What Readers Think About TriMet General Manager’s Plan to Speed Up MAX Trains

“Yes, please. You can almost walk from the Broadway Bridge to Goose Hollow faster than the MAX.”

MAX Orange Line opening day. (TriMet)
By WW Staff

Last week, WW interviewed TriMet general manager Doug Kelsey ("Hotseat: Doug Kelsey," WW, Feb. 13, 2019) about what it will take to get more Portlanders to ride public transportation. Kelsey's response: He's fighting to speed up MAX trains but doesn't support an elimination of fares. Also, he thinks you should keep on thanking your driver. Here's what readers think about Kelsey's vision for the future of Portland transit.

Jon Gove, via Facebook: "From the driver's seat, I feel the biggest obstacle keeping us from being on time would be the cars in front of us. The single-occupancy autos, with drivers constantly on their phones, not moving when the light turns green, causing us to miss yet another green light and putting us further and further behind the published schedule. Give us dedicated bus lanes and we will move millions of you so efficiently the ridership will skyrocket."

James Ta-Dao, via Facebook: "Yes, please. You can almost walk from the Broadway Bridge to Goose Hollow faster than the MAX."

Seems2me, via wweek.com: "If the buses ran on time, I'd go back to riding them for commuting. As it is, the MAX runs on time but when it arrives and I need to switch to a bus for my final leg, the bus might skip the next two arrival times before one finally arrives. Happens so routinely on dark, cold, wet evenings, with no bathroom access, I gave up the bus for my car."

Lynnterra7, via Twitter: "When a ride from downtown to Beaverton takes longer to get through just the downtown portion than it would have to just drive to Beaverton from there, well, that means the system isn't working."

Jordanlund, via Reddit: "I used to take TriMet daily when I lived in Southeast Portland and worked in Beaverton. Bus to the MAX line, MAX to work, reverse to get home. It cost me an extra hour every morning and two hours every evening compared with driving."

Andy Zucker, via Twitter: "Transportation isn't a right. Everyone should pay. It's not expensive. If you don't want to pay, you can walk."

RRPDX2016, via Reddit: "I'd much rather have buses that run every 10 minutes versus free transit and it coming every 40 minutes."

InconsequentialTree, via Reddit: "I fully foresee TriMet being the mobility manager for the region as a whole. A future where you won't have a Car2Go app, a Lyft app, a Bird app, a Biketown app, and others. You'll just have a TriMet app. TriMet is surprisingly forward thinking in this area, and I'm honestly surprised this doesn't get more attention."

Wufpdx15, via wweek.com: "One can throw a football between the King Street station and the Providence Park. This one is a no-brainer beyond the Multnomah Athletic Club folks crying about walking an extra two blocks after their water aerobics class."

Seethinksay, via Reddit: "What's next, dedicated streetcar lanes?"

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