Trimess

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Members of ATU757 organizing

The misery of public transit

Government spends boat loads of money trying to convince people to ride public transit. It's good for the environment, cuts congestion etc etc. The thing that never gets mentioned is just how much taking public transit sucks. The article below was written for the TTC but it applies to any mass transit district  in North America

Standing around looking tough

Lane Jensen podcast-August 26

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

TRIMET TAKING PORTLAND TAX PAYERS INTO DEBT

And this is all done by the unaccountable board of sock puppets who get to do these things WITHOUT voter approval
Issue: Senior Lien Payroll Tax Revenue Bonds, Series 2015A; Rating: Aaa; Sale Amount: $70,000,000; Expected Sale Date: 09-09-2015; Rating Description: Special Tax: Transportation - Related
Issue: Senior Lien Payroll Tax Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2015B; Rating: Aaa; Sale Amount: $65,700,000; Expected Sale Date: 09-09-2015; Rating Description: Special Tax: Transportation - Related
Opinion
Moody's Investors Service has upgraded to Aaa from Aa1 the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon's (TriMet) Senior Lien Payroll Tax Revenue Bonds. Concurrently, we have assigned a Aaa rating to its $70 million Series 2015A and $65.7 million Series 2015B bonds, expected to price on September 9.

One of the best idea's I have ever heard on fare evasion

Give the evader a choice, by a monthly pass for $100, pay the $175 or perform 8 hours of community service

Monday, August 24, 2015

Over the top


I have never seen so much "sustainability" in one article anywhere. So I guess this is all cool right?
I don't know what to make of this article.

Trimet to install these at low income area stops

Trimet bus driver gets injured on the job

A car rear ended this bus driver which completely totaled the car causing the bus driver  injury so he takes the next day off. He finds out months later that he was charged with unexcused absence.
Gotta love working at Trimet!

Trimet Facebook

I actually hate Facebook but I keep my account and even post over there. (I'm really a twitter person and spend almost all my social media time with twitter) Trimet Facebook is highly entertaining.    I take special interest in all the people that choose to stand up against the prevailing paradigm and whether the attacks from the Trimet shills! These are the best comments from the people who challenged Trimet's decision to go ahead with the fireworks on one of the most polluted days in Portland history. We know that loads of people complained about this on Twitter

Sunday, August 23, 2015

How funny is this

I was tweeting with John St Clair about this Till-I-Cum bridge and started digging around the internet and guess what the actual definition of Tillicum is? It's Chinook for PEON! "as distinguished from the chiefs" hahahaha! The bridge does have the correct name after all!
 

If you missed the smoggy fireworks we got some video here


BS article attempting to convince us of the wonderfulness of Trimet and that Mcfarlane is a great leader

The only way I could support any Trimet tax increases would be for Trimet officials to outline exactly how much they would raise and tell us exactly how it would be spent. Anything less is giving these already ethically challenged executives license to abuse whatever money they receive.

TRIMET SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM

People think that I want Trimet to "fail". That's completely false. True I got a bug up my ass about the current leadership  and take great pleasure in annoying the hell out of them. But I really feel empathy for the other people working over there. I know they are trying to do their best and there are plenty of really good people working at Trimet.  Look at this SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM . (click on the play button to watch their little production)  They're out there trying to do their jobs. Gotta love em!

Remember Trimet people, its the "leadership team" that I have the problem with, not the rest of the Trimet workforce.

The TriMess Minute with Lane Jensen

August 21st (Weekend Edition)

Trimet hits another home run

The haze is palpable
Ah the bridge the bridge the bridge. If you follow this blog at all you know that I have been against this boondoggle from the very beginning. (along with a subset of other people) 
So the big day finally arrives and it just happens to be one of the most atmospheric polluted days in Portland history. Trimet decides to go ahead with their silly fireworks production. (branding the bridge into peoples brains) Unfortunately many citizens took offense to Trimet going ahead with this.There are dozens of tweets about it. You can check my feed if you want to see how many people objected but it was a lot. Below the break are the best tweets about this.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Trimet hates Kirk Reeves

I totally missed this essay when it came out!

The Gods are not looking kindly upon Trimet

The gods have chosen to obscure the Trimet bridge for today's stupid celebration with chocking air pollution!
 

The 'celebration' will not include the name "Kirk Reeves"

Trimet orange line event marred by air pollution emergency

Lots of people are questioning Trimet's fireworks display on a day when there is extreme pollution in the air. 
Kind of a bad omen don't ya think?

