Why would any 'real' person bother to tweet this

This shit looks like some sort of a plant because why in the world would any rider make a comment like that? It's  right out of Trimet's job descriptions and playbook. Seems like a real twitter account though. I sent him a tweet asking why he would make a comment like that, no answer.

 

More proof that Trimet union employees are 2nd class employees

Union employees don't get the luxury of 'cashing out' their unused vacation.

2014 has been a disaster for Trimet union members

As you know Trimet has published a list of 10 reasons why 2014 was a good year for Trimet riders.

It's your typical bullshit but there is one thing in there that really pisses me off:

5. We have a fair and sustainable labor contract.

Fair to who exactly?  
All the current Trimet retirees were lied to, its that simple. 
We were told one thing and were given another.  
Sold out by  our company and our union.

Some video

Trimet buses continue to be filthy - YouTube

Adron Hall vs Al Margulies - YouTube

Canabliss opening on Burnside! - YouTube

A drive down NW Everett and up NW Burnside in Portland on Vimeo

Trimet facebook

I just love the Trimet Facebook page! They got the greatest comments at their page. Of course my favorite comments are from people that are not so in love with our 'world famous' transit system.

And the people that absolutely love Trimet are funny themselves with their silly adoring ideas.

It's a goddamn public transit system, that's all. You get what you get, 1/2 the time its shit and 1/2 the time it functions properly. There is nothing magical about Trimet.

I don't usually comment on their page, and if I do its usually something benign. I try to be 'nice' when visiting other peoples web sites. I do 'like' the critics posts tho, gotta give those folks encouragement to speak up

This post was about new years eve service. Generally speaking there are more 'fans' than critics. A lot of Portlanders have drunk the cool aid

Click on the pics for best viewing

Trimet rail programs losing riders big time-WES down 11%

WES ridership is down an astounding 11%! That's 3 months in a row now of sliding ridership. 

And the MAX continues losing riders with a 4.2% decline from last years figures.

Bus ridership, long the real workhorse of Trimet,  is the only thing keeping overall ridership steady at Trimet. Although Mcfarlane tells the board that increase is due to the so called 'high frequency' service additions the truth is that all bus service is up including the bus service that is not high frequency.

Trimet continues bucking the national trend in ridership yet those sock puppets totally ignore the facts and hand Mcfarlane and his band of loser managers raises.

It's nice to be an unaccountable bureaucrat.  Your job performance means nothing.

10 cities the have the BEST transit in the WORLD!

We here in Portland hear a lot about Trimet being the GOLD STANDARD for transit.

Supposedly people from all around the world come to Portland to 'see how its done'

Anybody with any knowledge of transit beyond the borders of Oregon knows that is total bullshit.

Trimet is a nice little system with an incredible public relations machine. 

Trimet is not a world class transit system, fact.

These Ten Cities Have The Best Public Transit In The World

Ride Trimet free new years eve

Nice gesture of course. Every single transit agency in the USA has some sort of free program for new years eve. The only problem with the Trimet service is that they are allowing trains to run to 3am but the buses are just running regular schedules.

So how does one get home from a Max station if there are no buses to take you home? I guess that means most people will have to drive from the max station, even if that means driving drunk.

Oh well, better than nothing I guess

TriMet: New Year's Eve and New Year's Day Holiday Service

Odd Trimet campaign for their New Years eve service featuring a Trimet bus driver

I find this very strange indeed. I wonder how Roger Knowles (never met him) became the face of Trimet for this promo?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Trimet year in review-July 2012

Make sure you watch in full screen 

3 leading transportation failures for 2014 from Joe Rose

Click on the pics for better viewing

Joe Rose Blog Here!

Mulligans Stew

Had lunch with one of my most favorite Trimet bus drivers. Yes its Tim Mulligan, now a retiree.
Of course we shared stories of our Trimet days. Tim having really been part of the Trimet culture had some very fascinating stories, one of which was his recent visit to the new center street.

