March 2011 Open Thread


Your March 2011 Open Thread

Time for a fresh open thread. This month, (on the Ides of March, no less), Portland Transport gets to conduct a second interview with TriMet general manager Neil McFarlane. Construction proceeds on the Streetcar Loop, final design and prep work on Milwaukie MAX, the LPA selection for the Lake Oswego Streetcar project continues, and early planning continues on the Southwest Corridor. And chaos continues on the Columbia River Crossing.

Have at it!


103 responses to “March 2011 Open Thread”

  1. I’m curious what McFarlane thinks about the Forest Grove MAX extension the mayor has been promoting with an “Orenco Station” style development. There is political will and desire in Forest Grove, shouldn’t we (as a region) embrace that? It would be cheaper than SW MAX on Barbur (as the next project in the pipeline), which could be a good filler project until a more favorable economic and federal spending climate comes about. I know that is Metro’s ultimate decision to make, but I’d like to hear McFarlane’s thoughts.

    Anyone else’s thoughts?

  2. NJD refers to this. The city of Forest Grove, disappointed that a Blue Line extension to Forest Grove is rated a low priority by the Metro HCT Plan, is looking for ways to “jump the queue”.

    There is, after all, an existing rail ROW (still used, but with only one or two industrial customers) between Hillsboro and FG, which is what’s left of the ROW that the Blue Line currently occupies. Given the presence of another rail line just south of TV Highway, conversion of the rest of the OE Forest Grove branch to light rail is probably doable.

    But is such a project worth the money, or would capital dollars be better spent elsewhere?

  3. What kind of organization is TriMet? I thought it was a municipal corporation of the State of Oregon, similar to a port authority. I called their complaint department about an issue and the lady informede that TriMet is a privately held company! When did that change?

  4. so does that make it like a port authority or, what is similar? And how are other cities’ transit agencies set up? I’ve never really thought about this before now.

  5. An interesting article from Transport Michigan on snow-removal efforts. Whenever it snows in any of our big northern cities, armies of snowplows hit the streets to clear them of snow and make them once passable. But where does that snow go? Much of it gets ploughed or blown onto the sidewalks, of course. And who is responsible for cleaning the sidewalks?

    Homeowners, of course.

    While the problem of snow removal itself isn’t all that germane to Portland, the differing treatment of thoroughfares for cars and thoroughfares for pedestrians does apply here.

    * Major arterial streets are generally built and maintained both with public dollars.
    * Construction or improvement of neighborhood streets are generally the responsibility of developers and/or the community; which is why in many poorer sections of Portland one still finds lots of gravel roads through neighborhoods. However, once a public street is built, the city will generally assume maintenance of it; neighbors aren’t levied to fill potholes (or expected to perform that sort of work themselves).
    * Sidewalks, however, are the responsibility of homeowners–despite the fact that their primary utility is social (they benefit the general public far more than they benefit each individual homeowner). Every once in a while, homeowners in cities will get demand letters from the city ordering them to repair the sidewalks in front of their house, and if they don’t do so, a city crew will do it and they will get the bill (and a lien on their home if they don’t pay up). Some concrete contractors have the habit of (quietly) going out and inspecting sidewalks and, and reporting ones in a state of disrepair to the city, then offering their service to the homeowner when the repair order comes. Given that–is it any wonder that suburban homeowners often oppose incorporation and the addition of urban infrastructure?

    If anything, the situation with local streets and sidewalks ought to be reversed, or local streets ought to be treated like sidewalks for purposes of financing maintenance.

  6. I know that Portland doesnt get NE or upper midwest amounts of snow, but when it does, is there any sort of city ordinance that is enforced to penalize homeowners who do not shovel/maintain their sidewalks?

  7. @Curt: I’m not sure about fines, but home owners can be held liable if someone slips and hurts themself on an unshoveled stretch of sidewalk.

  8. So TriMet is different because it falls directly under the state, as opposed to other agencies which are accountable to their cities? Here is verbatim what she e-mailed me, I’ll redact out her name to hide her identity…..

    Dear Mr. T,

    You can do what you feel is necessary, but we are not a State or Federal
    owned business. We are privately owned, and get federal funding that we
    apply for. If you would like to see what jobs we have available you can
    certainly visit our website at http://www.trimet.org.

    Thank you so much and have a wonderful rest of your week.

    Sincerely,

    XXX X.
    TriMet Customer Satisfaction

  9. I think we need to go Wisconsin style on some of these terrible local “service” agencies around here. I am so mad at TriMet buses that are either early or late and keep missing connections because the bus I’m connecting TO decides they want to leave 5 minutes early or the one coming IN has dawdled and made me late. Today’s incident was with the MAX and needing to catch the 12. The MAX took FOREVER to get past Pioneer square and I realizing I was going to miss my bus took off sprinting and it still hadn’t budged an inch after running 2 blocks. The jerk on the 12 decided he wasn’t going to pick me up even though I was waving my arms wildly. So I ran AHEAD of the ass and he still didn’t stop for me at the next stop. Then when I looked on the schedule to see when the next one was coming, the reader board, the 238-7433 AND the web site ALL had completely different arrival times as to when the next one was coming. So I contacted their complaint department about their crass “I don’t care” attitude as of late. BTW, I also then missed my bus to McMinnville so my trip took me 4 hours instead of the 2 it should have taken!

  10. well I guess this is what to expect when a “private company” is a monopoly and there is no competition. I think TriMet needs to get the basics fixed before even thinking about building new snail rail lines! Like here’s an example —- why are the WES stations lit up like the Vegas strip on the weekends when they aren’t even running? And if they’re going to have next arrival times reader boards why only one side and not the other? This is what I mean, why are they even considering expanding their empire of incompetence? I say go Wisconsin style on them put the fear of God in them and maybe they’ll get better!

  11. When you say “go Wisconsin” style, I’m not sure how the analogy is supposed to fit.

    Are you suggesting the governor, supported by powerful well-moneyed interests, attempt to strip all TriMet union employees of their bargaining rights, or are you suggesting that TriMet union employees and supporters stage a massive weeks-long rally in and around TriMet HQ in order to preserve those rights?

    Regarding running after (and ahead of) the bus… I’ve had one operator tell me (I’m not sure if this is actual TriMet policy) that waiting for and picking up runners encourages more people to run in the future, which is unsafe. Better to leave one person behind (as an example) than to have ten people running, tripping, getting injured, etc. because they know if they catch up to the bus, it will stop. The short form of this is the phrase “People wait for buses, buses don’t wait for people”.

