Trimess

Monday, January 28, 2013

A reader writes

when are u gonna do a post about how Trimet has refused to do a reasonable reroute of lines 54,56,45,etc
while Naito Pkwy is down to one lane. Even whenit's normal traffic these routes lose 10-20 minutes off sched during rush hour.
Talked to a driver today who said it's now like 30-45 minutes. Crazy whe all they have to do is let them use Barbur into 4th then
left on Jefferson.

2 comments:

Erik H. said...

There's absolutely zero reason any bus needs to go down Naito, especially given all of the left-turn problems, hook-turn problems...and the fact there isn't really much down there anyways and the few office buildings that are there are still served by the 35 and 43, along with the Streetcar.

All south/west buses (except the 58) should take the Mall all the way to Broadway, and then use Caruthers or Sheridan to Barbur. This allows buses a direct route on/off the mall; it gives buses a protected left turn from Barbur onto Caruthers (not to mention fewer pedestrians, but it's still a protected left turn), a protected right turn onto Barbur; traffic on Barbur is not as impacted by Ross Island Bridge traffic as well.

The ONLY drawback is the bus stop outbound Barbur & Hamilton...but frankly there is a very easy fix for it, except it involves taking out a bike path.

Jason McHuff said...

Buses have gone up and down Naito for a long time. It spreads out the buses and should (usually) be faster.

Plus, some of the buses operate as "cross-mall" routes, and turning early (at 5th) would negate that.

still served by the 35 and 43

But what if you're not coming from that direction? It seems better to route buses to where people want to go, rather than make them use those lines.

traffic on Barbur is not as impacted by Ross Island Bridge traffic as well.

Not on Barbur, but the route to Barbur can be, and Naito certainly isn't.

The ONLY drawback is the bus stop outbound Barbur & Hamilton

I'm honestly interested in how that's an issue, seeing how buses from Naito serve it now.