Friday, August 21, 2015

Catch the orange!

Trimet public relations specialist

I know we are all annoying nobodies and have no influence over Trimet policy.
 Yes we are a subculture of the prevailing Portland paradigm.
And we exist in a small corner of the internet.
But we sure have fun being annoying!
And we will continue being annoying until Trimet stops shitting on its union employees, stops focusing on capital projects and starts focusing on actual Transit delivery.

One fail after another

Mainstream media says nothing

Trimet making sure they get a good turnout for the orange julius

JC Vannatta

Thursday, August 20, 2015

And the train breaks down again

They continue flooding the media with this orange line nonsense meanwhile the existing light rail is running as unreliably as ever. Where is the media? Nowhere of course

Lane Jensen podcast-episode seven

Lane's Willamette Week picture
Lane Jensen explains why he posted the driver runs and why he took them down.

Why has Trimet light rail become so unreliable?

Well I'm not a high priced transit consultant nor a high paid Trimet executive but I would bet the reason that Trimet's light rail has become so unreliable is the ORANGE LINE! 

Why do I say that? Cause I bet Trimet has all their personnel working on that which is taking away from the needs of the current system.

This is an old story for Trimet, keep building, keep ignoring what you already got.


Travel Portland and visit the luxurious Trimet transit stations

Safety vests can be used for many things

Trimet is hiring bus drivers

Lane Jensen podcast 6

Lane was arrested and sent to jail for sending this message to Roberta Altstadt  over and over 



Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Best transit district movie ever

And its all about riding buses! Its from Edmonton Canada

WES doesn't work


Seen on Facebook

So the trimet payroll tax increase is gonna pass with portland city council and trimet is gonna order more new buses and keep hiring 20 new drivers every 6 weeks until 2017 shelly lomax told the training dept last week.

This just gets funnier and funnier



The evening will feature a BridgePort beer garden, where you'll find the exclusive Tilikum Crossing Orange Line IPA! We'll also have food carts and special-edition Salt & Straw ice cream: Catch the Orange Olive Oil & Burnt Orange Marmalade!

Enjoy music from Bear Water and the Student Loan Stringband, and visit with the Portland Picnic Society—they’ll be picnicking along with the crowd and sharing their best picnic tips from their new cookbook, “The Picnic” during the event.

Topping it off is a fireworks display from the bridge, set to be one of the biggest and best our region has ever seen!

Trimet on time performance has really taken a nose dive


MAX on time performance is actually worse than bus now. That's pretty shocking!
The on time parameters are actually pretty loose. Up to 10 mins late is considered on time

And the Trimess saga continues

Every single day its something.


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Too bad Trimet union employees never did what City of Milwaukie union employees are doing

I am a 'annoying nobody'

This doesn't beat the all time greatest put down which was :
"Al M is just a lonely guy in a room" !  
But its nice to be called names. 
Means I am really annoying someone

Turns out he uses the same language on Erik Halsteads posts

Lane Jensen podcast-episode 5

Lane Jensen sent some texts to Trimet managers and his bail was set at $46k while Daemon Bowman physically assaulted a Trimet bus driver and his bail was set at $10k

Trimet yellow vest rules creating minor rebellion

Being an ex-employee of the Trimet industrial complex I know how they (the Trimet bureaucrats)  like to come up with inane rules and procedures for the unfortunate people wearing the lowly blue shirts. These bureaucrats have to find someway to justify their absurdly high salaries so they keep coming up with all sorts of silly shit.

This years silliness is the cute little yellow vest. Apparently the managers are on one of of their insane crusades  and they are using their flunky white shirts to enforce this policy with ZEAL.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Service for Michael Martin

Trimet board of sock puppets ready to ignore public concerns as usual

 Any experienced Trimet watcher knows that these tax increases are automatic. Public testimony is taken because they have to listen to it. The Trimet  was created specifically to avoid public accountability

TriMet is poised to increase its payroll tax to fund expanded transit service within a month — despite opposition from some that pay it in the business community.

The Lane Jensen podcast episode 4

A Trimet police squad arrested Lane Jensen for texting managers

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Trimet beer ad

Replace Max trains with bus rapid transit

 RA FONTES


Let's upgrade MAX to buses. Yes, we actually would improve MAX by converting it from light-rail transit (LRT) to bus rapid transit (BRT). We'd get faster and more frequent trips with far fewer major outages and delays. TriMet could save tens of millions of dollars every year, be able to provide more capacity, and have a far more resilient system facing our next earthquake.

