Portland Transport

Author: Chris Smith

  • Rob Zako for OTC!

    Occasional Portland Transport contributor and state-wide transportation advocate (Rob is the organizer of the Otran e-mail list) Rob Zako has applied for one of the two open positions on the Oregon Transportation Commission. I will be writing to Governor Kulongoski to recommend Rob, and I would urge other Portland Transport readers to do the same.…

  • New Outreach Specialist at TriMet

    From the Business Journal: Martin Gonzalez will focus on outreach to riders with limited English proficiency. I wonder what he has to say about fare machines?

  • That Time of Year

    As we approach the holidays, thoughts of all non-profit leaders turn to year-end contributions. While I am happy to report that Portland Transport is in sound (and sustainable) financial shape, the long-term viability of our 501(c)(3) non-profit status depends in part on having a sizable and diverse set of contributors. So as you make your…

  • Sorting Out Fareless Square

    We’ve had plenty of opinion about fareless square, and/or it’s curtailment. I’d like to try to back up a little bit and take this out of the realm of opinion, and get into a more structured analysis. So I’m going to pose this question: If you were asked to conduct an objective analysis of costs/benefits…

  • Deeper Dive on Nextbus

    Following up on our initial questions about cases in which the Nextbus arrival information system used by Portland Streetcar might be not entirely accurate, two PSU class project teams took their own look. I had a chance to sit in on the team project presentations, which are now posted online. The headline is that while…