Jan 10Northeast to Northwest Portland: TriMet’s Line 24While Northeast Portland has had a few iterations of a bus line along Fremont over the decades (33-Fremont and 41-Fremont) the 24 is TriMet’s current edition of its attempt to provide service to this swath of Northeast Portland. The 24 is an interesting concept for a bus line, connecting Northwest…Public Transit9 min readPublic Transit9 min read
Dec 5, 2022The case for a fare free transit system: Make TriMet free for everyoneAs Portland slowly crawls out of the pandemic, contends with an empty downtown, and attempts to meet ambitious goals to lower carbon emissions, a fare free transit system could be the solution to all of those problems. …Public Transit11 min readPublic Transit11 min read
Jul 1, 2022Why can’t TriMet hire enough bus operators?TriMet is throwing around $7,500 bonuses and its highest starting wage ever. It cut back service this winter to the already drastically low Spring 2020 levels and is now cutting service even more in the Fall as the shortage continues to see no end in sight. …Portland7 min readPortland7 min read
May 10, 2022What is working for TriMet like?You’ve read the ads. You’ve seen the banners. You’ve rode the bus. TriMet is the middle of a huge hiring push as it struggles from a shortage of bus operators. …Public Transit10 min readPublic Transit10 min read
Jan 19, 2022What is TriMet bus operator training like?In case you haven’t heard or noticed, TriMet is hiring. In fact, they are desperate. TriMet is so desperate they offered hiring bonuses of $2,500, bumped its initial pay, and even recently cut back service because they are so short of drivers. So while the need is definitely there, you…Public Transit9 min readPublic Transit9 min read
Aug 2, 2021Dicks and decay: Line 77Maybe it’s a sign of the decay. Maybe a protest by those who feel neglected by the city’s leaders. Maybe it’s because folks just forgot about how to wear pants during the pandemic. Whatever it was, I saw four dicks while driving the 77 the past two weeks. Four flaccid…Transportation13 min readTransportation13 min read
Mar 31, 2021The pandemic sucked, but I will miss these things about it on the busThis past year has sucked. The pandemic has sucked. The death has sucked. The sickness has sucked. The economic upheaval has sucked. The political chaos sucked. I have nothing nice to say about this year. I have no silver linings. I have no profound reflections on the year and what…Portland6 min readPortland6 min read
Mar 19, 2021Why does Oregon not care about its frontline workers getting vaccines?A year ago traffic stopped. Crowded rush hour buses were suddenly empty. The city got so quiet that in downtown I could hear birdsong over the roar of the bus’s diesel engine. While many Portlanders got used to working from home when the pandemic started, me and other TriMet bus…Covid-193 min readCovid-193 min read
Mar 16, 2021No one rides this bus: Line 55When public transit works best, you don’t need to think about it. You can spontaneously make plans, just walk a few blocks, hop on a bus, and away you go. Don’t like that neighborhood? Get on another bus. Need to buy something on the way home? Get on the bus. …Transportation4 min readTransportation4 min read
Mar 16, 2021How cross-country skiing saved me during the Pandemic winterJanuary can be dark and rainy in Portland, gloomy feeling even in the best of times. While I had tried to stay positive through most of the pandemic, just driving the bus and trying not to think too hard about anything but getting through the day, everything was getting to…Pandemic Reflections10 min readPandemic Reflections10 min read
