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FX2-Division - Huh? What The Heck Is The FX?

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FX2-Division - Huh? What The Heck Is The FX? A lot of you who have been following my blog since it's very beginning know that I haven't yet posted an information post on a bus line yet... so here is the first one! Today we'll be talking about the FX2-Division, a bus line that is even more frequent than your average frequent service bus line, as it runs every 12 minutes. One thing that I wondered when I first saw it was: "Why is it FX 2 , even though there is no FX1?" The answer to that is that the 2 in FX2 is labeling the over all bus line, not the FX bus line, there is only one FX bus line. The FX2 replaced the 2-Division bus line when the line became so popular that it needed more frequent service and more room on the bus, which is my second topic. The FX2 has a special green bus that has room for 60% more riders, and has 3 doors each with a hop reader, so that you can get on quick and pay quick. A picture is included to show what the FX looks like. Another is i...
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Portland Streetcar General Information

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Portland Streetcar General Information Hello, and welcome back to TriMet Insider! Today we'll be talking about a classic Portland transit system: The Portland Streetcar!  What Is The Streetcar?  The Portland Streetcar is a public streetcar operated by TriMet, with vehicles owned by TriMet, and tracks owned by The City Of Portland. It's actually kind of interesting that Portland only owns the rails of the Portland  Streetcar. Anyway, since the Portland Streetcar is different from a usual TriMet bus or train, because the idea was initiated by The City Of Portland, not TriMet, I wanted to give everyone some general riding information. So, here goes! Riding The Streetcar   To ride the streetcar, you will have to wait in the shelter with the sign marked either A Loop, B Loop, NS Line, or a combination of any of them. The amount of time that you wait in the shelter can vary from the streetcar already being there (0 minutes), to 20 minutes. The Portland Streetcar website ...
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WES Commuter Rail - What Even Is It & What Are My Thoughts?

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WES Commuter Rail - What Even Is It & What Are My Thoughts? Hello! Welcome back to TriMet insider. Today we'll talk about the WES Commuter Rail which I just rode yesterday. I wanted to give my reviews, but first, I realized that a lot of people who live in Portland proper probably don't even know what the WES is, so first, I should explain. The WES is a Diesel powered train that connects the suburbs of Beaverton, Tualatin, Tigard, and Wilsonville. A picture included shows what it looks like. It only has one track, so when it reaches the terminus, the operator has to move to the other end of the train and operate it in the opposite direction, I believe. Now that we've covered what the train is, let's move into my review of it. I think that this is a wonderful train. It has free Wi-Fi, padded and reclining seats, wonderful staff - there was a mess on the floor that was cleaned up immediately. It's great! Another good thing about the train is the route. The route t...
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TriMet Interview With K. R. P.

TriMet Interview With K. R. P. Hello! Welcome back to TriMet Insider. Today I interviewed K. R. P. About TriMet. Here is the interview I conducted. Eyvind - Hello, how are you today? K. R. P. - Wonderful! The sun is shining. Eyvind - Today I’ll be interviewing you about general TriMet info. K. R. P. - Sounds great. Eyvind - As I believe, you have been around almost since the beginning of TriMet, is that correct? K. R. P. - Even longer. I remember riding the bus before it was TriMet Eyvind - Do you recall what it was called? K. R. P. - Not quite, It had rose in the name. Maybe something like Rose City Buses. (We later looked this up, it was Rose City Transit). Eyvind - Interesting. I hear that you were part of naming TriMet’s light rail system. What was that like? K. R. P. - Well, I was working in market research and we conducted a survey on behalf of TriMet. They had narrowed down the name for the light rail to about four choices. Eyvind - What were they? K. R. P. - Well, obviously MA...
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Public Transit Paintings!

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Public Transit Paintings!  Hi! Today I just wanted to share some paintings I did of Public Transit. Thanks!
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Portland Streetcar VS. The MAX Train

Portland Streetcar VS. The MAX Train Hello, and welcome back to TriMet Insider! This blog post won't be entirely about TriMet, though. This post covers my opinion (and others' opinions) about this question: Which is better? The Portland Streetcar or The MAX Train? Anyway, before I dive in, you can comment on this blog post about your opinion on the matter. So, my main two sources for this topic were Yelp and Reddit, because I figured there were lots of real people on there giving real opinions.  Anyway, here are some quotes that I thought were substantial. MAX Train Karri L. - 5 Star - MAX Red Line - From Yelp: When I traveled for business, I went to the airport before and after construction of the Red Line MAX. What a difference it has made. First, the price. The cost of a taxi ride or shuttle out to our wonderful airport is horrendous (even though you can expense it out, but still). Parking costs are equally badly priced. $5.00 for the round trip is the best bargain in town. ...
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Type 6 MAX Train

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Type 6 MAX Train Hello!  This is TriMet insider where we talk about all things TriMet. If you don't know, TriMet is Portland's public transit system. Personaly, I love  riding the MAX (Metropolitan Area eXpress) Train, which goes all the way from Beaverton to City Center to Milwaukie, it's awesome! Anyway. Today I wanted to talk about my excitements and de-excitements about the new type 6 train (I'm really not sure if there is actually one on the rails yet...) I Google searched a bit and all of the info was really quite vague. Stuff like: "We expect to have the first Type 6 train in service in 2024." So, it's really not very obvious when we'll be riding one, but I felt like looking at it's pros and cons. I figured I'd start with pros, so here's the list I made: Has a driver's cabin on both sides Has better heating for cold days on the tracks Has more LED lights for indication of whether or not door is available Has super cool LED doors ...
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