“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” -Martin Luther King, Jr

Thursday, June 30, 2011

What Jack Bogdanski thinks of the new 'art' for PMLR

Maybe the Paul Bunyan statue can kill it and eat it

There's got to be a morning after

http://bojack.org/2011/06/theres_got_to_be_a_morning_aft.html

We should be embarrassed

China's 26-mile sea bridge same cost as TriMet's 7.3-mile Orange Line

Something TriMet could never do

Protect their bus drivers? Nah. They're robots, remember?

All too familiar

Everyone who has ventured down into the subway is by now too well aware of theMetropolitan Transportation Authority's self-promotional "Improving, Nonstop" advertising campaign.
Look, there! It's a placard boasting about how the MTA has adopted the revolutionary approach of fixing things when they've been broken.
And next to that, wow! It's a placard about the countdown clocks you just saw on the platform.


A Fail for the Light Rail

Update: METRO rail service restored after shutdown left riders stranded in the heat - 2011-Jun-29 - CultureMap Houston

TriMet TVM Fail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swv7R_lCktE

TriMet has petitioned FRA for a waiver of compliance

http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/06/30/2011-16411/petition-for-waiver-of-compliance

Favorite comments about the "art" (from Bojack)

http://rantingsofatrimetbusdriver.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-favorite-comments-about-art-from.html

Theme song for Milwaukie Light Rail's "Rebirth" (the giant deer human-faced thing)

http://rantingsofatrimetbusdriver.blogspot.com/2011/06/theme-song-for-milwaukie-light-rails.html

Portland cops shoot another guy

http://bojack.org/2011/06/portland_cops_shoot_another_gu.html
See what I told you? Be very scared.

TriMet Bridge Groundbreaking Event Video

Portland Transport
But it's only June 30th.

English government actively whitewashing Fukushima

http://bojack.org/2011/06/english_government_actively_wh.html

Streetcar fail

http://rantingsofatrimetbusdriver.blogspot.com/2011/06/streetcar-fail.html

Railfanning last weekend with the Southern Pacific 4449

Erik H

Big screwup in latest Portland police shooting

http://bojack.org/2011/06/big_screwup_in_latest_portland.html
Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Mother Nature turning against nukes big time

http://bojack.org/2011/06/mother_nature_turning_against.html

Construction begins on new light-rail bridge in Portland that will go up 'piece by piece'

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/06/construction_begins_thursday_o.html

The right way to manage a transit district

CTA Cuts 54 Jobs, Saves $15 Million As It Holds Off On Big Projects

Here is why you don't run after a bus (or train, for that matter)

Staten Island schoolgirl killed in dash for city bus | SILive.com

US lags on BRT

When it's done properly, bus rapid transit -- known as BRT -- ranks among the cheapest and quickest ways to cut CO2 emissions from transportation. 

U.S. Lags Behind China, Colombia in Bus Rapid Transit - NYTimes.com

Fake Trimet security officer selling bogus tickets

http://www.koinlocal6.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=2591906
Sorry I'm getting to some of this stuff a little late. Blogger wasn't behaving last night so I was only able to post a few things.
But I'm catching up!

Trimet golfers!

http://rantingsofatrimetbusdriver.blogspot.com/2011/06/trimet-golfers.html

Major L.A. study shows importance of bike-transit connection

Bike Portland

Feds on Jack Bogdanski's case over immigration jail floor plan!

http://bojack.org/2011/06/feds_are_on_my_case_over_immig.html

What's Up with the FTA and PMLR?

Portland Transport

The Steam SD-9

http://pdxrailtransit.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/the-steam-sd-9/
Beautiful steam engine. Love those old trains.

That's not the parking brake

You can't make this stuff up. The mayor of Portland now says he's starting up a big campaign against distracted driving.

Here are a couple of tips, offered by a friend of ours: No drinking. Don't drive with your fly open.

The excitement of the day

TriMet kicks off construction of new light-rail bridge across Willamette River in Portland | Oregon Live
TriMet: News Release - Groundbreaking event kicks off construction of the PMLR Bridge
Hooray! We're set to waste 1.5 billion! Yippee!
And don't  you love how TriMet uses the word 'groundbreaking'? It's almost funny.

What a cool quarter million will get you

Maybe part of my negative reaction comes from spending $250,000 on a giant deer with a human face at the same time that fares are going up andbuses are falling apart, and poor Dorothy is out of luck after the bond measure failed. I understand that there was a mandatory art budget for the Orange Line so money is going to be spent on art anyway, but so far thereaction to this particular piece seems overwhelmingly negative – theother proposed pieces aren’t having nearly the same kind of reaction. I guess I just hope that the art budget is ultimately spent on things that people want to see at their platforms.
MAX FAQS
My opinion on the deer thing? Well, looking at the sculpture design images, the deer thing just kinda creeps me out. And it is one of the strangest things I've seen in a long time. There were many other proposals for the MAX station and there are quite a few of them (actually maybe all of them) that I like better. This being said, mostly because the deer (in ginormous size, of course) kinds just gives me the heeby jeebys and doesn't really seem to fit that well.