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  #3041  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 12:41 AM
RED_PDXer RED_PDXer is offline
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Central City fare needed

A simplified, lower fare is needed for the Central City for ALL modes of transit. How about $1 for all trips on bus, MAX, and streetcar within the Central City boundaries?

Streetcar managers need to really get serious about improving the speed of the service using priority signals, dedicated lanes, and the like to make it a more attractive service. It's often fun to ride it, but that doesn't matter when you have a time budget and need to do several things in a day.
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  #3042  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 4:18 AM
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When I lived in the Pearl, I took the streetcar everyday to work from 11th & Johnson to the tram at the South Waterfront. The time was a bit longer verses me walking to Old Town and taking the #8 bus up the hill to OHSU, but it was the convenience and always on-time aspect that made me choose the streetcar. I agree that coordinated signals are needed but I don't think dedicated lanes are necessary, that would also take away from it's character, not to mention jam up traffic bad in some areas. They could slash 2+ minutes off by fixing the PSU area up.
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  #3043  
Old Posted Nov 17, 2011, 12:34 AM
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http://howweroll.trimet.org/2011/11/...fleet-in-2012/

55 new buses to join the fleet in 2012

Great news for bus riders! We’re adding 55 new buses to the fleet next year.

As riders can attest, many of our buses are overdue for replacement. (About 150 buses in our fleet are more than 18 years old.) They’re noisy and bumpy, and some don’t even have air conditioning. Not only are these older buses uncomfortable for riders and operators, they are becoming too unreliable and expensive for us to maintain.

That’s why, using grant funding and debt service, we’re replacing 55 of our oldest buses in 2012. We’re also planning for future bus purchases, starting with a “State of Good Repair” grant from the Federal Transit Administration that will fund an additional 14 buses in 2013.

The new buses are currently being designed at the Gillig factory in Hayward, California.

In addition to air conditioning, automatic stop announcements and low floors for easy boarding, they’ll feature:

vinyl seats that are easier to clean
LED lights on the mirrors that alert pedestrians and motorists of intent to turn
an innovative electronic cooling system based on auto-racing technology
a longer, more gradual boarding ramp capable of carrying heavier loads
a streamlined front end

Four of the buses will be next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles, which we will test for performance, maintenance needs and fuel efficiency.

The electronic cooling system, dubbed “mini-hybrid” technology, is already in use on more than 100 of our buses and has been shown to improve fuel economy by more than 5 percent. It uses an electrified subsystem to operate at an optimal temperature range, as opposed to a standard hydraulic or mechanical fan system.

Our goal is to reduce the average age of our bus fleet from 13 1/2 years to 8 by 2020, and to replace all remaining high-floor buses (those with steps at the door) with low-floor vehicles by 2013.

A prototype bus is expected to arrive in Portland next spring, and the rest will begin shipping from the factory in the fall. Stay tuned for more details!
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  #3044  
Old Posted Nov 30, 2011, 7:12 AM
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Kind of a dumb post, but good to see that this is underway and will be done in a month!

TriMet’s solar panel project gets underway

Robert Seitzinger, DJC blog
November 29th, 2011



Tuesday marked the start of a four-week TriMet project that will end in a wall of solar panel modules to power the MAX Green Line. The construction is taking place at Southwest Jackson Street, where the South Terminus is located and near the site of Portland State University’s forthcoming College Station.

This marks TriMet’s first effort to harness energy from the sun in powering the county-spanning rail system, and according to the company press release, the agency anticipates savings of $3,680 per year once the 253 modules are installed. The project is budgeted at $370,600, with the money coming form leftover Green Line funds and contributions from Portland General Electric and the Energy Trust of Oregon.

Whoa, whoa…back the truck up. It has been some time since first-grade math, but let’s see here … carry the zero … yup, that works out to about 100 years of savings (assuming $3,680 is the total savings amount every year for the full century) to recoup the initial investment of $370K. That length of time about halves with energy tax credits, but this is still taking “long-term investment” a bit far.

According to U.S. News and World Report, Portland is among the national leaders in public transit. Bringing solar energy into the mix is a game changer, to be sure, especially as PDX residents turn more to bus, light-rail and streetcar use instead of driving. Bear in mind, however, that this sort of expenditure runs parallel with the $134.6 million Caruthers Bridge project and a light-rail connecting Lake Oswego to downtown Portland.

There are additional low-energy-use plans for the South Terminus, according to the press release, though it is unclear what financial impact those will have (they focus on lighting and storm water management). One can only hope there are additional plans to justify the costs of the solar panels and that riders experience that justification.

