Photo by the One True Bix TriMet this afternoon announced it had dismissed Sandi Day, the driver behind the wheel of a bus that plowed into a group of pedestrians while turning left, killing two and injuring three others. Day, hired in October 2007, was driving the #9 bus down Glisan on April 24 when […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
TriMet ‘Fesses Up, Plans to Reopen Bus Line
It’s always nice when a government agency has the heart to apologize—and make fixes—after needlessly stepping into shit. TriMet this afternoon announced it will resume service to Forest Park on the #15 bus line starting Monday, August. 30. The Willamette Heights neighbors who relied on the line beefed after TriMet unilaterally shortened it effective Aug. […]
Posted inTransportation
Warning: Don’t Skip Out on MAX Fare in Clackamas.
This week I’m working on a story for the print edition (out tomorrow! Find it on a corner near you!) about illegal immigrants who wind up being deported after they are arrested on the MAX for not paying the $2 fare. I requested TriMet’s stats on people arrested for fare evasion, which it turns out […]
Posted inTransportation
There’s No Escaping the Sellwood Bridge Surcharge
Matt Davis Like many of us, the Sellwood Bridge has gone soft in the middle. If you thought you could register your car before Sept. 1—in hopes of dodging Multnomah County’s upcoming $38 Sellwood Bridge surcharge—the Oregonian‘s Janie Har has some bad news: You can’t. As in Oregon drivers aren’t allowed to re-register their cars […]
Posted inEvents
Protest Planned Against TriMet Bus Cuts!
Here’s a factoid for you: Since 1998, TriMet has cut bus service by 3,940 hours and cut 16 lines. Light rail service, on the other hand, has doubled, and TriMet’s opened three new rail lines. I have a piece in this week’s paper about how some locals, like environmental justice group OPAL are crying foul […]
Posted inTransportation
Bus Stop Fail
I spent this afternoon getting sunburned on scenic SE 92nd and Foster, where OPAL co-director John Ostar took the time to show me a bus stop in need of some help. Just beyond the shadow of the new MAX Green Line and its solar-powered public art, Ostar and I discussed bus stop #13236, which serves […]
Posted inTransportation
TriMet Pitches $125 Million Bond “For Disabled and Elderly” on Nov. Ballot
TriMet’s board announced today that it has a last minute addition to November’s ballot: a $125 million, 20-year bond that will ostensibly be used to make TriMet more accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities. A “yes” vote would re-authorize a bond that voters first approved in 1990, which expires in 2012. The tax […]
Posted inPortland
Metro’s Revolt against the ‘Oregon Tax Revolt’?
Got a few hours? How about days? Metro’s chief operating officer, Michael Jordan, released his Community Investment Strategy today. Basically, it’s a blueprint/wishlist for how and where Metro, along with politicians across the region, should aim the next few decades of inexorable sprawl. Among the highlights us non-wonks might care about, especially those non-wonks who […]
Posted inTransportation
Vancouverites Will Vote on Light Rail Tax
It’s official: Vancouver will vote in November 2011 on a sales tax increase to fund light rail. In a Vancouver commission vote yesterday, the city decided that Vancouver should vote on whether to increase sales taxes by one-tenth of 1 percent to cover the cost of operating the light rail line that’s planned to finally […]
Posted inTransportation
CRC Expert Review is Far From a Rubberstamp of Big Bridge
The expert “independent review panel” of the $3.6 billion Columbia River Crossing project released its long-awaited final report last Friday (while I was blissfully on vacation) and everyone from the governor’s office to local media treated the review of the bridge as a rubberstamp of the current process. But it’s not. For a “independent” panel […]
Posted inNews
Columbia River Crossing: Pro and Con
Check out this debate between CRC Co-Director Richard Brandman and Stop the CRC Coalition member David Osborn. Also of note: Metro released findings showing that a 10- or 12-lane bridge with light rail and tolls would increase North Portland employment by 1.5 percent and spur a minimal increase in unwanted suburban growth in Clark County. […]
Posted inTransportation
WA Feds Find Money for Part of CRC
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski gets some sort of dubious “most intentionally vague press release ever” award for this announcement his office sent out today: Governor Kulongoski Applauds Securing of Federal Funds for Columbia River CrossingGovernor commends securing of $42 million as important in moving project forward (Salem) — “I want to thank Senator Murray for […]