More questions after MAX ride

Councilors see some strong points and some major pitfalls on tour of MAX line

By Mathew Graham

The Clackamas Review, Dec 19, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (14 Reader comments)

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.

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