Trimess

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Trimet riders getting screwed by Trimet-Reddit

 Lots and lots of current riders have been royally screwed by this new orange line. But as we all know their story is only told on Reddit, Blogger, and Twitter. Not gonna see a thing on any mainstream media and Trimet will never acknowledge a problem exists,




Despite the overwhelmingly positive response I keep seeing about it, I'm actually annoyed about the Orange Line and subsequent bus "improvements". : Portland

 My 20 minute bus commute to downtown turned into a 1 hour bus-to-MAX or bus-to-other bus commute. According to everyone at the downtown Milwaukie MAX station this morning, this a common experience. Do any of you guys have a negatively impacted commute? How can we fix this?
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My evening commute has been increased by about 10-15 minutes, but that's about it. That said, I spend the majority of the commute on the 9.
It's possible that they're paying some attention to connection times and will adjust schedules accordingly. It's happened before.
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I sure hope that's right. Yesterday my coworker's boyfriend planned to take the train after hers and it didn't even stop for them. He said they were trying to gauge which times they could cut out of the schedule.
He was late to work.
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 Usability yes, but not the overall convenience. I love that Portland wants to cling to streetcars as a throwback to the days of yore, but they are some of the most inconvenient methods of transportation when dropped into regular car traffic.
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Well, there's your mistake: believing that the streetcar is a "method of transportation". I believe it could honestly be described as a method of urban development. I'm pretty sure that is at least as much of a goal for it as is the notion of moving people around.
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I'm sure it looks great in promotional videos. Not so great when you're waiting in the rain with your groceries and the thing is 15 minutes late and chugging along at 3 MPH.
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Yeah I rode it yesterday in the hopes it would decrease my commute time. Instead it took 10 minutes longer to get to Rhine and the 17 when it arrived was drop off only.
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They rerouted the 9 and the 17 To go over the new bridge instead of the Ross Island bridge, no doubt anticipating the lack of traffic would make it faster to get the buses to their routes on Powell/Harold. And that turned out to be very wrong. The 19 is running ahead of schedule, so that's a win.
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It's had a very nasty effect for people along the old 33 line. My dad used to take the 33 in from their house in Oak Grove, up until this weekend. Now he HAS to take the Orange Line, as the 33 and 34 no longer go past Milwaukie, and the 99 is infrequent and runs only in the early morning and afternoon.
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This is what happened to me. I used to take the 99 Express at 7 am and get plopped off downtown anytime between 7:20 and 7:30. Then I could leisurely walk to work, grab coffee and breakfast, and make it to the office in time to change and chill out a bit.
Now I leave my house 15 minutes earlier and arrive 30 minutes later. Just in time to get to office.
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I'm in the same boat/bus. There's no longer a reliable direct route from downtown to Clackamas Community College. If you want to arrive early for an 8AM class/work, a transfer is required. In the opposite direction, the new 99 has 45 fewer stops and takes 15 minutes longer than the 33. 45 fewer stops.
The Trimet lady I spoke with was sympathetic and made sure to "record my dissatisfaction."
I'm leaving 20 minutes earlier, waiting a minimum of 10 minutes for a transfer, and arriving 10 minutes later.
I miss bus :(
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This is me. Everyone I've spoken to has a much longer commute now. Not to mention now needing to transfer instead of just sitting in a single vehicle the entire trip. "The max arrives downtown in 27 minutes! After your 15 minute bus ride and the 15 minute wait for the max to leave the station."
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Every person you talk to about this, encourage them to file a complaint. If they get several thousand complaints in a matter of a couple days, shit might just actually change.
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Oh shit I always took 33 to Red White and Blue from the transit center. Wah.
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My number nine downtown morning commute has increased five minutes. I haven't timed my afternoon commute yet because I keep forgetting to check the time I actually get on the bus.
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I rode the new bridge on my bike yesterday-- what a clusterfuck on both sides. Tiny little bike-only stop lights that are mis-timed and leave me sitting there while tens of other cyclists blow through, completely oblivious to 'em. Waiting, waiting, not sure whether to wait on the sidewalk with the bike symbol or in the green bike box immediately adjacent. Is this light going to change? Was I supposed to press the crosswalk button? Why are we all just sitting here? Isn't this design supposed to be more intuitive?
If every bridge / bike interface were this terrible I bet it would actually take a significant chunk out of commuter bike ridership.
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Yes. Should have known after they fucked over the SE Clinton/ railcrossings with overcomplicated traffic control devices, it would just be more of the same at the new bridge. Ridiculous amount of confusing traffic lights for no apparent reason at both ends of the bridge.
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Don't forget the 90 degree turns cyclists have to make at these crossings, which are really fun on a bike. :-/
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Yep, I've been looking forward to this bridge so much just as a way to vary my rides up a bit and the light system is terrible. I ultimately ran one on my last crossing after watching all the other lights cycle through twice while not a single train/bus was in sight. It just doesn't make any sense.
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Yeah, those signals are so badly timed that people are just ignoring them. And I too have been confused on where I'm supposed to stop my bike.
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My commute has been negatively impacted. And I work less than 1 mile from the EoL Park ave stop.
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Posted this elsewhere...
17th is Tri-met headquarters. It's like this line was just built for their benefit. Most of the stops along this route are in low-density residential neighborhoods, parks, or golf courses. For example, it take about ~15 minutes to walk from the center of Sellwood to this new MAX stop. In most cases (outside of rush hour) taking the 99 or 70/9 is STILL faster than MAX.
I guess I wonder why the hubub over the new Orange line? Seems like the benefits of the Orange line are connecting to Milwaukee, and the points in-between seem afterthoughts. It isn't like Beaverton, Interstate, Gresham, where it goes through central parts of heavily residential areas.
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You are correct. It takes me an extra 10 minutes to get to the station plus an extra 10 minutes to wait for the max to get home, plus the extra 15 mins in commute time, so it adds about 55 mins to my day. It really ultra sucks.
I did want to move to milwaukie before the orange line, and now afterwards, I am having second thoughts because commute time sucks balls.
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If you do the math to find the miles per hour, the trip moves along at the blinding speed of about 5 miles per hour. You could almost jog that fast. It takes two hours to go the whole 10 miles back and forth. I think the pioneers taking the Oregon Trail made better time back in the day.
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same here. it sucks. plus the scenery is so gross and industrial other than the brief nice new bridge experience. saying goodbye to the lovely river view takes away one of the nice things in my life. the time and aesthetics of the ride really blow now. plus the train windows dont open so its going to be stinkeroo city many days.
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Also the answer is no. TriMet does whatever the fuck it wants to with virtually no oversight.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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