WES Preview Rides


TriMet has limited space for members of the public on Westside Express (WES) preview rides:

In addition to free WES rides on January 30 as part of the WES Commuter Rail Grand Opening Celebration, we’re now offering a limited number of preview rides on January 23, 26, 27 and 28 between 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Space is limited, so act quickly to reserve your ride! RSVP now by calling 503-962-6474 or email hupperid@trimet.org.


36 responses to “WES Preview Rides”

  1. As one of the 18 people who submitted the winning entry in the naming contest, I’ll be going on Friday too. It should be a lot of fun!

  2. Bloggers (Al!) should wear signs around their necks to identify themselves. I’ll be doing crowd control in Wilsonville, I believe.

  3. I was looking at one of the newer (the machine only takes credit/debit,) MAX ticket machines downtown today. (Not something I normally look at, I have a yearly pass through my office. My employer pays about 20 cents per boarding ride for me. Something that is important to remember when calculating fare recovery ratios, if I had to pay 5 times as much, it would still only be a dollar. But enough about that.)

    On the ticket machine, there was a map of the system, and included the green line, as “opening in fall of 2009” running on the mall, and heading south out of Gateway and the yellow line following the red and blue crossing the mall, which leads one to believe that they are going to have to redo the maps before the yellow line moves to the mall. And it also showed WES, going south out of Beaverton TC, along with a note that said “opening fall 2008” (sic) and (the point of this story) “all zone fare required.”

    Now WES travels entirely in Zone 3, so one would think that a single zone ticket, (obviously, not one purchased downtown though,) would be enough to ride it. But apparently not. Given that WES does go fairly far, and the point of a zoned system to to charge people more for long trips than short trips, this isn’t surprising, but my problem is, you can still do most of the same trip, on a bus, with a short hopper ticket…

    It just seemed odd…

  4. Matthew wrote: but my problem is, you can still do most of the same trip, on a bus, with a short hopper ticket…

    You can ride a 76 from Tualatin to Beaverton, transfer to a 57 and ride to Forest Grove: Total distance, 29.3 miles – on a “short hopper” ticket.

    29.3 miles from my house (in Southwest Portland) is McMinnville. Distance from my house to downtown? 6 miles – and I require at least a two zone fare.

  5. You can ride a 76 from Tualatin to Beaverton, transfer to a 57 and ride to Forest Grove: Total distance, 29.3 miles – on a “short hopper” ticket.
    29.3 miles from my house (in Southwest Portland) is McMinnville. Distance from my house to downtown? 6 miles – and I require at least a two zone fare.

    That’s one hell of a good point Erik!

  6. This has long been one of my complaints about the zone system. You can get on MAX at Sunset Transit Center and ride all the way to HIllsboro on a “short hopper” — but ONE station in the other direction (take a trip to the Zoo) requires an all-zone pass. You can find other equally irrational results throughout the system.

    Tri-Met should just ditch the zone system completely and have one price for the ride.

  7. I’ve said it so many times that I just can’t go into it any more.

    The fare system, the transfer system, the zone system, the pass system,

    ALL NEEDS TO BE THROWN INTO THE GARBAGE CAN!

    WHY, WHY OH WHY, would TRIMET want to make anything easier for its employees or its public?

    WHY?

  8. signs around their necks to identify themselves

    Well, you might be able to identify a person if you have checked out their blogs or certain social networking sites. But that is what happens at conferences.

    Some of “us bloggers” rode yesterday.

    How did you score that, if I may ask?

    have to redo the maps before the yellow line moves to the mall

    I believe so. Those maps (see here and here) appear to be designed to show the present/future system (note how the Green Line is dashed). It does seem a little odd seeing how the new lines are well under construction, but they could have been made well lest year.

    “all zone fare required.”

    I think the reasoning is that WES is a premium service. As has been mentioned here, it may be expensive to operate (unlike the other premium service, MAX, which costs less than buses). Requiring All-Zone fares allows a little more money to be recouped but still uses the existing fare system. (In probably most other places, commuter rail has a separate, higher fare structure than for local transit). Another argument may be that WES will attract people who are commuting to/from a job and are more able to pay.