    Given that the bus was the #12, there’s a good chance it was in fact running way late, rather than leaving “5 minutes early” as you imply. (Not good either, but it can explain why the operator was in a hurry to proceed.)

    Of course, private companies do this sort of thing, too. I’ve seen airlines depart early (in order to free up a gate) by announcing the early departure, calling out a few names of people who weren’t yet there, and then closing the jetway door… only to have people running up 5 minutes later, furious they could not board (“but I can see the plane!”). I even saw one guy pound on the jetway door (to no avail).

    My own anecdote is on the flip side of that… I was on a plane and my business colleague was supposed to join me but was late. The jetway was closed and we were pushed back from the gate. He got there, and called me on his cell phone complaining that they wouldn’t let him board (like there was anything I could do about it from inside the plane). The gate crew was kind enough to run some papers of his out to the plane and hand them to a flight attendant, who gave them to me. (Not sure exactly how they managed this as we were already pushed back.)

    If the airline had gone back to the gate, it would likely have caused great delay to the other passengers, and I wouldn’t have been a hero to any of them! So I was happy to have the needed papers and my colleague caught a flight just an hour or two later and everything was fine.

  12. I got an email from someone at C-TRAN after filing a comment begging them to get on Google Transit. I was informed that they’re signed up and launching that the first week of June. Yay! I have to get up there maybe once a month and it’s always such a pain.

  13. @Aaron: That’s awesome! I think that’s the only part of the metro area not already covered by Google Transit. It’s nice to have everything unified.

    Regarding missed buses, TriMet has a video that mentions some of the same things Bob mentioned.

  14. 5 Myths About The Suburbs

    Items #3 and #5 are especially pertinent to the the subject matter of this blog. A couple of excerpts:

    Suburbs are a big government handout if there ever was one. Taxpayers are on the hook for the new roads, water and sewer lines, schools, parks, and police and fire services that make it possible for “self-made” suburbanites to live on the outskirts of town. (emphasis mine)

    In sprawl-plagued Atlanta, property tax rates rose 22 percent from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s as suburban development boomed. But during that same period in Portland, Ore., where the state protected rural land from suburban encroachment with restrictive zoning laws in 1973, property taxes dropped 29 percent.

    If the United States adds 110 million more people by 2050 as the census predicts, suburbs will have to grow denser, more walkable and more public-transit-friendly, increasing our sense of shared identity.

    (Dear Moderator: Could you please delete my previous post with the bad link? Thanks much!) [Moderator: Done! — ES]

  15. While the “5 Myths” article is a good read, I suspect the 29% reduction in property taxes from the 1980s to the 1990s was all about Ballot Measure 5, not about anything particular to our land use laws.

  16. @OregonSage:

    There’s nothing liberating about a train that crawls along at 5 MPH through downtown (MAX reference).

    Krugman’s logic is flawed. The over reliance among one mode of transportation is bad. We need to preserve all options and most importantly, we need to preserve options that are viable. And the only way to do that is through a holistic, free-market approach to transportation/infrastructure in America. We have special interests that dictate our transportation system.

    Bob R:“Are you suggesting the governor, supported by powerful well-moneyed interests”

    ws:Well moneyed? Are you talking about unions or corporations? Unions are moneyed interests. Didn’t you know this?

    In regards to labor costs, which are a concern to taxpaying citizens; what are unions doing to reduce the cost of labor?

  17. While the “5 Myths” article is a good read, I suspect the 29% reduction in property taxes from the 1980s to the 1990s was all about Ballot Measure 5, not about anything particular to our land use laws.

    Great point. In fact, right after I hit the “Post” button, I thought “Hey, didn’t Measure 5 pass around 1990 or so?”

  18. WS:

    Obviously, Bob is referring to Gov. Walker of Wisconsin, where a significant tax cuts were passed prior to the current anti-union legislation was put forth; and the resulting budget shortfall from the tax cut was use to justify the attack on the public employee unions. Even Forbes Magazine was critical of Walker’s tax cut proposals. Given that the tax cuts were largely targeted to big business and the wealthy, the net total of the acts is essentially a transfer of wealth from middle-class public employees to big business and the rich. Some defend this based on supply-side economics, but it’s not hard to see why lots of folks were up in arms. Were the State of Wisconsin asking fur public employees to pay their fair share in reducing a pre-existing debt load, it might look better, but that’s not what’s happening in Wisconsin.

    (The GOP controlled legislature also passed a supermajority measure, requiring a 2/3 vote to increase taxes… how that works under the WI state constitution, I don’t know. In OR, such a thing could not be passed without a vote of the people.)

    WRT 5MPH trains; better one of those than being stuck in 5MPH freeway traffic. At least you can do something besides honk the horn. :)

  19. Good points Scotty. I was just blowing the myth that union groups are free of money. They are money, along with their corporate counterparts.

  20. Individual unions typically don’t represent a substantial amount of money; there are plenty of guys on Wall Street and in executive boardrooms that make more per year than TriMet’s entire annual payroll.

  21. I meant yes by taking them off their unions, absolutely….. Then they might become more customer focused and start to give a s**+ about their jobs. Incompetence and rudeness isn’t appropriate for any organization be it a privately held monopoly or a quasi government. Anyway I’ve decided to move again back to the comforts of Yamhill county, outside of the confines of the Metropolitan area but will keep going on and out for trainings and school. I think I’m gonna start taking videos and pictures of TriMet rudeness. The guys at YC Transit, SMART and Cherriots are never this awful and they even place comment cards right by their drivers. I can’t even imagine TriMet doing this!

  22. I don’t care what effect it has on people, knowingly leaving me huffing and puffing out in the rain after a multiblock sprint towards transit is a war crime.

    If there’s one good thing about the streetcar, it’s so slow and stops so often I’ve never failed to chase that sucker down. Although I did sort of nearly get hit and had to hop over a car’s hood after running 7 blocks the other day… It was wonderfully epic but maybe I see the point.

  23. I meant yes by taking them off their unions, absolutely…

    Before stripping hundreds of people of their right to organize, perhaps you can point to a transit system of this size which is nonunion, and then compare services, on-time statistics, customer satisfaction surveys, etc.

    The guys at YC Transit, SMART and Cherriots are never this awful

    Cherriots is unionized (ATU, same as TriMet).

    Not sure if YC Transit and SMART are union represented, but they are also rather small operations. Not that there’s anything wrong with that — just that they’re not comparable in size and scope of service. Both SMART and YC Transit have rather limited Saturday service and neither have Sunday service. In fact, Cherriots has no Saturday or Sunday service.

