Supervisory reports

Pre-Event:

Lloyd Center – Pam (joined later by Julie) Sunset TC – Stephanie Yamhill – Lauren

Delta Park – Billy RQTC – Beth



· TVM/Validator Issues:

° Sunset TC – TVM #126 out of service for about 30 minutes (from around 6:10-6:40p). Report from several customers of TVM in garage not accepting credit cards.

° Yamhill – TVM #81 not accepting cash & intermittently rejecting credit cards. TVM #82 out of service for about 20 mints during middle of shift. Neither validator working.

° Lloyd Center – TVM #50 on WB platform not accepting bills, then credit cards towards end of shift.

· Had an unplanned MAX disruption between around 5:40 and 6:00p, due to a WB Blue Line train with a mechanical issue near Convention Center. Train was taken out of service and put in the special events track at RQTC. Beth heard grumbling from some customers at RQ.

· Lloyd Center:

° A-board signs very visible and helping with fare education, in my opinion.

° Most customers were aware of fares being required; some were unhappy.

° We still see an average of about 40-50 people per game walking vs. riding the train.

· I didn’t get to connect with any of the Field Ops staff involved in the Yellow Line inspection, but I trust that it went well.



Post-Event at RQTC & IRQ:

RQTC: EB – Julie (PA) & Pamela Booth on WB platform – Billy (joined by Pamela later)

IRQ: SB – Lauren NB – Beth & Stephanie



· Transit Police presence was welcome, as always, and it was good having G4S Security for intersection safety.

· Blazer fans came out in a light but steady stream, mostly between 9:20 and 9:35p, followed by a bit more of a burst and several groups of youth that came out at the end.

· Had no issues at RQ with platform overcrowding or customer misbehavior.

· MAX service frequency was great for most folks, but there were about 15 people who waited 20-25 minutes for the Green Line to Clackamas, and about 30 people who waited the same length of time for the Blue Line to Hillsboro between 9:45 and 10:10p.

· IRQ inspection went smoothly, and Yellow Line service met customer needs.

· All in all, things went very well from my perspective.
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I worked the Shamrock Run for the Traffic Division on Sunday March 17th. I also coordinated Sgt Schoenfeld and his detail of bicycle officers assigned to direct vehicle traffic on the transit mall. With 35,000 participants running in the event, the vehicular traffic load coming into the downtown area was enormous. Due to the route bisecting downtown along Broadway Ave, all westbound traffic was forced to travel northbound on 6th Ave with no legal ability to turn either left or right until reaching the Amtrak Station. This resultant backup caused frustrated motorists to make illegal and unsafe right hand turns across the mall, and/or drive down the mall on the tracks or bus lane.

This year, with the addition of the four Transit Officers assigned to the mall, we were able to coordinate safe right turns from SW 6th Ave at W Burnside St, SW Alder St, SW Yamhill St, and SW Main St. Even with these added resources, safe and efficient traffic management was challenging, but greatly improved over last year. Most Trimet buses and trains were able to move reasonably safely along the mall because of our efforts.

Because I was assigned as a detail supervisor for Transit during the event, and not assigned to a fixed post, I was able to troubleshoot traffic issues along SW 5th Ave. Once the 15K and 8K events were over, the 5K run and walk route turned east on SW Salmon from SW Broadway. This further segmented the downtown, and caused further traffic snarls north and south of SW Salmon.

Recommendations for next year:
Continue to flag traffic on SW 6th at Burnside, Alder, Yamhill, Main. Being on bikes was not completely necessary, but did ease maneuvering through and around stopped traffic.
I would recommend adding two additional Officers (either car or bike) to be assigned to SW 5th Ave to respond to issues and flag traffic. These will most likely occur between SW Yamhill and SW Jefferson.
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The bridge went up promptly at 7am and we began our turn backs. Everything seemed to be running ok at the start. We made two express trips to the Airport. I started to notice a problem when train 01 off loaded at Old town at 731am. These folks were shuttled across to Rose Quarter. There was not a blue line train here for them and the next one wasn’t due until approximately 801am. They waited until the bridge came down and then they actually boarded train 25 who wasn’t turned back. Train 25 was also delayed on the bridge by an unattended ODOT vehicle in his dynamic envelope. The passengers from train 01 finally got back on a blue line at approximately 808am. We added approximately 40 minutes to their trip.

