David Reinhard quote

“Tri-Met’s response to the Harvard study has been to attack Richmond ‘s credibility. But remember, Tri-Met’s initial MAX ridership forecast for 1990 was 42,500 average weekday boardings – a forecast the agency deemed “probably low due to a number of purposely conservative assumptions.” That’s a far cry from the 20,500 Tri-Met weekday boardings had in 1990, or even the 27,000 it had in 1996. As light rail’s exorbitant costs per new transit rider and failure to cut congestion and air pollution in any cost-effective way have become clear in short, as light rail has failed to deliver as a transit system light-rail fans have moved to other arguments. Their latest: critics like Richmond fail to look at light rail in terms of the Portland region’s land-use planning. MAX helps to manage growth and spur development. In fact, Richmond found “equivalent benefits have the potential to arise from bus-based systems with similar service characteristics.”... even these – new high-occupancy vehicle lanes for buses, private vans and carpools – are far cheaper than light-rail lines. True, buses, vans and cars are 20th century technologies. Maybe we should use 21st century stuff like dial-a-ride and smart jitneys. What we shouldn’t do is invest more in a 19th century technology — light rail — that toots along at 19.7 miles per hour.”

David Reinhard PORTLAND OREGONIAN

7/12/98