Portland Transit | TriMet/Mass Transit News

[NJD]

Metro identifies 15 new transit corridors
The agency is focusing on areas such as Tigard, Tualatin and Lake Oswego

POSTED: 04:00 AM PST Wednesday, February 18, 2009
BY TYLER GRAF

Metro Council last week voted to approve further study of 15 Portland-metro transit corridors that could benefit from investments in light rail, rapid streetcar, bus rapid transit or commuter rail.

The corridors are separated geographically – ranging from Northwest Portland to the Southwestern suburbs – and will become part of Metro’s Regional High Capacity Transit System Plan.

Some metro areas are represented more than others. The original list included approximately 55 corridors.

Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette spearheaded the identification of the priority areas, saying “high capacity transit has clearly been a cornerstone of our quality of life.”

Those close to the project said the Tualatin/Tigard area was a main focal point due to the availability of arterial roads running through the area, including Barbur Boulevard and Highway 217.

“There’s a rich assortment and variety of ways to get (to Tigard and Tualatin),” said Tony Mendoza of Metro’s planning department. “And we’re looking at all the transit options for that area.”

Building a transit route through Lake Oswego is another plan emphasized by Metro, he said. In recent years, the agency has looked into extending Portland’s streetcar system through that suburb. But it would not be the city’s current streetcar system, Mendoza said; instead, it would be a “rapid streetcar” system more akin to light rail, capable of circumventing traffic along its own right-of-way.

“People have the perception of (the streetcar) operating too slowly right now,” Mendoza said.

Additionally, Metro is considering the addition of a bus rapid transit system similar to the one that has operated in Lane County since 2005. That system, on which long buses travel along an independent lane set aside from traffic, services the main thoroughfare between Eugene and Springfield.

“They’ve had great success, and we think it would do well here, too,” Mendoza said.

The addition of the corridors is part of the region’s 30-year approach to prioritizing public transportation. It’s intended to fit within the federally mandated Regional Transportation Plan.

Metro describes the Regional Transportation Plan as a blueprint for the region’s multimodal transportation plans through 2035.

According to Mendoza, though federal money would likely be used on these corridor projects, the criteria used to vet the projects are unique to the region.

“These usually aren’t measured through a prescriptive federal process,” Mendoza said. “These are Portland-owned criteria.”

In fact, planners from Metro a few months ago were asked by the American Public Transit Association, a Washington D.C.-based organization, to give a presentation about its vetting and criteria process; Metro’s process goes into more depth than the typical national one.

Overall, Metro looks at how the corridors would affect development, the environment and economic growth, among other things.

Metro won’t identify which modes of transit would be used for each corridor until vetting through the in-depth public process begins toward the end of March, Mendoza said.

Funding options would be identified afterward.

[NJD]

Mass transit may get better ride than local roads in stimulus bill
by Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian
Wednesday February 18, 2009, 12:47 PM

Commuters hoping the federal stimulus package will ease Portland-area traffic congestion and make a smoother drive to work are in for a grueling wake-up call.

The entire package will barely make a dent in the massive backlog of road and bridge maintenance that torments drivers. And the stimulus spending may send the TriMet transit agency double the money it sends to the three-county area for roads.

Three counties and 26 cities in the Portland area are already jostling over how to spend $38 million in stimulus money the Metro regional government expects to receive for local road and bridge needs.

The Oregon Department of Transportation also plans to spend about $17 million in the Portland area.

That's in stark contrast, however, to the $100 million-plus that could go to TriMet for mass transit improvements, a clear boost for bus and train riders.

The $38 million for road maintenance is even less than it seems, as the city of Portland alone spends $30 million annually on road care.

"When you look at these projects, and the cost of some of these, it just doesn't go that far," said John Rist, finance director for the Portland Office of Transportation.

Some areas in Oregon will see a torrent of road and bridge spending, and others a relative trickle -- a result of congressional pressure to get money out the door as soon as possible.

Critics say that resulted in a bias for road spending in rural areas, leaving urban population centers shortchanged on road and bridge repairs. The mass transit spending also comes as a surprise, by contrast, given that the bill signed by the president calls for national spending of about $3 on roads for every $1 on mass transit.

The stimulus package will send TriMet $44.3 million for bus system maintenance, a 38 percent boost over the agency's allocation last year, said Neil McFarlane, executive director of capital projects.

If stimulus spending follows recent trends, TriMet could win as much as $58.5 million from a federal program for light rail and streetcar expansion. But it's uncertain how the government will distribute that money, McFarlane said.

It's too soon to know whether the stimulus money will defray a $13.5 million budget shortfall TriMet says may force it to cut some bus lines.

At a meeting in Salem on today, the Oregon Transportation Commission is expected to approve a list of $190 million in projects eligible for the federal stimulus money. The Portland area stands to get only about 10 percent of that statewide spending, a plan that provoked ire among Portland-area officials recently.

"This is pretty pathetic," said Washington County Commissioner Roy Rogers, an influential voice on transportation issues. He dressed down an ODOT official over the estimate at a meeting in Portland last week.