Or, to state it simply, let’s hope the sun makes the fares go down.
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  #3045  
Old Posted Nov 30, 2011, 6:50 PM
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$3,680 per year savings AFTER the initial 50 to 100 years of recouping the project's cost?! Holy crap. Please tell me I'm misreading that. We're talking about only $44 more than the cost of annual passes for THREE people for just one year.

I realize the point of building this thing has nothing to do with savings and everything to do with image ("We're GREEN!") ...but still. Wow.
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  #3046  
Old Posted Dec 2, 2011, 9:37 PM
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Nice write-up on the solar array on Portland Transit this morning. Too bad Trimet's press release for this was so ham-handed. Like throwing blood into the mouths of sharks.
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  #3047  
Old Posted Dec 2, 2011, 10:13 PM
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People are forgetting that these solar panels were not meant to be a profitable venture. It's supposed to be a Gateway feature for the end of the MAX line which is intended to also hide the outbuildings that are not particularly pretty. It's art that also happens to generate a little bit of electricity.

Another part of the project is to test new solar technology as it's developed. The panels will be switched out with newer, experimental, (hopefully) more efficient models as they become available, so this is also a research project for sustainable power. I'm sure PSU will be thrilled to have this onsite testing facility for their solar energy programs.
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  #3048  
Old Posted Dec 3, 2011, 6:49 PM
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Originally Posted by 65MAX View Post
People are forgetting that these solar panels were not meant to be a profitable venture. It's supposed to be a Gateway feature for the end of the MAX line
$370,600 for a gateway? Is that really the best way for Trimet to be spending money? If it's all a public donation, then I don't care... but at a time when Trimet is raising fares and eliminating services, I'm having trouble with silly costs like this.
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  #3049  
Old Posted Dec 3, 2011, 8:08 PM
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Originally Posted by 2oh1 View Post
$370,600 for a gateway? Is that really the best way for Trimet to be spending money? If it's all a public donation, then I don't care... but at a time when Trimet is raising fares and eliminating services, I'm having trouble with silly costs like this.
I don't know about silly. I think spending 1% for art in publlic projects is a good investment. And to have it be functional as well is an added bonus.
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  #3050  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2011, 5:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2oh1
$370,600 for a gateway? Is that really the best way for Trimet to be spending money? If it's all a public donation, then I don't care... but at a time when Trimet is raising fares and eliminating services, I'm having trouble with silly costs like this.
$370,000 for a gateway into downtown Portland. A 21st century technology that will benefit the students at the adjoining Portland State University. A bold expression of Portland, and TriMet's commitment to renewable and clean technology, built by laborers in our surrounding communities. And, as 65MAX has pointed out, this comes out of the !% for art required on all major public works projects in Oregon.

It might just be liberal ole me, but I support this 1000% over the freaky deaky deer with child face statue that, thank the lucky stars, has been mothballed in the Milwaukie LRT project.
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  #3051  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2011, 9:00 PM
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It might just be liberal ole me, but I support this 1000% over the freaky deaky deer with child face statue that, thank the lucky stars, has been mothballed in the Milwaukie LRT project.
I concur!
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  #3052  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2011, 9:05 PM
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Don't get me wrong... I'm as liberal as they come... but being liberal shouldn't equate to an inability to use money wisely. A few hundred grand here, a few hundred grand there... these numbers are real dollars and they add up fast.
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  #3053  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2011, 10:26 PM
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Well, using money "wisely" is entirely subjective when it comes to art. Some people place no value in art and so any amount of money spent on it is wasteful. Personally, I'm thankful we live in a city that makes a conscious effort to invest in public art. I may not like all of it, in fact there's some that I absolutely hate, but it's important that we have it.
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  #3054  
Old Posted Dec 7, 2011, 9:29 PM
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PBOT budget

Bikeportland seems to be the only local media covering this right now:

PBOT unveils major reforms to address budget crisis


Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on December 7th, 2011 at 8:15 am

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has released an update on their 2012-2013 budget situation. As we suspected, a major shrinking of their budget has resulted in a restructuring of how the bureau will prioritize spending. In other big news, PBOT Director Tom Miller has unveiled a set of "organizational evolutions" that will change the face of the bureau.

As we've reported, PBOT faces a budget crisis of historic proportions. While all City bureaus are facing budget shortfalls, PBOT's situation is especially bleak. Miller announced last month that he will reduce the agency's General Transportation Revenue (GTR) budget by $16 million per year on an ongoing basis. When you consider that about $30 million of PBOT's $100 million GTR budget is already committed, that's a cut of about one-fifth of the total. In other words — an unprecedented contraction.

