SUPERVISORY REPORTS

-     RQ-Holladay “platform hardening” fare inspection approach

o     Consequently, CS staffing focused on former Free Rail Zone stations

-     Fare sales and inspection effort was in place longer duration than usual due to Winterhawks game that preceded Blazers start by a half-hour

-     Had an increase in number of RQ customers arriving without fare

o     190 vs. 133 on last RQ-Holladay hardening (1/29/13)

o     A fair portion of these were people, generally from out of the metro area, who were riding for the first time in more than a year

o     Winterhawks fans generally seemed to have fares

o     High percentage of the early arriving Blazer fans had fares. Most of those without fares were on trains that arrived in the final 30-40 minutes before tipoff.

§     We’ve seen this before and it’s often people who didn’t buy because “the train was leaving”

§     Inspectors and CS explained that they risk a significant fine when riding without a ticket.

o     People who legitimately did not know fares were required expressed gratitude for the approach we are taking (i.e. option of buying Day ticket vs. citations)

 Post-event

-     Winterhawks almost went to overtime (raising possibility of both events exiting at same time) but last minute goal brought fans to the platforms before Blazer fans exited

o     Although we don’t usually inspect Winterhawks fans after their games, they seemed to take it in stride and were prepared to show their fares

-     Blazers game went longer than usual, and there was the specter of overtime (which would have had the crowd exit when service was increasingly less frequent).

-     Rail and Bus supervisors did an excellent job of thinking through and preparing for the possible scenarios

o     Rail Supervisor L arranged for NB Yellow Line due at 22:19 to hold if game was about to break

o     Bus Supervisor V lined up two garage-bound buses to prepare for: 1) NB Yellow Line trip(s) if customers exited after 22:19 and/or 2) Red Line trip(s) if game went overtime and customers missed the final Red @ 22:40

-     Customers reaped the benefit of their preparation, as the game broke about five minutes after the NB Yellow normally would have departed

o     Train held long enough for 75-100 customers to board; subsequent customers were able to board one of the buses (which left with a full standing load)

o     Red Line customers were at platform in time to board the 22:40 final Red

§     Supervisor V held on to one bus and checked platform afterwards for any who may have missed it. No one had, and bus was released

-     EB MAX service went well, with extra service train being well timed, held by Supervisor R for an appropriate time, and well used

-     WB platform became quite crowded (so much so that some customers could not get through the inspection point), but extra service train and a Willow Blue arrived close together and that brought the crowd to a manageable level

-     Some Yellow Line customers vented to CS staff about poor performing TVMs that delayed/frustrated them heading to the events

o     And the NB validator at IRQ continues to be ‘out of service’ as it has been for most of the Blazer season

-     Strong Transit Police presence (both WB and EB platforms) set a positive tone and was appreciated by staff and customers

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FIT FOR DUTY TEST

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Dry, clear and fairly warm night. 

Pre-Event:

·     Light activity and pretty quiet for a Friday night.

·     Lloyd Center

°     TVMs on WB platform were not processing card transactions very well, off and on.  A FareTech was onsite during part of our shift.

°     About 10 customers didn’t know that the Free Rail Zone had ended.  A few chose to walk to RQ. 

Post-Event at RQTC:

·     Supervisor Rj was onsite but didn’t need to assist us on the platforms.

·     Most Winterhawks fans came out around 9:25p, followed very soon thereafter by the Bull Riders fans.

·     Transit Trackers on the EB platform had inaccurate MAX information listed, which was confusing to a number of customers.  We reported the problem to Control.

·     There were several dozen new/infrequent riders who needed direction and service information, but not as many who needed help with fares. 

·     Had 1 G4S officer each for EB & WB platform oversight, but none for intersection staffing to manage pedestrian safety, which turned out to be okay.

·     Billy got some experience doing his first PA announcements.  Bravo!

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I did some code enforcement on the yellow line prior to the game; I have never seen so many of the TVM’s and validators down at one time. I was next to impossible for anyone on the yellow line to be able to have their fare.  

It was a beautiful night and a lot of people walked instead of riding the train. I only ran into two people who had not ridden in almost a year; that did not know that the free rail zone had gone away. The vast majority of people had their fare.