"This is not fair, it's not good policy," Rogers said. "I would hope that those that you work for will understand that if you want to choke this region's jobs, I guess you can do that, but as this region goes the state goes."

The state Transportation Department plans to spend $4.7 million on two Washington County road projects. One would add a cable barrier to prevent head-on collisions on U.S. 26 near North Plains, and another would repave Oregon 8 near Cornelius.

Washington County has 14 percent of the state's population, but it would receive 2.4 percent of state highway stimulus money.

A widening of U.S. 20 between Newport and Corvallis that has been plagued by cost overruns and erosion problems stands to win big with stimulus spending. A $13.8 million chunk would straighten out a one-mile section that had been scrapped to save money.

That's the only highway stimulus project in Lincoln County, which has 1.2 percent of the state's population.

Travis Brouwer, ODOT's federal affairs adviser, said the urban-rural spending split is the result of pressure to spend money as quickly as possible, and distribute it across the state.

[Okstate]

^ No more 480? You've got me reconsidering my "Okstate" name which doesn't apply anymore...

[Okstate]

Originally Posted by NJD

Additionally, Metro is considering the addition of a bus rapid transit system similar to the one that has operated in Lane County since 2005. That system, on which long buses travel along an independent lane set aside from traffic, services the main thoroughfare between Eugene and Springfield.

“They’ve had great success, and we think it would do well here, too,” Mendoza said.

I would hope they had success... it's FREE!

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Sekkle

If you’re talking long-term, there is definitely a problem at the Steel Bridge. All four lines will cross the Willamette there when the Green line opens, and peak hour headways will be something like 2.5 minutes. That leaves very little room for capacity expansion, since the trains won’t be running in consists longer than 2 cars.


600’ is three blocks in downtown Portland. Grade separating those tracks would be pretty difficult if you wanted to maintain thru-traffic on streets near the crossing. There’s no way they’d grade separate the east-west lines (blue/red) if it took 600’ because that would cut across Broadway west of the transit mall. I doubt they’re considering it on the mall either. There is mention of a tunnel under downtown from Goose Hollow to the Lloyd District in the High Capacity Transit plan screening report (warning, the link is to a 20MB pdf file)…

Then they would have to make the tunnels longer. 200 ft long blocks also don't allow TriMet to run three car light rail trains.
Eventually, TriMet is going to want to do that......

[Sekkle]

Originally Posted by Okstate

^ No more 480? You've got me reconsidering my "Okstate" name which doesn't apply anymore...

I hated that name (480, not Okstate). I regretted it from like the day after I signed on... I just dragged my feet in getting it changed... for a few years...

[Sekkle]

Originally Posted by electricron

Then they would have to make the tunnels longer. 200 ft long blocks also don't allow TriMet to run three car light rail trains.
Eventually, TriMet is going to want to do that......

I assume that's one of the main reasons behind the tunnel as an option for downtown (longer trains). Of course, they will have to lengthen every other station, too, but I think it's doable, especially if they can build a tunnel through downtown and across the river.

[Okstate]

Do you think "they" had the 3 car trains in mind when they built the longer than average station at Sunset...being that they couldn't (in their right mind) go back & rehab it at a later point?

[Sekkle]

is it really longer than average? Here's an aerial from google with a train at the station...


Just west of there, it curves to go under the freeway. Just east, I'm pretty sure the platform ends when it goes through the tunnel under the freeway ramp. I doubt they built it longer for future 3-car trains... If they were going to do that, they probably would have made the Washington Park station longer, too. These two are the biggest problems I can think of when it comes to updating for longer trains.

[zilfondel]

^ lane county is building a new segment for their BRT system.

[Sekkle]

Be afraid. Be very very afraid…

Gangs find new turf: downtown
Spike in gang activity plays up worries about safety of transit mall
BY PETER KORN
The Portland Tribune, Feb 19, 2009

Portland police officers this week began dealing with a new problem on the temporary downtown bus mall along Southwest Third and Fourth Avenues – gang activity.

“We’re seeing a gang presence in that area that we haven’t seen in the past,” said Mike Reese, commander of the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct.

Two weeks ago, a police officer was assaulted on Southwest Fourth Avenue while patting down for weapons a man who was involved in a loud argument over drugs, according to Cory Roberts, Central Precinct street crimes unit sergeant. Police suspect the man was a gang member.

And last week, an officer talking to a man who had been riding his bike on Fourth Avenue saw the man throw a — into a nearby garbage can, Reese said. The — was recovered and the man arrested. Though the man is not a known gang member, Reese said, his presence with the — on the bus mall raises his level of concern about just who is coming down to the transit mall.

“We’ve noticed a change in the last two months,” Reese said. “Part of it is a resurgence of gang activity in Portland and putting pressure on criminal gangs (in neighborhoods), and they see downtown Portland possibly as a place they can engage in gang activity and drug sales and blend into the environment and not be noticed.”

They may also feel less endangered, said the Central Precinct’s Roberts.

Roberts says that traditionally, gang activity in downtown Portland has been rare. But a spate of gang-related shootings on the Portland’s east side and in east Mutlnomah County may have motivated gang-connected crack cocaine dealers to move downtown.

