Trimet Threatens Additional Service Cuts... (Portland, Beaverton: 2015, apartments, rent)

[bledsoe3]

Originally Posted by AndyAMG

They also need to be smarter like the airlines, run at peak commute times and cut back service during the day and after a certain time.

They already do this. They pull 20 trains off the line after AM rush hour. I don't know how many buses they pull, but I bet it's at least 100.

[bledsoe3]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Unfortunately this is very much the case. You have years of financial mismanagement at TriMet with managers like the current GM making $350k per year with regular $50k bonuses

More mis-information. Neil McFarlane makes $221,450 a year

TriMet general manager looking to grow executive ranks as he laments financial future | OregonLive.com

I wish someone would bump my salary by 1/3.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Plus the deal breaker for me is Tri-met is more expensive than owning a car. For my family it was 25 dollars to go downtown on MAX and it took an hour. To drive my car was 17 dollars including parking at the WTC, I got there in 22 minutes. what's the point? And I don't have anyone swearing and acting stupid in front of my kids or an old bum trying to sell me used shoes for 7 dollars and being very insistent on it. Inefficient, expensive, and bad actors, that sums up mass transit in America.

I tried that argument in an earlier post about trimet services and got shouted down by the true believers; ignorant as they were I still couldn't win.
You are absolutely correct on this. If you own a car, it's always cheaper and faster to use it than take trimet.
There is absolutely no benifit to taking trimet except for special occasions.
There used to be, but not anymore.

TriMet really needs to stop funding the City of Portland's Streetcar, stop building light rail where it isn't wanted, and bring back 15 minute service on "Frequent Service" routes while putting buses on schedules that drivers can actually make (safely and comfortably).

Exactly x 2

[Minervah]

I am a TriMet user. I am not ignorant. I have been using TriMet for a very long time when it was a better service. It does not cost me a lot today because I get an Honored Citizen's discount. In the past, buying a pass was a good deal for me because I used it toget around a lot since I have never owned a car so the pass always paid for itself by my continual use of it. It does not always come out cheaper, it would depend upon how each means of transportation is used but that's not the the point. It just depends upon who is using it and how. For me it will come out cheaper. For you it won't.

I have encounted some odd people on the bus but I have also encountered some really nice and really interesting poeple on the bus. Mostly I have encountered no one on the bus because for the most part people mind their own business.

I don't preach to people that they should get out of their cars and take public transportation. There is thread after thread discussing this topic. It is not a matter of either or. People should have choices.

To call people who have made choices other than yours ignorant is ignorant in itself so that's why you can not win your arguement.

I don't defend TriMet because I agree it needs to be fixed. I hope it gets taken care of because it is important for me and others like me who depend upon it. So I do defend those who choose to take public transportation when they have a good working public transportation.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by bledsoe3

More mis-information. Neil McFarlane makes $221,450 a year

TriMet general manager looking to grow executive ranks as he laments financial future | OregonLive.com

I wish someone would bump my salary by 1/3.

Excuse me, $221,450. Wow, he's still practically a poor man on that salary.

[Beenhere4ever]

Unfortunately, unless a transit authority throws people off trains and buses for creating a hostile environment, potential passengers will always decline to use transit to avoid an unnecessarily unpleasant human environment. Haven't had that much experience of that in cities where I used trains and street cars. But even as a fan of transit, I have to admit it does happen. All the poorest and least socially-adapted commuters will be on public transit. Since they hardly know how to act anywhere, they won't instinctively create an environment pleasant for those around them. Urban America is just not that pleasant a place, but most of us escape the worst of it by avoidance. As travel cost rises in the future, we're going to pay for our social values that exalt the individual and tell him (and her) they can choose any method of self-expression without any consideration of others. Face it, people are going to do whatever is necessary to stick to their cars where they get fewer unpleasant surprises. That, by the way, can be part of the lure of biking. Don't have to climb on with a drunk or psycho. Where bikeways are provided, don't even have to contend with 4-wheeled psychos.

Know what would help? I choke as I say it, but just make the transit ride cost what it should, i.e., don't subsidize it with a nickel. For sure, some people will bail when they face the actual cost, but so will the problem riders. I can imagine the cries of alarm at this suggestion. But if there are thousands who would suddenly learn to walk, why can't they learn to behave? By the way, in all my years in Portland, I walked a lot ( a LOT) of miles. Always amazes me that this country treats motorized transportation as a God-given right.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

I tried that argument in an earlier post about trimet services and got shouted down by the true believers; ignorant as they were I still couldn't win.
You are absolutely correct on this. If you own a car, it's always cheaper and faster to use it than take trimet. There is absolutely no benifit to taking trimet except for special occasions.
There used to be, but not anymore.

Working downtown it's going to be cheaper to take Trimet to get to work than paying for parking. Even with fare increases you're paying over double to park versus taking the MAX. My girlfriend saves money by takingthe bus or MAX rather than paying $10-$15 for parking--and many lots fill up unless you buy a monthly parking pass. Over the course of a year she's saving over $1200 by not driving to work downtown. However, where I work now by the Lloyd Center, the parking price is only a $1-$1.50 more than the cost of all day Trimet ticket($6.50 vs. $5.00)--so I'll often take the bus or MAX part of the week and the rest of the time drive when I'm tired. But the fastest way for me to get to work is on the MAX due to the fact that I-84 is always a parking lot during rush hour due to the Vancouver commuters. Though for it to be a better alternative than driving I still have to drive a few minutes, park near the MAX and then hop on the train.

All in all though I agree that in general the choices for peopel to take public transit are often whether it's cheaper and/or faster than driving. The problem with the lightrail downtown or street cars is having line on shared roadways with cars is no faster than a bus--having light-rail on routes separate from street traffic with their own right of way actually can be fast as an express route.

The problem though is that Portland is too small and too sparse a city to really have a underground or elevated train system like larger cities--which means that the lightrail is basically proposed to places where there's the room to build it. I mean, who is really excited about having a train to Milwaukie? Basically no one in Portland could care or has any reason to take a train there(it's not a commuting destination like Beaverton or Hillsboro), and if the people living there are against it--why is considered a priority to build this train? The only reason seems to be that there's enough space to build it and they can get federal funding for it...

[pdxMIKEpdx]

I am not saying that everybody who rides trimet is losing money or is ignorant.
Don't get your hackles up over nothing.
Believe it or not, not all of us live in the inner neighborhoods, work downtown, or are carless.
There's a whole other Portland out there.

What I tried to say is that if you are just an average Joe who owns a car, trimet loses if you think it's going to save money, time, or convenience unless you are going to a Timbers game or something like that...

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

I am not saying that everybody who rides trimet is losing money or is ignorant.
Don't get your hackles up over nothing.
Believe it or not, not all of us live in the inner neighborhoods, work downtown, or are carless.
There's a whole other Portland out there.

What I tried to say is that if you are just an average Joe who owns a car, trimet loses if you think it's going to save money, time, or convenience unless you are going to a Timbers game or something like that...

I wasn't getting my "hackles up" I was simply continuing the discussion. Don't get your panties in a bunch everytime someone responds to something on here... I was actually agreeing with you in part.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

I don't. Why so defensive?