Can Portland's public transportation reasonably be compared to Seattle's?

[tifoso]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

WA's attitude about transit is such that I am inclined to let them use basically single occupancy motor vehicles forever. I do not want TriMet to help them out of their traffic problems.

TriMet has got enough of its own problems without taking on Vancouver's.

As for "WA's attitude about transit", it seems pretty clear that at least in the Seattle area, it's pretty good. One example: The last major bond measure for Seattle area transit first hit the ballot in 2007 as a "roads and transit" package. Supporters of that approach argued that in order to get transit funded, those who wanted roads had to get something as well. Despite that, it failed. The measure came back in Nov 2008 as a transit-only package. And despite the rapidly darkening economic outlook triggered by the Lehman Bros collapse, it passed. Whether the $15 billion measure headed for the Nov 2016 ballot will be successful will be interesting to see, but I think it's safe to say that no major US metro area in recent years has dug into its pocket to fund transit to the extent the Seattle area has.

[Nell Plotts]

They needed to catch up big time - and they needed to retrofit the tunnel.

I know because I lived in Seattle metro during that period.

[Mini-apple-less]

Neither city has particularly good transit. Portland is actually ranked about the same as Los Angeles, and Seattle's transit is generally regarded as being inferior to both. It's only OK by the standard of the Western United States, but make no bones about it - Portland and Seattle are predominately "car cities" just like Phoenix, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by bler144

I'd be curious if that's a view of the overall system, or just the parts you utilize.

Portland's system does have a lot of strengths, like solid coverage of the core (bus/MAX/streetcar overlap), and decent connection between airport/downtown, plus a reasonably good though not great light rail.

So the typical visitor is really going to see the parts of the system that are relatively well designed, which might be different than the experience if you were living here and relying on it for day-day use.

Exactly. I lived in Portland 4 years and walked 2-3 miles and thought nothing of it, since I had little choice. It wasn't that bad when I lived near the MAX line, but anywhere away from there is going to be tough if you don't have a car. Errands will take several times longer than they would with a car or a truly high-quality transit system.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

Exactly. I lived in Portland 4 years and walked 2-3 miles and thought nothing of it, since I had little choice. It wasn't that bad when I lived near the MAX line, but anywhere away from there is going to be tough if you don't have a car. Errands will take several times longer than they would with a car or a truly high-quality transit system.

Portland is way to small to have a TRULY QUALITY transit system, it would take a metro of 6 mil to support that. Besides I would rather ride a bike anyway

[tifoso]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

Neither city has particularly good transit. Portland is actually ranked about the same as Los Angeles, and Seattle's transit is generally regarded as being inferior to both. It's only OK by the standard of the Western United States, but make no bones about it - Portland and Seattle are predominately "car cities" just like Phoenix, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis.

"Generally regarded" by whom exactly? Both Seattle's and Portland's transit mode share is higher than any of the cities you mentioned. And if you look at all alternative modes including biking and walking, both cities punch well above their weight relative to their peers. Seattle is 7th nationally according to the 2012 American Community Survey and Portland 11th.

How would you define "good transit"? And what measures would you advocate to achieve it in places like Seattle and Portland?

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

Portland is way to small to have a TRULY QUALITY transit system, it would take a metro of 6 mil to support that. Besides I would rather ride a bike anyway

That's not really true IMO. Vancouver BC is more or less equal in size to Portland and has a much better system. There's also many small cities in Europe that are much easier to navigate.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

That's not really true IMO. Vancouver BC is more or less equal in size to Portland and has a much better system. There's also many small cities in Europe that are much easier to navigate.

Bull****

[58rhodes]

Vancouver has 15000 per sq mile density over Portland