… then what the FAWK am I doing living here?!? (SFW unless your boss is a total dick.)
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
Meet Portland’s New 700-Foot, $12 Million Pedestrian Bridge Over I-5
South Waterfront is officially breaking ground on a big new project today: A 700-foot bike and pedestrian bridge connecting South Waterfront and Lair Hill over the I-5 freeway. Unlike the bike and pedestrian bridges that cross I-5 throughout North Portland (can I just take a moment to note the irony of the Failing Pedestrian Bridge?), […]
Posted inTransportation
Debunking the Myth that Highways Pay for Themselves
The argument at public meetings and in politics always seems to go like this: Highways are practical transportation projects because they pay for themselves, while public transit, bike, and pedestrian projects require exorbitant subsidies. A new report by the US Public Interest Research Group debunks part of that thinking, showing that roads don’t pay for […]
Posted inTransportation
Stop the CRC Now Has a Poster Child. It is a Giant Snake.
The Columbia River Crossing has $4.9 million in public relations spending, the Stop the CRC group has… this new linocut poster! Because you’re not a legitimate activist cause until you have a handmade poster. You can buy one of thirty at the Red and Black or Star E Rose Cafes.
Posted inTransportation
TriMet is Free on New Years Eve
… and light rail service is extended till 3 AM. See, isn’t it nice when TriMet does something smart every once in a while? (You still have to wait 30 minutes for a train, though.) Details: All rides on TriMet’s bus and MAX lines will be free from 8 p.m. until the end of service […]
Posted inTransportation
Chicago Bus Driver Hits Snowman, Resigns
In Portland, the transit union fights TriMet when a bus driver who runs over and kills two people is fired. In Chicago, for some reason, a bus driver resigned suspiciously quickly after running over a snowman. A frickin’ snowman! Constructed in the middle of the road by college students for the express purpose of being […]
Posted inTransportation
Transit Activist Group Snags $63,000 Grant to Help Fix TriMet Bus Stops
Harry Lau When voters nixed the $125 million TriMet levy this past November, the public transit agency erased its plan to fix 300 bus stops around the city. But the group that most vocally pushed for those bus stop improvements—OPAL—is moving ahead with a project to chronicle the worst bus stops in Portland and suggest […]
Posted inTransportation
Parents of Pedestrians Killed by Bus Sue TriMet for $30 Million
Memorial for Danielle Sale and Jenee Hammel The Oregonian reports that the parents of two young women killed by a TriMet bus and a young man injured in the same crash have filed suit to sue TriMet for $30 million. The tragic crash happened last April as a group of 20-something friends were crossing NW […]
Posted inTransportation
Get Paid to Obey the Law!
Volkswagen sponsored this fun little project in Sweden: Installing a “lottery” speed camera that sends tickets to speeding drivers, then pools some of the money and rewards it randomly to people who were driving the speed limit. Portland could use one of these right around Columbia Boulevard… Something else awesome about Sweden: In 1997, the […]
Posted inTransportation
NW Doesn’t Need More Parking
Neighborhood newspaper the NW Examiner did a cool survey of commercial parking lots around NW 21st and 23rd and found—surprise surprise—that despite all the griping about lack of parking in the area, the lots are never full. Check it out: NW Examiner The paper even offered a free steak dinner to anyone who could photograph […]
Posted inTransportation
Hitchens on the TSA
Christopher Hitchens in Slate sums up well the folly of the TSA’s reactionary and pointless policies, and their inevitable conclusion (cavity searches). He also points out that if you read the writings of Al Qaeda, it’s clear that the way we’re handling our security and reacting to each of their (failed) attempts is exactly what […]
Posted inHomo
Transportation Insecurity Administration
A GOP elected official has described the Transportation Security Administration’s non-discriminatory hiring policies as “the federal employee’s version of the Gay Bill of Special rights,” and paints this nightmare scenario for panicky straight/straight-identified men… “That means the next TSA official that gives you an enhanced pat-down could be a practicing homosexual secretly getting pleasure from […]