    (Why am I harping on Saturday and Sunday service? Simply to point out that different agencies allocate resources differently, and that those decisions as much as anything else contribute to whether there’s a bus waiting for you when you need it, not whether or not an employee belongs to a union.)

    FYI, here’s a list of local ATU contracts:
    http://www.atu757.org/contracts.html

  24. Why should such cush jobs even be union at all? Just because its the way its always been and should always be? This way they can hide behind their unions and be terrible employees still get paid and keep their jobs. Service would improve substantially if these kinds of public employees were accountable and were on a right to hire right to fore basis ( like nearly every other job for a provate company ). I think TriMet is great but would be so much better if they had a more competitive environment to operate in.

  25. I was out at Ikea (Cascade Station) last Sunday afternoon. There parking lot was packed. It was 2:15 when I left and checked out the rest of the many store’s parking areas. Also packed.
    As I drove past the MAX station I saw 2 people waiting for a train without any bags.

    It’s quite the successful auto-oriented BIG BOX/regular box strip mall.

    Exctly what City Commissioner Charlie Hales insisted would never be allowed because they had
    planned a ped/bike/transit friendly mini-city and invested in providing all of the infrastructure for it.

    BTW- IKEA’s bike racks were all empty.

    And that reminds me.
    I have yet to get any explanation as to why the Sellwood bridge needs 37 feet of width just for pedestrians and bikes. The current bridge is 30 feet wide. Two 12 foot sidewalks is ludicrous.
    One 8 foot sidewalk without bikes on it would be adequate for any scenario.
    The two 6.5 foot bike paths I suppose is less excessive. Since it’s more important to have one in each direction than the sidewalks. But those bike facilities make the the two 12 foot sidewalks ridiculous.

    Since no vehicle lanes will be added this $300 million bridge is over sized and over priced with at least 16 feet and excess and useless width for sidewalks.

  26. That’s a pretty broad definition of “Strip Mall”. Sure, there’s a strip-like retail component and two stand-alone “big box” stores at either end of the complex, but there’s also outdoor plazas with dining, sidewalk-flush retail buildings, multistory office buildings, multistory hotels, etc.

    If all “strip malls” were like Cascade Station, I doubt so many people would have a negative impression of them.

    Tip: Ikea gives a delivery discount for transit riders. I wouldn’t expect a MAX rider to take a large Ikea item with them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t shop there. I’ve used MAX numerous times to shop at Cascade Station, including Staples, Best Buy, and Ikea. I know folks who (until recently) did not have a car, but lived on MAX and had an entire 2-bedroom apartment furnished by Ikea.

    Re: Sellwood bridge sidewalks… I believe part of the justification for wide sidewalks is to give people a chance to stop and enjoy the view while others may safely pass, allow room for furnishings such as lampposts, etc. That’s one reason there’s sidewalks on both sides of the bridge.

    But suppose they compromised (other than with your objection to sidewalks on both sides) and reduced the 12ft sidewalks to 8ft… That shaves 4ft off of both sides of the deck. How much of a difference in cost would that really make?

    There are those with an opposite point of view who suspect the wide deck is a means of shoehorning in an additional auto lane (peak hour direction?) simply by restriping the bridge… Suppose that you are right, and cyclists and peds don’t utilize the bridge very much. Should future generations have a different political bent when it comes toward transportation, then bikes could be banished to the sidewalk and a new auto lane opened up literally overnight.

    So, in fact, the wide deck future-proofs the bridge.

    If, as you have often said, this whole transit/ped/bike thing is a colossal failure, then it shouldn’t be too difficult for people in the future to rectify the problem with a can of paint and a couple of signs.

  27. As someone that has used the current Sellwood as both a cyclist and pedestrian (it is truly awful), I too was perplexed by the current cross section. The only thing I can figure, is that it might be to reserve a center ROW for streetcar. Take a look at the cross section and picture this: 6ft sidewalk, 6 ft buffered bike lane each way, two travel lanes, with a dedicated streetcar/bus lane in the middle. Only having to put a single track would make a streetcar line into Sellwood cheaper, and would allow streetcars, buses, and emergency vehicles to bypass the auto traffic.

    Personally, I think they should remove about half of the 35 stops, give it some lanes to “jump the queue” on Macadam, run the streetcar to Sellwood using the rail ROW on the west side, and turn the rest of the rail ROW south of the Sellwood bridge into a multi-use path.

  28. IIRC, the new Oakland Bay Bridge will have a single 15′ cyclist/pedestrian lane on the east bound section between Oakland and Yerba Buena Island just for the reasons that Bob mentioned above. There is no cyclist/pedestrian access on the old bridge. The new bridge is having more than its share of cost overruns but looks like it will be a real winner when completed.

  29. I’m not sure I would call driving a bus a “cush” job. Maybe it’s cushier than your job, but I can think of professions which are far cushier.

    At any rate, as Bob notes, there are good reasons for a bus to not wait for passengers running for the stop. If the bus leaves and strands the passenger, the passenger will be late. If the bus waits, then everyone on board is late–and if the bus misses a downstream connection, then everyone on board is REALLY late.

    But for those who want more efficient and timely bus service, there are ways (bus lanes, signal priority, electronic fare collection with proof of payment, more lower-floor busses) which this can be accomplished. Transit running in an exclusive lane does an excellent job keeping to schedule, particularly when fare collection is not part of the boarding process. Mixed-traffic bus service not so much, especially when stops involve the wheelchair ramp and/or arthritic old ladies who have trouble feeding dollar bills into the machine.

  30. Speaking of the good governor of Wisconsin–now that he’s crippled high speed rail, gone after public employee unions, and taken a few good whacks at Wisconsin’s school system, he’s going after public transit next.

    While it’s too early to make predictions about 2012, early polls indicate that Walker’s rampage has been political poison.

  31. Scotty:

    Full disclosure, are you a part of an engineers’ union?

    I’ll sit in dog-doo for 90k + benefits.

    Yes, I think bus drivers have a VERY stressful job. Really, I do.

    I, and many others on here, do the things that lessen the stress on transit operators. As I have discussed at length before, I have zero tolerance for boorish behavior on transit, and I think Tri-Met needs to turn into the etiquette police and hold riders more accountable.

    Everything from litter left at bus stops to loud behavior on the MAX.

    Hold riders accountable and the stress that transit operators have to deal with will lessen.

  32. WS,

    I do not belong to any union, guild, or mandatory professional organization; nor do I hold any licenses necessary for the practice of my profession.

    And keep in mind–the bus drivers making $90k a year are putting in a LOT of overtime to do so. My father, who worked for the post office, did the same when I was growing up–he worked his butt off to help raise our family and put my sisters and I through college. So although I’m not union myself, I have lots of sympathy.