What got him the most was the level of security at Trimet now. He reminisced about the days when Tom Walsh and Fred Hansen were in charge

The Portland area's 10 biggest transportation lemons of 2014

CLICK HERE!

Trimet apologist tells us why Trimet future retirees are so lucky

Of course this is a pile of horseshit since Trimet dissolved the best possible pension program, the defined benefit based on years of service, and replaced it with the usual crappy 401k plan that most Americans are forced into.

 Not only does it yield much smaller monthly payments you are also tied to stock market performance. The potential exists for a retiree to lose the entire pension which was never a possibility previously.

You also have to make contributions out of your paycheck, which was not previously required.
It's the exact opposite to a 'secure' pension plan which the former Trimet defined plan was.
The Oregonian is making the case that its so wonderful basically because there are supposedly less fees.

Obviously I find the article suspicious, I would even go so far as to say its pure propaganda. The reason I say this is because Trimet has seriously degraded employees pensions, yet this article completely avoids making specific comparisons between the one featured in the article and the previous defined benefit.

Trimet employees took a huge hit, the article never even bothers to mention that leading me to conclude its a piece of mainstream media's mind control policy.

Think about it....
 Why would this even be "news worthy" unless there was some other factors at work.
 Why would this be in the paper at all?
It appears  its  only true  purpose is to make Trimet "look good."

Trimet year in review-July 2014

Historical Trimet pictures

Taken from E-Bay

Find yourself depressed since working at Trimet?

It turns out you're not alone, public transit tops the list of the most depressing jobs

TRIMET 2014 review-June

Best to watch this video in full screen mode

Trimet year in review-May 2014

View this movie in full screen mode

CHECK THE TWITTER FEED

 Postings to this blog will be much less frequent than what has been going on in the past. 

I'll try to update if there is some BIG news. 

  My internet activity will be moving primarily to TWITTER which is much more user friendly.

Sheesh

Heartless and soulless

10 reasons why 2014 was a good year for TriMet riders

Latest Trimet propaganda. We all know how worried they are about their public image because basically that's all Trimet has is its image. It's no different than any other public transit district in the country. Better than some and worse than some. The 'myth' of Trimet is not even close to the reality of Trimet.

Lets take a look at their claims

Mcfarlanes lap dogs lied about his 'market' salary

The liars and thieves who call themselves the Trimet board of directors have been co-conspirators with Mcfarlane from the very beginning to rob the union employees of their hard earned benefits and to enrich executive class of Trimet at the expense of the  public.

Trimet ridership statistics-1987-2013

Trimet public records refused to give me these, had to get them another way,  assholes

Trimet year in review-April 2014

Portland and its stupid streetcar

Full editorial is HERE!
The postcard-perfect image of Portland's shiny streetcars skimming across the Broadway Bridge calls to mind a ride through Disney's Tomorrowland.
Instead, however, Portlanders should think of it more like a ride down the Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole.
 All of which points to a culture of complacency when it comes to oversight of the city-owned streetcar system by the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Is it a great transit option? Is it really generating the economic development that leaders tout? Who knows?
 PBOT oversees the city-owned streetcar and expects to spend $3.9 million of discretionary funds on its operations this year – money that could be used for other needs, like, oh, for instance, paving roads.

But the most puzzling aspect of the response came in City Commissioner Steve Novick's letter to the auditors. Novick, who heads the transportation bureau, disagreed with a recommendation that the city pick some economic-development measures and start tracking the streetcar's impact in order to back up the argument that the streetcar is an economic development vehicle.
The city, he contends, is already doing that.
Except ... it's not.
Agreement between Portland and Trimet to operate the Streetcar is HERE!

