PORTLAND | Bus, Commuter, LRT, Streetcar

[Nexis]

Map



LRT Daliy Ridership

107,600

LRT , BUS , RAIL Daily Ridership

324,080

4 LRT Lines , 1 Commuter line , 89 Bus Lines

84 LRT Stations , 5 Commuter Stations


http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?105588


http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?105884


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PortlandTriMetbus.JPG


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TriMet_D40LFR_bus.JPG

WES Commuter Rail


http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?106023

Idiots TriMet Operators deal with + Transit Mall Screw Ups



TriMet Mall Light Rail Ride North



TriMet MAX and Buses at Rose Quarter



I'm surprised no has do a Portland thread yet?

~Corey

[deasine]

Well it's great that you started one. I would even include Portland's Streetcar and expansion projects into this thread.

[city_thing]

I was looking at a map of Portland the other day and noticed the LRT goes through an incredibly long tunnel under Washington Park. Was that tunnel used for other trains before the LRT came around?

[der Reisender]

The MAX tunnel underneath Washington Park was built as part of the Westside MAX project, so its exclusive to light rail use and was purpose-built for that project

[Nexis]

Washington Park Station - Westside MAX


http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?51329



TriMet MAX Green Line Timelapse - Northbound to Davis Sta from Clackamas TC



TriMet MAX Ride Front View - Lloyd Center to Gateway TC



~Corey

[Nexis]

Portland Street

image hosted on flickr

Portland Streetcars by joelplutchak, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Portland Streetcar by Lightpattern Productions, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Streetcar by effelarr, on Flickr



image hosted on flickr

Portland Streetcar by punkrawker4783, on Flickr



image hosted on flickr

Portland Streetcar by LivingBeaverton, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Portland Streetcar by cincyimages, on Flickr

[schweitzerdude]

Anyone interested in light rail transit and modern streetcars should visit Portland, Oregon, USA. A very well developed and heavily used system. My friends' son (20 something) lives in Portland, and between MAX (light rail transit), biking, and Zip cars, he sold his car - just no need for it.

Crossing the Steel Bridge on MAX across the Willamette River is interesting since it is almost 100 years old, and is perhaps the most multi-modal bridge in the world (heavy rail, both freight and Amtrak, MAX light rail transit, road vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians. It is the only two-level lift bridge in the world where the lower level can raise or lower independently from the upper level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Bridge

Last year ago I bought an all-day pass and rode from Clackamas Town Center out to Hillsboro and back, with a stop in downtown to ride the streetcar. I saw a second streetcar line being built downtown - don't know if it is operational yet. Next month I plan to ride some of the other lines as well as the Westside Express Service (suburban rail) south to Wilsonville and back.

[Woonsocket54]

Map is now out of date - Civic Drive Sta opened Dec 2010

[Nexis]

Current & Future map of the Portland System...

image hosted on flickr

Rail Transit of Portland, Oregon by Cameron Booth, on Flickr

[Nexis]

[Woonsocket54]

Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...hs_behind.html

United Streetcar months behind schedule on streetcars for Portland's eastside line
Published: Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 6:14 PM
Updated: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 9:22 AM

By Brad Schmidt, The Oregonian

Portland's $148.3 million eastside streetcar line will open ceremoniously in September, but it's increasingly unlikely that the star of the show -- America's only domestically produced modern streetcar -- will be ready.

Officials for Clackamas-based United Streetcar acknowledged this week that work on their first five streetcars is months behind schedule. Representatives for the city's streetcar division remain hopeful that at least one of the vehicles will be ready for the line's Sept. 22 opening.

The setback is just the latest as United Streetcar, a subsidiary of Oregon Iron Works, attempts to break into a sector that's traditionally been monopolized by European companies. Design problems already prompted city leaders to delay the line's opening by five months and reduce the number of cars from six to five, while barely trimming the $19.5 million budget.

"We're not on the schedule we'd like to be," said Carter MacNichol, a consultant with Shiels Obletz Johnsen, which is managing the project for Portland. But, he added, "it's an extremely challenging effort. I just can't emphasize that enough. There's a reason there haven't been car builders in the United States for decades. It's difficult, difficult work."

Officials for Oregon Iron Works echo that, pointing to initial challenges with the propulsion system to subsequent efforts matching 3-D computer models to actual streetcar design.

