Here's a video from September:
Transcript from VideoH/T MaxRedline
TriMet is looking at a $1.5 Billion dollar expansion of the MAXX to add 7 miles of light rail into Milwaukie. But is this the best public transit service that $1.5 billion can buy? Here’s another idea:
Currently, there are three morning rush hour routes, and one local route, that run between Milwaukie and downtown Portland.
First, lets buy them new buses.
But let’s not just buy them any buses, lets buy them VanHool double decker luxury buses. These buses are nice, but not nice enough, lets upgrade them with headrest tv’s, crushed velour interior, tthe (sic) works.
We’re going to dedicate 16 buses to running the route between downtown Portland and Milwaukie. This should more than double service… and we’re going to have ALL 16 buses running this route 24 hours a day / 7 days a week, not just during peak hours.
If the buses are running all the time, when will we repair them? We’d better double our bus total again (32 buses), so we can have two bus rotations, one running while the other is cleaned/repaired. And let’s add another 4 buses (36) just in case something goes wrong.
These buses are also going to need drivers, mechanics, and janitors… to keep those buses really nice. And let’s give all these people TriMet’s standard benefits (which just happen to be the best in the nation).
Improved service is nice, but we need people to enjoy riding the bus. We should probably have Direct TV service. With NFL Sunday ticket. And wi-fi. And every person that rides should have coffee and a donut.
That’s pretty good service… but what if we also made it all totally free. Everything is totally free.
What if we also gave every freshman in Portland Public Schools a new Macbook Air. And an Ipad. Every year.
What if all of this was ongoing and free… for the next 150 years.
That’s right, we could all this with the money from the Milwaukie Light Rail line.
What would you do with the $1.5b?
2 comments:
Put it all on 32 for one play.
.
Heh!
Post a Comment