  33. Just to clarify the prior post…

    A license is not necessary for my present position, therefore I do not hold any. NOT “I need a license for my job but don’t have one”. The point is that entry into my trade (software engineering) is not restricted to union members, or by legal barriers to entry. Pretty much any position I might consider will require a college degree, but that’s the market in action, not the law.

    Just so there’s no misunderstanding. :)

  34. ES:

    A lot of overtime hours are a treat to employees and they’re getting paid time and a half. I’ve worked for several employees and overtime is simply something you cannot do. It costs them too much. It’s much more effective for them to roll someone else in after your shift. That’s just basic, simple business/financial common sense.

    I’m not a total anti-union goofball, but I think there are legitimate concerns about why some jobs have unions and others do fine. They have their time and place, but I am concerned of why some jobs insist on being unionized.

    I wasn’t “calling you out” for being in a union or not, by the way. Just curious as I have heard that engineers are often very unionized.

    I hope this does not turn into an ugly debate. To me personally, there are pros and cons to unions, but I find some of “them” unrealistic in today’s modern world. The American manufacturing base is losing jobs. We need to make more stuff in America. And are expensive unions partly at fault for this? I don’t know, to be honest, but it’s worth the discourse.

  35. Unions are actually fairly rare in software engineering, unless you’re talking about SW engineers (or other types of engineers) working for automobile manufacturers, aerospace, or defense companies. But in most of high-tech not affiliated with heavy manufacturing, unionization is rare.

    WRT overtime–actually it frequently is a cost-saving measure from the perspective of the employer. While the additional wages for overtime hours are paid out at time and a half (or double time for >60 hours); the additional benefits cost is zero. Hiring another employee instead means another benefits package, which is one of the biggest sources of payroll expense these days. It’s actually cheaper to pay 2 guys time-and-a half to work 20 hours extra than to bring on a third guy to work a 40 hour schedule.

    The broader union debate is an interesting one, and I certainly have opinions on it, but it’s getting a bit off-topic for Portland Transport.

  36. actually it frequently is a cost-saving measure from the perspective of the employer.

    Interesting. Camelopardalis was suggesting we hire more minirunners, although s/he admitted s/he’s not a financial expert.

  37. If minirunners are part-timers who don’t have benefits, it would make sense for TriMet to do so, though the union might understandably complain.

  38. A Mini-run Operator is generally restricted to no more than 30 hours of work per week…no overtime work is allowed for them until all the Fulltime Operators in their garage have been contacted (or an attempt has been made). Also their individual benefits are paid by the company, but not the benefits for their family (Fulltimers get all benefits paid by the company…at least we did until Mr. McFarlane’s unilateral decision on health care benefits). Finally the contract restricts the ratio of Fulltimers to Mini-runners to 75% / 25%…so if management were to hire a bunch of new Mini-runners they would also have to start promoting some Mini-runners to Fulltimers.

  39. ok I’ll stop my rant about the bus ordeal it’s just that I did allow myself plenty of time but the max just stayed stopped first at the library halfway between stops and the pioneer square stop I bailed and had to run for 2 blocks I could have just stayed on the westide to get to Tigard but I had trouble that way, too, recently. I just think TeiMet should work on perfecting what’s already in place and tamp down on the I don’t give a bleep attitude which isn’t universal but seems pervasive enough. and I’ll continue to ride even though I’m now living in Yamhill County. I have my feet in both the rural and urban at the same time a unique perspective.

  40. The young woman who wiped feces on steering wheel and driver’s seat of a line 62 bus has been apprehended and “charged with felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor interfering with public transportation.”

  41. @EngineerScotty:

    “WRT overtime–actually it frequently is a cost-saving measure from the perspective of the employer.”

    Says who? It probably depends on what type of work it is. Productivity decreases after a certain amount of hours. Safety diminishes as well. Operator error increases.

    Re: Benefits

    Doesn’t that depend on how much a benefits package costs? A benefit package is not going to cost more than a person’s wage.

    This is beyond my understanding, but every job I have had has dissuaded overtime.

  42. Obviously, the overtime vs additional worker question has a lot of variables–but with the increasing health care costs, benefits are expensive, and in some cases can exceed base pay.

    I’ve heard that many in the union would rather TriMet hire bus more drivers and use less overtime; whereas TriMet seems uninterested in offering new positions and is more than happy to have workers working overtime.

    One other advantage to overtime over new workers is that if there is a need to cut back hours (due to budget issues), you can simply reduce overtime hours without having to lay people off.

    But much of this is speculation.

  43. Several news items from the Oregonian; first two on the CRC:

    * Governor Kitzhaber calls for the region to “move forward” on the project, claiming that the CRC could break ground as soon as 2013.

    * The board of directors of C-Tran is considering rescheduling a vote on a funding initiative to pay for MAX service to Clack County, as well as a proposed BRT system within Clark County, from the November 2011 election to the November 2012. Official reason from the board is that “people are being taxed out right now” and there’s no reason to pass the levy this year, as the money is not needed; though skeptics might suspect that the board would rather take its chances with the more liberal-leaning electorate that shows up for general elections.

    And the Oregon Legislature is considering a bill to make it easier for cities to reduce posted speed limits on designated “neighborhood greenways” (what the city previously referred to as “bike boulevards”). There’s some dispute over terminology, but it’s considered a minor matter not expected to derail the bill.

  44. GregT, this sounds like it was a very traumatic experience for you. Perhaps you can fund an driver education event to prevent automobiles from congesting the MAX ROW. MAX and then entire transit mall is impacted all day with idiots that either cannot read or understand the overhead lane signs or those on the roadway. These same idiots “grid lock” the intersections thus blocking the MAX. As you know, a MAX cannot just sway wide around the idiot that is stopped with 1/2 their car in the intersection. Or perhaps PPB needs to follow the example of many cities that have officers at primary intersections issuing very costly tickets to anyone that stops in “blocks the box”.

    I find it really entertaining when someone complains about bus service being late while at the same time complaining that buses aren’t waiting for them. Really? So the bus is supposed wait for /you/ but no one else?

    On the subject of the Sellwood Bridge, when should any future design standard be based only on what we had before? In that case, why are you buying a car with A/C, power windows, antilock breaks, air bags, 5-star safety rating, etc? Or, why are you buying that new TV with 3D support…you never had 3D before and you survived.

    As a Southeast resident I think the future design of the Sellwood bridge absolutely needs to include significant leaps in enhancements for pedestrian and bicycles, as they are essentially excluded from the current bridge. Anyone that tries to assess how much these pedestrian/bicycle facilities will be used based on the current non-auto traffic on the bridge clearly has an agenda that is not supporting the future of the neighborhood this bridge serves.

