Trimess

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Good comment on the budget at Portland Transport

I visited the SMART terminus at the Wilsonville end of WES today and saw posters forthrightly stating that only registered service dogs were allowed on SMART buses; companion animals offering psychological support are not compliant with American with Disabilities Act standards and are forbidden.
Is there a line item in TriMet's budget to enforce stated policy that pets aboard must be in cages? On the 77 out by Edgefield yesterday a couple of old drunks got on with some sort of big mongrel Doberman cross--I felt sorry for the dog!
I have seen dogs with their dirty behinds plastered on seats where people are supposed to sit, and smelled others wafting various stinks and allergies. Further malign influences are easily imagined.
Operators give the impression that they do not like such boarders, but TriMet refuses to back them up. I spoke with TriMet about it a while back, but they intended to do nothing.
Maybe they should just charge the critters a separate fare; that would make it a budget item.

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