Just to clarify, PBOT's GTR budget is around $100 million (it was $107.5 million in FY 2011-12). Their total budget — which includes state and federal grants — is closer to $275 million. When we discuss this budget issue, we are only considering the GTR portion of the budget.

Last night at a meeting of the PBOT's Budget Advisory Committee, Miller unveiled his plan to tackle the crisis.

In a message to the BAC, Miller wrote:

"When you have to cut as deeply as we do, you have to articulate priorities. In short, our approach is this: determine what the priorities are (e.g. functioning signals), where those priorities are most important (e.g. highest multimodal volume locations), and budget to maximize multimodal return on investment."

To set the priorities, Miller is using a list of four criteria developed by the BAC (the committee also attached weighting to each criteria) and further refined by his own staff (download PDF of "Draft Budget Criteria"):

Each of the four criteria has been given a weight. Here's the breakdown (note, the criteria is in draft form):

- Improves transportation safety (30%)
- Effective and efficient maintenance of Transportation’s assets (30%)
- Public health and livable communities (20%)
- Supports business and employment to promote economic vitality (20%)

Further refining the prioritization process, PBOT has assigned both a "substantive focus" and a "location focus" for each criterion. The substantive focus tells them how to spend the money and the location focus tells them where to spend the money.

With safety as a top priority, PBOT will first look to spend money on their "high crash corridors". Also playing a prominent role in the location focus are what PBOT calls, "streets of citywide significance". This is an important new term that will guide how PBOT prioritizes expenditures through the budget process for the foreseeable future.

Streets of citywide significance are defined as "streets that carry most of the multimodal volume".

"A dollar spent here [on a multimodal street], for example, would distribute limited resources more equitably than a dollar spent on a low volume, primarily single-use corridor," reads Miller's statement.

Put another way, Miller tells us, "The criteria tells us how the money will be spent, then the maps tell us where it goes."

Sandy Boulevard is an example of a street that ranks very well under the new prioritization. Sandy is a major freight route, it carries frequent bus service, and it has a high volume of motor vehicles and people on foot.

What about bikes?

"For bikes," Miller tells us, "we will treat the neighborhood greenway system as the streets of citywide significance." While streets of citywide significance technically get first rank in priority, this new policy could actually make it more likely to see bikeway improvements on major arterials like Sandy. Here's why: When you put spending through the priority "filters" of safety and multimodal transport, it's possible that the formula favors adding bicycle access.

Here's a hypothetical: If PBOT had one dollar to spend, they'd take out 30 cents for safety. They'd prioritize reducing conflicts between modes (so a traffic signal — which is used by many modes — would score better, than say, a sidewalk repair project). Then, the first place they'd spend that 30 cents would be on a high crash corridor, after that they'd look to a street of citywide significance. The final filter would be vulnerable users, which they've listed out in priority order of: Safe routes to school, senior centers, community centers, and then neighborhood commercial districts.

John Rist, PBOT's business operations manager says the new system gives them, "The ability to say to the public, as you work your way down of how you spend every dollar, it's going to go through a series of filters to ensure we're getting the dollars on the routes that are used by the most people in the city."

One key reason Miller wants to adopt this methodology is to improve the transparency and public perception of how and where PBOT spends its money. "We're trying to be specific so we can tell you, as a citizen, where that dollar goes and why it went there," he said in a recent interview.

Miller — who took over as PBOT director less than one year ago — is also focused on a new push to make his agency more data-driven.

"We're trying to be as data driven as possible... What we're saying is, you apply the criteria that tells you how to spend the money than you look at the map and it tells you where to spend the money. You just work your way down the list and when you run out of money you're done."

This new approach is a major change from how PBOT has funded transportation in the past. It is much more specific and targeted to a given set of priorities; instead of being complaint driven and determined due to a process largely unknown to the public. PBOT has also adopted a four "guiding themes": "equity; return on investment, minimum legal requirement, and revenue generation".

In addition to the new budget priority process, Miller has announced a set of five significant structural changes to his organization. Below are the four initiatives he plans to advance:

1) A complete re-think of parking policy. Miller wants to consolidate all City parking functions under one roof. "Parking is an incredibly important piece of our revenue stream, but it's managed in different parts of the agency... We need to speak with one voice."

