Sam Adams, still our fair city’s mayor, is the Will Rogers of public works projects—he’s never met one he didn’t like.

Especially if it has something about it that’s trendy, green or sustainable.

Today, the City Council will vote on Adams’ proposal to siphon $20 million from Portland’s sewer fees to jump start the recently enacted 2030 Bike Master Plan. And from their comments to the media, it appears that everyone on the council except Amanda Fritz is going to go along with Adams.

Bicycling advocates—and I’m one of them—shouldn’t necessarily cheer this move. It could create a backlash that will set back the long term goals of bicycling for years and possibly scuttle other action on the bike plan, which despite the hype over a $600 million price tag, is still a plan with a lot of merit.

There’s been about an entire page of letters to the editor in The Oregonian opposing Adams’ scheme, not to mention rampant opposition on many local blogs, even on Bike Portland.org.

Here’s the gist of Adams’ reasoning: the Bureau of Environmental Services, which oversees the sewers, has come in under budget on several construction contracts during this recession. So the BES has about $15 million more than it had budgeted. There’s also some money for “Green Streets” projects and from some other small pots that account for the remaining $5 million.

One of the city’s goals in reducing the burden on its aging sewers is to divert rain water into the ground—which is why if you are a homeowner, you disconnected your downspouts a few years ago. Now the city is constructing bio-swales, which apparently are patches of ground with wildflowers and grasses growing in them on places where there used to be cement. The bio-swales absorb water that otherwise would flow into the sewers.

Adams’ idea is to stick such bio-swales into residential street intersections to create traffic impediments such as the little roundabouts you now see all over town. These bio-swale traffic calming features would be strategically placed on streets that will function as bike boulevards, which are low auto-traffic streets with few stop signs that offer bicyclists and clear and safe ride. Clinton, Ankeny, Salmon, 34th, Ladd and Tillamook are bike boulevards.

This is a “win-win” idea, Adams says, who also calls it a “two-fer.” And it is. It’s like booking air fare to New York and getting the hotel thrown into the package for free. Sounds great. Except that instead of flying off to the Apple, you should really be spending that money and time fixing your roof. Or maybe paying off your previous credit card bills.

There’s a backlog of sewer projects that BES would like to work on. Not as cool as Green Streets, but they will stop people’s houses from being flooded every winter. There’s also the fact that Portland has one of the highest sewer rates in the country and maybe that found money should be used to lower them.

The main upside to using the BES money is that the city can pull it off without asking the public for more money. It’s not the first time sewer fee revenue has been proposed for purposes not remotely connected to sewers. In fact, Mayor Adams wants to move a portion of these fees into scholarships for community college students.

A more straightforward option, would be to put a bond levy on the ballot, which carries the high risk of being shot down. According to a survey done for the bike plan, however, as many as 60% of all Portland residents would ride their bikes for commuting and errands at least some of the time, if only they felt safer on the roads. A well-conceived and targeted series of bond levies could be sold in this town. After all, we love our bikes as much as we love our libraries and parks, and those bond measures always pass. A good bike plan could win, too, but not with the stench of the city flushing sewer funds into it.

The plan, by the way, calls for $560 million to build new bike infrastructure, not $613 million. There are a couple of big, bike freeway projects in it. One of them is a nine-mile path shadowing I-84 from Lloyd Center to Parkrose, which would be the only major unimpeded bike route in the central part of town. Most of it, however, consists of filling those maddening gaps between bike lanes and adding more bike boulevards, particularly in the outer parts of the city where bicycling gets scary.

It’s a plan to create a “world class” bicycling city in Portland. But since in this economy—or in any economy in the near future—we can’t afford world class anything, there is a Plan B: the 80% solution. For considerably less money—about $200 million over 20 years—a scaled back list of projects promises a bike system in which “at least 80% of Portland residents within one-quarter mile of a developed low-stress bikeway. Implementation of this strategy is also likely to get the City most of the way toward meeting its vision of more than a quarter of all trips made by bicycling,” according to the plan.

