this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2024
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Public Transport

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Sometimes it feels like folks in US would build anything but efficient transit 🤦 (slrpnk.net)
submitted 1 week ago by hono4kami@slrpnk.net to c/publictransport@slrpnk.net
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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I mean, light rail seems to be pretty effective in Portland, the problems it does have don't really seem to be efficiency related.

  1. Crime.
    https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/stabbing-portland-max-gateway-transit-center/283-e7d8681f-b6fa-4f2e-801a-2880b8f60eaa

https://www.opb.org/article/2024/10/23/portland-max-stabbing-crime-trimet-death-oregon-bus-lawsuit/

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/07/max-train-murderer-jeremy-christians-convictions-stand-court-of-appeals-rejects-all-his-arguments.html

  1. Snow and ice makes the tracks and switches fail all the time. If it's snowing, stay home.

https://www.koin.com/news/portland/extensive-damage-max-service-remains-suspended-due-to-winter-weather/

  1. Hot weather makes the overhead power lines expand causing trains to have to slow down. If it's near or over 100°, stay home.

https://trimet.org/alerts/hotweather.htm

[–] hono4kami@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago

Thanks for the reply. TIL about the Portland's LRT. After watching a video about it [1], my impression about the LRT is that it seems like one of the best LRT in North America.

The crime part is really unfortunate though, and I doubt there is anything the LRT can do about it as it's not their fault, rather, it's probably a systematic problem, cmiiw.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpfRKqy96_E