    Anyone that commutes through Sellwood/Moreland and injects their opinion into how they want the bridge without regard to the county and neighborhood that subsidizes their commute should spend their collective time with their county on building a bridge that meets their needs. The Sellwood/Moreland neighborhood suffers from the high traffic imposed by this crossing, either through decrease in walk ability of an otherwise very walkable neighborhood, or through noise, air quality and other negative impacts.

    As a Multnomah County resident, I find it interesting that Clackamas even gets to have a say on the Sellwdood Bridge design without their pittance of funding the bridge being guaranteed. I personally would support removing the Clackamas County representatives from the bridge process until their constituents can determine if they will assist in funding the bridge that predominantly serves Clackamas County.

    Regarding unions, so many flaws in the anti-union rhetoric out there which is all based on mis-information from the anti-union corporations out there. While so many are opposed to this “collective bargaining”, have you ever considered the cost of individual bargaining? Having to determine on an individual basis the benefits, pay rates, etc is a costly endeavor when you have a large employment force which contains a large number of people serving the same role. Yes, there are large organizations that do not use collective groups for managing their work force, but what percentage of that org performance each single job function? When 60% (made up number) of your work force is of the same role (e.g. drivers), and 30% are of a secondary role (e.g. mechanic/maintenance workers) is it really more cost effective to manage these thousands of employees individually?

  45. RusselC:“Perhaps you can fund an driver education event to prevent automobiles from congesting the MAX ROW.”

    ws:The Mall design is confusing.

    Try and explain this to people who are not from Portland:

    You can drive on the rails on SW 10th, but not the ones on SW 6th

    Here’s the hieroglyphic signage:

    Thanks, real discernible at night when it’s raining.

    Be objective here: How is someone from out of town really going to know? Put yourself in the perspective of the driver. Portland’s streets are F’ing confusing.

    RusselC:“While so many are opposed to this “collective bargaining”, have you ever considered the cost of individual bargaining? Having to determine on an individual basis the benefits, pay rates, etc is a costly endeavor when you have a large employment force which contains a large number of people serving the same role.”

    ws:Having to determine someone’s worth on an individual basis? I’m going to call BS on that statement because that’s not always how it works. Secondly, private companies have been doing this for quite sometime.

    Nothing new here.

  46. I’ve been perusing this thread and get really pissed off at people who think driving a transit bus is a “cushy” job.

    CLICK HERE and see if you would want to have to deal with this ‘cushy’ job.

  47. I doubt this is about litter/breaking stuff as much as it is theft. It reminds me of high school, a kid that figured out you could stuff napkins into the change return slot of the soda machines, then come back a few days later, yank out the blockage and have have it rain money.

    Did I read something somewhere about MLR project including funding for electronic fare collection for TriMet?

  48. Electronic fare collection?

    Unfortunately that doesn’t totally solve the problem. Even with electronic fare collection, you need some way to provide service to people who only have cash.

    Most systems with electronic fare collection still provide a machine where one-time riders and those who have used up their prepaid cards can “load” new funds onto a card using cash.

    TriMet has converted a number of ticket machines to be card-only, but there needs to be one on every platform which accepts cash for those who have no other method of payment.

    (Apparently someone commenting on the Oregonian link you referenced is complaining that WES platforms have no cash-capable machines. If so, that is a mistake on TriMet’s part.)

    We do not yet live in a cashless society. In fact, the further down the income scale you go (and public transit is supposed to provide a “social service” as part of its mission, as you’ve pointed out), the more likely you are to rely on cash for day-to-day activities.

    The real problem here is that TriMet’s current ticket machines are very finicky, even when working.

    A future switch to electronic fare collection is also an opportunity to find a ticket machine design which is less susceptible to vandalism, and perhaps one which includes a built-in camera (like many ATMs) to record suspicious events.

  49. It would be a huge change, but it is conceivable that transit operators throughout the world would switch to electronic fare collection with a very few if any platform cash-accepting machines, and those located at prime tourist and high travel density spots.

    There are countries now where you buy transit tickets or cards at privately run newsstands or convenience stores. Think of it as sort of like buying lottery tickets.

    Smart cards could eliminate the middleman.

    Would such a system limit access? Of course, but maybe not by as much as we might think. Aren’t food stamps and SSI payments now done through ETF cards?

    There was a time when transit drivers used to give change. (As a child, I was fascinated by the coin-tube money changers that drivers had next to the glass & steel fare collection boxes with their lever-operated trap doors.) We generally survived the switch to exact-fare only, though we still hear stories of the system being abused.

  50. I think it could work if you have just a few machines that can accept cash and reload a card around, perhaps just at the transit centers, in addition to people being able to go to a Safeway or something. With just a few machines it should be easy to focus on making sure they always work.

    If people without any kind of debit/credit/ebt card need to use TriMet, they will figure out how to make it work. I doubt this demographic is often the choice rider that could easily switch to their car.

    Obviously, super reliable machines are even better. But the ticket machines are a small thing — I thought a major benefit of the switch to electronic fares is also the fact that you’re not waiting for people to take 20 seconds to pay cash inside of busses. I would hope they would not continue to accommodate that.

  51. I actually was thinking the same thing–electronic ticketing doesn’t solve this particular problem, though the use of stored-value cards would alleviate it quite a bit by reducing the number of cash transactions which need to occur.

    But has there been much thought to installing ticket machines on MAX trains, ala the Streetcar? It would help to solve the problem of “oh crap, the train’s here, hurry up ticket
    machine–whoops, there goes the train”, and provide a more secure (and climate-controlled) environment for the machines to operate in.

  52. Transit police sure wouldn’t like that, as it’d basically nix the fare-needed areas which allow them to approach ne’er-do-wells.

  53. Aaron: If people without any kind of debit/credit/ebt card need to use TriMet, they will figure out how to make it work. I doubt this demographic is often the choice rider that could easily switch to their car.

    That would still be a huge inconvenience for a lot of people, since only 11 out of the 85 MAX stops are transit centers. I’m sure people could “figure out how to make it work” if they absolutely had to, but is that really how we want to model our transit service? If they aren’t the choice rider they have to deal?

    EngineerScotty: But has there been much thought to installing ticket machines on MAX trains, ala the Streetcar?

    Wouldn’t that allow people to get on board without a ticket, and then discretely obtain a ticket if they see a fare inspector arrive? Do they have that problem on the Streetcar?

