I'm trying to find the Oregonian article, but here are a couple that give some numbers. "Remember last year’s high gas prices that led some transit agencies to record 15 to 20 percent gains in ridership? Oregon had some of the highest gas prices in the nation, yet Portland transit ridership only grew by 0.1 percent. So much for Portland being “the city that loves transit.” http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/debunking-portland-public-transit-myth http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-...e-uses-transit-more-but-use-drops-with-income
Yeah, if you happen to live on a MAX line and are interested in going to downtown. Somehow, taking a bus to the nearest MAX line and then making 4 connections by bus to get to an appointment doesn't work for me. But, as a self-employed individual who works from home, I do get the privilege of paying a percentage of my income to support the system that doesn't do diddly for me.
I'm doing an undergrad in geography, but I'll be doing a masters in urban planning. I just spent a lot of time around people championing Portland and I just don't see it. It's a lot of window dressing, but the actual nitty gritty isn't that great. I'm interested in a place like Curitiba, Brazil though, as an example of how a city was properly designed for mass transit.
Here's a link to TriMet's annual report on ridership: http://trimet.org/pdfs/publications/trimetridership.pdf
It sounds to me like you could be setting yourself up for the same frustrating/rewarding career path that I followed. I ultimately decided that the system was screwed up and that it would kill me to try to work within the bureaucracy. I chose to go the consultant route and help people navigate the maze of red tape, public hearings and other land use hoopla.
I have to partially agree. At least the route I ride every day on the MAX is at pretty high capacity when I get on around 8-9 and 5-6. But relative to the amount of commuters in cars it's not much.
I've got lots of friends working on the other side of the counter. There are definitely huge differences between agencies as far as the frustration factor goes. City of Portland seems to be near the top of the heap for pure bureaucracy bullshit. I don't often see a planner there last more than a few years. Clackamas County, on the other hand, tends to get guys into the system and they tend to stick for full careers. Washington County has been pretty good that way, too, but it seems that there's more turnover there now. The consultant route isn't for everyone, but I've enjoyed it. I set my own hours, vacation schedule, etc. The money can fluctuate a lot over a career. During good times, you can make much more than in the public sector, but be sure to stock some away for the inevitable bad years.
Portland/Metro area needs to add lane to I-5, 205, 217 and 26. Be it up or out, something has to be done.
Yeah, I would be interested in seeing what the private sector is like. I've been around government enough to know that I would go mad.
I don't know much about traffic around the country, but the traffic in Seattle is much much worse than the traffic in Ptd. Talk about bad planning . . . or I like e's take that maybe the planning was to push people to take public transportation. I have a pretty good guess why a higher percentage of people use public transportation in the surrounding Seattle area . . . just drive around the area between 3-6 and you would probably want to take public transportation as well. Wonder if there is a study on worst city traffic and where Seattle would rank on that? Edit: Seattle is 8th on top 10 worst traffic (La is 1) Congestion in Seattle actually improved in 2012, with the INRIX index score declining from 19.6 in 2011 to 17.6 last year. Despite this improvement, Seattle remains one of the most congested metro areas in the nation and had some of the most congested individual roads in the country in 2012. Among these was a nine-mile, southbound stretch of Interstate 5, which ranked as the 11th most congested corridor in the nation in 2012. Last March, The Seattle Times noted that new tolls on the nearby Highway 520 had led to increased congestion on Interstate 5.
Big apartment buildings are popping up all over N, NE and SE Portland. I'm looking into moving into one as I hate fighting traffic and I like the idea of being by a max line as I like to go out and drink, but I don't drink and drive. I'm really interested in living at this place and plan on checking them out once they're completed: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/04/prescott_apartments_to_break_g.html
My uncle was a Chief Officer for HUD for years. His stories tell me all about how fucked up government jobs are.
Life as government contractor isn't too bad ... at least until all of the money is gone in 15 months. But honestly I work with some great people (in DOI and USFWS) who actually give a shit and do good work. There's always the few deadbeats that are just collecting a check, but it's like that in every job.
The Sounder train from the Kent Valley into King Street Station downtown was a steal for $3/each way (or less if you bought the monthly pass). But I was fortunate that I was a 20-minute walk (or 5 minute bike ride) from the station, and worked at Amazon right across the street from KSS. Colleagues at other campuses had a much more convoluted route. In DC, I got the multi-pass that allowed me to ride the Dillon commuter buses, the Metro, city buses in VA, DC and MD and the Amtrak. It was glorious. But I doubt that, for all POR has invested in its system, it's even close to the amount DC/NoVa has spent.