Looking deeper into the schedule we turned back 3 blues and 3 reds at Old Town. At Rose Quarter we only turned back 1 blue and two reds. The schedules for either side did not match up at all and we just didn’t have enough service on the east side. If we did one like this again I would recommend a couple of extra trains for the east side and we would have to try and match the connections better. In a pre-planned event such as this we need to do a better job. If we take passengers off of a blue we need to have one of the same color on the other side within a reasonable amount of time. I heard comments from frustrated riders. And that was from only the people at Rose Quarter. I’m sure there were a lot more along the alignment waiting for a train that did not show up.

Trains 61 and 62 were looping the mall. I think we did ok interlining green/yellow service without too much of a disruption. 

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Event started on time, there seemed to be a lot more people this year, the15K block us at Broadway and Yamhill for about 30 minutes until it cleared enough to bump a train through the runners. I think the ops order said we could not stop the runners to bump through but this will not work, once the serious runners go by we have to stop the rest and bump through because there are thousands coming in on the trains wanting to get to the race. We need to add to the ops order that the trains make announcements at Library that if people want to get to the run to deboard there for the first few trains, also the trains need to be brought down to Broadway to be set to bump through when we stop the runners at Morrison. The event went a bit longer than last year, we cleared about 1125 hours.   

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I was stationed at Broadway and Morrison. The worst delay was about 30 minutes during the first run (15K), until TPD officers at my location decided to stop the now slower runners so we could bump the train through.  This was done for all other runs until the faster of the 8 and 5K leaders were coming through this delay lasted about 10 to 15 minutes.  From this point on all trains were bumped through as soon as they serviced the Pioneer North platform.  I suggested the gap train be used during the 15 minute delay for the 8 and 5K runs, the Controller on the air did not know what I was referring to and requested a phone call.  With that call I explained the purpose of the Gap train stored at the West Portal Pocket track.  I do not know if it was ever used.

   For next year I would suggest banking a gap train in the 11th Ave. Terminus, which could be reversed back to the Galleria Platform when needed for the service gap.

After the event end around 11 am I was instructed to monitor 1st Ave. near Kell’s and observed nothing note worthy to report.

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Saw a bump again (from the previous game) in the number of customers arriving at RQTC without a valid fare; many of those were folks from out of town and/or folks who hadn’t used our service in at least 8 months.

·         Had one strange incident involving a car that drove on the WB MAX tracks at RQTC as a train was approaching the platform.  Thankfully, no MAX accident or injuries resulted from that.

·         Things were generally calmer than expected, considering it was a Saturday night on St. Patrick’s Day weekend, and the Dance & Drill Championships were also underway at the Memorial Coliseum.

As we first started our post-event duty, around 9:00p, a woman under the influence of something drove her car the wrong way on 1st Ave near the Trolley Barn, then turned right onto the WB MAX tracks, hitting a curb in the process and flattening her right front tire. A train was just about to pull into the WB platform at that time. The car drove on the tracks to the end of the block and turned right onto Wheeler, stopping just beyond the concession shack.  Supervisors and Transit Police addressed that situation.

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   Saw at least 60 customers without fares who didn’t know (or claimed they didn’t know) that the Free Rail Zone no longer existed. Quite a few stated that they hadn’t used our service since last Blazer season. 

·     Several customers arriving at RQTC (EB) reported that the TVMs and Validator were not working at Skidmore Fountain. Those who boarded MAX there and received written warnings at RQ and were quite upset. 

Post-Event at RQTC:

     EB – Julie (PA)     Stephanie & Pamela (Booth)     WB Booth – Billy & Beth

·     Blazer game ended around 9:28p, and the crowd streamed out soon thereafter.

·     Solid staffing kept things safe and orderly.

·      WB extra service train was called for just a bit earlier than expected but was held and put to good use.

·     Annie arranged for a Road Supervisor and extra service bus to serve customers at IRQ who needed NB Yellow Line service between 9:24p and 9:59p. 

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We had a few long gaps in service at Gateway. As luck would have it I was able to utilize a couple of line 15 buses to get patrons to the CBD. I think one extra service bus would work, if the trips would be routed in the least congested direction.