More fun at another MAX station

Portland: police responding to the @trimet Max station at SE 94 and Division for a robbery with guns by three males. -1

— Portland OR Alerts (@pdxalerts) December 22, 2014

Another Stabbing at a MAX station

GRESHAM, Ore. -- A man is in critical condition after he was stabbed in a fight Friday night at a TriMet MAX platform in Gresham.
The stabbing suspect, Wayne Robert, 50, of Portland, was found near the station and arrested on first-degree assault charges.
Gresham Police were called out to the TriMet MAX platform at Southeast 188th and Burnside Street at around 10:40 p.m. Friday on reports of a fight.
Officers arrived to find Christopher Schneider, 27, of Gresham, with multiple stab wounds. He is in critical condition, Gresham Police said.
Police said the stabbing does not appear to be gang related.
If you have any more infomration on the fight, call Gresham Police at (503) 618-2719.
KATU is the source of this post

Gawd Love em

What a Joke this is

I know they hate my guts and would probably celebrate if I died but sometimes I really am surprised by their complete absurdity.

I sent a public records request requesting ridership information and they tell me I can't file a public records request except through my attorney because "I am represented party in a case against Trimet"

That happens to be wrong because I was excluded from that lawsuit over road relief pay on a technicality.

In any event what does it have to do with ridership statistics?

What do you expect from these people? 

Honesty? NOPE!

Accountability? NOPE!

Their arrogance is astounding. The fact of the matter is there is nothing I or anybody can do about any of it.

Trimet year in review-March 2014

Use full screen mode to watch video

CLASSIC TWEETS

"EX EMPLOYEES-FELLOW EMPLOYEES-ACQUAINTANCES

@trimetscanner is part of the #Trimet training program! pic.twitter.com/YEClCBPtAN
— TriMet Scanner (@trimetscanner) December 20, 2014

Trimet-2014 in review-February

Mcfarlane brags about the $170 million given to minority contractors

That's all nice of course but $1.3 BILLION dollars went to the Portland insiders!

Lane Jensen returns

Catches another bus driver doing a stupid thing. It's the same video that is already posted but with a Lane 20 second sound bite.
This video was also shown on KOIN but without the Lane interview

Trimet bus driver 'runs' red light

Apparently this will be making the local news
There is not a bus driver alive that hasn't done this 

The light is red in all directions, bus driver did run the light unfortunately, it wasn't a dangerous move however

Trimet year in review-January

re-to all you assholes riding trimet.. (portland)

A Streetcar Named Liar

CLASSIC TWEETS

You never know what can happen when you're a public transit bus driver

This is classic. The bus driver takes off and the riders all stampede each other

$1.50 short on fare leads to 19 months in jail

Eucharia Nwerem ends up in jail over $1.50

I know I'm a bleeding heart when it comes to people paying their transit fare. Part of the reason for my bleeding heart is that everyone that works at Trimet Transit district makes pretty good money. If you're a Trimet executive you can actually retire wealthy.

 So when somebody like the person pictured gets on the bus and pays $1,  I NEVER, EVER questioned that. It was $1 more into the Trimet coffers. She most likely had no more money. I saw it as a positive for Trimet not a negative

 Unfortunately my opinion was the minority opinion back in the days when I drove buses at Trimet. 

Now the poor woman is in jail for 19 months over $1.50 and her inability to control herself

Reminds me of the story of MEJA POOT who was 25 cents short on his fare. The bus driver made a deal out of that which eventually lead Meja's death and the closing of a psychiatric hospital.

You never know where a fare dispute will end, which is why I never in my 15 years at Trimet got hot and bothered about a fare

ATU757 BYLAW CHANGES

I don't have any time or energy to get involved with any of the ATU activities but this change makes a lot of sense to me. If a candidate for office does not have 50% or more of the vote a runoff election will be required. Good idea!

"You Can Only Do What You Can Do" - The Tri-Met Motto

"It's unusual," said Altstadt. "You can only do what you can do to keep providing service."