    Total distance, 29.3 miles

    If you ride both lines all the way (Meridian Park Hospital Main Stop to Beaverton Transit Center to 19th & B St) its officially 157992 feet, or 29.922727… miles. But seriously, I think the ringed fare zones are based on people traveling to/from the city center. And they do make some since, seeming that transit can be the most attractive for that considering traffic congestion patterns, relative amount of service in that direction and cost/limited-ness of parking there.

  9. al m Says:

    I’ve said it so many times that I just can’t go into it any more. The fare system, the transfer system, the zone system, the pass system, ALL NEEDS TO BE THROWN INTO THE GARBAGE CAN!

    I believe TriMet would like nothing better, but once you’ve throw it in the garbage, what do you replace it with? A flat rate will earn screaming from some group, probably the people currently able to travel on a 2-zone fare.

  10. I believe TriMet would like nothing better, but once you’ve throw it in the garbage, what do you replace it with?

    One alternative would be a smart-card-based distance fare system. A number of people have suggested this.

    Personally I’ve been concerned about the security, usability, and cost of implementing such a system here, but barrier-free systems using smart cards have been established elsewhere and it’s only a matter of time before implementation costs and security issues improve, so it should be evaluated.

    Back to the preview rides… I’ll be out there for the 4PM ride from Beaverton on the 28th.

  11. “what do you replace it with?”

    $1.75 per ride with one transfer?

    $1.50 ride with no transfers?

    A one fare one zone system is not unheard of.

    What about that fare less square, that just goes on FOREVER AND EVER?

    You can live in PORTLAND and ride for FREE but no other citizen in no other city within the district gets that consideration?

    Bob R, Adron H, Jason M, Jason B, could sit down in a room for one 8 hour day and come up with something that would work.

  12. al m Says:

    “what do you replace it with?”

    $1.75 per ride with one transfer?

    $1.50 ride with no transfers?

    A one fare one zone system is not unheard of.

    Fare recovery ratio, you’ll recall, is an issue. The current All Zone fare is $2.30 and a 2-zone is $2.00. A solution that lowers the fare recovery rate will never fly. In order to be revenue-neutral, a flat fare would have to be higher than the 2-zone and probably lower than the all-zone, which would make the people traveling long distances happy but not the people currently paying $2.00. Do you want to make any bets on which is the larger group?

    A free ride would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? If you can find the political support for it, let me know.

  13. Hey guys… is Mary Fetsch there by any chance… let her know I haven’t heard back about the ticket machine video. :-)

  14. i hope you all enjoyed the live reports.

    Final conclusion.

    It’s a train.

    It has wifi.

    More comfortable than riding the 76.

    The stop in Wilsonville is in the middle of nowhere.

    Can’t walk to anything.

    Kind of spendy for what it is.

  15. My photos from today’s WES trip (includes ones of SMART’s transit center at the Wilsonville station)

    Also see Thomas Ngo’s photos from the VIP/media ride.

    And looking at the schedule, if they could tighten up the turnarounds (I don’t know how long switching cabs, doing the break tests, etc) they could do the schedule with only two trains. They have trains getting back to Wilsonville at :23 and :53 after and leaving at :19 and :49 (:00 and :30, :56 and :26 in the afternoons) and taking 10 minutes at Beaverton. If they could leave Beaverton a little sooner, the trains could make the previous northbound trip.

    Lastly, I’d like to note that we experienced a delay after we left Wilsonville (the trip went Tualatin->Beaverton->Wilsonville->Tualatin) waiting for the oncoming other train.

  16. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, as this is pure speculation (and the workings of a foggy haven’t-had-my-cofffee-yet mind), but concerning the turnaround times, is it possible that WES, being a fully-FRA-compliant operation subject to all the rules corresponding thereto, is required to do the full FRA “fire drill” at terminals before turning around, including brake tests? This is one of the reasons that you don’t see too many quick reverses on commuter / regional rail systems–at least, not scheduled ones. (New York & New Jersey’s PATH, having the dubious honor of being the only heavy-rail transit system in the U.S. subject to FRA jurisdiction, runs head first into this problem all the time, as far as I know.)