I think for the gaps listed above, it may be more cost effective to have an extra service bus at Gateway to run a couple of express trips to the CBD. This isn’t for overcrowding just to fill gaps. Seems the overcrowding was farther west toward Lloyd Ctr.

Customer Service Reps. ROCKED this event. After working late the night before they went above and beyond for this. Pamela and Billy were all over it at Gateway. Lauren at Lloyd center was amazing, selling almost 400 fares by herself. Coryell said she did an awesome job, and John himself helped many at the TVMs to augment Lauren. I heard no complaints from customers, but many accolades for the efforts for this event. Selling pre printed day tickets in the two days prior to the event was an immense help, many customers commented on that as being a plus.

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5th/Main was blocked to all traffic going west, so cars were turning Left on 5th onto the Transit way blocking trains and buses. A Rail Sup went there and directed traffic for what seems like 2 hrs. She got tired and GS4 took over. That was the only way to get traffic moving at 5th/Main.
I’m pretty sure same traffic congestion happened at other locations in CBD causing blockage for buses and trains.

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Band that deploys on NW corner sidewalk of Yamhill & Broadway every year makes it VERY HARD to hear radio traffic and coordinate Train & Ped movement with TPD/Control.  Any chance we can politely ask them to move a block in either direction?

Deployment of Rail Supervisor or G4S to 4th & Yamhill needed: vehicles would “crowd” traffic light and not allow trains to proceed-Right of Way blocked almost continually

1)     Add to next year’s Train Order(upon arrival at Library): ..train will continue as soon as the runners have passed…Due to the delays, If you are a participant in this years’ event, it is recommended that you deboard now and walk to your check in area. 

2)     Operators: Upon arrival at Library, contact control for permission to proceed up to Broadway staging point.  After departure from library, follow Supervisor’s hand signals; pulling all the way up to the marker cone.  LEAVE REVERSER IN FORWARD at Library AND Broadway; BE prepared to depart, again watching for HAND SIGNALS. While waiting at Broadway, please make frequent announcements to passengers about delays, especially when holding at Broadway, to reduce chances of being Red Knobbed.

Other notes:  MANY THANKS to control for their patience with all of the noise in the background, the decision changes, the missing trains on SCADA…it was crazy at times but all GREATLY APPRECIATED.  Thanks to TPD for being posted with us at Yamhill & Broadway-it is most helpful to have someone who “understands us” work with us; things run MUCH smoother. Because of how well everyone worked together with this event, even with several THOUSAND more attendees, it went off quite well.  Thank you for the AWESOME SUPPORT!!

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Pre-event

·     In addition to Timbers fans, served some customers heading to OSAA high school basketball finals at Rose Garden

·     Medical emergency on WB train 45 (approx. 17:00) caused about a 25 minute delay, and later some gaps which seem related to that event. Did not seem to cause much distress to folks heading to the game.

·     Again had Portland Ambassador assistance at 5th/Mall and Galleria for Timbers Express bus.

·     Express Bus was very helpful, especially when WB gaps developed

·     Had more customers arriving without fare at Jeld Wen compared to the previous match.

Inspectors wrote citations or warnings depending on the circumstance

Post-event

·     Lead Supervisor decided to dismantle platform barricading. There was no fare inspection on the post event

o     When racks along the north side of Yamhill were removed, other racks were set up parallel to 18th to block access to that side of the street. Resulted in all eastbound customers/pedestrians having to cross the tracks (not just those who wanted to get to our platform).

·     CS staff worked from typical booth locations (with rover on westbound platform).

o     Sales were about 100 fewer than on post-events when we harden and inspect

·     Portland Ambassador assistance allowed us to do way finding at closed Kings Hill platform and at 18th/Morrison directing customers to Timbers Express buses.

·     Train service generally went well. We had all four extra service trains

·     WB platform was very crowded in the initial post-event period, but cleared out smoothly as several trains arrived within minutes of each other

·     EB service worked well, with the exception of those who needed Red Line.

o     Match ended just as a Red came through, and service was transitioning to 35 minutes.

o     There were about 45 “Red specific” customers who waited about 30 minutes. We made contact with them and explained the schedule. They appreciated the information, especially the explanation as to why they saw four Gresham trains (two were our extras). 

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