  54. One way to deal that is with TEAMS of fare inspectors, which is what they do in Hong Kong. One can guard the ticket machine to make sure that nobody suddenly gets in line.

    Contactless smartcard technology makes fare inspection easy–the inspectors only need scan the pass or farecard of the passengers, a process which takes about 2 seconds.

  55. Wouldn’t that allow people to get on board without a ticket, and then discretely obtain a ticket if they see a fare inspector arrive? Do they have that problem on the Streetcar?

    We do “fare surveys” on Streetcar (not inspections) and encourage folks to buy a ticket if they don’t have one.

  56. In the past, I’ve proposed a hybrid approach… ticket machines on trains and on platforms.

    First, some background:

    As we’ve discovered on the streetcar (which is designed for circulation and short hops), at busier times (much of the day), it takes too long for people to buy fares using a single on-board fare machine. (And the machines can be unreliable at times.) If, say, just 4 people need to purchase fares and it takes each one 30 seconds, that’s two minutes, and you’re likely at the next stop by then, with more people potentially needing to purchase fares.

    On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have MAX, where if ticket machines on the platform are broken, there’s nothing you can do to rectify the problem once you board the train. It is actually TriMet’s policy (or was in 2009/2010 when I last looked into this) that riders may board, ride to the next stop, and then get off and buy a ticket there. This means riders, who have already been inconvenienced by nonworking machines, must now get off of a perfectly functioning train and wait for the next one to arrive.

    The solution for both systems is the same: Platform-based ticketing (perhaps only at busier streetcar stops), with an on-board backup machine (just one per car).

    In this scenario, riders who face broken equipment on the platform may board the train and use the on-board machine, but under normal use the on-board machine will not be in high demand. (And if the on-board machine is also broken, riders have an alibi… there is no need to de-board, only a need to show the “out of order” device to a fare inspector. On-board machines are less susceptible to vandalism as well.)

    With only one machine per car, a fare inspector can simply board at the end of the car which has the machine. Fare violators are unlikely to pass the inspector as he/she moves through the car. (Fare violators are far more likely to exit through one of the many available doors if they see an inspector board.)

    Finally, I think this hybrid approach can work well in an electronic payment system. People who need to rely in cash or who are new to the system can just use the on-board machine, while the majority of riders can use the cashless system.

  57. In other news, TriMet is adding 100 bike parking lots to the Beaverton Transit Center (story here). According to the blurb, BTC is the busiest transit center in the system, with 19k boardings/transfers per day…

    …a feat that it accomplishes despite having extremely limited parking. (Speaking of which–there’s a sizeable vacant lot immediately north of the transit center–anyone know what plans, if any, are slated for it?)

  58. TriMet is adding 100 bike parking lots

    This is obvious overreach and a waste of money. One or two parking lots will do. ;-)

  59. Chris“We do “fare surveys” on Streetcar (not inspections) and encourage folks to buy a ticket if they don’t have one.”

    Is this really the plan that the streetcar has for collecting fares from here on out? Honesty and fare “surveyors”? It has been 10 years now and most don’t pay. That’s the reality. Why dilly dally around — remove the onboard ticket machine nobody uses for more passenger room or actually start collecting fares.

    Fare is fair, no?

    I feel like the fare system on the streetcars is a giant front to the public that it is somehow trying to be financially responsible.

    Maybe just cut to the chase and make it free. Again, I think it’s just a way to keep criticism off the system from papers/public/politicos.

    I could be wrong unless someone can give me an explanation. But whatever is occurring is not working imo. We can’t be this naive in 2011. People are not going to pay if they don’t have to.

    Al I’ve been perusing this thread and get really pissed off at people who think driving a transit bus is a “cushy” job.

    Who are these people who are saying bus drivers have a cushy job?

  60. Is this really the plan that the streetcar has for collecting fares from here on out?

    No – the current approach is influenced by the fact the the vast majority of the line is inside free rail zone. There’s no economic payback for a heavy-duty enforcement effort.

    [But please do keep in mind that even if you don’t see people paying, somewhere north of 50% of people already have a fare instrument of some kind in their pocked when they board.]

    The fare system has to change as we open the Loop. There’s an in-depth analysis starting up right now, but I’m sure enforcement will be a much more serious component come 2012.

  61. WS asks: Who are these people who are saying bus drivers have a cushy job?

    Scroll up to March 2, when Greg says:

    Why should such cush jobs even be union at all?

    That’s what started the “cushy” meme in this thread.

  62. I see where Greg said that, thanks. I don’t think bus drivers have an easy job. Cush? Maybe. But I’ll sit in dog poo for 90k. Hell, I’ll eat dog poo for 90k a year, plus benefits.

  63. (snark on) Well if you’re willing prorate that for short terms and limited quantities of dog poo, I may be able to arrange something for you. (snark off)

    But seriously, first you ask who are these people who think bus drivers have a cushy job (as though it was some kind of myth) but then you turn around and say maybe it is a cushy job? What gives?

    This “90K” figure is a bit of a stretch, too. The Cascade Policy Institute’s “Oregon Capitol News” publishes a database of all TriMet employee salaries and benefits. Not exactly a group friendly to TriMet, and their database shows that fewer than 16% of ALL TriMet employees (including management) earn COMBINED salaries + benefits of over $90K. 84% earn less than that.

    In fact, the median Salary + Benefits package at TriMet, found by flipping to the middle of the database, is roughly $43-$44K COMBINED.

    Still willing to eat dog poo?

    Portland Afoot also has a tidbit about the most highly-paid TriMet bus operator, who did manage to pull in just barely over $100K in wages in one year. But look at the statistics behind that:

    According to TriMet spokesman Josh Collins, Raaberg worked 3,193 hours in 311 days in 2009, an average of 10 hours 16 minutes per day and 6.5 days per week worked. That didn’t count an additional 174 hours of leave such as vacation, holidays and sick time. Raaberg received 1,350 hours of overtime pay in the calendar year, 1.5 times his straight wage.

    Remove the distortion of averages and what it boils down to is that employee worked a high number of very long days including often working on weekends and took very little time off.

    That’s it: $100K for their hardest-working, overtime-pulling, dedicated employee. Sounds like he earned it, to me.

  64. Interestingly, Cascade Policy Institute does not list their own salaries on the “Staff” / “About Us” pages (you’d think an organization so dedicated to transparency for the salaries of bus drivers might be more transparent internally), but apparently their director, John Charles pulls down over $100K. Now that sounds cushy.

  65. Bob R:

    Let’s put things into perspective. Some doctors work even more hours and are paid only slightly more than the top paid bus drivers for TriMet.

