Portland Transit | TriMet/Mass Transit News

[babs]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

[B][URL="http://www.portlandstreetcar.org"]
I didn't realize they changed the streetcar's logo.

The old logo:



The new logo:



I prefer the old logo, though it could have used a bit of an update. The new logo looks far more modern, but it's generic and has no connection to Portland. Ah well. Whatever.

Needless logo change. What a waste of money and now they want more of it.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by babs

Needless logo change. What a waste of money and now they want more of it.

I had that same thought. The skyline logo with tracks running through it took up no more room on a sign than the new circle logo, and it was unique to Portland. I don't mean to be harsh, but whoever approved wasting the money on a new logo at a time when the price to ride the streetcar has quadrupled in three year period needs to be fired. Some people's priorities are absolutely out of whack.

April: Hey, look at our new logo! And look at all of the signs we've had to repaint (or replace?) along with every other pice of information anywhere that used the old logo.

May: Hey, we need more money! And a lot of it!

[colganc]

Note: Please excuse the first revision/post. Was working on my iPad and accidentally posted while switching between PDFs.

http://trimet.org/about/performance.htm

Comparing April 2012 to April 2015

• Weekday bus boardings up 2%
• Weekday MAX boardings down 10%

Comparing vehicle hours on the annual report: bus hours are down a bit from peak and MAX is up slightly.

Looking at the annual report seems to show during the recession that ridership really grew and then fell off for buses, but boardings are starting to rise again. MAX also increased during the recession, but didn't drop off until a year or two ago and still isn't. Could also be due to the fairless square ending. Fairless square ended in 2010 for buses and 2012 for MAX. I wonder how they tracked boardings for people riding in fairless square.

If it is due to fairless square it may be as much as a 10% drop in boardings for buses and 8% for MAX. Even with this accounted for it doesn't seem like boardings are growing. In the same time Portland population has grown something like 5%? I would expect TriMet ridership to increase inline or better as the city becomes more dense and the population increases.

Edit:
Another thought I had is maybe bike mode share is up, but it doesn't seem like it: http://bikeportland.org/2014/09/18/c...ackward-111088. That is old data, but it doesn't seem to show a trend for bikes taking over the flat lined TriMet ridership.

The current fair structure came into place late 2012: http://trimet.org/alerts/farechanges.htm

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by colganc

Note: Please excuse the first revision/post. Was working on my iPad and accidentally posted while switching between PDFs.

http://trimet.org/about/performance.htm

Comparing April 2012 to April 2015

• Weekday bus boardings up 2%
• Weekday MAX boardings down 10%

Comparing vehicle hours on the annual report: bus hours are down a bit from peak and MAX is up slightly.

Looking at the annual report seems to show during the recession that ridership really grew and then fell off for buses, but boardings are starting to rise again. MAX also increased during the recession, but didn't drop off until a year or two ago and still isn't. Could also be due to the fairless square ending. Fairless square ended in 2010 for buses and 2012 for MAX. I wonder how they tracked boardings for people riding in fairless square.

If it is due to fairless square it may be as much as a 10% drop in boardings for buses and 8% for MAX. Even with this accounted for it doesn't seem like boardings are growing. In the same time Portland population has grown something like 5%? I would expect TriMet ridership to increase inline or better as the city becomes more dense and the population increases.

Edit:
Another thought I had is maybe bike mode share is up, but it doesn't seem like it: http://bikeportland.org/2014/09/18/c...ackward-111088. That is old data, but it doesn't seem to show a trend for bikes taking over the flat lined TriMet ridership.

The current fair structure came into place late 2012: http://trimet.org/alerts/farechanges.htm

It's likely because more people have been pushed further out so they live in a less dense area not served by transit now. That would explain the drop and why we do have a housing/demographic crisis going on in Portland.

[city spectator]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

It's likely because more people have been pushed further out so they live in a less dense area not served by transit now. That would explain the drop and why we do have a housing/demographic crisis going on in Portland.

I might add, people have been pushed further east, but not in terms of a net population decrease closer-in. Rather, the population that's moved has most likely been replaced with a more affluent one, less reliant on public transit. And like mentioned above, the folks more reliant who live further east have less access. Powell/Division BRT may help on that front.

[mhays]

I bet a more people live within walking distance of work now vs a few years ago.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by mhays

I bet a more people live within walking distance of work now vs a few years ago.

Many may be trying biking too!

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by colganc

If it is due to fairless square it may be as much as a 10% drop in boardings for buses and 8% for MAX.

I don't think so. Yes, busses were free within fareless square, but fareless riders were primarily using light rail, so it would make sense that ending fareless square had no impact on busses. Also, I think a new senior downtown-only pass was created to give the few who did take the free busses the ability to ride them again for less than $10 a year, so that would negate any drop in bus boardings due to the discontinuation of fareless square. Why weren't fareless riders taking busses? Nobody gets on a bus to go four or five blocks, but people do it all the time on light rail. I'm not saying that would account for the entire 10% drop, but it's surely a large factor.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by mhays

I bet a more people live within walking distance of work now vs a few years ago.

I walk to work everyday--rain or shine

[mhays]

Me too. My point was that the urbanization trend could turn some transit riders into pedestrians (or bicylists) by bringing people closer to their jobs. (Of course it can also help turn drivers into transit riders too.)

[colganc]

Maybe car usage is up?

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by colganc

Maybe car usage is up?

Possibly because the poor are being pushed to suburbs that necessitate more car use, not because it is wanted or affordable.

[colganc]

In 2013, compared to 2011, walking increased: http://bikeportland.org/2014/09/18/c...ackward-111088

Do you guys even read the links?