That seems like a fair deal. The goal of the plan is to get 25% of all trips in Portland made by bike, which would be a fivefold increase. If the low-budget plan can get to 20%, or even 15%, that would be remarkable. And even if you have no intention of ever putting your butt on a bike seat, it will be good for you.

Consider this: according to AAA, it costs an average of 50 cents a mile to drive a car. You could quibble that your paid-off 1985 Corolla won’t come close to costing that much, but it’s an average that the IRS accepts if you use your car in business. So say you get on your bike and cut out half of your driving—again, using an average for the population of Portland, about 5,000 miles. That’s $2,500 more in your wallet every year.

What would you do with all that extra money? Take a trek to Katmandu? Buy that one piece of art that actually looks good to you at First Thursday? Sign up for both Zumba and Pilates classes? Pay off your mortgage or student loans? Eat at Pok Pok six days a week? Who knows?

One thing we do know, though, is that money spent on driving ends up going to companies far from here. Hardly any oil companies, auto manufacturers, banks or auto insurance firms are headquartered here. The money saved by not driving would be more likely to go to local businesses (Oregon does have a splendid assortment of custom bicycle crafters).

Multiply that $2,500 savings by 80,000 citizens (20% of the adult population of the city) and you get $200 million that could be pumped into the local economy. Yeah, we’ll have cleaner air, less noise, less stress, healthier bodies. All that. But it’s more enticing when some of that green goes into your wallet.

Related Posts

• February 22, 2010 -- “I Thought Of That While Riding My Bike”* (2)
• October 13, 2009 -- Portland Pedal Power (2)
• June 19, 2009 -- Father’s Day on a bike – Sunday Parkways (0)
• June 1, 2009 -- Dear PDX Advice Guy (5)
• May 11, 2009 -- Low-Car Lifestyle Clinic @ Portland Farmers Market (0)

Look what I found chained up in downtown — it’s the Tripod, a three-wheeled velomobile made by Columbia Cycle Works, LLC. And it’s a mighty pretty thing, in my humble opinion.

If you want to go truly green with your commute, you should walk or ride a bike. Unfortunately, for a lot of the year that means cold, dark, and wet. With an enclosed velomobile, you stay snug and dry, and the addition of twin headlights certainly helps with visibility (as does that paint job – wow).

The typical downside to riding a velomobile is its additional weight, which is usually enough to make going up hills a nightmare. The Tripod however has a 500 Watt electric motor to provide an assist. Sweet!

Oh yes — I want one.

Related Posts

• February 22, 2010 -- “I Thought Of That While Riding My Bike”* (2)
• October 13, 2009 -- Portland Pedal Power (2)
• June 19, 2009 -- Survivorman Speaks (1)
• June 19, 2009 -- Father’s Day on a bike – Sunday Parkways (0)
• February 27, 2009 -- Oh yeah. People use bikes here too, don’t they? (2)

The past week’s glorious weather has permitted me to actually look up and around as I’ve pedaled my bike throughout town. The veil of drizzle was lifted and the sun illuminated some things I hadn’t been paying attention to. Such as:

Yard signs. This may be too much to ask in a town where one still sees Kerry bumper stickers on the backs of Subarus, but the most recent election was held a month ago. It’s OK to take down your Yes on Measures 66 & 67 yard sign. (By the way, we won.)

Perhaps people don’t know how to dispose of them–the campaign has disappeared and won’t take them back. The plastic sign probably isn’t sanctioned for curbside recycling, so it will have to go into the landfill or stuffed in with all the plastic grocery store bags you’ve been meaning to take to a recycling center for the past several months. Or years.

The wire standard upon which the sign was fitted and then stuck into the ground may be able to be repurposed, however. Collect a dozen of these things and use them as wickets in a game of bowling ball croquet.

Gardening. Evidently some people are too busy in their gardens to take down their campaign signs. Yes daffodils are blooming and cherry trees are blossoming, but come folks, it’s February. In another week or so, it will get colder and most certainly, rainier. If you plant veggies now, except for the root kind, they’re going to catch cold and die or at least be stunted. Really, you can wait until the end of May to do most of your planting.

Nevertheless, I am in the market for strawberry starts.