"We will not compromise safety or quality simply to meet a schedule," said Corey Yraguen, president of Oregon Iron Works.

Despite its lack of experience, United Streetcar has become a savvy contractor and political darling. The company has secured contracts in Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C. Last year, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood even starred in an online video promoting United Streetcar as "made in America, by American workers, who know how to manufacture the best kind of streetcars anywhere in the world."

But United Streetcar has yet to manufacture a single vehicle and work has been anything but smooth.

Officials expected United Streetcar to deliver all five vehicles to the city for initial testing by June 5, according to the contract's payment schedule. But none is ready.

In fact, United Streetcar has yet to complete wiring and begin stationary testing for the first car -- which should have happened by Dec. 30, according to the payment schedule negotiated last year.

The most pressing contractual deadline is July 10, the date Portland is supposed to take formal possession of the first streetcar. Officials say that won't happen, either, and they're instead targeting Sept. 8.

The contract calls for four of the five cars to arrive before the line's scheduled opening. But MacNichol said United Streetcar may have only one or perhaps two vehicles ready for service.

"Once they figure it out, they think they can really crank it out," he said of finishing the first car. "That said, I'm not guaranteeing we're going to hit that schedule. We still have a lot of uncertainty in front of us."

At United Streetcar's headquarters, Portland's streetcar shells have been assembled and painted in bright neon colors. Inside the first streetcar, wires dangle overhead as workers finish key connections.

"It looks like, geez, look at all these wires," said Yraguen, the Oregon Iron Works president. "Most of this is so you can test it."

Yraguen said he has a "high level of confidence" that the streetcar will pass stationary testing and move to the company's new on-site test track by the end of July.

United Streetcar has used its Portland contract to parlay business across the country.

It has a $29.9 million deal for streetcars in Tucson, although a copy of the contract obtained by The Oregonian shows that all seven body shells were supposed to be finished in May. Yraguen said only one is complete, but declined to talk in detail about the contact.

In December, leaders in Washington, D.C., initially blessed an $8.7 million contract for two vehicles from United Streetcar. But officials later backtracked when streetcar manufacturer Inekon challenged the award.

The Czech Republic company noted that United Streetcar had a "lack of basic qualifications and experience" and should have been disqualified on technical merits. Even so, Washington D.C., leaders pushed through a separate deal in April by piggybacking on Portland's existing contract and avoiding another competitive process.

Officials there decided that United Streetcar had the appropriate qualifications -- technical and otherwise -- "as demonstrated by their satisfactory performance on other municipal government contracts," according to the contract summary.

If United Streetcar doesn't deliver its Portland vehicles on time, the city could charge damages of $300 per day. But Dan Anderson, a spokesman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said officials must wait until after the contract expires Oct. 30 and will have no comment until then.

Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who previously questioned progress on the streetcars, said he hopes the investment pays off. But only time will tell.

"The verdict's still out," he said, "on whether this was a wise move or not."




Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian


Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian


Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian

[goten2255]

i am very amazed by the transit system that portland has its amazing to see different modes of transit working together.

i wonder if there will be expansions for communter rail as well WES is good but i wonder if they will use some that are on existing Railroad Corridors so it will be possible to be build quickly and cheaper.

I heard there expanding the Light Rail System and the streetcar system i think its fantastic, i hope it can serve communties that don't have Rail access currently and will have it soon.

i have wanted to visit portland and still want to come.

[Woonsocket54]

The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/milwaukie/...eavy_cons.html

TriMet estimates that construction is 35 percent complete.
Randy L. Rassmussen/The Oregonian

It's the year of heavy light rail construction in Clackamas County
By Michael Bamesberger, The Oregonian
on March 23, 2013 at 10:30 AM, updated March 23, 2013 at 4:57 PM

Though the Portland-Milwaukie light rail project is still more than two years from completion, TriMet officials say 2013 will be the year of heavy construction in Clackamas County.

Milwaukie residents and commuters know this well. Sewer and water line replacement, bridge and retaining wall construction, cranes and traffic disruption are daily reminders of the 7.3-mile project.

Once completed, the Orange Line will run from Portland State University over the Willamette River to Southeast Portland, Milwaukie and north Clackamas County. Construction on the $1.5 billion project began in July 2011, and the line is set to be operational by September 2015.

