[pdx_politics, metro_transit] A Modest Proposal from Councilor Canfield

I noticed, on his 'blog, Troutdale City Council member Robert Canfield floated a very interesting and meritworthy suggestion; an express TriMet line from Troutdale to the inner areas.

It's a worthy idea. Troutdale's public transit access to the greater Metro area consists of collectors (TriMet lines 80 and 81, IIRC) connecting to MAX Blue Line service at the Gresham Transit Center, which can be tedious and slow for Troutdale commuters; Councilor Canfield estimates that three hours out of every day would be consumed by a Troutdale commuter trying to get to a notional destination in Portland and/or points west (and just imagine if you weren't going to someplace near the MAX line).

It's understood the effort is somewhat quixotic. As he himself says, "I realize Tri-Met has said NO WAY to this idea before, but it makes so much sense it doesn't hurt to keep trying."

As a supporter of public transit, I'm prone to agree.

I'm adding him to my list of OR Politics links. It's clear I don't agree with everything he says, but I like his plain speaking style and it takes some degree of honesty these days to just sit down and bang in why you vote as you do in a 'blog-especially if you aren't one of the "cool kids" such as the Portland City Council.