A silver lining in every cloud…
Due to the sewer and street reconstruction on NW 23rd the #15 bus has been re-routed down NW 21st.
While annoying, this has temporarily created something that I’ve always though NW needed: a transit center.
Four transit lines pass next to Good Samaritan Hospital but don’t actually meet in one point, but now, for six months, they do.
At the SW corner of 21st and Lovejoy the inbound Streetcar, #15 and #77 all stop at one platform, and just a few feet away on the NW corner, the inbound #17 stops.
Temporary transit nirvana.
8 responses to “Serendipitous Transit Center”
Does anybody know why 23rd is being changed to one-way? Isn’t that bad for walkability, especially the pedestrian’s sense of safety?
The one-way configuration of 23rd between Lovejoy and Westover is temporary, for construction–and the street is being turned into a one-way because the opposite line is closed for repair. It will be one lane of traffic.
The issues with one-way streets being bad for pedestrians apply only to those with more than one lane of traffic, as vehicles tend to change lanes when passing obstructions (such as parking cars), often times not watching out for peds.
When the repaving work is done–which interestingly enough includes the removal of buried trolley tracks–the street will return to its normal 2-way configuration.
More on the project here: http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=36366
Your transit center theory maybe works for you, but it hardly works for all the other people that were using the 15 line between Lovejoy+Burnside, LIKE ME!
But I thought (as Fred Hansen himself mentioned 5 minutes into that clip) with your iPhone you were able to tell which stop to go to, and didn’t totally need all lines to be at the same place.
Also keep in mind that the 17 no longer runs on Sundays in NW and only about half on Saturdays.
Transit centers are more useful when connecting trunk lines (ie MAX, or a BRT or express service) with feeders, or multiple trunk lines–when you are EXPECTING that people will be transferring. They’re most useful when they provide amenities beyond a signpost.
In this case, we’re talking three local bus routes, only one of them frequent service, and the Streetcar. Both the 15 and the 17 cross the Streetcar’s path elsewhere in their route. I kinda doubt that transfers at this location are all that important…
you were able to tell which stop to go to, and didn’t totally need all lines to be at the same place
Touche! But I still like the convenience of walking to one location.
In this case, we’re talking three local bus routes, only one of them frequent service, and the Streetcar. Both the 15 and the 17 cross the Streetcar’s path elsewhere in their route. I kinda doubt that transfers at this location are all that important…
Killjoy! Let me enjoy my 6 months. I never said it should be permanent…
Might as well call it a Transit Center, then–nothing in TriMet’s practices seem to suggest that a TC has to be anything more than a handful of bus stops within a block of each other. :)