Neal Berlin on the bike Portland article

 

First thing I reflected upon is that the person expressing concern of the overcrowding on the bus did receive a reply not from just a “manager “ but a “ Director “.   

Article he's referring to is HERE!

The the phrase: “…more art than science…” in reference to trying to figure out how many buses will be needed to prevent jamming people in a tin can like sardines.   Where is Dr. Fauci when you really need him?  Maybe if the TriMet Director put on white lab coat the problem could have been avoided by “ following the science “.

Note the reference to labor shortages.  Maybe if TriMet did not treat its Rank & File like punching bags when it comes to SIPs ,just one area employee relations that could use a drastic overhaul, that many more working operators as well as retried ones would recommend going to work for this transit agency. This is problem of shortage of people is definitely a problem of more science than art.

Finally the author of this article last line:”And if we want to create more low-car Portlanders and win the fight against climate change, we’ve got to make buses work better for more people — especially in a place like southwest where lots of hills and a lack of dedicated bike routes makes cycling very difficult. "is the same chant that every problem can be linked to climate change. Things to note with this statement as well as putting the entire article in a proper historical perspective when it comes to public transit in Portland.  First ,ridership was declining at a very noticeable rate before COVID on bus and rail, let alone on WES that is the Titanic of TriMet.  If you watched any TriMet Board of Directors meetings over past 3 years pre COVID crisis, this was minimized by numerous TriMet CEOs by saying compared to other agencies it is not as bad as it looks.  Also note that as the greater population of Portland grew over the last decades, the percentage of mass transit ridership was lagging, especially in relationship to car registration.

In conclusion of this long diatribe, I guess one solution to the problem of the hills in the Southwest part of the city is just flatten them.  To use a early mantra of the COVID crisis: “ Flatten the curve” could be resurrected as the new battle cry in help keeping Portland Weird.

Time to finish my first cup of coffee.