HITS THE NAIL SQUARELY ON THE HEAD

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Trimet has been failing miserably

Below the break you will see the state of Trimet these days. The poor rider pleads for help but nobody at Trimet is listening

Trimet is now selling beer

 This is some seriously shameful shit and really illustrates how far off mission Trimet has gone


Lane Jensen Podcast episode 3

Lane Jensen disrupting a Trimet board meeting

Friday, August 14, 2015

Trimet is flying drones over the orange line!


$1.5 BILLION AND THE LAST TWO TRIPS ON THE ORANGE LINE WILL BE BY BUS

Nice!

Treat employees like they make a difference

Trimet bus driver spit on


White priviledge bridge

You've gotta hand to to Trimet for their incredible propaganda campaign which has turned this unnecessary $1.5 billion dollar boondoggle into an event worthy of  top rated sports team.

2 years of relentless propaganda together with this ridiculously expensive bridge opening extravaganza has paid off!

It's amazing how they always stick the words "bridge of the people" into all the press releases. They are really trying to brand that into people brains even though this bridge will serve the smallest percentage of citizens of all the bridges in Portland.

And if there is any doubt that this is a 'white privileged'  project, look at the respondents to this phony Trimet contest. (Trimet uses citizens  for their own advertising masterfully)

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE GALLERY OF TRIMET ADVERTISING

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Trimet retiree Ben Fein asks the board to make a statement about the 'atmosphere of intimidation'


The Trimess minute-with Lane Jensen


Shirley Block at Today's board of puppets meeting

Don't let Shirley's lack of public speaking skills lead you astray as to her competence. This woman knows what she is doing and knows the insides and outsides of Trimet like no one else.

She relates one troubling story here, how Stedmen would not allow the ATU757 vice president and treasurer into a meeting. How's that for a bunch of fascists?

For all you deluded apologists out there, how can you defend a public agency that bars two union executive officers from a meeting! Make no mistake, these people are killers (figuratively of course).

I think Shirley should send Jon Hunt in to speak to that board next time!

My equipment is currently not set up so the quality of these videos is poor but its the content that matters

Henry Beasley on operator assaults


Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the last installment on operator assaults, I expressed that the laws the company and the union cited on the busses were incorrectly worded and “is” not a felony unless the vehicle is moving (ORS 163.165). Since I wrote that we can now add another category of assault against our operators and that’s sexual assault.
If you find yourselves in a situation of a passenger assaulting you (regardless of the cause) I will reiterate what I said since 2011. “I implore my fellow Brothers and Sisters, who find yourselves “victims or survivors”, of these crimes against you to”:

U.S. Sen. Merkley rides Line 94 with the masses

Union election challenge update

The election committee is still investigating the validity of any of the challenges to the last ATU757 election. Nothing to report as of today

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Shirley Block getting ready for war

 ATU757 president Shirley Block is expecting the worse from Trimet executives going forward. She has requested $800k for future  arbitration battles. 
That is more than double the current budget!

 In other words she knows what's about to happen. When Trimet attempts to bully the union and the union leadership decides to fight back, Trimet will penalize its union employees. 

Unfortunately for Trimet union employees they are squeezed between the two institutions and the worst of it is that the company will do whatever it can to its employees in attempt to strong arm the union leadership.

So get ready bus drivers for the company to put the hammer down on you!

Cause that's 'how they roll' and the people running Trimet seldom 'do the right thing'

Unfreaking believable

Orange line beer and orange fireworks?
I mean really, this is a tax payer ($1.5 billion) funded project. 
The amount of silly propaganda being pumped out on this is beyond anything I would have believed. 
It's a light rail line for crying out loud!
It's not a cure for cancer! 
WTF is this shit?

 

TRIMET: Taxation without representation

Trimet is the perfect  unaccountable government organization.
Trimet is a tax funded government agency but without the accountability that most government agencies have. 
Trimet has a puppet board of directors, all cronies of the current governor in power. The puppet board does the bidding of the General Manager who is always an insider of the Portland Light Rail Mafia. 
Somehow the power brokers were able to get a law passed through the Oregon Legislature that allows the puppet Trimet board of directors to raise taxes.  It's the most undemocratic process I have ever seen. And of course they will have the obligatory public comments that they routinely ignore in these matters.