Bicycling. The latest city survey showed a slight drop in the number of people riding bicycles in the past year, but I don’t buy that. Most of the counts are done on the bridges over the Willamette River. The bicycle mavens at City Hall think it’s due to the crappy economy—fewer jobs downtown, so fewer people commuting in all transportation modes. Add to that the fact that most of last year, downtown was a complete mess with the work on the transit mall and other road projects. Driving was impossible, but even biking wasn’t fun in some areas.

Possibly even a bigger factor was the emergence of food cart pods outside of downtown, such as on Southeast 11th Ave. and Hawthorne and on upper Mississippi St. No longer did fresh-air fanatic bikers have to scuttle downtown for a quick lunch.

My own observations indicate an increase in bicycling. This winter has been mild, but even during the rainy days, I’ve seen a lot more people on bikes. What’s really startling is the amount of gray hair poking out from under the bike helmets. Geezer Boomers have inflated the ranks and it’s unnerving to see some of them zip by me as I grunt my way up a hill.

Cars. Any random survey of the inner city will reveal that while Subaru’s are ubiquitous, the official car of the People’s Republic of Portland is the Volvo 240, arguably the best card, dollar for dollar, ever made (full disclosure, I own an ’86 240 wagon, butter yellow). Volvo made the 240 series for 18 years and since they are virtually indestructible, hundreds, if not thousands, are still going strong, even though the last one built was in 1993.

Following is the number of Volvo 240 cars advertised for sale on craigslist during the past week for selected major cities:

Atlanta 8
Chicago 1
Detroit 4
Houston 4
Los Angeles 12
Miami 4
New York 4
Portland 25
San Francisco 25*
Seattle 15

*The entire San Francisco Bay area, which has a population of seven million.

Notice that Volvos are more prevalent in liberal cities, which prompts me to ponder a political conundrum. Liberals advocate for government regulation, gas mileage standards and consumer protection programs to protect people from making bad decisions, and then turn around and buy sensible cars like Toyotas, Hondas and old Volvos on their own. Conservatives decry the “nanny state,” and then buy stupid vehicles such as Hummers and Escalades.

Daylight. I get off work usually around 7 p.m. and these days, it is dark when I ride my bike home. If we were now on daylight davings time, however, my ride would be about at dusk, and thus much more pleasant. I’m not complaining, since we’ll be switching the clocks over soon enough, but while we remain on Pacific standard time, I have to ask: why is it called “standard time?” We now have daylight savings time for more than seven months a year and standard time for less than five months. So shouldn’t the time when more daylight occurs at the end of the day be called standard time? And then when we set the clocks back in the fall, shouldn’t that be titled “daylight deficit time?” Just sayin’.

*The headline is a quote by Albert Einstein on how he came up with his Theory of Relativity.

Related Posts

• October 13, 2009 -- Portland Pedal Power (2)
• June 19, 2009 -- Father’s Day on a bike – Sunday Parkways (0)
• August 4, 2008 -- Cyclists: The Next Generation (2)
• March 17, 2010 -- Flushing The Bike Plan Into The Sewer? (3)
• March 9, 2010 -- Spotted in PDX (2)

I have a little secret. At least, I think it’s a secret. At least, I’m pretty sure not everyone knows about it. My “secret” is that I’m an aviation buff. I love airplanes. I love reading about airplanes. I love looking at pictures of airplanes. I even still like riding in airplanes, despite all the changes of the last fifteen years or so that have made air travel less fun than it used to be.

In some ways, it’s very fortunate that I love airplanes, given that I live in Portland, and all of my family lives on the East Coast. And Portland might be seen as a better city to live in than most for someone who loves airplanes, because to get to the East Coast it’s almost mandatory to take TWO airplanes. Sometimes even three, if you get really lucky.

As I said, I love airplanes, so this isn’t such a bad deal. I’ve even been know to choose an itinerary with three flights instead of two, just for the novelty from time to time, or for the opportunity to fly on a certain type of plane, or through an airport I’ve never visited before.

