Portland Transit | TriMet/Mass Transit News

[Dougall5505]

ya but think of the possibilites of a train that goes from could maybe eventually go between socal up to vancouber bc it could just follow i-5, wow i am getting way ahead of myself

[zilfondel]

Thank god they will improve the styling on those trains... they were probably the ugliest I have ever seen in my life!

Bullet trains take miles just to get up to their max speed, and the rails must be very, very straight.. only very, very gentle curves are allowed! We probably won´t have true high speed rail to Seattle until they build an entire new rail corridor, as the current one is too curvy. I rode the German Deutsche-Bahn service from Berlin to Munich, and it only maxed out at 180 kph (speedometer in all cabins!), and it seemed about as curvy as the line from PDX to Seattle. Those trains tilted, too.

In any case, every new rail line - whether commuter, high speed, or intercity - will snowball rail´s popularity in the NW until it will become its own ´market´ able to stand up by itself. It´s all about critical mass...

[MarkDaMan]

Am I the only one that thinks this 'commuter rail' is taking a really dumb path? I understand it is probably the cheapest, but I think the service is too infrequent, the path is wrong, and most people will have to catch a 25 minute MAX into downtown. This really should have gone up the five, and down to Salem...eventually to Eugene.

[pdxstreetcar]

I think it would have been a lot better if it was a Red Line light rail branch from Beaverton to Tualatin but it would have cost many hundreds of millions if it was LRT (This Commuter Rail line is about $100-120M and goes to Wilsonville). My guess is it all depends on the ease of the transfer: the time it takes between getting off a MAX train and until the commuter rail train leaves, and the distance (the commuter rail station is on the south side of the bus loop at Beaverton TC).

Service is quite a bit more frequent that I thought but it really needs weekend and night service. There is reverse commute service.

The plan is to eventually go to Salem.

A long term proposal is to extend the Green Line from the PSU terminal on the Transit Mall along Barbur Blvd. to Tigard.

[65MAX]

Actually, this type of commuter rail could prove to be very popular and I see no reason why this couldn't become a cross between heavy rail and light rail. Frequencies could be increased and weekend and night service added as it becomes more popular. I can visualize a series of these commuter lines, some going to Union Station, complementing the light rail lines. And even operating similar to light rail with transfer points that allow direct connections to light rail at Gateway, Milwaukie, Beaverton, Vancouver, OC, Hillsboro, Tigard, Clackamas, etc. Most of the track is already there, although some of it will have to be upgraded and/or double-tracked. It's definitely a fraction of the cost of building light rail in corridors where rail already exists, like the Beaverton-Wilsonville route. The new DMUs even look like the new light rail vehicles.
I'm working on a map that would show what a complete system would look like, around 2040 (yes, there is a subway downtown for the light rail). I'll post it when I'm finished.

[MarkDaMan]

^Considering the 217 parking lot, clean energy light rail would make sense fiscally up that quarter. It also could use the existing tracks ROW which significantly reduces the cost to the system. I like the idea of extending the Red Line and connecting it with an eventual Barbur Green line. The commuter rails could run from Tualatin or Wilsonville, wherever TriMet ends the Green line, to the far reaches of the Willamette Valley.

Without late and weekend service, even if it was only once an hour, I think this line will be lightly used...like their 2500 a day projection, which IMO, is really weak and wont do much for the 217 traffic. I think a LRT could probably attract at least 10,000 a day at its inception, if not more, and would probably do a lot to urbanize downtown Beaverton and Tigard increasing demand for the system. Whereas a commuter system wont attract the same TOD's that a heavily used LRT would.

[65MAX]

I totally agree that the 217 corridor can generate a huge ridership. Almost as much, if not more than the 33,000/day expected for the 205 corridor. If they configure the Beaverton TC to have cross-platform transfers between LRVs and DMUs, timed to arrive simultaneously, it would provide a virtually seamless transition between vehicles and they can operate as one Red line. Of course we'll need a few more DMUs and double tracking the whole length.
I think the term "commuter rail" is a little off-putting to some people because it implies rush hour only service with 30 minute to 1 hour headways. Well of course, they'll never carry very many passengers with that level of frequency. But if they bump the frequency up to match the Red line, then it's no longer "commuter rail" and more like 'heavy' light rail.

[MarkDaMan]

It still is not clean transportation though. I would like to see TriMet purchase enough wind-power to power both MAX and the Streetcar. I'm also still not convinced that a heavy rail, loud train, every 15 minutes will be welcomed by the community nor could it spawn TOD's.