And as always they disguise their true intentions by telling us things like: TriMet, responding to what it says will be a dramatic demand for new service (trimet ridership has been flat for a long long time) 

TriMet, the region's public transit agency, is making the move based on projections that the Portland region will add 400,000 new residents over the next 20 years. (right, sure)

Starting in 2016, the increase would raise about $4.3 million in the first year and $43 million in the 10th, said Mary Fetsch, a TriMet spokeswoman.(and of course lots of that will go to trimet executives)

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/morning_call/2015/08/trimet-considers-payroll-tax-increase-to-handle.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Trimet marketing department-"orange line beer'

They'll stoop to anything to get Portlanders to love them!

Ron Returns

Ron Heintzman
Good! We need the experience of Hientzman to counter the deviousness of the Trimet sociopaths currently running the agency!

The TriMet drivers’ union just fired its lawyer—and replaced him with a familiar foe of the transit agency.
Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 announced at a meeting Monday night that the union has eliminated the job of Lane Toensmeier, who has been ATU Local 757’s general counsel since January.
ATU Local 757 President Shirley Block says Toensmeier is being replaced by three new contractors, including Ron Heintzman, who was president of the union from 1988 to 2002.
Heintzman was a take-no-prisoners negotiator who in 1994 won the union sweeping benefits for retired members.
Meanwhile, six union members have filed challenges to June’s election results, including the election of Block. Among those challenging the results: Dan Martin, who lost a bid for union vice president after opponents raised allegations regarding his criminal history. 
http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-33582-ron_heintzman_returns_to_trimet_drivers_union_as_legal_contractor.html 

Monday, August 10, 2015

Do you think Bruce Hansen should still be the president of ATU757?

Here's your chance!

While Portlanders are going goo goo over the new bridge Trimet light rail keeps failing

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
A mechanical issue caused major MAX delays throughout the metro area on Sunday evening.
TriMet reported at 5:30 p.m. that the Blue, Green and Red lines were all disrupted by a mechanical issue in the Rose Quarter area.
Shuttle buses were running between Old Town/Chinatown and the Rose Quarter Transit Center.
Riders were advised to expect major delays. By 6:15 p.m., TriMet said all MAX lines would be delayed about 30 minutes through 9:30 p.m.
The exact mechanical issue and what caused it were not immediately released by TriMet.

Trimet's *Bridge of the People* protected from the people by barbed wire


Saturday, August 8, 2015

Greg Larson makes the Trimet internal newspaper

Greg was my favorite manager at Trimet. (at least the one that stayed working there) 
He still played his role as hatchet man when I was working there  like they all do but he's a decent guy. 
When the merlo station manager job came open I put up a blog post that supported Greg for the job. 
Probably killed it for him if I know Trimet.
Anything I support is immediately rejected by Trimet officials

Rest in Peace Mike Martin

Mike was one class behind me in seniority and I knew him very well when I was working at Trimet.
 From the very first sign up through my entire 15 years there.
Was really one hell of a nice guy!

What do you find when you 'deep clean' a bus

Deep cleaning means removing the seats and looking under places that were not visible to the naked eye before

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Classic tweets

ATU757 president Shirley Block is right that Mcfarlane MUST be involved with his employees

Shirley calls out Mcfarlane's bullshit
ORS 267.135 clearly states that the general manager (not any of his appointed henchmen) is the one authority that administers the personnel system!

267.140 Duties of general manager. A general manager of a district shall:
      (1) Have full charge of the acquisition, construction, maintenance and operation of the transit system of the district.
      (2) Have full charge of the administration of the business affairs of the district.
      (3) Enforce all ordinances adopted by the board.
      (4) Administer the personnel system adopted by the board and, except for officers appointed by the board, appoint, discipline or remove all officers and employees, subject to ORS 267.010 to 267.390 and the rules of the board.
      (5) Prepare and submit to the board within 30 days after the end of each fiscal year a complete report of the finances and administrative activities of the district for that preceding fiscal year.
      (6) Keep the board advised as to the needs of the district.
      (7) Prepare all plans and specifications for acquisition of equipment or construction of improvements or facilities for the district.
      (8) Cause to be installed and maintained a system of auditing and accounting which shows completely and at all times the financial condition of the district.
      (9) Devote the entire working time of the general manager to the business of the district.
      (10) Perform such other duties as the board requires by resolution. [1969 c.643 §15]

Joe Rose off transportation reporting

The 'official' story doesn't make sense to me. I think something else is going on here than what he is publicly telling everyone.

Joseph Rose: Goodbye, transportation beat. It's been fun (photos, video) | OregonLive.com