That being said, my wife hates flying. She is prone to motion-sickness, and she had a pretty firm limit of two takeoffs and two landings in any given day. Beyond that, her stomach begins to feel it. And if we can do it in one, that would be way better.

But we live in Portland. Do you know how many non-stops there are from PDX to the East Coast? Well, here they are (I’m pretty sure this is right, given that I came up with this list with someone in the aviation industry last week):

That’s it. Six nonstop flights per day to the East Coast. Other than that? Not going to happen. You get to change planes in Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, San Francisco, L.A., or some other city. Which, of course, adds hours to the trip.

Why does this matter, you ask? Well, let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that you want to fly to Philadelphia for a meeting on a Monday morning, starting at 9AM. Further, let’s imagine that you have a commitment on Sunday which won’t let you get to the airport until 2PM. Do you know what lovely flights you wind up on?

The flight you wind up on is a 7PM to San Francisco. Which connects to a 10PM red eye, getting you in to Philly at 6AM and poorly slept the next morning. And frankly, my nearly 40 year old body doesn’t do that well with red eyes anymore.

So I ask you all, why? Why are we, one of the nation’s great cities, denied first rate airline service? Why are we treated as though we were some insignificant city, with a little used airport? And more to the point, does anyone have any thoughts on how we can change this?

Related Posts

• March 20, 2010 -- Falling in Love With the Bean (0)
• January 7, 2010 -- 17 Years Flies (8)
• January 6, 2010 -- Portland and Curling (4)
• September 13, 2009 -- PDX with Less “International”; Lufthansa Service Ends (2)
• July 22, 2009 -- PDX vs. 503 (2)

I have a reputation of being somewhat critical. For example, I often see people on the highway who I think are driving like idiots. In response, I mutter to myself, call them names under my breath, and point them out to my kids as an example of how NOT to drive.

But today I was exposed to someone who is a genuine public danger: I was on I-5 northbound at around 1:00 pm, when I saw a car swerve into view in my rear view mirror, appearing there as if by magic. They quickly moved up to within 2-3 feet of my rear bumper. Mind you, this was at highway speeds.

I slowed down a bit to encourage them to stop tailgating, and after a few moments they abruptly swerved back into the left lane, where they again sat right on the bumper of the car in front of them.

Over the next minute or so, this driver abruptly changed lanes several times trying to move up through heavy traffic. These were violent lane changes that caused the car to heel over to one side, then rock back and forth on its suspension. The driver would always zoom up to within a couple of feet of the car ahead of them, and then they would dart through the next opening that was just barely big enough for their car to fit through. And this all happened at between 55-65 mph. I watched slack-jawed, absolutely convinced that I was going to see a fiery wreck happen right in front of me, but in a few minutes they had swerved through enough pockets in the traffic to zigzag their way up and out of sight.

Like I said, I often see bad drivers. But I rarely see drivers that I know should be off the road because of the danger they represent. For your own sakes, keep your eyes peeled for a dark red Isuzu SUV, Nevada license no. 363 UTP.

And in all seriousness, if you know this car and/or driver, you need to stage some kind of an intervention. Take away their keys, flatten their tires, or something. If they continue to drive the way they were driving today, they WILL kill themselves, or worse, someone else. It’s only a matter of time.

Related Posts

• September 30, 2008 -- A Navigation Challenge (9)
• September 17, 2008 -- Reading a Book While Driving (7)
• June 26, 2008 -- A Slow Crawl down Division (3)

TriMet’s MAX Green Line has been fully operational for two weeks now. I posted a few observations after the opening weekend, mostly critical. (Older folk are like that, with these confounded new-fangled gizmos…) I knew then that opening weekend would not be a true example of typical life on the Green Line, so I gave it a few more tries. It’s time to update my impressions.

Although I can think of reasons, I’ve had no call to use the Green Line for north/south travel. It will take much less time to get to Clackamas Town Center, or Mall 205, but I don’t have a lot of reasons to go there. I’m tempted to go to the movies at CTC, but the MAX stop is clear across the eastern parking lot, up by the freeway. Maybe it looks farther than it is, but if the weather is icy, or hotter than 85, I’m just not into trudging that far in both directions. If I feel like going to a mall, the one downtown is a crosswalk away from the MAX stop. (Bonus: Security guards at Pioneer Place discourage yelling from level to level, “WHERE YOU AT?”) I might be more tempted if it weren’t a fifteen block walk from home to get to the MAX in the first place.

