RANTINGS OF A FORMER TRIMET BUS DRIVER: Apr 1, 2011

Friday, April 1, 2011

Who says streetcars are great in traffic?

Yes, that's a streetcar...way, way back there. And there's still another dozen or so cars lined up for a traffic light behind me.

Cost-Effective Streetcar

This is a Streetcar stop (also referred to as light rail) in Toronto. Notice some of the cost-savings measures:

1. Bus shelter is IDENTICAL to that of a TriMet bus shelter.

2. No schedule information or even much signage - just that little cylinder item.

3. No art.

4. No crosswalk/pedestrian safety improvements.

5. The "platform" is extremely minimal - just enough space as is needed for people to stand.

What's not pictured is that they also used rebuilt 1940s/1950s era PCC cars, not new-build cars. And that concept works - San Francisco has an entire streetcar line that runs nothing but "heritage streetcars" and is among their most popular routes; they can even get away by charging a surcharge to ride it!

TRIMET FIRES ME!

TriMet says MAX bike hooks can be used for dry cleaning, ignoring cries of 'bicycle rights!'

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2011/04/trimet_says_max_bike_hooks_can.html

TriMet to expand rail service north, east, and south

TriMet announced this morning that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the rail and facilities of the Union Pacific Railroad. TriMet will electrify the lines and convert them to light rail service, to be integrated with the existing system. The Yellow Line will be extended from the Expo Center to run north through Vancouver and Olympia, to terminate at the Seattle's King Street Station, with service planned to start in 2015. By 2018 the Blue Line will be extended from Gresham to run east through Pendleton, Ogden, and Denver to terminate in Kansas City, and by 2021 the Green Line will provide service south through Eugene, Sacramento, and Oakland to end in Los Angeles.

http://isaac.blogs.com/isaac_laquedem/2011/04/trimet-to-expand-rail-service-north-east-and-south.html

All WES all the time!

WES is TriMet’s commuter rail system, running weekday rush hour between Beaverton and Wilsonville. The first WES cars – three powered diesel multiple units (DMUs) and one unpowered coach car – arrived in 2008, all from Colorado Railcar which TriMet bailed out for a total of about $22 million to get the cars before Colorado Railcar went out of business.

http://maxfaqs.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/all-wes-all-the-time/

CHILD LABOR COMING BACK IN THE LAND OF THE FREE

In Maine, Republican lawmakers are pushing two bills that would roll back parts of the state’s child labor laws. The first measure would let employers pay workers under the age of 20 a full $2.25 less per hour than Maine’s minimum wage for their first 180 days on the job. The bill would also eliminate the maximum number of hours a minor 16 years of age or older can work on a school day. The second would allow 16- and 17-year-old teenagers to work one hour later on school nights.