“Maybe they feel a little bit safer downtown than they do on the east side,” Roberts said, noting there haven’t been gang shootings downtown.

The increased gang activity underlines a larger safety concern of downtown shop owners as final plans are being made to move the Portland transit mall back to Fifth and Sixth avenues, where it was a bus mall until two years ago.

That’s when transportation officials decided to convert Fifth and Sixth avenues into a mall for buses, cars and MAX trains.

While designers of the new mall say it will be more open, inviting and active than the old mall on Fifth and Sixth, they are hoping it translates into a mall that is less crime-ridden and deserted.

But the fundamental question posed by unhappy shop owners on Third and Fourth avenues has to do with whether any downtown transit mall is destined to become a haven for drug dealers and loiterers.

Reese says some of the problems experienced the last two years on Third and Fourth avenues – and on Fifth and Sixth avenues before – have to do with Portland’s transit system.

“Part of it is Fareless Square,” Reese says, referring to the TriMet policy of keeping public transit within the downtown area free of charge. “It’s the fact that you can get on a bus or a train and not have to present a fare. That means if you see a police officer coming, you can quickly evade them by getting on the transit system and going two or three blocks and getting off.”

In addition, Reese says, the number of different bus lines running down the mall makes it harder for police to confront people who appear to be behaving suspiciously.

“If we come up and ask a person, ‘Why are you here?’ (They say), ‘Well, I’m waiting for a bus.’ Well, which bus? So it is impossible for us to determine if they are legitimate. And they don’t need to have a fare because it’s a fareless area.”

Drug dealers especially like being able to jump on and off transit mall buses, Reese says. And the abundance of pedestrians on the temporary Third and Fourth Avenue mall allows dealers to better blend in with their surroundings. In fact, Reese says Third and Fourth have seen a surge in drug activity in the last few months.

The remodeled transit mall will be more open, with wider sidewalks and improved lighting, so blending in might be more difficult. But a deserted wide sidewalk, especially at night, can also feel dangerous.

Reese says that when the new transit mall begins operation the drug dealers now frequenting Third and Fourth avenues will likely move again. “They will probably want to be where the buses are,” he says. “But we’ve changed the environment.”

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=123499517747057100

[cab]

Get out of the cruisers and walk the beat. I've never understood why we don't have a few cops just walking along 5th and 6th downtown to old town. Down town is not that big. Give them segway's if need be, but get out and meet the neighbors and learn what is going on.

[Okstate]

^out to gateway mall. Do you know when they'll start charging?

[Okstate]

Originally Posted by Sekkle

is it really longer than average? Here's an aerial from google with a train at the station...


Just west of there, it curves to go under the freeway. Just east, I'm pretty sure the platform ends when it goes through the tunnel under the freeway ramp. I doubt they built it longer for future 3-car trains... If they were going to do that, they probably would have made the Washington Park station longer, too. These two are the biggest problems I can think of when it comes to updating for longer trains.

I guess it just feels longer, but obviously that picture proves otherwise.

[MR. Cosmopolitan]

I wonder when would Portland's downtown be capable to sustain its own subway network.

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by MR. Cosmopolitan

I wonder when would Portland's downtown be capable to sustain its own subway network.

Right now.

[65MAX]

Actually, OKstate, you're right. The Sunset station CAN support a 3-car train as-is. The existing platform extends east under the freeway (not seen on the aerial view) far enough such that if the train pulls all the way to the start of the horseshoe tunnel (under the garage), there is enough room for a third car. Also, the platform could be extended even further east when Trimet decides to run 4-car trains. The Washington Park station is the same way, it can accommodate a 3-car train as-is. Extending that station would be significantly more expensive though (but completely doable).

All the other MAX stations (including the I-84 stations) can easily be extended to handle 4-car trains.

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by Okstate

Do you think "they" had the 3 car trains in mind when they built the longer than average station at Sunset...being that they couldn't (in their right mind) go back & rehab it at a later point?

I doubt it. It's obviously not a spec TriMet designs to elsewhere. The biggest challenge is lengthening the Washington Park station, which is surrounded by rock. If TM were to lengthen every other station outside of downtown, we'd be talking about $100 million - just OUTSIDE of downtown probably - due to the expense of reconfiguring track work and relocating communications buildings which block the end of each platform for 50+ stations.. The track work task is enormous because either end of many stations may currently have curves that makes locating station platforms problematic - the gap at the doors would be too great... quite the project!

[RED_PDXer]

One potential solution might be to just start buying new types of trains that allow internal movement between cars and only allow certain doors to open at stations, depending on the length of the station. Not ideal.. but better than nothing.

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by MR. Cosmopolitan

I wonder when would Portland's downtown be capable to sustain its own subway network.

We're not there yet. Tunneling technology may improve over the next couple decades anyway. We could save billions of dollars over a tunnel option by just removing stations on the current at-grade alignments now. Could shave off about 5 minutes of travel time through downtown if we remove 5 stations. A grade separation fix at the Rose Quarter could solve capacity issues there as well far cheaper than a subway - or better yet, just remove cars from the Steel Bridge RQ.