Which brings my next gripe. It’s fifteen blocks to the MAX stop. The last few blocks are uphill, and by the time I huff and puff my way to the top I’m ready to sit for a second. Guess what? There is one bench, and it’s usually occupied by two teenagers smoking and drinking Arizona ice teas. Fortunately I know how to tell time, and haven’t been delayed by nonexistent trains. The schedule? I’ve heard that it’s supposed to take 39 minutes from PSU to CTC. But I’ve ridden the Green Line a dozen times or more now, and have yet to get from downtown to my stop in 39 minutes, let alone from end to end. Maybe if you count Rose Quarter as downtown…

The new trains have their drawbacks. I wrote previously about the 1-2 inch lip on the train floor, and the lack of overhead stabilizer bars. A co-worker had the same problem I did, with painful results. She lost her balance and fell, injuring her back. It’s affected her ability to work, and I wonder how many others have had this problem.

But enough bitching!

There are a lot of things I like about the new route. It has that new route smell, which means it’s mostly “normal” folk riding, at least when I’m on. I have traveled at all hours of the day and night, and have had no uncomfortable moments involving fellow passengers. I can’t remember the last time I’ve taken one of the other MAX lines and not encountered some sort of belligerent idiocy. So far the Green Line has hauled commuters and quiet people, which makes it a joy to ride. My worst encounters? A lady way too amped up on coffee and cigarettes bitching breathlessly to an unknown entity about life in general. We MAX riders call that entertainment.

No assessment of the Green Line would be complete without the obligatory after-11 PM Saturday night ride. The last time I took a Blue Line on a Saturday night, 10-15 juveniles were occupying the back car, smoking cigars and drinking jugs of Carlo Rossi. It was a most uncomfortable ride. I braced for that kind of fun, but apparently the party train was headed a different direction. There was no shouting, no groups of unruly teens. (Or adults either for that matter.) It was the kind of after-work commute we all pray for.

It is kind of fun to be dumped off in the middle of the freeway in the middle of the night. The bike path is well lit, and the freeway underpass isn’t as spooky as it used to be. The walk home is downhill, which makes me re-assess how often I will take the train home.

I still miss having Saturday bus service near my house. Grocery shopping is a drag. But I have new frontiers to explore, and a straight shot to the PSU food carts.

Now if I can just get up early enough to take advantage of that…

Related Posts

• May 13, 2009 -- No Rollerskating on the new bus mall (3)
• February 15, 2009 -- If you cut me… (5)
• December 7, 2009 -- Portland Police: The Problem is Perception (3)
• September 1, 2009 -- Irritation to the MAX (1)
• August 24, 2009 -- Sleek, Sexy… and Inconvenient (12)

Flickr member F18E777 captured this photo today of the final Portland-to-Frankfurt Lufthansa flight. As announced in July, Lufthansa is canceling its Portland service due to declining travel numbers. This leaves Northwest’s flight to Amsterdam as Portland’s only direct European connection.

Related Posts

• June 17, 2008 -- Traveling to Seattle soon? (1)
• March 20, 2010 -- Falling in Love With the Bean (0)
• January 22, 2010 -- A Portland Flyer’s Lament (8)
• January 7, 2010 -- 17 Years Flies (8)
• January 6, 2010 -- Portland and Curling (4)

Today was opening day for the new MAX Green Line. Since I had things to do and places to go, and just happened to be downtown near PSU, I decided to take the Green Line home. Allow me to share a bit of the adventure.