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Pre-Event:

·     Beth provided staffing at Lloyd Center early for Globetrotters fans, then also for Timbers fans. TVM #50 was not functioning, so I remained stationed by it and helped close to 200 customers in those first 2 hours! There was the Comic con event at the Convention Center as well, which I saw more customers for than for the Globetrotters. A mix of 2-hour ticket sales (126) and Day passes (225), and nearly everyone happy to have the help (some extra special commendations even).

·     Sunset was steadily busy with customers who mostly knew the drill, Gateway fairly slow but customers appreciating assistance with the different platforms and lines to take.

·     TVMs were functioning at Jeld-Wen, Gateway and Sunset (Validator 126 at Sunset was sticking and gave some customers a difficult time)

Post-Event:

·     Globetrotters event broke early; I saw fans on trains arriving at Lloyd Center around 4:15 p.m. I helped about a dozen customers down at RQTC before the platforms cleared and then headed back up to Lloyd.

·     Timbers fans headed home around 19:00 and trains carried customers efficiently and smoothly.

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Had several inebriated customers post-event, including one woman on the WB platform who seemed oblivious to Conrad’s and my messages about standing behind the white tiles as the train arrived. She was teetering forward at the very edge of the platform and caused me great angst, as I was frantically using the PA microphone to try to get her attention, and she narrowly missed being hit.

·     Inspectors/Supervisors patrolled on trains between Lloyd and downtown, and on the Yellow Line. They were kept busy and issued quite a few written warnings.

·     About midway through pre-event staffing, Annie asked if we could send a Field Rep to Albina/Mississippi. Billy redeployed there but had fewer than a half dozen customers, and both TVMs were in working order at that time.

Lloyd Center

°     There was a group of about 15 young adults (late teens-early twenties, mostly male) partying to loud boom box music on the sidewalk south of the EB platform. They maintained control but attracted quite a bit of attention and seemed intimidating to some folks. They finally chose to leave near the end of our shift, after I alerted Rail Control and the police drove by a couple of times.

°     Both TVMs on the WB platform were intermittently declining credit cards.

°     Only 20 or so people didn’t know that fares were required until they saw the A-board signs and/or heard my announcement. A few groups of 4-5 people each chose to drive and park, as it would be cheaper. An estimated 40+ customers walked to RQ. 

Albina/Mississippi: 

°     Some expected to see us onsite and others were surprised, but most seemed to understand that fares were required and purchased them without complaining.

Rose Quarter: 

°     Majority of customers already had tickets and just needed to validate them.

Post-Event:

     EB Platform – Julie (PA) & Stephanie     Booth on WB Platform – Lauren & Pamela

    IRQ – Beth & Billy

·     Most fans stayed until the end of the game, with the Blazers winning by 6 in the final few minutes.  The crowd came out between 8:20 and 8:25p.

·     IRQ platform hardening occurred as planned. In hindsight, we should have sent 3 Field Reps there instead of 2, but we did have Stephanie join Beth and Billy when Beth’s card reader stopped working.

·     Lauren & Pamela had quite a few new/infrequent MAX riders on the WB platform asking for service information and directions.

·     I gave the “no smoking on platforms” message repeatedly with good results.

·     MAX service was well timed for most customers but folks heading to Clackamas had to wait 25-30 minutes for the Green Line.

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Noticed a lot of traffic stopping on the tracks all over the interlocking, not paying attention to red lights, and trains having to come to stops before they got the idea to back up and allow the train to cross, maybe that happens all the time due to the large amounts of auto traffic after any event.

Overall a standard Blazer night.

IRQ:  We Patrolled Lloyd to Old Town and North to Albina Miss for Pre-game,

Post-Game we hardened the platform @ IRQ.

Sending two rail supervisors to RQ for train movement and oversight.

Crowd not as large as we normally have at RQ, but quiet a few were surprised they couldn’t just walk to the platform without a fare.  Hence the need to check at that location randomly.

I spoke with customer service (Julie’s group) and suggested that if IRQ is hardened that we need one on each side north and south for post.

Multiple machines not working from no change, to not taking cards.  When the fare tech for the eastside arrived at RQ I mentioned that the Mississippi/Albina had a no bill accepted and would like to see if he could make a “B” line there to get it up and running, he said it’s on his list.

These machines need to be checked well before the passengers start arriving if we are issuing any form of non-payment cites or warning’s, and that sometimes doesn’t get done.

Customer service was very helpful overall, and G4S also always accommodating.