Yeah, they only had two days' warning that high winds were on the way, so hey - why bother planning for something like that? Tri-Met's rail "services" just roll that way: if it's too hot or too cold or too windy, well - suck it, riders.
And they wonder why transit ridership keeps falling, even as they keep building "models for the nation".
Maybe it's because they're more interested in PR than in providing actual transit.
Max RedLine

Isn't it odd that Trimet places the same value on equipment and employees

I guess employees are just equipment to Trimet. But I already knew that anyway

I love the way #trimet employees have the same value as Trimet property pic.twitter.com/jAok6TWfir

— AL M (@AlYourPalster) December 16, 2014

Trimet light rail-the gift that keeps on giving

#trimet MAX Red Line is disrupted due to a collision between a train and a pedestrian at Parkrose/Sumner TC. Shuttle buses are serving ...

— unTriMet alerts (@unTriMetAlerts) December 13, 2014

Where's Mcfarlane?

This guy has gotten rich of the Portland tax payers and his system is so fragile that even a little wind can shut everything down. 

Mcfarlane sits at home counting his cash while citizens are stuck on his piece of shit light rail system.

What does he care, his riches are assured, nothing can touch him because he is connected to the crooked Portland aristocracy.

Mcfarlane shows off his stupid bridge which changes colors

Another massive Trimet fail

And dozens more pissed off Trimet rider tweets on my twitter feed!

St car ridership numbers and on time performance has been a fraud

Why is Trimet doing ridership statistics for the Portland Streetcar? I thought the street car was independent of Trimet? It makes me wonder if Trimet's own ridership and on time statistics are fudged also. I bet they are. Has anybody ever audited the Trimet ridership and on time statistics?

Older adults want bus stops

 According to the AARP older adults are much more interested in bus service than rail service by a margin of 2:1

OPAL finally gets its extended transfer

Trimet has been stonewalling OPAL on this extended transfer for years, 4 years according to JOE ROSE.

This dispute started when Trimet installed those ticket printers and reduced the amount of time given to bus riders on weekends. Bus riders used to get a extra time on weekends to make transfers but the ticket printer eliminated extra time on the weekends.

OPAL had been trying to get that extra hour returned to bus riders and it tuned into this huge long drawn out ordeal because Trimet officials stonewalled after OPAL lodged a Title 6 complaint against Trimet 

Anti Trimet revolution marches on

While Portland and its surrounding communities have been besieged with Pro Trimet expansionist propaganda the 'anti Trimet' forces continue marching on.

While Trimet officials 'ignore' every single negative thing that occurs (such as the demise of CRC which was due to Trimet involvement, election of anti Trimet officials in Clackamas, The Tigard and Tualatin votes) the movement to curtail Trimet hegemony continues.

Classic Tweets

Way to traumatize my autistic son Trimet: http://t.co/p8ezjBp6Mh via @YouTube

— CariAnn Drew (@CjmDrew) December 10, 2014

Shirley Block

Bruce Hansen Wants to Keep Silence Me. Why??

All, I want you to know if you looked in the Labor Press dated December 05, 2014 you will see I have no article but I sent one in on 11.19.14 at 7:13 PM in time to be placed in the paper but Bruce Hansen pulled it with no word at all to me. I feel this is wrong so I will send out via face book, My Blog and email.
From: shirley block [mailto:shirley.block2@comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 7:13 PM
To: catharineH@atu757.org
Subject: December Larbor Press

Latest Trimet propaganda

Trimet continues pumping out endless 'press releases' 'informing' us how wonderful they are.

For example Trimet is BRAGGING  about the $170 million dollars that went to 'minority' businesses.
Well that's nice of course but when its put into the proper context its really just a drop in the bucket.
Approximately 10% of the boondoggle bounty went to minority businesses, the rest went to the usual Portland insiders. It's not news, its propaganda.

And the DAMN BRIDGE is still appearing as 'news' several times each week. Yes they lit it up and it looks 'nice' and will be great in the travel brochures. The fact that it does NOTHING for most of the citizens is irrelevant. Most Portlander's are impressed with the dumb thing. They have totally disconnected from the fact that that project cost $1.5 BILLION dollars.
Another in the long list of Portland farces.