I wandered onto the milling crowd at SW 6th & Madison, thirty to forty people waiting. I figured if the train was too crowded I’d just walk a block and catch a bus. I was in no hurry; it seemed a perfect time to watch “normal” people at play. A lot of seniors and families with strollers, a few commuters. One clean-cut young fellow pointed out that three trains had gone south, but none had come back in our direction. It had been 35 minutes since the last train. The natives were getting restless. Two fellows who looked like mid-management at fast food franchises began arguing about Transit Tracker. When one guy said, “Don’t take that smartass tone with me!” I thought they were playing. I realized he wasn’t when he swung his backpack, almost clobbering the “smartass.” He stomped off mad. Hmm…

Eventually a train came, packed to the rafters. I could see another in the distance, I’d wait for it. It was a Yellow Line, which thinned the herd, but the one behind that one was a Green Line. The nice lady on the PA said so.

Next Stop, Pioneer Square:

I grabbed a window seat, mid-car. An older couple sat across the aisle from me, along with a lady nervous about everyone’s leg room. “Got enough? Got enough?” Actually no, I don’t. These trains were build for folks without shins.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about the new trains, but my trip was less than stellar. By the time we left Pioneer Square the car was full to standing room only. I’d been joined in my four-seat cubicle by a mom and her two kids. The son sat across from me. He looked about ten, nice kid, kinda reminded me of Chunk from The Goonies. He sipped his Juicy Juice, and when the bottle was empty he hid it up the pantleg of his shorts, leaving him looking like the Ron Jeremy of ten-year-olds. He took my uncontrolled grin for friendliness and began including me in his thoughts. He was mostly quiet, and it helped break the monotony of the MAX ride. After all, until we get past Gateway, it’s just another goddamn MAX ride.

Gateway and Beyond:

They should never have made the rides free. It may work out better for me, because everyone who got their first impression from this trip will be in no hurry to do it again. The ‘leg-room lady’ had bailed out stops ago, after having a claustrophobic fit. She also pulled a dog out of her purse, which struck me as odd. (It was not a tiny dog either. Benji sized.) Chunk and I daydreamed. I noticed the Portland Police officers patrolling the 82nd Avenue MAX stop. Chunk was fascinated with the cars speeding by on the freeway. “Look! There’s Grandma’s car!”

After leaving 82nd, the train pulled to a stop before Gateway. We were sitting still on the freeway. Man, I hope this doesn’t last forever. At least the brand new train cars have working A/C. Add two points. Seats? They look soft, but after about thirty minutes the phrase Iron Ass comes to mind. It won’t encourage folks to go for joy rides. Minus a point. The voices announcing the stops have been sexed up in a big way. Is that Antonio Banderas and Julie Grauert? Plus three points!

I can see getting reacquainted with Gateway and Clackamas Town Center. What took a stupid amount of time to go 40 blocks now just takes a few minutes. (Once the hubbub wears down.) I’d bet money it’ll be all the rage with the teenage crowd. This won’t be one of those quiet commuter lines.

My 39 minute ride had taked over an hour already, and I got off at Lents. One more mass fail on the new trains? They have an inch-high step into the aisles, and if you are expecting floor to be there, and it isn’t? AAAHHH! I started to tip, at the same precise moment the train lurched forward. I grabbed for the overhead bar for stability, but…it… wasn’t… there. WTF? I’d either have to ram my hand through a window or grab a young girl by the boob.

I managed to avoid doing both, but it wasn’t graceful. (You guys, we really need the overhead parallel stabilization bars.) My apologies to those I scared, and to those children who will no doubt be asking mom and dad later what those funny words meant.

After letting Hell Train get out of sight, I sized up the platform at Foster Road. Watching its growth from inception, it was nice to see the view from above. The bike trail has reopened, so I can now walk the no-cars path to Foster or Holgate. Until the homeless camps pop up, anyway.

My initial reaction? It’ll be okay, but I’ll probably stick to riding the bus. Most days it’s the only peace and quiet I get.

Related Posts

• December 30, 2009 -- Worst. Commute. Ever. (12)
• December 7, 2009 -- Portland Police: The Problem is Perception (3)
• October 8, 2009 -- PDX in Your Pictures: Silver Dude on the Bus (1)
• September 28, 2009 -- A Green Line Redux (2)
• September 1, 2009 -- Irritation to the MAX (1)

You would think they had never seen a train before.

