent service!

    If we had decent coverage there is little doubt that the demand would increase.

    I want to ride the max home at night. But I can’t because I can’t make the 15 connection and I am not hanging around the stadium for 15 minutes at 11:45 at night.

  16. “Our bus ridership continues to grow – up nearly 4 percent in February compared to the same month in 2007, climbing to nearly 215,000 trips on an average weekday.”

    I’m hoping that what he means is that ridership is up nearly 4 percent per day, not total ridership for the month was up nearly 4 percent. Because Feb 2008 was 29 days, vs Feb 2007’s 28, an increase of 3.6%, or “nearly 4” percent longer…

  17. Capital investment in the MAX system provides better service (smoother, quieter, cleaner and more reliable) to more riders (1/3 of all system riders on just three lines) at less cost (lowest cost/ride…one MAX train = four buses). Its that simple.
    Replacing buses, upgrading stops…especially on Frequent Service lines…and improving schedule reliablitity and operator performance needs to continue.
    Its not either/or, but both.
    re ridership numbers… 2001 was the peak of the boom prior to the recession when ridership and tax receipts slumped. In 2004 we were emerging from recession and Interstate MAX opened and ridership began to recover. Choosing the right baseline year makes all the difference.

  18. [Capital investment in the MAX system provides better service (smoother, quieter, cleaner and more reliable) to more riders (1/3 of all system riders on just three lines) at less cost (lowest cost/ride…one MAX train = four buses). Its that simple.]

    You keep forgetting one thing, AND ITS A BIG THING,

    ~~>when the max goes down, THE WHOLE THING GOES DOWN!

    Max has failed over and over at the times when it is needed most!

    They system is vulnerable to any sort of organized/unorganized intrusions, and once its in its NOT MOVABLE.

    Its a security problem because there is no driver monitoring behaviour.

    MAX IS NO BARGAIN, don’t believe the hype!

  19. Capital investment in the MAX system provides better service (smoother, quieter, cleaner and more reliable)

    Capital investment in the BUS system provides better service (smoother, quieter, cleaner, and more reliable).

    Unfortunately anyone who is accustomed to TriMet’s “brand” of bus service wouldn’t believe that. TriMet gives us the option of “excellent light rail service vs. poor bus service” instead of “excellent light rail service vs. excellent bus service”.

  20. A new bus with new stops stuck in traffic is not smoother, not quieter, not cleaner nor more it is more reliable than the old one. God knows we need them, but don’t fool yourself.
    Data should drive the questions of reliability, safety, not hysteria. I think some TriMet Ops tend to bad mouth MAX for the same reasons that older printing press operators disliked newer 4 color presses…they only needed two pressman instead of four. Protecting jobs, not the public purse. Ops are the major operating cost center.
    MAX provides more, and I believe better, service to more riders at less cost, just as new paper machines make more and better paper at less cost.
    Not to say that you don’t need to invest in the pulp mill as well.

  21. Get stuck a few times in the max, held hostage inside, then tell me how you feel about the thing.

    Its too unreliable, its too vulnerable, and it can’t be moved!

    DON’T BUY THE HYPE!

    Of course the capitalists want to eliminate livable wage jobs, hell, this is America, who cares about people when we can care about money.

    The bottom line as far as I am concerned is reliability, especially when needed most.

    They say Portland is due for an earthquake.

    Say the Steele Bridge is taken out.

    SO MUCH FOR THE MAX AND OUR GREAT TRANSIT SYSTEM.

    Don’t buy the hype. Buses are the future;

    RELIABILITY, FLEXIBILITY!

  22. Say the Steel Bridge is taken out

    This is a valid argument, although I think the solution is retrofitting and repairing the Steel Bridge AND adding a redundant crossing (ala Milwaukie MAX), rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

    Transit with dedicated right-of-way is critical to any successful transit system in a large urban area. Buses are less efficient and necessary for a complete system.

  23. “Say the Steel Bridge is taken out”

    Then they’ll have to bus people from Chinatown to Rose Quarter, much like they do every other time there is a break in the system, like this one two weeks from now.

    But say 26 closes in a landslide? Pretty much every bus over the west hills, (even though they don’t run on 26,) is going to be awfully late, but MAX runs fine.

  24. AND adding a redundant crossing (ala Milwaukie MAX), rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

    How would Milwaukie MAX be redundant to Blue Line MAX?

    Gresham is not Milwaukie. Nor is there a need or an existing light rail line from Milwaukie to Gresham that would provide redundant (if not roundabout) service.

    If the need for redundancy is a prerequisite for transit service, then the 5-Interstate bus line should still be in operation, as are all of the pre-MAX express lines to Gresham, the original 58 Sunset Highway Express and the 88 Hart/198th line (to downtown Portland, using articulated busses as pre-1998) and the 57 line should revert back to its original Portland-Forest Grove routing with articulated busses.

    And the 95 should still be operating (and on its old, enhanced schedule, not the reduced schedule after the 94 started running.) Along with, of course, articulated busses on the 12 line.

  25. Due to a power outage, buses are shuttling riders between NE 7th Ave and Gateway/NE99th stations.

    Josh Collins
    Communications Manager, TriMet Operations
    Mobile: 503-686-5304
    Office: 503-962-3027

    Sent via BlackBerry.

    yea right…max is great….it ends up shutting down the whole freeway too…

  26. “I think some TriMet Ops tend to bad mouth MAX for the same reasons that older printing press operators disliked newer 4 color presses…they only needed two pressman instead of four. Protecting jobs, not the public purse. Ops are the major operating cost center.”