Through the rest of the year, crews will wrap up utility work and begin installing track and reconstructing sidewalks and curbs along Milwaukie intersections. And though it's messy, this phase of construction is an incredibly important step in preparation of the light rail, said Claudia Steinberg, TriMet's community affairs and capital projects manager. Once the line is operational, there's not an easy way to replace utilities.

Here is an update on current construction and what's to come along the route.

Tacoma Station and North Milwaukie Industrial Area:


A rendering of the future light rail stop at Southeast Tacoma Street and McLoughlin Boulevard.
TriMet


For the light rail to get to the future Tacoma Station, a bridge must carry the line over a McLoughlin Boulevard on-ramp, under the Tacoma overpass and over Johnson creek.

While the bridge structure is standing and visible from McLoughlin Boulevard, there's not much to see at the Tacoma station site. Currently, the plot of land serves as a staging area, where supplies, equipment and piles of 80-foot "sticks" of rail line are stored. A mobile welding station is turning these 80-foot rails into 800-foot rails in preparation for installation later this year.


A view of the Tillamook Bridge structure from the south
Michael Bamesberger

Once completed, the area will feature a pair of art installations, parking for 320 vehicles, a secure bike parking structure and a station platform.

Between the Tacoma Station site and downtown Milwaukie, one of the project's largest structures, known as the Tillamook Bridge, is visible to East Ardenwald residents. The 49-foot tall bridge will move the line from the west side of the existing rail tracks to the east side, a transition necessary to pass through Milwaukie.

While many of the project's structures are fabricated elsewhere and assembled onsite, a large part of the Tillamook Bridge is being cast in place. Wooden framing is being constructed on top of the structure to allow for concrete pouring later this month. The structure is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

To accommodate the length of the bridge, the Beaver Heat Treating Corporation building will be demolished this summer.

Milwaukie:


Construction of a retaining wall behind the Portland Waldorf school in Milwaukie
Michael Bamesberger

Downtown Milwaukie is in a flurry of activity. Every intersection along the line is currently under construction, and will continue to be well into next year, said TriMet community affairs and capital projects manager Claudia Steinberg. Traffic is often restricted to one lane to accommodate sewer, water line and retaining wall construction, especially on Harrison and Monroe streets. Lake Road near Kellogg Creek has closed for months while crews work on the future Milwaukie stop.

There's even construction off the line, near Southeast 21st Avenue and Jefferson Street to replace the sewer line to Adams Street.


A view from Southeast Lake Road of the Milwaukie stop area with a current photo and a rendering.

New retaining walls are most visible on the east side of the Portland Waldorf school. By the end of the year, retaining wall and utility work should be complete, Steinberg said.

An abutment is in place on the Milwaukie station site near Lake Road. A temporary bridge across Kellogg Lake allows workers to prepare columns for the permanent bridge.

The city of Milwaukie also has a few projects up its sleeve. The Adams Street Connector project will transform a one-block stretch between 21st and Main streets into a pedestrian-only walkway. Set to begin construction this summer, the project will connect the future station with Main Street and the rest of downtown.

South of downtown Milwaukie:


The steel bones of a bridge column near McLoughlin Blvd.
Michael Bamesberger

The circular steel columns that popped up a few months ago along McLoughlin Boulevard are the most noticeable sign of the future Kellogg Bridge, which will carry the light rail over Kellogg Lake. Once completed, the 1,670-foot long structure will span McLoughlin Boulevard and curve over Southeast 22nd Avenue, Bluebird Street and Southeast River Road before touching ground east of McLoughlin.

For the past few months, the east side of McLoughlin Boulevard has been home to excavators, wheel loaders and lots of steel pipe as crews install utility lines and move earth. The Trolley Trail, which will eventually run parallel to the light rail, has been detoured to the west side of McLoughlin until late 2014 or early 2015.

Major construction on the bridge will begin in July, when the first steel tub girders will arrive and be installed into place. Retaining wall work will also begin this summer. Southeast Sparrow Street will close in August, around the time rail will begin to be laid.

Park Avenue Station:

Right now, the Park Avenue station is site is an empty lot housing metal pipe. But once completed, the station will feature a plaza, public art, landscaping and a car and bike parking structure across the street.

Utility work on the station site, and the site of the future parking structure to the south, is set to begin this summer. Park Avenue will be widened from Southeast Oatfield to the Southeast 26th Street to make way for increased traffic, a bike lane and drop off lanes in front of the station.


-- Michael Bamesberger