I deboarded the bus on Main Street yesterday, and caught my first glimpse of the Yellow Line rolling down SW 6th. I stopped and took in the sight, a momentous occasion. It seemed like a ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’ test. Normal, yet odd.

I wasn’t the only one. As I walked, I saw others pulling up to take a moment, probably a half-dozen folks in the blocks between the bus stop and Pioneer Square. I was fetching a monthly bus pass, and many others were doing the same. I held the door for a few people, then realized they would all end up in line in front of me, so I moved in. It was my nice-guys-finish-last moment of the day: I was about fifteen deep waiting to get to the window.

Disclaimer: I love TriMet. It’s my ride. But dammit, it feels like the ride I praise so highly is trying to get me to start driving again.

I haven’t paid fare on a bus in ages. I do the all-zone monthly pass and make every effort to get my $86 worth. I try to buy well in advance to avoid the last minute rush, but that didn’t happen so I fell in with the procrastinators. Three windows were open, with two other windows in ‘be right back’ mode. (They were helping someone with lost and found, I think.) The others? Long, complicated stories about how they had changed their name and shouldn’t have gotten the ticket blah blah blah. Everyone seemed to have a complex issue. Couldn’t one window just sell tickets and passes?

Seriously, I’ve watched one well-meaning fellow spend ten minutes telling the nice lady behind the window about how the garbage can at the bus stop by his apartment was overflowing, and they should do something about it. Hers was the patience of Job. I’d have come out from behind the window and found a fresh garbage can to stuff him into.

Having secured the pass, I noticed the new schedules were out. Woohoo! I grabbed the usuals, including the MAX schedule. I can take the Green line in two weeks! Yeah, right. It stops running downtown before I get off work. Hey TriMet, not everyone is done working or drinking by 11:30 PM.

At least I can catch the Yellow line up to PSU, closer to my bus, right? Of course not. With a few exceptions, the Yellow line will be ending at the Rose Quarter early in the evening. One will have to transfer to the Green line, or one of the others that heads up Morrison. The Green line runs every half hour. Great.

Bus? Well, I live out in Southeast, and had pretty good bus service up ’til now. After the 12th of September, Saturday service near my house will stop. A grocery run will mean hauling stuff 9-12 blocks. That’s fun times. It’s a good thing I’ve embraced walking, I’ll be doing a lot of it. Work? Where the bus ends, I have to walk most of the way to work to get to the first MAX stop, so why bother? I’d catch it one stop, then have to backtrack. Sensible shoes are in order.

I won’t even start about how the half-hour waits at the MAX stop near my house will increase the appeal of a late-night walk. Maybe I can borrow the neighbor’s pitbull…

All this bitching isn’t getting us anywhere, but thanks for listening. I’m grateful to have a bus and MAX to get around on, but I’d be more grateful if they hadn’t carved service back to 1975 levels. We bought our house with the knowledge that construction would be eternal, but first-class transit was on its way. First class? Maybe, but I’d settle for second rate buses that get me a little closer to home. Since I’m stuck with buses, guess I’d better settle, huh? It added insult to injury when I noticed the bus stop by the Foster MAX was moved yet another long block away. Thirteen blocks to the bus now.

My driver’s license with the horrible picture is valid until 2013. Maybe it’s time to start watching the police auctions for a hooptie…

Related Posts

• December 7, 2009 -- Portland Police: The Problem is Perception (3)
• September 28, 2009 -- A Green Line Redux (2)
• August 24, 2009 -- Sleek, Sexy… and Inconvenient (12)
• May 13, 2009 -- Pains, Trains and Automobiles (3)
• May 13, 2009 -- No Rollerskating on the new bus mall (3)

Soon, you can go there by train.

Where does the time go? Seems only years ago the MAX Green Line started tearing up the I-205 Freeway, remodeling the landscape, keeping traffic interesting. All that fun is coming to fruition. In just sixteen days the Green Line will begin carting folks from PSU to Clackamas Town Center.

Saturday, September 12 the locals will be throwing a welcome party, the Ramona Street Fair. There will be kiddie activities, food booths and an afternoon of live music. For more details, click here.

Does this make The New Copper Penny a destination spot?

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