    They also go to school for many years and acquire thousands of dollars in debt (sometimes hundreds). They also take on innumerable risks everyday (as do bus drivers, no doubt).

    What are the educational requirements to become a bus driver? Not having to go to school and no debt for 40k a year? Sign me up.

    I don’t want to make this about bus drivers, though. There’s plenty of over-paid managers on that list.

    “In fact, the median Salary + Benefits package at TriMet, found by flipping to the middle of the database, is roughly $43-$44K COMBINED.”

    That’s irrespective of hours worked. It does not reflect full-time employees only and includes “noise” in the median incomes such as part-time workers and possibly fired workers or employees who quit.

    Bus drivers are important people in society and they have a tough job working with the public. I don’t wish to turn this into a war on bus drivers. They have been nothing but nice to me.

    Stemming from last month’s post, labor is a huge cost in regards to transit. We cannot deny this fact and TriMet has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. Or no? I can’t prove that TriMet doesn’t take this into consideration, but many have witnessed how it spends money on frivolous projects. One has to wonder if it takes labor costs seriously.

    Or maybe I’m just a bitter, severely underemployed young adult (who actually pays a portion of his health care costs) who now drives to work because TriMet cut his express bus 10% AND also can’t find a reasonable alternative bus route because the bus does not run more than 30 minute headways to a MAX station, no less.

    The numbers speak for themselves:

    http://www.oregonlive.com/roadreport/index.ssf/2011/03/rising_gas_prices_didnt_create.html

    Or maybe I’m just asking too much of a transit agency these days (like to get me somewhere in a decent amount of time)?

    I’ll work more hours than the aforementioned 100k bus driver, take a 30% pay cut, and pay towards my health care (and sit in dog poo). See, there’s always someone hungrier than the next.

  66. According to PayScale.com, the Median salary of a general family physician (non-specializing) is approximately $140K, or 3.2X the median salary + benefit compensation of a TriMet employee.

    Not having to go to school and no debt for 40k a year? Sign me up.

    Factor in a high amount of job stress (think about driving 8+ hours in bad weather in a crowded vehicle full of noisy and unpredictable strangers, whose safety, along with everyone else on the road, you’re responsible for).

    The real issue here is not public sector payroll, it’s why hasn’t the private sector kept up? Why does the bulk of income in this country go to the top, rather than to the many people who do the work?

    To paraphrase a popular joke right now: A CEO, a guy with a low-paying job, and a public employee are sitting at a table. The table has a dozen cookies. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, looks at the low-paid guy and says “That union guy wants half of your cookie”.

    My argument is that private sector employees are paid too little right now (even the minimum wage is nowhere near its historic highs in terms of real income), not that public sector employees (as a whole) are paid too much.

    Meanwhile, overall taxation as a share of GDP is near modern record lows.

    It was reported yesterday that just 400 people in this country account for as much income as 1/2 of the rest of the population combined!

    Taking a hard look at the “why and how” of that situation is more useful, I think, than pitting bus driver salaries against doctors or teachers or police, etc.

  67. “It was reported yesterday that just 400 people in this country account for as much income as 1/2 of the rest of the population combined!”

    And I am going to assume those 400 people had some great ideas, took risk in their lives and were rewarded for their industriousness (assuming they profited fairly).

    We can’t keep harboring this us vs them attitude. This is killing our country right now (even the anti-union at any cost tea party people). For the record, I’ve commended bus drivers for having a difficult job, but find it absurd a bus driver can make that much money. Driving a bus is not something that as the years go by you learn more and therefore need to get paid higher wages commensurate with knowledge. It plateaus. That’s just reality. It’s not like being an engineer or doctor where learning literally never stops, and the field of study is so in depth and dynamic.

    It’s driving a bus. Pure and simple. 100k? Gimme a break (same for John Charles and his non-profit).

    PS: I am but a few dollars above minimum wage right now for a perspective of income.

  68. We can’t keep harboring this us vs them attitude.

    The “us vs. them” being played out right now is between union employees and non-union employees, for an ever-shrinking portion of the pie.

    “Us-vs-them” is very much happening when multiple people on a pro-transit blog assert that bus drivers have a “cush” job.

    But if someone should point out who has really benefited from tax, industrial, and labor policies int he past few decades, suddenly out come the accusations of “us-vs-them”.

    And I am going to assume those 400 people had some great ideas

    Some did, I’m sure. But there’s nothing to indicate that their ideas or their efforts are any greater or more valuable now comparatively than they were 20, 40, 60, or 80 years ago. In the past 20-30 years, the share at the top has been going up, up, up, while the real wages for everyone else have been relatively stagnant. That’s just a fact, and the reasons behind that fact are seldom discussed.

    Instead we’re faced with increasingly frequent assertions that bus drivers make too much money.

    I am but a few dollars above minimum wage right now

    Adjusted for inflation, the real value of the minimum wage peaked in the late 1960’s.

    My (now-deceased) grandfather once told me that when he worked in the furniture factory along what is now I-84 (the U-Store building), the institution of the first minimum wage more than doubled his salary and he was then able to afford his own apartment and take care of my grandmother-to-be.

  69. WS,

    There’s a class war on, like it or not. And guess which side is losing. :)

    Obviously, some of the “top 400” were inventors or entrepreneurs who came up with a brilliant idea and got rich. Many others are Wall Street weasels or hired CEOs who got rich by rigging the system and/or collecting outrageous compensation packages from crony boards of directors. And more than a few made their money the old fashioned way–they inherited it.

    But the “us vs them” attitude is not something which is only found on the political left. There’s plenty of people who love to hate the poor, including many members of the only-slightly-less-poor.

    The attitude of many wealthy Americans seems to be “why should we care about our countrymen, when citizens of Country X will work at a tenth the wage?” And the attitude of many other (non-wealthy) Americans is a type of economic Stockholm syndrome–an argument of “the rich got us over a barrel, so we might as well give in to their demands, and dismantle the social safety net lest they continue to shift investment elsewhere”. Of course, this isn’t generally explicitly stated in such stark terms, but “serious” political analyses that assert that the budget must be balanced but taxes cannot be raised to do it, often spring from this premise. And proposals which would arrest the (threatened) flight of capital are presently considered beyond the pale…

    Readers who want to see me be more explicit (literally) on the subject can click here. The referenced article is admittedly tame by Daily Kos standards (a site where every third word starts with f and rhymes with truck), but contains imagery incompatible with Portland Transport’s comment policy, so be warned…. :)

  70. Bob R:“My (now-deceased) grandfather once told me that when he worked in the furniture factory along what is now I-84 (the U-Store building), the institution of the first minimum wage more than doubled his salary and he was then able to afford his own apartment and take care of my grandmother-to-be.”

