More questions after MAX ride
Councilors see some strong points and some major pitfalls on tour of MAX line
The Milwaukie City Council’s tour of an existing light rail line in Portland last week allowed TriMet officials to show off some of its system’s strengths.
The tour also exposed some glaring weaknesses; including a Wackenhut guard who admitted to being virtually powerless, multiple non-functioning ticket machines, numerous people smoking on the platforms and a man hopping the TriMet fence to urinate on a tree in the open lot in front of De La Salle High School.
The purpose of the venture was for TriMet and Metro officials to show Milwaukie council members the station designs and safety features on the most recently updated MAX line.
“Interstate MAX really is the best of what we’ve learned,” said Shelly Lomax, TriMet’s safety and security director.
TriMet Project Development Manager Dave Unsworth led the tour and pointed out many innovative features of the Interstate MAX line, including locally inspired art features that they say deter graffiti; open spaces with clear lines of sight; improved lighting; and walk signals at lights that count down so no one gets caught at the intersection.
And while councilors seemed generally impressed with the station setups, they were also concerned about the continuing shortfalls.
“It’s a start,” said Councilor Joe Loomis. “I think they just need to look at the whole system, how they do things.”
Loomis echoed one of the most prevalent sentiments at the TriMet safety summits in Washington County on Nov. 29 and 30 – that TriMet shouldn’t just be improving its current safety system, but overhauling the way security is handled.
System shortfalls
The first noticeable mishap occurred at the first stop of the council’s tour, the Kaiser Permanente station. A non-English speaking woman was trying to purchase a ticket from the machine, but was unable to. Donna Henderson of the transit police went to help her, only to find the machine didn’t work. Henderson was escorting her to the other platform when one of the other TriMet officials offered the woman a free ticket.
Then, at the Lombard Street station, while Unsworth pointed out design features on the MAX platform, a man at the bus stop on the northwest corner of the intersection jumped the fence (or rather stepped through it, as a section of the fence had been effectively torn down) and proceeded to urinate on a tree 20 feet from the bus stop and across the street from a high school.
At the Vanport station, the ticket machines again failed, precluding council members from validating their tickets.
Finally, upon boarding that train, Councilor Deborah Barnes found a Wackenhut guard with whom she struck up a conversation.
She asked him if the job was ever frustrating, and he shrugged, saying, “We have all the responsibilities of the police without the full authority.”
She asked what he might do if people get rowdy and he said he’d try to diffuse the situation.
“If you see a fight, you know you might be able to break it up.”
Then he said if he were unable to break it up he’d radio for the police to come. The problem was, he didn’t have a radio. There weren’t any left when he started his shift, he said.
One of the TriMet spokespersons said it was because they had started increasing the number of guards.
Barnes was not appeased.
“That does not make me happy,” she said.
Then she asked if the guard, a former military man with aspirations of becoming a police officer, would let his 16-year-old sister ride the MAX alone.
He paused for a moment, standing in the presence of half a dozen of his high-level supervisors intently listening in, before admitting that he would not let her ride alone. When Barnes asked why not, he said, “I don’t want to bite my own tongue.”
School benefits
Barnes, who teaches in Milwaukie, did see at least one high point on the trip. While administrators at the Portland Waldorf and St. John the Baptist Catholic schools worry about noise and safety issues with a Milwaukie light rail, Barnes found an elementary school in Portland with light rail just outside its front door.
As the group was walking down the street from a bus stop to a Max platform, Barnes saw a school, Trillium Charter School, and one of its teachers out front unlocking his bike. After speaking with him, she said she was encouraged at how well Trillium utilized the MAX and the potential for Milwaukie schools.
“He said they integrate the light rail into their curriculum” by teaching children how to safely ride it, Barnes said.
He told her the trains can’t be heard and he’s never heard of a safety issue affecting the children.
Barnes spoke of how easy it would be to take students to Portland for field trips and how much tax money the school district could save by taking light rail instead of renting buses for such excursions.
A TriMet official chimed in, saying they could arrange the schedule and offer a group discount, as well.
Safety and security meeting
While council members on the tour maintained a generally relaxed air, participants at Wednesday’s Safety and Security Task Force meeting at TriMet headquarters were more frustrated and critical of the current system and proposed changes.
The group discussed park-and-ride facilities, individual stations, safety and security and other issues.
Participants did more listening than brainstorming on the issue of park-and-rides. Donna Henderson, of the transit police, discussed various tactics her department is using to curb car theft and break-in issues.
The newest one, she said, involves placing flyers on all the vehicles in a given parking lot. Cars with valuables in plain view get a note on their flyer describing what police saw – the officer then looks up the vehicle owner and calls him or her to ask that the valuables be hidden in the future to prevent a potential break-in.
Henderson also said auto theft isn’t high compared to other areas in the city.
“The increases in auto theft in TriMet facilities is a lot less than the increase in Portland in general,” Henderson said.
But the overriding sentiment among participants was for more police and fare inspectors on the trains.
Theresa Pucik, vice chairwoman of the Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League, decried the usefulness of the hired security.
“Hire more fare inspectors, not Wackenhut guards.”