    I think it is more like how people in apartments things that condos are a bad idea, and people in condos think that houses are a bad idea, or how low level employees criticize middle management, and middle management criticizes upper management. You always criticize the people above you, because you aren’t one of them. Secretly you are jealous that you aren’t one of them, but you can’t say that, so you tell everyone that the real reason you aren’t one of those people is because those people are bad. In this case, bus drivers complain about MAX because MAX drivers are actually a promotion above bus drivers.

  27. I think it is more like how people in apartments things that condos are a bad idea, and people in condos think that houses are a bad idea, or how low level employees criticize middle management, and middle management criticizes upper management. You always criticize the people above you, because you aren’t one of them.

    Should Government (in this case, TriMet, Metro and the City of Portland) be creating a caste system of sorts for Portland area residents, to determine who is higher on the pecking order for transportation accessibility?

    The last time I checked, the freedom to travel was a universal right of all U.S. citizens; and Government’s role is to serve ALL people, not those by which it chooses.

    If, by Matthew’s and Lenny’s definition, that MAX is a “higher” level of service, isn’t this blatant discrimination? I seem to recall that the LACMTA got in big trouble for doing this a few years ago.

    Lenny stated himself, “MAX provides more, and I believe better, service to more riders at less cost,”

    About the only thing right about this statement is “I believe”; at least stating that it’s an opinion and not fact.

    Better, I would agree, because TriMet (and Metro) invests in MAX and does not invest in light rail. If I had a choice between a five year old LTV with low floor boarding, air conditioning, and a nice large platform to board from, versus an 18 year old Gillig Phantom boarding in the middle of an intersection – geeze, I’d pick MAX too. But when you invest equally, you’d have a bus and a MAX that are very similiar in amenities (i.e. low floor boarding, air conditioning, improved platform amenities) in which case the decision to ride a bus or MAX is simply location and ridership along the route.

    Does MAX provide “more” service? Look at a map. It provides more seats per vehicle, yes. Does it have a greater geographic reach? Of course not. It’s too expensive to build everywhere, and Portland’s topography prohbits it anyways (just try getting MAX to replicate the 18, 51 or 63 routes. And those are just the “worst offender” examples.)

    Does MAX serve “more” riders? Um, anyone who can read knows that MAX makes up 1/3rd of TriMet’s ridership, and busses make up the other 2/3rds.

    So, yes, the MAX system which provides a small geographic footprint does have more ridership than bus. So what? I could use that same exact argument of Portland’s street system – the freeways have a smaller geographic footprint but carry far more vehicles than the local streets; should we stop building streets (and sidewalks, and bike lanes) and build more freeways? That’s an absurd statement, but that’s exactly what the suggestion is.

    Does MAX serve at “less” cost? Operating cost? Questionable. TriMet says it’s about half the cost as bus per passenger-mile. Capital cost? Absolutely, positively not, light rail costs several multiples higher than bus. Further, TriMet does a neat accounting trick where some maintenance costs on the buses are “operating costs” but comparable maintenance costs on MAX are “capital costs” – which makes MAX operating costs look better, and bus operating costs look worse.

    Further, TriMet pays huge subsidies to MAX riders by providing enhanced stations with massive park and ride lots, without making those riders pay for the cost of parking. (Yes, there are a few park and rides that are used primarily for busses, but by far the majority of park and ride spaces feed MAX.) Because this is a “system” cost, bus riders end up subsidizing this MAX cost.

    So, in the end, I get to ride my 18 year old bus because while I might be jealous that I can’t ride MAX, at least I’m not selfish in not sharing our transportation investment dollars with all of our region.

    Lenny states that just because we have MAX doesn’t mean we can’t invest in the pulp mill. You’re right. So where is the demand for TriMet to correct the imbalance? The pulp mill is broken and falling apart. Fred Hansen needs to get his act together and correct the disinvestment, and then continue to invest in bus service. Pretty new bus stop signs are not an investment – new busses are an improvement. ASA on EVERY bus is an improvement. New and improved bus stops are an improvement. Frequent, reliable service systemwide is an improvement. Making sure that not one bus passes up willing riders because of overcrowding is an improvement.

  28. “”In this case, bus drivers complain about MAX because MAX drivers are actually a promotion above bus drivers.”””

    Let me say this about that:

    ABSURD! RIDICULOUS! INSULTING! DAFFY! NONSENSICAL!
    FOOLISH! IDIOTIC! etc etc etc.

    The above words, in caps for emphasis, not only are my response to Mathew, who usually makes these sort of remarks, but to all others who echo his point of view.

    THANKS VERY MUCH AND HAVE A NICE DAY.

    AL, your pal…….

  29. “”Should Government (in this case, TriMet, Metro and the City of Portland) be creating a caste system of sorts for Portland area residents, to determine who is higher on the pecking order for transportation accessibility?””

    Nice response Erik, but Mathew (and others) are famous for their playing of the “race” (sic) card when all other logical arguments fail.

    Its a very common tactic.

    It’s race warfare, class warfare, status warfare, beauty warfare, in the eyes of some people every person who doesn’t agree with you is the subject of some sort of “envy” or “hatred”.

    This, my fellow bloggers, is what the

    out of control addiction to political correctness of our society has bred.

  30. I also get great pleasure out of thumbing my nose at you guys when stuff happens that actually proves me right and you guys WRONG, security on max comes to mind.

    Such was the case recently when I was trying to illustrate that all it takes is for you to be held “prisoner” in a Max train and then you will understand some of my objection to max service.

    WELL LO AND BEHOLD, it actually happened and made the news this time!

    http://amargul.blogspot.com/2008/04/max-gets-stuck-on-highway.html

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