Edit: Poor attempt at a joke. I posted the link above in the morning and didn't read the whole article that also showed walking increasing.

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

It's likely because more people have been pushed further out so they live in a less dense area not served by transit now. That would explain the drop and why we do have a housing/demographic crisis going on in Portland.

I work in the service industry and a significant number of my coworkers have or are in the process of purchasing vehicles. I just got a car myself after many years of getting around town by bike. It feels like my days of being able to afford living in a walkable/transit friendly neighborhood are numbered and I want to be prepared for that. The conversation among my coworkers is mostly "escape plans" these days. Some people already have moved away, tired of being kicked out of rental houses so that they can be demolished only to find that any rentals in their neighborhood are 20-30% higher than what they were paying. My landlord just increased my rent from 1400 to 1800 last month. I can't imagine that that is even legal, but at my income level there is no way for me to fight it. In the past several months I've watched several rental houses within a 4 block radius of my house get remodeled and sold. My lease is month to month so I'm stuck with that ever lingering feel of "When are we next?". It is incredibly stressful.

I have noticed that most of the new-comers to my neighborhood are pretty affluent. There are a lot more luxury vehicles parked on the streets these days. I imagine these folks are less likely to be using transit than people of my demographic.

(I live near Alberta, if that context is helpful)

[Photogeric]

just a heads up, I just saw one of the new type V max trains cruising through downtown, as a green line train.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by colganc

In 2013, compared to 2011, walking increased: http://bikeportland.org/2014/09/18/c...ackward-111088

Do you guys even read the links?

Edit: Poor attempt at a joke. I posted the link above in the morning and didn't read the whole article that also showed walking increasing.

6.1% walk to work, that is some pretty impressive numbers for Portland. We can probably contribute that to the amount of new residential units being built in inner Portland. I do love how the graphs show the amount of people who drive alone to commute is actually shrinking in Portland.

[zilfondel]

I think an actual graphic may help illustrate Trimet's ridership:



source: my graphic, Trimet's data

[colganc]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

I think an actual graphic may help illustrate Trimet's ridership:



source: my graphic, Trimet's data

Portland MSA population in...

• 2000 - 1,927,881
• 2010 - 2,226,009 - 15% increase in pop since 2000
• 2014 - 2,348,247 - 22% increase in pop since 2000

TriMet Boardings in...

• 2000 - 81,237,600
• 2010 - 99,337,044 - 22% increase in boardings since 2000
• 2014 - 98,775,270 - 22% increase in boardings since 2000

Vehicles miles...

• 2000 - 35,229,996
• 2014 - 35,872,176 - Up 2% over 2000

Pretty cool that the boardings have gone up so much with a very small change in vehicle miles. Fare recovery (percentage of operations funded by fares) ratio is way up as well from 27% to 39%.

UGB making TriMet more efficient? Has TriMet hit a kind of "limit" in the rate of change for boardings with the current zoning structure?

[MightyAlweg]

Originally Posted by RainDog

I have noticed that most of the new-comers to my neighborhood are pretty affluent. There are a lot more luxury vehicles parked on the streets these days. I imagine these folks are less likely to be using transit than people of my demographic.

They are less likely to use public transit because public transit is dirty, inconvenient, unattractive, and slow. One look at the people waiting for a bus at a bus stop is usually all I need to remind me why I don't use public transit; they range from glum and slightly dangerous looking teens to boring lower-class worker drones to sketchy tweakers to stinky homeless men with obvious mental disorders.

Quite frankly, I don't want to have to wait 10 minutes for a bus for the privilege of sitting next to any one of those demographics for a bumpy, slow and uncomfortable ride to a stop three blocks from my actual destination.

Once most people advance beyond lower-middle class, they get a car and never look back. The last time I rode MAX downtown, on a lark in the summer of 2008 during my 20th high school reunion, I swore I'd never do it again. Between the stinky and scary homeless guys and the swearing degenerate teenagers screaming at people for looking too Gay (and as a Gay man, that wasn't too cool to live through), I really couldn't understand why anyone would want to live like that, subject to the whims and inefficient timetable of Tri-Met Supervisors and the social rejects their product attracts.

I'm quite happy in my own safe and comfortable car without the homophobic attacks, thank you. And after achieving middle class status in young adulthood, I can afford the parking fee when I drive downtown for whatever reason.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by RainDog

I work in the service industry and a significant number of my coworkers have or are in the process of purchasing vehicles. I just got a car myself after many years of getting around town by bike. It feels like my days of being able to afford living in a walkable/transit friendly neighborhood are numbered and I want to be prepared for that. The conversation among my coworkers is mostly "escape plans" these days. Some people already have moved away, tired of being kicked out of rental houses so that they can be demolished only to find that any rentals in their neighborhood are 20-30% higher than what they were paying. My landlord just increased my rent from 1400 to 1800 last month. I can't imagine that that is even legal, but at my income level there is no way for me to fight it. In the past several months I've watched several rental houses within a 4 block radius of my house get remodeled and sold. My lease is month to month so I'm stuck with that ever lingering feel of "When are we next?". It is incredibly stressful.

I have noticed that most of the new-comers to my neighborhood are pretty affluent. There are a lot more luxury vehicles parked on the streets these days. I imagine these folks are less likely to be using transit than people of my demographic.

(I live near Alberta, if that context is helpful)

You should be fighting for more development, not less. Rentals in SFH created a false rannaissance in Portland. Now those owners/speculators are selling out and there's a shortage of regular apartments as a result. We need more housing closer in for your dream or your millieu's dream of portland to survive.