TRIMET CREATED THEIR OWN FAILURE

Trimet's transfer system is and has been a miserable failure for a long long time. I have never seen another Transit district allow a ride to and from a destination on the same transfer.

There are very few places that have such unreadable and unenforceable transfers in use. Can drivers actually read the day code? The zone code? The classification code?

Some not too bright drivers actually do attempt to read all of the above and try to enforce what is actually a completely unenforceable methodology.

Passengers can use the same transfer for days, and many do, as a driver I gave up years ago trying to deal with the stupidity of the transfer process.

Trimet created a completely unsecured light rail system. The "honor system". It was all part of the 60's and feel good 70's mantra.

It was a different world back then don't forget for those of you who were actually alive and old enough to remember.

The system was meant to be "friendly" and easy to use.

A fare-less square gave riders easy access to buses and trains and allowed for very simple fare evasion.

When you think about it, it seems the planners INTENTIONALLY created a system that was destined to have problems.

Why would they do that?

I think they did it because they wanted to BRAG ABOUT PORTLAND HAVING THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA RIDERSHIP IN THE COUNTRY.

They achieved that goal by creating a unworkable transfer product and a 'fare FREE' zone where people could easily get on the system without having to pay.

AND THEN THE BEAN COUNTERS GOT TO DO THEIR MAGIC.

Abracadabra, LOADS OF BOARDING RIDES, LOADS OF THEM.

And then the planners started using those numbers to show PAPA FED that PORTLAND IS THE PLACE TO PLUNK DOWN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS for silly little projects that basically served people of wealth.

And the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FELL IN LOVE WITH PORTLAND because we HAD THE MOST RIDES PER CAPITA!

And even more money flowed into PORTLANDIA!

Then one day PAPA FED SAID, sorry Portlandia, we can't give you any more money.

And all those 'fake' boarding rides became somewhat irrelevant, because the PORTLAND BIG SHOTS couldn't turn boarding rides into cold hard cash.

AND THEN THEY WERE IN TROUBLE;

HOW DO WE GET PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY PAY TO USE OUR SERVICE wondered the big shots?

AND NOW THEY ARE IN BIG BIG TROUBLE, THEY SEE THE FUTURE, AND IT IS BLEAK.