Wednesday, January 25, 2012
TriMet Board Meeting and Pickett Excitement
A whole bunch of videos (the full video of the meeting hasn't been posted by Al yet) and a few other things
Occupy PDX
Occupy Portland (yawn) at it again | BoJack
Four arrested in Occupy Portland protest to mark Egypt uprising | KATU
*sigh* just the usual with cops in way overdone riot gear.
Four arrested in Occupy Portland protest to mark Egypt uprising | KATU
*sigh* just the usual with cops in way overdone riot gear.
Last Train Home
TriMet Diaries <--yeah, that's me! Go read it! :-) And tell me what you think. I love feedback.
Isn't it cute?
The tram turns 5 years old on Friday! And even cuter: the tram gets a little party on Saturday! Awww....
(please tell me you guys could tell that was sarcasm?)
(please tell me you guys could tell that was sarcasm?)
TriMet Board Meeting Tweets
Thanks to Joe Rose and Cameron Johnson:
#trimet board meeting: Proposed bus line cuts coming 2/8 #trimetbudget (Great. Let's begin how 2010's spring/ summer happened. Brilliant. Cutting buses is completely necessary, especially cause we're building a new MAX line!)
Wait... after the trouble she got into, Sweitzer is presiding over the board but Lehrbach is getting the boot for supporting the union? (ain't it great how things work with TriMet?)
#trimet GM applauding transit police for recent response to spat of assaults on buses, MAX (YAY! YAY! WE CAN'T KEEP OUR SYSTEM SAFE! YAY! YAY!)
#trimet GM says review of @opalpdx proposal to change fare transfers would cost agency $3.2 million, but "opportunities for mitigation." (Hmmmm....'opportunities for mitigation'? Well, it's not like we should be surprised. Did anyone really believe TriMet would ACTUALLY go through with it? That TriMet would actually do something GOOD and REASONABLE? Pah. That'll happen when TriMet decides to not build a new MAX line.)
#trimet GM: transit bridge over Willamette R. on schedule, structural work begins next week. (No doubt we'll hear about that in one of TriMet's glorious, sparkle-filled news releases.)
#trimet GM: all platforms on Portland-Milwaukie light rail will be designed to required turnstile access in future. (I wanna hear more about this...)
#trimet GM: "we need to be looking at electronic fare pay." I say retina scans are the way to go #minorityreport (it’s about time)
#trimet meeting: revenues looking better than expected at beginning of year. More employment, higher wages in region. (So the sky isn’t falling now?)
#trimet finances: Bus ridership dragging, but operations expenses down, diesel fuel costs under $800,000. But ...
#trimet finances: global economic shock could shake the 2012-13 budget into a worse position. Also, fewer people in local labor force. (Oh, so the sky is still falling. Brilliant.)
Guarantee ya that if anyone has something to say that doesn't challenge TriMet they can go past 3 minutes.(Well, only naturally. TriMet loves to hear exactly what they think/want. Anything else, they couldn't care less about.)
TRIMET DELAY TACTICS GO! (Oh don't worry. They've got that covered. That's what they do all day long with anything not MAX related.)
Look, it doesn't matter if we give excess comments to Ms. Runnion because they won't be heard before you make a decision. (Yep. That's how it works here at TriMet.)
Uh oh, current speaker isn't speaking fast. She's gonna get kicked off before she speaks too much. (Yep. TriMet is good at that too. They get bored sitting there and ignoring you so they tell you that you have to stop speaking.)
See? All someone had to do was mention bad bus drivers and they get extra time. (DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! WE HAVE A WINNER! All of TriMet's board member's ears and focus is now on this person.)
Clarification: #TriMet says future Orange Platforms will be outfitted with electronic pay systems, but not turnstiles. (hmmmm...still curious and confused about that...What does 'electronic pay systems' mean in TriMet language, I wonder? The current TVMs are electronic....)
To clear up confusion: #trimet orange line will have the ability to add the electronic far readers in the future, but not when opened. (Why not when opened? Won't it be easier and quicker to add them before people begin using the stations? Could this just be TriMet's way of saying that they're going to do it, but later, so they can back out later?)
