Another Transit Project Fail

Deke's Note: I was only going to write one post this week. However, I saw an article from a local news affiliate which just blew my mind. It truly flabbergasted my sense of frugality vs. foolishness. Let's see what you think...

Three years ago, our agency built an innovative transit/bike/pedestrian bridge over the Willamette River. It's a marvel to behold. Night light colors on the spans vary according to the river's water temperature. While there are a few design flaws (only two bus lines share the span with one MAX and one Streetcar line, and they share a transitway) on this billion-dollar marvel, the Tilikum Crossing is truly a spectacle to behold.

Now, our agency reports it plans to place wind turbines on this bridge. Wow, I thought, what a great idea! Given the wind that whistles down the river valley, it's an innovative way to create energy. I read further, eagerly wondering what our management gurus would do with all that electricity. What came next astounded me.

Fixed upon the wondrous turbines will be more lights. The energy generated by the turbines, the article reported, will be stored in batteries with the resulting power feeding the lights illuminating the turbines.

Really?!? REALLY?!?

I shook my head in a dazed amaze-state. Usually able to comprehend and retain information in one read, this was different. I had to read it again, looking for some rational explanation why our agency would throw $350,000 of hard-earned taxpayer money at such a boondoggle. The words were the same as I remembered. It simply floored me.

When President Lincoln's wife Mary tried to refurbish the White House after the first inauguration, Abe was infuriated with her spending so much money on what he deemed to be "flub dubs." Extravagant and unnecessary, said the man who grew up in log cabins with dirt floors. To him, the Executive Mansion was luxurious enough, especially given he was sending young soldiers to fight and die to save the Union. They slept in tents or out in the elements. He couldn't justify using taxpayer money to "fancify" a building that was only 60 years old by then.

If I were GM, I could find any number of vital projects to spend what equates to several years of my current salary. More ergonomic and comfortable operator seats/cabins come first to mind. A down payment on a Downtown Transit Mall remodel. Improvements to MAX overheads so they're not so negatively impacted by extreme cold or heat. Lighting at hundreds of dark bus stops, so we can see intending passengers. (A pilot program a few years saw lights added to a few stops, which were already lit adequately by streetlights.) Improved benefits for union employees, giving back what was taken away due to the incompetence and mismanagement of pension funds by management. Improved facilities and hiring from within for Vehicle Maintenance workers. More restroom facilities. Increasing service to levels not seen in a decade. Serious attempts to educate the riding public on simply how to ride transit.

See where I'm going with this? Instead of installing flub dubs, we could be making serious improvements on what is already here. But no. That would make too much sense.

Given the artwork installed when the Orange Line was built, rusted boats with trees in them and other such goofiness, I can't expect fiscal responsibility from this bunch of corporatists.

I'm still shaking my head. What's next? Hand brakes on buses with pedals for operators to propel our own vehicles? If that happened, I guess the money saved on fuel could be spent on bicycle seats for operators. Pretty stupid idea, yeah. Not as bad as electricity generated solely to illuminate another transit folly, I reckon.

#Deke4GM