[65MAX]

You're right about the clean energy, "green" electric powered trains are cleaner and quieter, and Trimet should definitely commit to using only "green" power. But I don't think the new DMUs are that noisy and they could use bio-diesel to power them. Plus when frequencies rise to match light rail, then it's no longer "commuter" rail. That's the point at which it becomes simply high capacity mass transit, and that definitely is able to generate and sustain TODs.

[der Reisender]

light rail down the 217 corridor and along barbur would be fantastic, as for the commuter rail, well...i guess it'll be better to have than nothing, but i do hope frequency is better, and i agree that green trains with electric power would be nice. will be harder to develop TODs around commuter rail

[der Reisender]

just checked out www.bikeportland.com today, a link is up to a new BTA survey about biking in the Portland area, bikers and non-bikers alike take a few minutes to fill it out!

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by pdxstreetcar

I think it would have been a lot better if it was a Red Line light rail branch from Beaverton to Tualatin but it would have cost many hundreds of millions if it was LRT (This Commuter Rail line is about $100-120M and goes to Wilsonville). My guess is it all depends on the ease of the transfer: the time it takes between getting off a MAX train and until the commuter rail train leaves, and the distance (the commuter rail station is on the south side of the bus loop at Beaverton TC).

i agree whole-heartedly. lrt down the 217 corridor is just a complete no-brainer. what was it metro said recently? adding a non-toll 3rd lane to 217 wouldn't be fiscally possible until 2089 (where'd they get that number??)?

i suppose commuter rail to/from wilsonville is a nice start, but i can see it being an obstacle to ever putting lrt in the corridor. commuter rail to salem, on the other hand, would certainly make my obnoxious commute far more pleasant.

[CouvScott]

Sources Say
Streetcar went and stole Sam's heart
The Portland Tribune, 6.3 hours ago

Portland streetcar madness: Last month, the City Council approved boosting urban renewal spending in the Central Eastside, in part because Commissioner Sam Adams, hoping to spark a revitalization of the area, wants money to pay for a streetcar that runs on Grand Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The dust was still settling from that vote when Sources Say started hearing from little birds that Adams, who oversees the city Office of Transportation, also has been talking about running a streetcar down Northwest Davis Street, looping around to PGE Park, where it would hop onto light-rail tracks to head east again.

Then, on Thursday, while covering an Adams appearance on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, KGW (8) reported that Adams was talking about putting a streetcar on that street, too. If he succeeds in making the ideas a reality, it’s a safe bet the bloggers will drop his “Sam the Tram” nickname.

“Streetcar Sam” has a nicer ring to it.

[Dougall5505]

yes put the streetcar everywhere downtown sam and then put the max underground downtown

[pdxstreetcar]

gotta love this: on the day that a terrorist attack on airplanes is foiled combined with a huge increase in security and a raise in the terror level for airports, the department of homeland security lowers the terror risk on the nations mass transit systems...

Alert lowered, TriMet maintains higher presence
The Orange Alert TriMet began the day under has been lowered to a Yellow Alert by the Department of Homeland Security. However, TriMet will continue to work with its local, state and regional agencies to maintain a heightened presence on the system throughout the day. With 310,000 trips a day, TriMet riders can also help by watching for unusual packages or behaviors and reporting them to a TriMet employee or by calling 9-1-1.

Updated: 10:45 a.m.
www.trimet.org

[Dougall5505]

aren't there always unusual behavior/people on the max and buses?

[pdxstreetcar]

yeah and especially at night

[NJD]

Last week Trimet released its new TIP report for the next half decade.

http://www.trimet.org/news/releases/july31tip.htm

Most of it is old news, but there are a few study areas that have been mentioned elsewhere that are finally getting official attention. MAX Blue Line extensions in both directions (Forest Grove <--> Mt. Hood CC); Green Line extensions in both directions (Tigard <--> Oregon City (odd that a Yellow Line extension is not considered to OC)); a Steel Bridge upgrade; and the Foster Rd. to Damascus corridor.

[Dougall5505]

the automated stop announcements is going to be cool but i don't understand how they will do it throught text messages. do they mean or your phone, or on those new electronic reader boards that show the time on some buses?

[South-by-West]

Originally Posted by Dougall5505

the automated stop announcements is going to be cool but i don't understand how they will do it throught text messages. do they mean or your phone, or on those new electronic reader boards that show the time on some buses?

Best bet would be those reader boards at the front of the bus (inside). I've seen these type of things done in other buses before too. Kinda just like the MAX has announced stops and electronic reader boards as well.