Jury finds TriMet negligent in knife attack on 2 passengers, awards$306,000 to victims

Two men stabbed during a bloody melee aboard a TriMet bus were awarded more than $300,000 Friday by a Clackamas County jury.
Richard Dickson Jr. and Jeremy Thompson sued the transit agency claiming TriMet was negligent and failed to properly train the driver, Leonard James. They said James' failure to follow regulations resulted in their injuries.

November's weird TriMet service alerts

NOTE: Many of these alerts were written by dispatchers who are not expected to be language experts, may not have time to proofread, and make mistakes like all humans.  They may have many other tasks in progress at the moment, such as dealing with buses that are already stuck due to the blockage or situations elsewhere.  While the errors probably should be forgiven, they can cause confusion or problems for those who try to follow them.

Al Jazeera-"Trimet blaming convenient scapegoat"

Transit workers and riders, unite! | Al Jazeera America

Many such allegations are being made in advance of labor negotiations. In Houston and Chicago, labor contracts for bus drivers are set to expire next year. A raft of smaller cities will also face new contract negotiations. Commuters may be looking warily at these labor negotiations as a potential inconvenience to their daily transit routines. Municipal managers often try to oppose commuters’ demand for reliable, quality service in the name of benefits to transit workers. In Portland, Oregon, for example, TriMet, which provides bus, light rail and commuter rail service for the metro area, faced a projected budget shortfall of $17 million. TriMet is blaming a large percentage of the deficit on a convenient scapegoat: supposedly unsustainable health care costs for union employees.
This is nothing more than a divide and conquer tactic.

The streetcar flops

With the country just emerging from the Great Recession, it was a moment meant to show how federal backing could spark a rebirth in American manufacturing. But the years-long effort to help the firm, United Streetcar, has instead become an example of dashed Washington ambition.
Company executives and their patrons greatly overestimated the size of the market they could capture and underestimated the difficulty of starting a homegrown streetcar business from scratch. Executives hoped to sell 10 or 15 of the 8-by-66-foot vehicles each year and create hundreds of new jobs as communities embraced a national streetcar revival. The company’s president at the time, Chandra Brown, set her gaze further. “One day, we can’t wait to be exporting these cars,” she said during another LaHood visit in 2011.
Instead, the company built just 18 streetcars for three customers — the District, Tucson and Portland — and was late delivering them to all three cities. There are no new orders, and the facility built to produce up to 24 streetcars a year is dormant after the last Portland car was shipped out Nov. 21. Some workers have been laid off, others have been reassigned to United Streetcar’s parent company, Oregon Iron Works, which builds bridges and boats.
Or, as LaHood said, “maybe our calculations weren’t right.”

To many in Portland — which LaHood christened the “transportation capital of America . . . the green capital of America . . . the streetcar capital of America” — it seemed like a good idea.

The city is the cradle of what supporters call the “streetcar movement,” an effort to make streets and the areas surrounding them more people-friendly and vibrant with a new take on a throwback mode of transportation.  Full article HERE

Don't forget to buy your Trimet propaganda for Christmas

They should be giving some of that stuff away for free since its Trimet advertising.

Get your Trimet stuff HERE!

It turns out that very few people actually use the red line to the airport

Thanks to the always superb research of MICHAEL ANDERSON  we are finding out that Trimet's share of airport traffic is a puny 6% of all people going to the airport.

 Even I was surprised to hear this. 

We are all subjected to the non stop Trimet propaganda machine which never stops bragging about its wonderfulness so many of us assumed that  'most' people took the red line to the airport.

The power of propaganda is revealed yet again.

What's even more interesting is the fact that rental cars are more than double transit use.

 I always thought that most visitors to this city didn't bother getting cars since Portland is "care free and car free".

Yet Another myth debunked
You can read the full report HERE