    Try and run and business where the starting minimum wage would be $16 an hour (enough for an okay apartment in town). It’s not possible.

    EngineerScotty:“The attitude of many wealthy Americans seems to be “why should we care about our countrymen, when citizens of Country X will work at a tenth the wage?”

    The attitude of “many”? These are all generalizations.

    The people who take advantage of other countries through lax environmental laws and dirt cheap labor and dangerous conditions — I’ll vote with my dollar and never buy their products.

    Bill Gates has a major foundation and founded a company that employs thousands of intelligent people that have very good incomes and can support a family.

    Should I be bitter towards Bill Gates? He has so much more money than me, why the hell not?

    Or maybe I can recognize that economies are ecosystems. You will always have the keystone species.

    I’m not saying be a complete shill or do away with modern labor laws or pay people 10 cents an hour like Bangladesh — but not every corporation is evil. Not every rich person is an a-hole. Keep in mind, wealthy people generate jobs. There’s no getting around this. It’s just life. It’s capitalism.

    Bob and Scotty:

    Tell me what an average (5 years in) bus driver should make a year?

    I’ve already said 90k is completely absurd.

  71. Try and run and business where the starting minimum wage would be $16 an hour (enough for an okay apartment in town). It’s not possible.

    It’s very possible if, like in many countries, the employer doesn’t have to worry about providing health care directly on the individual market.

    There have been very prosperous times in this country, in the not-so-distant past, where the real value of the minimum wage wasn’t too far shy of $16.

    Tell me what an average (5 years in) bus driver should make a year? I’ve already said 90k is completely absurd.

    And it’s already been shown to you that the average is nowhere near that, not even close. So stop citing it as an average.

    And to answer your question: In general, it’s whatever rate is negotiated as mutually agreeable between the agency and the union. There will always be disputes, management may pull tricks, and unions may ask for too much, but on the whole, over time, that’s how it works.

  72. Wealthy people don’t generate jobs. They generate wealth: for themselves and for their companies. Sometimes a byproduct of that wealth is jobs, but not always. Business’s primary goal is to improve the bottom line, and that may or may not involve employing lots of people.

    I won’t comment on whether or not drivers’ salaries are exorbitant because I’ve got no knowledge of the physical and mental stresses that come from driving a bus for 8 hours a day. What I do know is that I’m grateful for the service they provide, and I hope they get a deal that’s fair.

  73. ws: The people who take advantage of other countries through lax environmental laws and dirt cheap labor and dangerous conditions — I’ll vote with my dollar and never buy their products.

    You’re one person, and you’re unusual in this regard; I doubt most people care much what products they buy. Additionally, the ability to “vote with your dollar” and only buy products that are socially responsible is a class privilege: many times these products are more expensive and out of the scope of someone on limited funds. So insisting on relying on morally-conscious citizens to keep corporations in check just doesn’t seem realistic to me.

    ws: not every corporation is evil. Not every rich person is an a-hole.

    Who on this site said they were?

  74. “Wealthy people don’t generate jobs. They generate wealth: for themselves and for their companies. Sometimes a byproduct of that wealth is jobs, but not always. Business’s primary goal is to improve the bottom line, and that may or may not involve employing lots of people.”

    So you have a job (any profit company — big, small, medium, local, global) that is not somehow tied to wealth generation in some way or another? I assume you don’t use money, either.

    Are you just waking up to this fact? Of course the idea is to improve the bottom line. Is a business supposed to be an apologist for “improving the bottom line”? Psst, that’s how you stay in business. It’s not a secret.

    Now, there’s various black, white, and gray levels of how a company improves that bottom line. But to improve efficiency within moral and legal grounds? Well, that’s just the game.

    This is capitalism. Get with it.

    What’s your solution to get people employed and not have an economy that’s NOT about wealth?

    I’d like some solutions because maybe this whole wealth thing is sooo 1980s. You’re quick on critique but let’s see some solutions.

  75. Bob R: “It’s very possible if, like in many countries, the employer doesn’t have to worry about providing health care directly on the individual market.”

    ws: That’s a whole different discussion and in general, I agree with you.

    But you’ve avoided the question. We aren’t living in another country. Care to answer it or do I have a point?

    Bob R: “There have been very prosperous times in this country, in the not-so-distant past, where the real value of the minimum wage wasn’t too far shy of $16.”

    ws: Maybe. This data seems to disagree with that statement:

    http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774473.html
    http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html

    I don’t see anytime when minimum wage was worth anywhere close to that adjusted.

    Bob R:“And it’s already been shown to you that the average is nowhere near that, not even close. So stop citing it as an average.”

    ws: I *never* said it was. I was pointing that to the mere fact that I have taken a stance and given a criteria for what is, at the very least, an excessive salary for such a position.

    I implore you to take a stance, as I have, and answer my question honestly.

    What is a bus driver worth? You defended the 100k guy, for the record, so I am curious.

    Here’s my ballpark salary = 5 years in, 38k average.

  76. I realize this horse has been beaten many times in many threads, but FWIW, I’ve been fare checked twice in the last week: once last Thursday on the Blue Line during the evening rush hour, and yesterday on the Streetcar between RiverPlace and SoWa.

    In both instances, only one person in each car didn’t have a valid fare. Didn’t see what happened to the guy on MAX, but the guy on the Streetcar got up, walked over to the fare machine, and paid.

  77. I think that most people on TriMet are honest and pay the appropriate fares, it’s just a few individuals who actively try to skip paying. Kind of like with parking meters, most people pay, but a few try to get away without paying. Of course meter readers are much more prevelent than fare inspectors, so the odds of getting caught vary accordingly.

  78. Thanks some body. i could listen to interviews like this for hours.

    The interviewer asked questions posed here! Quoted one from Douglas.

  79. I’m not sure if anyone here is familiar with QR Codes, but I was wondering about the idea about posting them at TriMet stops as Smart Phone use increases.

    The iPhone, Android, Symbian and Palm platforms all support it with free applications (Android has native compatibility, as far as I know), so I’m wondering is this maybe a way to directly link a user to Transit Tracker information for the stop they’re at?

    It’s an open and free to use standard, and it would make things really easy for users if all you have to do is aim your phone at a Transit Tracker QR Code to figure out when the next bus shows up it seems like an easy way to gain some choice riders.

    If we can be bothered to post route info at every stop, is this maybe an easy way to help make the Smart Phone more transit integrated? I’m sure with GPS you can do similar things for finding next trips, but it seems like a way to move Transit Tracker from display boards to the pocket at a minimal cost.

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