2) The Transportation Options Division (which promotes biking, walking, and taking transit and is behind popular programs like SmartTrips and Sunday Parkways) will be "re-invented". Miller plans to create a new "active transportation group" that will be combined with PBOT's planning functions. The goal, he says, is to "More explicitly call out the importance of the active transportation component of our mission and to make sure we are as focused there as we can be."

Here's more from Miller about the shifts coming to Options:

"I think the concept of Options was probably provocative and compelling and progressive at the time of its inception; but I think it's run its course. It's time to re-invent that piece of the bureau. We will have an active transportation group within PBOT."

3) Improved asset management. This is part of Miller's focus on data collection. An example he gives is tying priority of sidewalk repair with locations that see high transit boardings and de-boardings. "I want to know the condition of sidewalks that get people to and from those buses... With limited resources my sidewalks better be in best shape they can where boardings are highest... It's about prioritization, and today, I can't tell you that."

4) PBOT will begin to monitor the condition of paint and thermoplastic that makes up much of the bikeway network. Miller says that unlike their ability to monitor pavement quality on major streets, PBOT has no system for tracking the condition of bike boxes, sharrows, or bike lane striping. "As a citizen, you ought to be able to know when we laid it [thermoplastic] down and when we need to refresh it. I can't tell you that today. To me, that's not appropriate."

Miller sees bikeway thermoplastic and paint as a "hugely important" transportation asset. "A cyclist relies on that paint to provide a buffer between other modes. It says, this is my space, so stay out of it. If I'm not telling you how well we're managing that asset I'm not doing my job as effectively as I need to."

5) An outside review of PBOT business practices. Miller plans to hire a third-party company to take a look at PBOT's internal processes and business practices.

This is a major announcement for Miller and by far the biggest step he's taken since his tenure at PBOT began. He seems to be using the budget crisis as a way to enact some key reforms that he feels will not only address the funding shortfalls; but will also set a course for PBOT that will better serve his vision.

These initiatives, Miller feels, will also help the bureau overcome its current lack of public trust. Without the community on its side, Miller knows PBOT will be limited in its ability to go for the ultimate prize: a new, more stable and predictable source of ongoing revenue.

Mayor Adams has stated clearly that bureaus are not allowed to include new revenue sources in their budget plans; but that doesn't mean Miller isn't planning ahead. With dwindling gas tax revenues and a sluggish economy, it's inevitable that PBOT will ask the public for new revenue. When they do, they'll need as much trust as they can get.

Stay tuned for more coverage as the budget process unfolds.


Streets of Citywide Significance Map (in draft form). PDF here.
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  #3055  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2011, 3:42 AM
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I like this. Map of Portland's passenger rail network, including future lines that are either under construction or in advanced planning.



Designer is Cameron Booth.
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  #3056  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2011, 4:14 AM
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Awesome map! Not digging the streetcar line colors though.
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  #3057  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2011, 6:45 AM
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Thats a great map, except it makes the central city look WAY larger than it actually covers. Otherwise, not bad.

Zone 2 needs more rail!
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  #3058  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2011, 8:36 AM
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I agree that it is cool to look at, especially with the loop completed, but it is so grossly out of scale as to be misleading. A tourist familiar enough with downtown to have a rough idea of the distance between the transit mall and the streetcar line on 10th and 11th might assume that you could easily walk between Lloyd Center and the airport, for example.
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  #3059  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2011, 5:54 PM
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Originally Posted by zilfondel View Post
Thats a great map, except it makes the central city look WAY larger than it actually covers. Otherwise, not bad.

Zone 2 needs more rail!
I was just thinking (I'm new to Portland...), what's the point of the "zones"? Because right now they're not making sense to me.
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  #3060  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2011, 7:33 PM
maccoinnich maccoinnich is online now
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Originally Posted by tworivers View Post
I agree that it is cool to look at, especially with the loop completed, but it is so grossly out of scale as to be misleading. A tourist familiar enough with downtown to have a rough idea of the distance between the transit mall and the streetcar line on 10th and 11th might assume that you could easily walk between Lloyd Center and the airport, for example.
This is something the designer is aware of:

Quote:
One minor problem with the diagram is the huge amount of distortion the further away from the city centre you get: Wilsonville should be way off the bottom of the diagram, and should be shown as being on the banks of the Willamette River, as should the stations near Milwaukie. However, these diagrams are always a trade-off between geographical accuracy and clarity – I think I’ve struck a good balance between the two.
It's also far from unique to this map. The famous London tube map, the grandfather of almost all transit maps, suffers from the same problem. Compare and contrast the iconic tube map with a geographically accurate map:





I think people are aware that these are diagrams, not scale drawings.
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