    Also, on all transit systems, but particularly on rail systems where the driver has to switch cabs, turnaround times are crucial buffers built into the schedule to prevent delays from being carried over from one run to the next. In light of this, combined with the aforementioned required steps in reversing, perhaps makes a scheduled 10 minute reverse a bit too close for comfort for TriMet’s scheduling people.

    Finally, let’s not forget the employees, who use terminal times to recharge mentally, use the restroom, etc.

    That said, in a well-run operation it should theoretically be possible to tighten that up a bit, but it all depends on the operating department’s ambitions and confidence in being able to adhere to the schedule.

    Now, regarding the fare system: there is no free lunch. No fare system yet conceived of by man makes everyone happy all the time. Ignoring for a moment the advantages/disadvantages of the zonal fare system, I’m somewhat partial to one aspect in particular of the standard German system, which almost NEVER distinguishes between modes (i.e. going from A to B always costs the same be it by bus, streetcar, subway, commuter rail, or regional rail). One clear advantage of this is that transfers between modes can be made effortlessly with a single ticket.

    Also, the so-called “short stretch” ticket is used in many systems, which is valid for two stops on the subway or four on buses or streetcars–which helps to reduce the punative effects on those who live/travel just beyond a zonal boundary (i.e. you can buy a normal ticket for the primary zone of travel plus a short stretch ticket to get you to the station a couple of stops on the other side of a zone boundary, or if you’re only travelling a couple of stops in total, only the short stretch ticket is necessary). It’s not a universal solution, but it does help in many cases.

  17. James is correct on both counts: Beaverton TC brake test defines the turnaround at that end (FRA requirement) and the Wilsonville layover allows a break for the crew.

    Timing of the trips is critical, too, because Tigard is the only location (except the maintenance track in Wilsonville) where the trains can pass each other – if they arrive at the same time.

  18. That’s ’cause I’m booked on a WES ride next Wednesday. Besides, I had to let you guys check out the train for me and make sure everything was safe. :-)

  19. I had to let you guys check out the train for me and make sure everything was safe. :-)

    Cleared to go Bob.
    And there was room for you on Friday.
    Of course I know you don’t really want to be seen with me!

    =:-)

  20. which station is the official grand opening/ribbon cutting occuring at on friday (jan 30)? will it be held before 11:30am?

  21. There will be ribbon cuttings at every station, prior to the 11:30 public opening. Not sure, but I think they start in Wilsonville at 10:00.

  22. Thanks for the heads up, Jeff. It reminds me of what I’ve read of the Westside MAX opening, which started in Gresham and worked its way west with ceremonies in different places. I wish I had known about the WES ceremony last week so I could have gone down and filmed it.

  23. I’m starting to get confused… earlier this week there were announcements on TriMet’s website saying the WES Grand Opening would take place in Tigard… now, those are gone, and the only thing I can find is something on SMART’s website saying the WES Grand Opening is in Wilsonville. Anybody know the real scoop?

    To make things even nuttier, it seems like just about every city is doing something at right about the same time. Tigard says there’s an event there from 10-11:30. Beaverton says there’s something going on there at 11:15. Or, is the plan to run two trains tomorrow, one for each direction, which will converge in Tigard? And, where should a transit rider/advocate such as myself who used to live in Tigard and has been looking forward to commuter rail since reading a report at the Tigard City Library in 2000, stake out?

    The MAX Yellow Line Grand Opening in 2004 was easy… Fred Hansen spoke at a ceremony at Interstate Rose Quarter, and soon after, the preview revenue service trains started rolling (normal service, but free for the weekend, with that Saturday being the final day of 5-Interstate service). So was the opening of the Lowell St. Portland Streetcar opening.

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