“Empower. Trust. Stand Behind.”
But okay, fine. You want to bring union workers in line with non-union workers? Well then, we’ll just take that to its logical conclusion. Let’s see… about 30% of our buses have no air conditioning, so to help save money, we’ll disable the A/C in about 30% of TriMet offices, like, oh I don’t know, the top floor of Center Street to start. And just like operators use seniority to sign good runs, non-union employees can use how long they’ve been at TriMet to bid for a good office. So to the newly hired Executive Director of HR? Sorry my friend, you’ll probably get stuck with no air conditioning. Good thing Oregon summers are more or less mild. But don’t worry! Every hour or so you’ll be allowed to get up, drink some ice water, and use the bathroom, as long as you don’t take more than 10 minutes to do all that.
TriMet Playing Dirty
This is what is on the front page of the homepage of TriMet's website:
With a link to this: TriMet's Future Depends on a Sustainable Labor Contract
Disgraceful, TriMet...
With a link to this: TriMet's Future Depends on a Sustainable Labor Contract Disgraceful, TriMet...
MAX Situation Update
UPDATE: MAX Blue and Red line trains are returning to regular service in Downtown Portland. Due to ongoing police activity, riders should expect delays for the next two hours as service returns to regular schedule.
More Merlo Bone Yard Wrecks
http://rantingsofatrimetbusdriver.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-wrecks-in-bone-yard.html
I wonder what the story is behind how these buses were wrecked. We sure don't hear about this stuff unless the media gets a hold of it.
I wonder what the story is behind how these buses were wrecked. We sure don't hear about this stuff unless the media gets a hold of it.
The Sad Truth
Sad truth about the bus bridge. Even with changing from train to bus, bus trip is still quicker through downtown. #trimet
Objective and Fresh Thinking at TriMet
So we're going to fire this guy from the board, but we're gonna use the word 'reappoint' because it makes us sound less horrible. Oh yea, and this guy is probably the least insane one of the board members. Whoopee....I wonder which MAX advocate will replace him?
Bye bye Lynn Lehrbach.
Here's an excerpt:
Bye bye Lynn Lehrbach.
Here's an excerpt:
Knowing that TriMet doesn’t want the labor position on the Board to continue, we suspect that this may be the result of some political maneuvering going on in the Governor’s office. Tom Walsh, former TriMet General Manager is a paid consultant to TriMet and his wife is the current Chief of Staff for the Governor. We hope Kitzhaber is not serious about dumping the labor spot on the TriMet Board because of political influencing, for that would seriously affect the relationship this Union has with the Governor’s office.
Let the fun begin.
MAX service update
UPDATE: The MAX Red Line on the east side is only running between the Gateway TC and PDX Airport MAX Station. Riders heading to the airport will need to take a Blue Line train from Rose Quarter TC to Gateway TC and transfer to the Red Line.
Oh look. MAX has a hiccup
Due to ongoing police activity in Downtown Portland, service is disrupted on MAX Blue and Red line trains, shuttle buses will service light rail stops from the Kings Hill/SW Salmon St. MAX Station to the Rose Quarter Transit Center. Riders should expect delays. MAX Green and Yellow Lines are not effected and are a good alternative for riders. The disruption may also cause delays to bus service.
UPDATE: On the east side, MAX Red Line is not traveling between Rose Quarter TC and Gateway/NE 99th Ave TC. Riders should take Blue Line.
UPDATE (again): MAX Red Line on the east side is serving stations from the Rose Quarter TC to the PDX Airport MAX Station.
Don't you love how little TriMet says about what might happen to bus service? Big paragraph about MAX delays, then just a little, quick mention that buses could be affected as well. And yes, TriMet, it is 'affected' not 'effected'.
The disruption is either caused by this:
Police are working at 3rd and Morrison downtown with a suicidal subject. Streets in the area are closed and MAX service is disrupted.
or this:
CLOSURE UPDATE: 3rd & 4th closed between Morrison & Alder. Morrison & Alder closed between 3rd & 4th. Officer involved shooting
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